Initial reaction: How would you rate your divisional rivals’ drafts?

[DoleINGout]

Patriots get a C-. Using their second rounder to trade for Sanu, they traded out of the 23rd overall slot and proceed to parlay zero picks into the future. High upside in Kyle Dugger, Devin Asiasi, and Dalton Keene is negated by the fact that they were all high reaches as well. 2020 is marked by another squandered opportunity despite possessing a lot of picks at the start this time for the Patriots. Best picks: Josh Uche on day two and Michael Onwenu late into day three.

Bills: B. Trading their first pick for Diggs is a slight gamble given his mercurial ways, however he is a very productive receiver. Bolstering their defensive line with AJ Epenesa is smart as is adding depth on offense with essentially the rest of their draft which needed it the most. Zack Moss, Jake Fromm, and Gabriel Davis can be important backups as rookies.

Jets: B+. The Joe Douglas era starts off with a franchise left tackle selection in Mekhi Becton. Helping Sam Darnold by getting Denzel Mims to win contested catches is good value in the second round. My favorite aspect of the Jets draft is that they got better in the secondary with tremendous value in Ashtyn Davis and Bryce Hall. Cameron Clark and James Morgan could be key backups in the future.

Dolphins: A-. Adding a potential first overall pick and quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa was just the beginning. The Dolphins were able to draft three potential rookie starters on the offensive line alone in Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, and Solomon Kindley. An area of futility for years has been the Dolphins offensive line. Then on defense, Noah Igbinoghene, another rookie starter at corner in the first round and safety Brandon Jones to round out a suddenly rich secondary.

Edited April 26, 2020 by DoleINGout

[SkippyX]

I can't remember another year when I liked all 4 NFC East drafts.

NY played it safe with some solid players (risk reward guys have blown up on them lately so this was a smart play)

• To be fair, risk reward guys also helped them win 2 Super Bowls not long ago

DC may have drafted the best player in Young, took a couple WR shots in a deep draft, and took a chance on a high upside prospect at LT.

Dallas went their best player still on their board in 1 and then plugged holes at CB and DT.

Philly was killed by lack of WR depth and not having a real backup QB in 2019. I'm fine with the direction they took.

• I would have preferred Hurts in round 3 or 4 but /shrug/ who knows if he would have been there.

 

I would probably rank them DC / NY / Dallas / Philly but it all depends on how those 4 WRs work out and if NY did finally anchor their O-line on both sides.

[RamblinMan99]

Baltimore: A+

Their draft was an absolute slam dunk for them.  They grabbed an all star linebacker in the first round who will compliment that defense very well.  And, they were able to get arguably the best RB available in the draft without even having to trade up for him.   They are going to be absolutely stacked with talent this year.  

Cleveland: A-

Cleveland did very well.  Getting some outside protection for Baker Mayfield early and building their defense in the lower rounds was a good decision.  They're primarily an offensive team, so to see them build the defense is going to help them in the long run.  

Cincinnati:  B+

They don't get an A grade because they made the pick everyone expected them to by default.  But, they did right in following up with a WR for their new QB in the second round.  

 

I think there were a lot of teams that did well in the draft this year.  Not a whole lot of bogus moves out there.  

[Danger]

2 hours ago, minutemancl said:

In a year of strong drafts, Washington and especially Dallas had fantastic ones. Even Philly's draft was ok.

I'd rank the NFC East draft classes like this:

1. Dallas

2a. Washington

2b. New York

4. Philly

Honestly I feel like our draft looks better if you just pretend we had no 2nd round pick.

Dallas had the best draft in Football, with the Panthers close behind.

[MikeT14]

18 hours ago, minutemancl said:

In a year of strong drafts, Washington and especially Dallas had fantastic ones. Even Philly's draft was ok.

I'd rank the NFC East draft classes like this:

1. Dallas

2a. Washington

2b. New York

4. Philly

I think the NFC East knocked it out as a whole. Outside of the Hurts pick, I loved Philly's. I actually ranked Washington last in the division, but they still got a B/B-

[vikingsrule]

I think all NFC North fans liked the Packers draft. 

[WizeGuy]

Jets probably had the best draft of our rivals, though I'm not a huge fan of Becton or Mims. The value was there, though. 

 

Wasn't a fan of Miami's draft at all outside of Tua. Didn't pay enough attention to New England's draft. 

[Daniel]

1 hour ago, MikeT14 said:

Outside of the Hurts pick, I loved Philly's. I actually ranked Washington last in the division, but they still got a B/B-

Agreed.  I think they could have done better when CeeDee Lamb was within reach, but they got Quez Watkins and KVon Wallace at good value and stole Prince Tega Wanogho.

Btw, did anyone else only find out at the actual draft that Prince wasn't his first name?

[Ray Reed]

Feel like the worst draft of the division was the Steelers and i'd still give them like a B- at worst...unfortunately every team seemed to do well.

[SmittyBacall]

18 hours ago, RamblinMan99 said:

Cincinnati:  B+

They don't get an A grade because they made the pick everyone expected them to by default.

I don’t get this logic. Why should they be penalized for making the correct pick?

[Daniel]

59 minutes ago, SmittyBacall said:

I don’t get this logic. Why should they be penalized for making the correct pick?

To put it another way: Why should they be rewarded for winning the lottery?  All they did was take what was given them without screwing it up.

[tyler735]

Bucs: A 

I really liked their draft. I think Wirfs is going to be a quality Tackle for years to come. Winfield and Johnson were steals for them as well. I think they got at least 3 guys that could make an impact in their rookie year.

Panthers: B

They had some obvious holes on defense, and they spend their draft focusing on fixing the defense. Some quality guys like Brown and Gross-Matos should help take some positive steps on that side of the ball

Falcons: C

Not that high on Terrell and think they reached a bit. Won't be surprised if he has a rude awakening playing in the NFC South which features an absolute gauntlet of top WR's that will feast on him. None of their other picks really seemed to be anything to write home about. Davidson may turn out to be a solid DT for them. 

[MWil23]

Baltimore: They had a great draft. They got a rock solid LB in the 1st who should be an instant starter, arguably the best RB in the draft in the 2nd, and while many Baltimore fans (in their subforum anyway) questioned that/were upset, it's clearly the right move. They are built on the running game and Ingram is getting older. They are smart to reload at that position. Malik Harrison is an undervalued MLB with solid athleticism and really good production at OSU, and he should be a 2 down MLB that compliments their other athletic LB.

Cincinnati: On paper I really like what they did. Burrow is going to be solid, and above average at worst, with a lot of upside. Getting Higgins was smart, albeit I'm personally not as high on him as some are. Logan Wilson in Round 3 was a steal IMO. They got better across the board and also addressed positions of need.

Pitt: They were smart to go "All In" on Ben's twilight years. That defense is loaded, their skill positions are now really big on the outside with a solid running game. McFarland is a nice "ground and pound" guy who is a good natural runner, but he'll likely do nothing in the receiving game, which is my only real criticism of that pick.

[minutemancl]

21 minutes ago, Daniel said:

To put it another way: Why should they be rewarded for winning the lottery?  All they did was take what was given them without screwing it up.

There is a lot to be said about teams who stay put and take the best guy, and I mean that in a good way. You shouldn't get penalized for it. What I do is I reserve A+ grades for teams who game the draft, trading all over the place to accumulate loads of value while also taking the best players to fall their way. Having said that, the only real A+ grade I'd give this year is to Minnesota. I don't believe teams like the Bengals and Cowboys deserve less than an A just because they didn't do the maneuvering that the Vikings did; they still had fantastic drafts. I just wouldn't give them an A+ like I would for the Vikings, who went that extra step.

I don't think it is fair to penalize a team's grade for their draft position and lack of trades.

[Cutler06]

Chiefs:  I like CEH but thought Swift was a better back,  told he fits better in their scheme so I'll take that as solid. Gay Jr will be starting sooner than later, another solid pick. As for the rest of their draft, I thought the UDFA was better, that'll help up their status. I'd give it a B-

Raiders: A couple of head-scratchers as I'm not that high on Arnette, a bit too soon on him. Follow up by WR's 2 & 3, I like Bowdens versatility but not as high on Edwards. Love the Robertson pick, slam dunk there. Give it a B+

Chargers: Herbert pick was a no-brainer but a coin-flip as to his future impact, I'll give him the benefit as a positive. Murray was a great pick but that took them out of Day 2 where there was some real good talent. Hill and Aloha were good choices as well. Give it a B+/A-