The first night of the 2023 NFL Draft was about as unpredictable as it was being hyped up to be. There were several trades made and some surprise picks, but as always some good, some bad, and some ugly. We saw many of our top prospects fall deeper than we thought. The board never quite falls the way you think. In this article we are going to spotlight prospects we are surprised made it out of Round 1 and prospects we have Day 2 grades on that we are excited about!
Players Who We Were Shocked Fell to Day 2
- Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee
- Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia
- Joe Tippmann, C, Wisconsin
- Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State
- Brian Branch, NB/S, Alabama
Players We’re Excited About
These players in this category may not be the best of the best or even Day 2 picks in the eyes of some people. These are players that we have Day 2 grades on based on the tape we watched and our scouting that really excite us! It does not mean they will be taken on Friday night.
- Dorian Thompson-Robinson, QB, UCLA
- Clayton Tune, QB, Houston
- Israel Abanikanda, RB, Pitt- Sleeper
- Roschon Johnson, RB, Texas
- Jonathan Mingo, WR, Ole Miss
- Puka Nacua, WR, BYU– Sleeper
- Michael Wilson, WR, Stanford
- Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa
- Cody Mauch, OL, North Dakota State
- Zach Harrison, EDGE, Ohio State
- Nick Herbig, EDGE/LB, Wisconsin- Sleeper
- Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson
- Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia
- Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina
- Kyu Blu Kelly, CB, Stanford- Sleeper
- Tyrique Stevenson, CB, Miami
- Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, NB, TCU
- TaRiq Bracy, NB, Notre Dame- Sleeper
- Christopher Smith II, S, Georgia- Sleeper
- Ji’Ayir Brown, S, Penn State
- Ronnie Hickman, S, Ohio State
- DeMarcco Hellams, S, Ohio State- Sleeper
This wraps up our draft coverage of Day 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft! We also have an article featured on our website with our 1st Round Grades of all 31 picks and a Day 1 Recap video on YouTube. Tomorrow we will be releasing a live updated article about some of our favorite picks from Day 2, and will be going live at the conclusion of the 3rd Round to discuss and wrap up our thoughts from the end of the night!