2023 NFL Draft grades: Biggest winners and losers

2023 NFL Draft Grades – NFC East

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys made a curious choice in the first round with Mazi Smith, one of the best athletes in the entire class, but a bit of a luxury pick at defensive tackle. It didn’t make much sense to see Dallas wait so long to add help for an aging offensive line (OT Asim Richards in Round 5) and ignore wide receiver until the seventh round.

Luke Schoonmaker should help fill the void of Dalton Schultz’s free agent exit but the Cowboys could have done more with their picks.

Grade: C

New York Giants

GM Joe Schoen had a bunch of extra picks at his disposal and wasn’t afraid to use them to secure the players he wanted. Trade-ups allowed the Giants to get one of the draft’s best corners in Deonte Banks and jump to grab wide out Jalin Hyatt in Round 3.

John Michael Schmitz was a popular sleeper at center and the Giants’ late-round picks offered depth at key positions like running back and defensive tackle.

Grade: A

Philadelphia Eagles

The Georgia to Philadelphia pipeline continued as Howie Roseman added Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Kelee Ringo to the Eagles’ strong defense. Those three players were excellent values who could contribute right away to the defense.

Roseman also gets bonus points for adding key players at offensive tackle and safety in the early rounds, creating another home run class for the reigning NFC champs.

Grade: A+

Washington Commanders

This was certainly a strange class for the Commanders, who bypassed better prospects to take Emmanuel Forbes as the second cornerback off the board and opted not to address the quarterback position.

The group was very mismatched as Washington opted to take a safety and a center with its two Day 2 picks when they could have gotten better value at other areas of need. A class like this didn’t do much to help Sam Howell, the current long-term hope at quarterback, or allow the Commanders to keep up in a deep division.

Grade: D