NFL Draft 2023: 5 teams that won the first round

No. 3 team that won the first round of the NFL Draft: Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals had leverage picking at No. 3. Other teams wanted quarterbacks and they wanted draft capital. Funnily enough, the trade that moved them back in the draft wasn’t for a QB, but it still got them exactly what they wanted and needed.

The Texans took CJ Stroud at No. 2, then moved back up to No. 3 to take linebacker Will Anderson. In exchange for the No. 3 and 105 picks, Arizona came away with No. 12 and 33 this year, plus a first- and third-rounder for 2024.

The Cardinals turned around and used the No. 12 pick and their own No. 34 to trade up to No. 6 to take offensive tackle Paris Jackson out of Ohio State.

So essentially, Arizona moved back to take the top player at a position of need while netting a potentially highly-valuable selection in the first round of next year’s draft, which is considered to have a much stronger pool of prospects.

Critically, the first-round pick the Texans gave up was their own, not the one they received from Cleveland in the Deshaun Watson trade. The chances of it being in the Top 5 are very high.