Day 1 of the 2018 NFL Draft is in the books, and while some teams faltered when they were on the clock, others nailed their moves, whether they were selections or trades. To these five teams, we say, bravo.
“Winning” the NFL draft doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be dealt the best cards in terms of the highest pick.
Teams can wow us on draft night by either skillfully executing trades to increase their capital or even simply sticking to their boards and not overthinking their selections. Of course, it doesn’t hurt when you’re working with a top 10 pick.
To that end, there were handful of teams that really knocked it out of the park tonight, and they deserved to be celebrated for their drafting prowess. Let’s take a look at the five moves that forced us to applaud in Round 1.
5. New York Giants stick with their board, select running back Saquon Barkley
Some were surely shocked that the New York Giants opted to pass on their potential quarterback of the future at No. 2 overall when Sam Darnold proved to be available. But you have to respect Dave Gettleman and the Giants organization for clearly trusting their draft board and grabbing the player they obviously wanted all along in running back Saquon Barkley.
Gettleman has been quoted as saying that he wanted a player at No. 2 who would don a gold jacket in the future, and while nothing is a sure thing in the NFL Draft — and the running back position even less so — but Barkley seems like he’s got a solid shot.
The Giants offense needed this shot of help, badly. New York’s offense finished second-to-last in the league NFL last year with 15.4 points per game on average.