The long-awaited first round is over and after months of mock drafting, speculation and interpretation, it is finally clear what will happen to many of the top talents. Excitingly, the really big surprises largely failed to materialize and so the first evening in Detroit was almost predictable and without any real blockbuster trades. Let’s take a quick look back and summarize the previous night.
There are no big trades
In particular, a big trade was expected if three quarterbacks were to leave the board with the first three picks and only one of the four projected big names was still there. But it was surprisingly quiet after the Bears had three fairly expected consensus picks with Caleb Williams, Washington with Jayden Daniels and New England with Drake Maye. So nothing happened afterwards and you had the impression that all teams were pretty set with the players that were chosen. This was least surprising with the Cardinals, where insider Mike Jurecki has been predicting Marvin Harrison Jr. for months. Although there were always rumors that GM Monty Ossenfort was considering a trade, the price was already discussed again and again. Since the Chargers, Giants and Titans remained in their respective positions afterwards, it was obvious that the Vikings, Broncos and Raiders, for example, were either not prepared to pay the corresponding prices or the buzz that the still available JJ McCarthy had received, was a little bigger in the media than for the teams themselves. However, as already mentioned, the respective picks gave the impression that the franchises were committed to the players they ended up drawing. Alt to the Chargers, Nabers to the Giants and Latham to the Titans each make too much sense here in terms of need and the communication that was made pre-draft.
Falcons cause astonishment
So it was then left to Atlanta to provide the first and only big surprise. They chose quarterback Michael Penix Jr. from the Washington Huskies, who in most cases was a second-round pick and would at best be seen with the Broncos and Raiders if a certain panic had broken out here. In general, you can say that it makes sense to draft “your” quarterback earlier if you are simply convinced of the player. However, they had just brought in Kirk Cousins with a big contract in the offseason and at least initially there was no urgent need for the position in the medium term. A similar situation to, for example, Patrick Mahomes and Alex Smith or Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers comes to mind here. But in addition to his injury history, Penix is already 24 years old at the start of the season. Even if you only let Penix sit behind Cousins for two years, he would already be 26 years old in his first season as a starter. History shows that quarterbacks and players in general who come into the league late or start have not had the most outstanding careers. It will be interesting to see how the situation develops in the next few years. The board then mostly fell again as expected. The Bears gave Caleb Williams an additional weapon in Rome Odunze and the Vikings traded with the Jets to finally secure McCarthy at 10. The picks from the Broncos and Raiders were the bigger, smaller wow effects. Denver picked Bo Nix pretty early at 12 due to the lack of later options in the draft and in their own roster and the Raiders got one of the best players in the class in Brock Bowers, but at a position that generally doesn’t have much value and at own needs was somewhat questionable. Only last year they picked tight end Michael Mayer early in the second round. Bowers definitely falls into the “Best Player Available” category here.
Few surprises at the end of the round
Afterwards it became quieter again and there was no real head scratcher to be found. The Vikings made another trade and moved Dallas Turner at number 17, a successor to the departed edge rusher Danielle Hunter, after the first defender ever was picked with Laiatu Latu to the Colts at number 15. The Buffalo Bills traded backwards twice and ultimately completely out of the first round, but got pick number 33 from the Carolina Panthers, who secured a first round pick, even though it was only 32nd. Previously, Super Bowl Champ Kansas City Chiefs jumped forward and took Xavier Worthy at number 28, a player who on paper fits Andy Reid’s offense perfectly. The Texas wide receiver ran the fastest 40-yard dash in history at this year’s combine and provides an additional option for Pat Mahomes after the Rashee Rice incident. The Panthers also used the uptrade to give Bryce Young another starting position in Xavier Legette from South Carolina. Like Worthy, Legette also has some question marks in his profile, but he also has more than interesting traits to make an impact in the league. Since there are still a lot of well-known players available, the remaining rounds also bring with them many interesting decisions.
All first round picks at a glance:
About the author
Daniel Stark
Online editorial team
Daniel Stark writes on TOUCHDOWN24 about the NFL, college football and occasionally about the ELF. He also organizes the online editorial team