The 2018 NFL Draft is over and it was a wild ride, man. We won't know anything about the draft classes taken by these teams for a few years, but contractual obligations dictate we start to make some knee-jerk reactions. Believe me, no one is more aware of the inherent danger in judging a draft class within hours of it being secured than yours truly.
But you can see some patterns emerging in these classes, and you can see some teams who got appreciably better and some teams who made questionable decisions or were denied an opportunity to nab the players they wanted in the draft due to various circumstances. (Note here: the Saints might have well lost last year after missing out on Patrick Mahomes and Reuben Foster, being forced to draft Marshon Lattimore and Ryan Ramcyzk. That worked out OK for them.)
The Pick Six Podcast went all week long for the draft, including a Saturday night/Sunday morning show recapping the entire NFL Draft. Myself, John Breech and Ryan Wilson dove in to break down our winners and losers. Even once the draft ends, you can still get a daily dose of football in your podcast inbox, about 30 minutes each day and ready by 6 a.m., just hit the subscribe button of your choice: via iTunes | via Stitcher | via TuneIn | via Google Play.
You're going to hate some of these picks and you're going to like some of these picks and you might even throw some of these picks back in my face down the road. If you want to do any of that, holler at me on Twitter @WillBrinson.
WINNERS
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals were mentioned in the first two days of these recaps, but with good reason. They had a great draft! You never see a team move up five spots in the draft and snag a franchise quarterback by only giving up a third- and a fifth-round pick, but the Cardinals did just that. Teams should be able to auction off picks when a guy like Josh Rosen is available, and the Cards snared the UCLA quarterback without surrendering any current or future first- or second-round picks (outside of the obvious first-round swap). It wasn't highway robbery but what a gambit for Arizona. Smart move by GM Steve Keim the following day, as well, when he added Christian Kirk as a future and current receiving asset for his quarterbacks in 2018 and beyond (who knows if Sam Bradford actually starts, but he's the current plan with Rosen having the option to challenge him). Mason Cole gives them a ton of versatility on the offensive line at the guard and center positions.
New York Giants
I banged on Dave Gettleman for using the second-overall pick on a running back Thursday and I still think you are smarter to go with positional value, but I understand why the Giants GM wants to stick to his board and take the best player available. You have to respect that sensibility. It makes more sense to grab Barkley when the Giants plan is viewed as a whole -- adding Will Hernandez in the second round gives them a nice left side of the line when you pair him with Nate Solder. Adding Lorenzo Carter, the pass rusher out of Georgia, gives them an injection of speed, and B.J. Hill will make an impact rushing the passer from the interior of the defensive line. If he hits on Kyle Lauletta, the fourth-round quarterback out of Richmond, there's going to be some ring smooching going on in the greater Tri-State Area.
Brian Gutekunst
We know the Packers are going to be good on offense next year, right? (Spoiler: they are.) Now they're going to be good on defense too, thanks to getting Mike Pettine some weapons in the draft. Gutekunst, the Packers first-year GM, went defense-heavy early in the draft, picking up Louisville corner Jaire Alexander in the first round and Iowa corner Josh Jackson in the second round. Green Bay then added linebacker Oren Burks in the third round. The real power move by Gutekunst in all of this was him somehow managing to walk out of Thursday with an extra first-round pick next year despite moving down only three spots: he let the Saints come up, took their first next year, then moved back up at a cheaper cost when the Seahawks were looking to trade down. It was some David Blaine-level trickeration. Notre Dame wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown in the sixth round might have been one of the biggest steals in the whole draft. For a fanbase that got tired of the team not spending in free agency and standing pat in the draft and taking what came down the pipe, Packers fans should be thrilled at the way Gutekunst spent this offseason being active and this draft whipping up some serious defensive improvements.
Cleveland Browns
The only reason I'm not leading this column with Cleveland again is their decision to pass on Bradley Chubb in order to snag Denzel Ward. And that's personal preference more than anything; Ward is a great player but give me the pass rusher all day, especially with Chubb being the best player in the draft. Otherwise I love what they did.
Baker Mayfield at No. 1 will define this draft in the end. I had him as the QB1 in this class and believe in what he can bring to a modern NFL offense, but there is absolutely "get you fired" potential with Mayfield because of his brash personality, the nature of this No. 1 pick and the difficulty in evaluating quarterbacks. If anyone can save Cleveland it's Mayfield.
I would have preferred Will Hernandez at No. 33 but going Austin Corbett and then picking up Nick Chubb at No. 35 was a really nice way to kick off the second round. (Kudos to Dorsey for not going running back off the bat; the Giants already took one in Round 1 and weren't going to grab Chubb or trade based on how Dave Gettleman operates). Chubb could make Carlos Hyde expendable after just one year, in the same way Mayfield will likely make Tyrod Taylor a free agent after 2018.
Chad Thomas is a part-time rapper who can rush the passer and Antonio Callaway, who is loaded with red flags, could be the most talented receiver in the draft. Good value in the third and fourth rounds.
Sashi Brown should get some credit for the Browns having lots of draft picks, but John Dorsey will be guy reaping the rewards if these picks hit, and justifiably so.
Denver Broncos
John Elway needed a big draft to help Denver get back into the hunt in the AFC West after a disappointing year that saw the Broncos finish with the No. 5 overall pick. Signing Case Keenum didn't necessarily take them out of the discussion for a quarterback, but Bradley Chubb falling to fifth overall sure did. The Broncos were thinking about trading down, and had a deal in place with the Bills, until Chubb landed in their lap with their first-round pick. Elway turned on his heel and sprinted to get the card in. Understandably: Von Miller and Chubb are a filthy pass-rush combo. And Von knows it.
Combined with Chris Harris, Bradley Roby and Justin Simmons on the back end, plus Brandon Marshall/Todd Davis at linebacker, and the Broncos defense could be reminiscent of the unit that fueled their Super Bowl 50 run.
Receiver was going to be an issue after 2018, assuming Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders stuck around that long (Elway decided to keep them in order to help woo a free-agent quarterback). Word on the street is Denver hasn't been thrilled with the production of the receiving duo recently and they could result in big cap savings next offseason. The Broncos added Courtland Sutton out of SMU in the second round and DaeSean Hamilton out of Penn State in the fourth round -- those are guys who could be home runs. Sutton is a big-body receiver who can get downfield; Hamilton probably plays in the slot, but he's a bigger receiver for that area and a seriously high-character guy (he has been serving as his autistic brother's caregiver for a long time).
Josey Jewell is the type of mid-round selection who ends up being a home run, a guy with a stupid motor who doesn't fit the upside part of what teams look for in drafts and ends up being closer to his college production than his draft projection.
The running back situation in Denver merits watching. C.J. Anderson was released, which signaled the team's interest in having Devonte Booker serve as a feature back. But drafting Royce Freeman out of Oregon in the third round points in a different direction. They also added David Williams of Arkansas in the seventh round.
If you want to nitpick the Broncos for their draft, it's reasonable to question why they didn't invest enough in the offensive line. Sam Jones, a sixth-round center, was the only addition in that regard.
Dave Doeren
The NC State football coach just broke a program record by having seven players drafted in the 2018 NFL Draft, tying him with Ohio State -- and behind only Alabama -- for most players taken this year. The truly impressive parts of that? It was Doeren's first real recruiting class, and it featured only two guys who were given higher than a three-star rating (Kentavius Street, Nyheim Hines) according to the 247 Sports composite score. What that shows is Doeren's building a program in Raleigh -- the coaching staff and strength coaches bring in guys and develop them into potential high-level pros. In any other year Chubb might've been the top overall pick, and the entire starting defensive line was taken in the first 130 picks of the draft -- it would have been sooner but Street went 128 because he tore his ACL just a few weeks ago on a visit to the Giants. Notable coaches to watch from this program: Kevin Patrick (defensive line), who coached up Chubb, Street, B.J. Hill and Justin Jones; Dwayne Ledford (offensive line), who helped develop a stout unit headlined by Will Richardson (drafted by the Jaguars) and Tony Adams (UDFA to Jacksonville); and Dantonio Burnette (assistant AD and director of strength and conditioning). If you want proof of what Burnette's staff does, go look at a picture of Chubb in 2011 and look at him now. I guarantee at some point next year one or both of Hines and Jaylen Samuels make an impact in your fantasy football league. Hines could lead
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