My 1st Round Winners and Losers

Winners
Seattle: OT Russell Okung, S Earl Thomas
Seattle got away with the 1st Round I would have dreamed for the 49ers. Okung is the best pure LT in the draft and was a top 5 talent and Thomas is a ball hawking S who will be making plays for a long long time.
Grade: A

Detroit: DT Ndamukong Suh, RB Jahvid Best
The Lions drafted the best DL since Julius Pepers and also got Best, who's talent drop off from C.J. Spiller is not worth 21 picks. Best gives the Lions and explosive RB/WR (out of the backfield) on offense and a dynamite KR. Suh will anchor the defense for a long time. They badly need some OL help though.
Grade: A

Dallas: WR Dez Bryant
You have to hand it to the 'Boys, when no one else would touch him, they went ahead and grabbed BY FAR the best WR in the draft. Say what you will about Bryant's character but he is a beast in the TO mold and getting him in the late first round will go down as one of the biggest steals of the draft.
Grade: A


Losers
Denver: WR Demaryius Thoms, QB Tim Tebow
I knew Josh McDaniels was an ego maniac but I didn't think he was crazy...until last night. The Broncos did a good job of trading down from 11 and acquiring extra pics, but what they did with those picks is utterly perplexing.

Thomas is a WR with some upside, BUT he had limited production in college and was injured for much of the offseason meaning that there is no way scouts could have had a good read on him, so to draft him ahead of Bryant, Golden Tate and even Arrelious Benn is just nuts.

THEN to compound there first strange choice they traded up (giving up the 43rd, 70th and 114th picks) to draft Tebow. Now granted, I can't stand the guy for all sorts of reasons, but even trying to look at this in an unbiased way, it still makes NO sense. The guy is at least 3 years away from being even a functional NFL QB and the Broncos have plenty of needs on both sides of the ball. This pick screams of hubris on McDaniels' part.
Grade: F

Jacksonville: DT Tyson Alualu
In a pick that might have been a bigger reach than Tebow, Jacksonville stunned everyone by going wayy down the board getting Alualu. Now as a Cal guy, I know how much value Alualu brings to the DL, but is he really worth a top 10 pick?!? Alualu is a blue-collared interior lineman with above average athleticism, but realisitcally his value, at best, was in the lower 3rd of the 1st round. All in all, biggest reach of the 1st round.
Grade: D+


San Diego: RB Ryan Matthews
San Diego needed a RB and Matthews is a solid player who probably warrented late 1st round consideration, but to give up so much to get him is perplexing. I don't think there much a difference between him and Jonathan Dwyer who probably could be had in the late 2nd / early 3rd
Grade: C-

Agree with most of what you said, Seattle just absolutely had a fantastic 1st round. Luckily they dont have a QB because they could really be a challenge with those upgrades.

San Diego are at the point where they have few holes and need to fill them because they are favorites to will the AFC west and be deep in the playoffs. So is see why they traded up so far, I know they could use their other picks but they got their man.

The Jags pick was horrid, they should have traded down. Even if they took a 4th or 5th...get something! Reminds me of their pick for the ark QB they converted to WR Matt Jones. At least that was at the latter part of the 1st.

I dont agree with your grade for the Broncos... Thomas could be very good for them and he has the biggest hands of all the WR's which will help in the cold denver winters, hes a TO clone without the off field issues. Tebow in the 1st is a little shocker, but you have to see he has something special about him. Ya hes corny about Family, I want to be with my family, godbless.... but on the field hes a TRUE competitor, not someone who just talks [blah]...he has leadership that is rare and will make the players around him better in close/important games.

I'd give them a C+

I like what San Diego did, the Texans were rumored to be interested in Matthews. How do we know that they werent gonna trade up for him.


The Chargers targeted a player and made a move for him. I say props to the Chargers