NFLRT 5/3/2024

The questions and discussion…

Recently the NFL held its annual draft…

1) Which team or team aced the draft? Why?

While you have a better chance at getting better grades with having a high number of picks in a draft, but the Arizona Cardinals aced their draft.

They grabbed the top wide receiver in the draft, and top overall prospect in grading before the drafts, instead of trading out of the pick which already was a big win for the Arizona organization.

They then grabbed an edge player, which they needed on defense in Darius Robinson, who dominated other prospects at the Senior Bowl. They grabbed another defender in Max Melton, who was rising up draft boards and really impressed at the combine.

I like their running back pick in Trey Benson, who is very shifty and can provide a lot of help on offense.

Then they had to grab Christian Jones, who was ranked around the top 100 on overall draft boards yet was picked at 162.

The rest of the draft was filled with a lot of need positions and depth picks, which is always great.

I think Arizona did a fantastic job with their draft. 

I thought the Kansas City Chiefs pretty much nailed their draft.

The picks: WR Xavier Worthy (No. 28 overall); OT Kingsley Suamataia (No. 63);

TE Jared Wiley (No. 131); DB Jaden Hicks (No. 133); OL Hunter Nourzad (No. 159); DB Kamal Hadden (No. 211) and OL C.J. Hanson (No. 248).

A big reason why the Chiefs are perennial winners and always in the hunt for the Super Bowl is they draft very well.

Worthy is the fast and quick wideout the Chiefs have needed since trading Tyreek Hill away in 2022, and they didn’t have to sacrifice much to Buffalo, one of their chief rivals in the AFC, in the trade up to select him.

They also did not have to reach for OL Suamataia, who could be starting at tackle or guard a lot sooner than later in 2024.  

TE Wiley has size and strength working to his advantage which should create mismatches against smaller defenders. He also will be a nice insertion into the offense when Kelce needs a break or two during games which will keep him fresh as the season progresses toward and into the playoffs. 

Hicks joins past Chiefs picks L’Jarius Sneed and Chamarri Conner as yet another potential bargain defensive back in the fourth round.

Nourzad could start at center or guard in the NFL

All in all a very nice draft to help keep their roster fresh, young and competitive as they go for their three-peat. 

2) Which team or teams, if not flunked the draft, didn’t do so hot in the draft? Why? 

Not only did the Falcons shock the world by picking a quarterback in the first round, but they grabbed a player that a lot of people thought could’ve traded back to still have picked him. Grabbing Penix Jr over an edge player or any defensive player after just signing a $180-million contract for a new quarterback was head-scratching.

Then not grabbing an edge player until Bralen Trice in the third round was a little surprising as well, but that’s a nice selection. They also grabbed Ruke Orhorhoro and Brandon Dorlus for the D-Line which were nice depth and additions to the defensive front.

I liked the next three picks after Penix Jr, but that Penix Jr pick at number eight really ruined their overall draft grade. They could’ve done a lot more with that selection, and if Penix Jr was there for sure selection in the first round, they needed to trade back and acquire more draft capital while still getting their future quarterback.  

Atlanta Falcons.

The picks: QB Michael Penix Jr.; DE Ruke Orhorhoro (No. 35); OLB Bralen Trice (No. 74); DE Brandon Dorlus (109); LB JD Bertrand (No. 143); RB Jase McClellan (No. 186); WR Casey Washington (No. 187) and DE Zion Logue (No. 197).

I may be jumping on the dog pile here but Atlanta kind of blew this draft mainly due to the fact that they used their overall 8 pick to select QB Penix. Simply put the pick was perplexing given their investment in Kirk Cousins (four-years, $180 million with $100 million in guaranteed money) this offseason.

He has the arm and accuracy to be a decent NFL QB if can stay free from the injuries that sort of plagued him during his collegiate career but assuming Cousins plays for the next few years he is going to be up there in age already by the time he is inserted as the number 1 at QB… if in fact he does make as an NFL QB. Just a waste of their first round pick in my opinion.

If they wanted Penix that badly then they should have traded back and collected draft capital and then take him with whatever later first round pick they got…. Or better yet waited until round two to take him. Because I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts he would have still been there. They should have gone with defense with that first pick… that was simply their greater need.  

They finally did draft a defensive player in the second round but trading up

to take Orhorhoro was a reach, in my opinion, especially when they had bigger needs in other places on defense. given the team’s need at corner.

Finally they filled a need by taking edge player Trice, but they could have been filling that need with that first round pick instead with an arguably better player.  

Dorlus fits the mold of Atlanta’s defensive linemen. He should be able to play 5-technique or 3-technique depending on where he is needed.

Bertrand should contribute on special teams in 2024 and should develop into a serviceable player for their defense given time. McClellan and Washington offer depth at the skill positions.

But overall Atlanta blew this draft by taking Penix with their first pick.

3) Considering the players drafted in this year’s draft…

Who is your leading candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year? Why? 

My pick is going to be quarterback Jayden Daniels.

He’s an absolute menace both throwing through the air and with his legs, being able to make a play in multiple facets and cause constant headaches to opposing defenses. He luckily gets an ex-defensive coordinator as his new head coach in a new environment with new management all-around that should benefit him as well because he can get plays designed for him to really screw up defenses. His head coach will know how other defensive coaches think and can plan around their game plans.

He was a stellar player in college and being such a dual threat is only going to elevate his stock throughout the season.  

I’ll pick Arizona’s WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

The leading wide receiver on the current Cardinals roster last season was rookie Michael Wilson who had 38 catches for 565 yards.

That means there’s a huge opportunity for Harrison Jr. to jump into the Cardinals’ lineup immediately and be the number one receiver that QB Kyler Murray needs so badly. Given he will be targeted a lot and most likely turn those targets into catches and then rack up beg yards in the process I think he is the player to win OROY in the 2024 season. 

4) Considering the players drafted in this year’s draft…

Who is your leading candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year? Why?

I’m going to go with the top defensive player I had in the draft in Dallas Turner, as it pains me to type this because I think he’s the best defender in the draft who was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings.

He played with Alabama in the SEC in college, which gave him a lot of experience towards NFL-style play. I think he’s going to be a very big menace on defense causing offensive lines fits. He’ll follow in the footsteps of his ex-teammate in winning Rookie of the Year and having a fantastic season. A lot of people thought he was the best defender in the class, and most were expecting him to go to Atlanta. Instead, he went to the team they took their quarterback from. He excelled when Will Anderson Jr went to the draft last season for Nick Saban, and this is going to be a fantastic year for him.  

I’ll take the Colts edge player Laiatu Latu.

Latu was the first defensive player off the board this year after his dominant 2023 season at UCLA where he earned a 94.3 PFF pass-rush grade, winning 26.2% of his pass-rush reps last season.

Putting up those stats as a rookie in the NFL will be tough to replicate but he should come close to equaling what Will Anderson Jr. did in 2023 he won 17.4% of his pass-rush reps for the Texans.

He does that and I think he will win the DROY in 2024.

5) What was your biggest surprise in this year’s draft? Why? 

Biggest surprise of the draft I already mentioned up above. It has to be Michael Penix Jr going to the Atlanta Falcons.

They just signed a quarterback (Kirk Cousins) for four-years, $180 million with $100 million in guaranteed money. After having multiple seasons without a quarterback, I get that they want to load up on quarterbacks. But with your quarterback situation already taken care of for multiple years, why was there such a big need for a quarterback in round one, let alone at eight?

Then, it was a quarterback that could’ve been drafted later in the first round or even the second round. They could’ve traded back and acquired more draft capital and still got their quarterback. It was just head-scratching all-around. He’s an older quarterback with a lot of college experience. And he’s going to join the Falcons and sit for, at least, two seasons. You’re wasting years for a cheap quarterback. Yes, you can re-sign him on a cheap deal because he hasn’t proven himself to get top money. But because he was picked in the top ten, his contract isn’t as low as it could’ve been had he been picked in round two or late round one.

Just a head scratcher all-around, but I guess the Falcons have been scarred by poor quarterback play in the last couple of seasons in which they could’ve easily obtained division titles.  

I gotta go with Dan…

The Falcons taking going QB with Michael Penix with their overall 8 pick.

Mind boggling to say the least.