The Gridiron Review’s 2024 NFL Draft Best Picks from Day 2

Pick 33- Keon Coleman to the Buffalo Bills

Coleman is a massive target who can high point passes with the best of them. He profiles similarly to Allen Robinson. Buffalo kept trading back, but still ends up with a WR1 potential player for Josh Allen.

Pick 34- Ladd McConkey to the Los Angeles Chargers

LA lacks a lot of weapons on the offense. Palmer is a good WR3, and Johnston is unknown. McConkey likely becomes Herbert’s go to option quickly.

Pick 41- Kool-Aid McKinstry to the New Orleans Saints

New Orleans ignored a couple positions of need to come up and get Kool-Aid, but we think it’s a good player/team fit. We think this is a great defensive scheme to feature him and also think Lattimore is an ideal mentor. Not to mention that there’s no real pressure for McKinstry to be the guy right away with Lattimore, Adebo, and Taylor all still there. 

Pick 42- Kamari Lassiter to the Houston Texans

We’ve mentioned it before, we like what Houston did with the CB room during FA Frenzy adding Okudah and Henderson, but you can’t pass up the opportunity to draft a first round talent 10 picks into the second round. Lassiter may not have the ceiling of other CBs in the class, but we believe he’s one of the more pro ready and an unbelievable leader and teammate for this defense and for this team. 

Pick 44- Jackson Powers-Johnson to the Las Vegas Raiders

We weren’t on the JPJ hype train like everyone else, so him not being a first rounder or even an early second rounder doesn’t surprise us. Even at Pick 44 we thought it may be a stretch, BUT we love the fit. JPJ is a prospect we think will thrive in a system that allows him to move forward more than backward. We assume the Raiders will continue to lean on a heavy dose of the run game led by Zamir White, and JPJ is a great addition to the wall blocking for White.

Pick 45- Edgerrin Cooper to the Green Bay Packers

Packers fans may need to be a little patient with Cooper. We think he requires a tad bit more development than the “analysts” let on, but is a great compliment to Quay Walker. 

Pick 47- Tyler Nubin to the New York Giants

We assume Nubin was drafted to take over Xavier McKinney’s role. Nubin was not our S1, but between that role and new DC Shane Bowen’s scheme, we believe Nubin is in a situation built for him to thrive compared to other teams/systems. 

Pick 50- Mike Sainristil to the Washington Commanders

We actually see Sainristil more as a Safety moving forward than a CB, but have no issue with him playing CB or even Nickel. Some may think this is a head scratching move, but remember new HC Dan Quinn has no ties to either 2023 1st Rounder Forbes or 2nd Rounder Martin. Sainristil should beat out almost anyone in this secondary for a starting spot. 

Pick 52- AD Mitchell to the Indianapolis Colts

The Colts continue to commit to Anthony Richardson in the best ways possible. AD Mitchell should not have been here. Wide receiver was not a pressing need but they took him anyway.

Pick 58- Javon Bullard to the Green Bay Packers

With the addition of McKinney and now Bullard, the Green Bay secondary has a lot of versatility to be able to disguise coverages and show multiple looks. The drafting of Bullard now has GB in the conversation for the best young S tandem in the NFL. 

Pick 62- Ennis Rakestraw Jr. to the Detroit Lions

The Lions Achilles Heel has been their pass defense, so despite the additions of Davis, Robertson, and Arnold last night we have no issue with them double dipping. Rakestraw plays physical and tackles well. Dan Campbell drafts yet another really good player who fits his culture.

Pick 69- Junior Colson to the Los Angeles Chargers

Not often do we agree with the NFL Network people, but we are in agreement that due to Colson knowing Minter’s system it is entirely possible that he gets the green light as a rookie. Similar to Cooper we think Colson has some growing to do and you just need to be a little patient with him as he’s more than likely going to make bad reads or miss plays in the early stages of his career. 

Pick 70- Andru Phillips to the New York Giants

We didn’t actually get a chance to scout Phillips, but we know he’s a physical corner who can also play nickel. The Giants have done one heck of a job with Banks’ development and if they can do the same for Phillips their CB room could shape itself into something real nice. 

Pick 73- Cooper Beebe to the Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys took Guyton in the first round, so we assume this means Beebe could be making a shift one spot over into the Center spot, which we have no issue with. Beebe has been trending up for us since the Combine and we suspect the Cowboys will work their magic and continue to get the most out of OL Draftees.

Pick 78- Calen Bullock to the Houston Texans

We don’t see Bullock as the same caliber of prospect as the “analysts”. We think he’s a low floor, high ceiling prospect who needs to be developed. Lucky for him, Bullock ended up in one of the most ideal situations for himself. DeMeco Ryans was the DC of the 49ers when they developed Talanoa Hufanga, and we expect Ryans will be able to do it again for Bullock.

Pick 80- Jermaine Burton to the Cincinnati Bengals

Burton’s limited production does not represent his potential. If Higgins is moved he can step into the WR2 role. If Higgins stays he is one of the best WR3s in the league.

Pick 85- Zak Zinter to the Cleveland Browns

We thought Zinter was a Day 1 prospect on talent alone but would fall to Day 3 as a result of his late season injury(similar to 2022 Draftee Andrew Vorhees). This is a perfect situation for both sides. With Teller and Bitonio still in Cleveland it allows Zinter to take his time with his recovery and not have to rush back. Not to mention he has two of the best guards in the NFL to mentor him. For Cleveland they have a succession plan for protecting their QB long term.

Pick 89- Tykee Smith to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This may go down as the best pick and/or at least one of the biggest steals of this entire Draft. We thought Tykee could be a quality starter for any of the league’s 32 teams, but now you put him in a situation with Todd Bowles who loves to blitz and bring pressure from all over the place(similar to Georgia). Tykee is a Fringe Day 1 talent  who’s going to make the 31 other teams dumb for passing on him much like Brian Branch did this year. 

Pick 98- Payton Wilson to the Pittsburgh Steelers

One of our favorite player/team fits of the LB class. Just look at Wilson and watch how he conducts himself. He’s a Pittsburgh guy through and through. Yes, his medicals are probably horrifying, but assuming he plays and misses minimal to no time the Steelers got a Round 1 talent LB at Pick 98.