The Armchair Quarterback’s Guide To The NFL: Judging The Draft Classes

I Have Some Questions About What These Teams Did:

The teams in this tier are a mixed bag. Some teams drafted players that I like but ignored major holes on their roster. Other teams just seemed to miss the boat a little bit.

25. Kansas City Chiefs

This was a hard team for me to slot. As a confessed KC fan, I didn’t want to be a total homer and rate them too high when they clearly ignored what most perceived as their primary needs: WR, OL, and safety. They didn’t take a true WR at all, or a safety, and they waited on offensive line until the 6th round. That having been said, I really like the players they did get. Dee Ford is a great pass rusher, Phillip Gaines has #1 CB upside, De’Anthony Thomas will help fill the void left by Dexter McCluster, Aaron Murray is a perfect developmental QB for Andy Reid, and the offensive linemen they took in the 6th round have some upside. I simply can’t ignore the fact that they overlooked their roster holes. Five years down the road people may view this draft class much more positively, but right now there are some questions.

26. New England Patriots

While I like Dominique Easley’s upside, he does come with some injury risk and while I think Jimmy Garoppolo does have some promise as an heir to Tom Brady, they should be trying to win now while they still have Brady at the helm. As I mentioned in the Packers ranking, a team that is lead by their QB has to make sure they keep that QB stocked with quality weapons and the Pats missed the boat in that regard. When adding weapons for Brady should have been a top priority in a draft loaded with good WRs, the Pats elected to wait until the final round to take a WR (Jeremy Gallon). I think the Pats blew a chance to restock Brady for one last run at another Super Bowl.

27. Carolina Panthers

I really like the Carolina picks in rounds 2-5. They got some pretty good players in those rounds. However, I am not a fan of the Kelvin Benjamin pick. While they desperately needed a WR, I think Benjamin has bust written all over him (think Jon Baldwin). Also, the Panthers really needed an offensive tackle, but they ignored that position all together. Kony Ealy was a steal, but the Panthers missed a chance to really help Cam Newton out with this draft.

28. Cincinnati Bengals

This is another draft that you’ll find better received elsewhere. I liked the pick of the CB Dennard in the first, but after that their draft really didn’t do much for me. I like Jeremy Hill, but with how well Bernard played as a rookie, I’m not sure that was one of their top needs. I’m not a believer in AJ McCarron either, so I think that was a wasted pick. Will Clarke may add a little pass rush help, but it’s not enough for me to get that excited about.

29. Miami Dolphins

They had the biggest reach in the first round when they took OT Ja’Wuan James and then took a 4.7 forty WR in the second round. I do like OL Billy Turner and LB Jordan Tripp, but they aren’t going to be big enough difference makers as rookies to sway this draft class any higher than this. When all is said and done, I’m guessing we’ll look back and see that Miami could have taken much better players with both of their first two picks.

30. Seattle Seahawks

Before the draft I would have NEVER imagined that I would rank Seattle’s picks so low. Here’s my biggest problem with Seattle’s draft: a team as talented and deep as Seattle doesn’t need a bunch of “okay” prospects, a lot of those guys won’t even make the team. Seattle traded out of the first round and ended up taking Paul Richardson in the second. Richardson has some deep threat abilities, but he’s not an elite prospect. I think Seattle would have been better served moving up in the draft and adding at least one true impact player that could actually have a good chance to be a key contributor this season. The Justin Britt pick in the late second round was a complete head scratcher to me.

31. Washington Redskins

When you don’t have a first round pick you really need to ace your pick in the second round and I don’t think Washington did that. I felt like Trent Murphy was a reach there. While I like the value of Moses, Breeland, and Seastrunk I just don’t know if any of them are going to be more than average starters. On a team that was just flat out awful on defense at times last season I didn’t see near enough talent added to that side of the ball.

32. Indianapolis Colts

I’m not sure what is worse for Colts fans, not having a first round pick in this talented draft or knowing that the reason you don’t have a first round pick is because you traded it away for Trent Richardson. The Colts only had five total picks and only two in the first four rounds. They needed both of those picks to be real steals in order to salvage this draft class. While I think they may have found one steal in WR Donte Moncrief, I think they missed out on a lot of better players when they took Jack Mewhort in the second round. I think their defense could have used some help and I just don’t see anyone that is going to help much on that side of the ball. Sorry Indy fans!

So there you have it. My rankings of all 32 teams drafts. Where did I go wrong? Do you feel like I classified your team unfairly? I’m sure I’ll receive my fair share of criticism for this post, but thought I’d put it out there and see what most people think. I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

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