This is our live reactions and grading article of Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft
Chicago Bears- Caleb Williams, QB, USC
Grade: A+
Thoughts: The obvious choice. If they did anything else it would’ve been an epic failure. Would’ve been hard to mess this up
Washington Commanders- Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
Grade: B
Thoughts: The best QB available, was the choice all along
New England Patriots- Drake Maye, QB, UNC
Grade: C
Thoughts: Why? Just why? You don’t have the team to just insert a QB and win now, not that we believe Maye is plug and play immediately anyways.
Arizona Cardinals- Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
Grade: A+
Thoughts: If Murray is your guy this is the super obvious choice. They take a lineman in 2023 and now the best WR available this year. Finally an alpha(not Hollywood) for Murray.
Los Angeles Chargers- Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
Grade: B+
Thoughts: The fact that the Chargers did not trade down factors into this. We are not on the Alt hype train like everyone else BUTTTTTT… with Greg Roman being a heavy run offense and Harbaugh loving his run game this is a great fit for Alt. We think Alt is a better run blocker than pass.
New York Giants- Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
Grade: B
Thoughts: Right pick, although we think Odunze would’ve been a better choice
Tennessee Titans- JC Latham, OT, Alabama
Grade: B
Thoughts: Right position, but not who we would’ve taken. We think Latham right now is better at run than pass blocking, but you can see the improvements from the beginning of the 2023 season to the end. If he keeps progressing this pick could look better than the B grade.
Atlanta Falcons- Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
Grade: F
Thoughts: WTF just happened!!!! Now you have one QB coming off a Torn Achilles and a rookie QB with multiple season ending leg injuries to his name. Not to mention Penix is 24 and by the time Cousins $45 mil AAV contract is over he’ll be a 28 year old starter… Stupid bro
Chicago Bears- Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
Grade: A
Thoughts: The absolute right pick. The Bears are doing it the right way. They are going to be scary.
Minnesota Vikings- JJ McCarthy, QB, Michigan
Grade: B+
Thoughts: Well played Minnesota, well played. Didn’t panic and move up too high. Gave up next to nothing to move up 1 spot, and still get their guy.
New York Jets- Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State
Grade: B-
Thoughts: The only thing keeping this grade from sinking is the fact that they did right by Rodgers and took an OT over Bowers. That being said Fashanu is an OT prospect we have concerns about and would not have been our pick at all. The only positive is that with the two vets that were brought in, it gives Fashanu a chance to sit and develop a little bit… he’s probably got 2 weeks before Tyron goes down
Denver Broncos- Bo Nix, QB, Oregon
Grade: A+
Thoughts: This seemed destined to happen. One of our favorite QB to team fits this year. Sean Payton offense should flourish with Nix
Las Vegas Raiders- Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
Grade: B-
Thoughts: Ummmmmmmmmmm… We would love to see the mock with Bowers going to the Raiders. This is certainly interesting, not quite sure what the thought here is.
New Orleans Saints- Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
Grade: A
Thoughts: Surprised that Fuaga is here at Pick 14. When we did our final mock we kinda forgot about the Ramczyk injury situation. This is basically a robbery. Fuaga is ready to play and still has upside and it feels like NO has sneakily been one of the better teams at developing OL.
Indianapolis Colts- Laiatu Latu, EDGE, UCLA
Grade: B
Thoughts: Always good to add more pass rushers. Will provide valuable snaps early. This is most likely a pivot pick with Bowers off the board.
Seattle Seahawks- Byron Murphy II, DL, Texas
Grade: B
Thoughts: Room was pretty good coming into tonight, slightly head scratching, but we know Macdonald will find the right rotation for what he has to get the sack production he had in Baltimore. Overall pretty good pick
Minnesota Vikings- Dallas Turner, EDGE, Alabama
Grade: A-
Thoughts: Good value for the pick, probably better fits, but hard to argue taking him here
Cincinnati Bengals- Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
Grade: A+
Thoughts: Good on Cincy for continuing to do all they can to protect Joe Burrow. We don’t care about what people think, Mims was our top tackle and we stand by it. Mims will 100% beat out Trent Brown and be Burrow’s RT protector for a long, long time.
Los Angeles Rams- Jared Verse, EDGE, Florida State
Grade: C+
Thoughts: Good positional selection but Verse is more of a project than Day 1 starter… Maybe now they can stop playing Michael Hoecht at OLB
Pittsburgh Steelers- Troy Fautanu, OL, Washington
Grade: A+
Thoughts: We had Fautanu pinned as a Top 10 pick, and certainly we didn’t think he would get past Ryan Grubb and Seattle. To get Fautanu at 20 is an absolute steal. We ranked him with the IOLs, but truly he has 5 spot versatility. Fautanu and Jones are going to be a very good tackle duo for a very long time.
Miami Dolphins- Chop Robinson, EDGE, Penn State
Grade: A+
Thoughts: Add some much needed youth to the room and someone who won’t get hurt trying to turn the corner. Similar to the Rams pick, it allows someone to kick down.
Philadelphia Eagles- Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
Grade: F
Thoughts: This is an awful pick. You had your choice of every single CB available by some stroke of luck, and in a year where Howie decides to go off script and take a non linemen. Mitchell is yes an athletic freak, but he’s not ready to play, he’s underdeveloped. We thought he could survive in a heavy man system based on Senior Bowl tape, but Fangio is heavy zone which is what it felt like Toledo was and he just did not look good in Toledo tape. The Eagles don’t develop CBs, so Mitchell isn’t going to get the development he needs. Not a team fit, not a scheme fit, Howie screws up.
Jacksonville Jaguars- Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
Grade: A+
Thoughts: This is absolutely the right choice. Not only do you get Lawrence an alpha WR1, but you get him even after a trade down. Well done by Jacksonville. Not to mention for us Thomas was WR2, so this is an absolute steal.
Detroit Lions- Terrion Arnold, DB, Alabama
Grade: A+
Thoughts: We’ve mocked Detroit a CB in almost all of our mock drafts. Despite the addition of Davis and Robertson we thought they needed to add another one. Now the two CBs we’ve mocked them before were Kamari Lassiter and TJ Tampa, both we consider physical “Dan Campbell” players. Never in a million years did we think Arnold would get in striking range for the Lions to come up and get him. This might be one of, if not the best pick in the draft. Arnold is going to ball, but also has another level that can be unlocked and Campbell and DC Aaron Glenn are the guys that can do it. Arnold is going to be one of the best CBs in the league very, very shortly.
Green Bay Packers- Jordan Morgan, OL, Arizona
Grade: A
Thoughts: This was our mock pick in our last mock. We like the fit of Morgan in GB. We think he’s a better run blocker than pass blocker, which despite the emergence of Jordan Love, feels like what the Packers are going for with the addition of Jacobs. A strong run game to compliment Love and co. Morgan on our profile has a decent list of negatives, but truly at the end of the day his hand placement and usage is a major reason for his reps he loses. Packers RT Zach Tom was also a bit of a development project but it feels like GB has done a solid job with him and would expect the same with Morgan. Despite Jeremiah saying he’s the Bakhtiari replacement, we think he’ll get kicked in to guard.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Graham Barton, OL, Duke
Grade: C-
Thoughts: So there’s two things that are keeping this grade semi-afloat. 1) Tampa has quietly been one of the better teams at developing OL and 2) Barton fits the attitude(nasty with a mean streak) of linemen they’ve drafted recently. We don’t see Barton as a top prospect we saw him more as a mid round developmental gem. His pass pro is up and down although good run blocking. Unfortunately he’s going to a team who likes to sling it more than run it.
Arizona Cardinals- Darius Robinson, DL/EDGE, Missouri
Grade: A
Thoughts: We’ve had this called for months. This is absolutely the right pick, the fit just feels right
Kansas City Chiefs- Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas
Grade: C-
Thoughts: At least Reid will have a role for him, but it just feels redundant
Dallas Cowboys- Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma
Grade: A
Thoughts: Guyton is raw, he’s inexperienced, he’s a converted TE. Dallas was one of our best fits for him. We thought he could benefit from sitting, but Dallas is known for getting the most out of linemen, so Guyton could come out Week 1 and be a stud and we wouldn’t be shocked. Plus, it allows Tyler Smith to stay at guard.
Baltimore Ravens- Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson
Grade: A+
Thoughts: If you told me at 8 AM today that all the CBs would fall and the Baltimore Ravens, one of the best teams at not just developing but getting everything they can out of defensive backs, would land our CB1 Wiggins I’d laugh in your face. To us Wiggins was easily a Top 10 pick and has the highest ceiling(arguably) of the CBs. Wiggins is going to be a freaking problem in Baltimore.
San Francisco 49ers- Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida
Grade: F
Thoughts: There’s 5+ receivers that would’ve been better picks here
Carolina Panthers- Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina
Grade: A
Thoughts: Cool getting a local guy, one of the worst kept secrets in the NFL. It’s a good fit, it adds speed to the room that they were lacking