Winners and Losers from the 1st Round
Each year there are teams who dominate the draft, however, there are also several teams that make mistakes that will haunt them for years. Each year the draft is different with players shooting up draft boards, with others sliding into late rounds. The 1st round of this NFL Draft already has some clear cut winners and losers.
Winners:
San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers somehow managed to select Solomon Thomas, Reuben Foster, while also acquiring the Bears 3rd and 4th round picks this year and a 3rd next year. The first day of the draft couldn't have gone better for the rebuilding 49ers as they got two of their top players on their board. With the selections of Thomas and Foster, the 49ers should be able to improve their defense that allowed the most rushing yards per game in the league.
Quarterbacks: In a series of unexpected moves, 3 quarterbacks were drafted within the top 12. The Bears traded up for Trubisky with the second pick, the Chiefs traded up for Mahomes with the tenth pick and the Texans traded up for Watson with the twelfth pick. All of these rookies were picked much further ahead of their draft grades meaning these teams are confident that they can develop into future franchise quarterbacks.
Washington Redskins: The Redskins may have gotten the steal of the draft in Alabama defensive tackle Jonathan Allen. Just one month ago, Allen was a consensus top five pick but slid due to concerns with his shoulder injury. If Allen's shoulder holds up he probably will become a Pro Bowl level talent. Allen, the 2016 Chuck Bednarik award winner should be able to start day one and help solidify Washington's front seven.
Cleveland Browns: It would have been hard for the Browns to screw up their draft, but giving their past history it wouldn't be shocking. Instead of reaching for a quarterback to turn their franchise around they selected Myles Garrett with the first pick and then traded away the 12th pick to the Texans, but gained draft picks for the future. As a result of the Texans trade, they were able to select Jabrill Peppers at 25 and traded back into the 1st round, drafting Miami tight end David Njoku. Although they didn't solidify their quarterback of the future they should be excited for their future as they drafted three players with great potential. With their hoard of draft picks they should be able to draft their franchise quarterback next year in the draft.
Losers:
Bears: The Bears walked away one of the largest losers from the 1st round. They gave up two 3rd round picks and a 4th round pick just to move up one spot. They ended up taking Mitch Trubisky, in a puzzling move that left fans, analysts and front offices confused. After signing Mike Glennon to a 3-year contract during free agency they chose Trubisky as their future. This move showed their dysfunction as their head coach didn't even know about the plan to draft the UNC quarterback until hours before the draft.
Dalvin Cook: Once considered one of the best players in the draft and a surefire 1st rounder, Cook fell out of the first round entirely. This may be partly due to the deep running back class which has teams thinking they can wait until later rounds to draft a running back. Cook was regarded as a player who had a good chance to go to the Buccaneers, however, due to Doug Martin's impressive work in OTAs the Buccaneers decided to take Howard over Cook.
Mike Glennon: With the selection of Mitch Trubisky with the number 2 pick in the draft the writing is on the wall that Glennon's time is limited. If the Bears thought Glennon was the long-term solution at quarterback for the future they wouldn't have spent such a high pick on a Trubisky. It is only a matter of time before Trubisky is the starter of the Bears. With the ability to get out of the Glennon contract after this year, I would be shocked to see Glennon stay on the Bears for the duration of his 3-year contract.
