NFL DRAFT GRADES: TIER B
- iAmMizz!
- May 11, 2020
- 11 min read
Updated: May 13, 2020
Part two of theNightCap's NFL Draft coverage tackles tier two of grading, from the B+ to B- range. If you missed tier A, click here. To repeat, these grades are based almost entirely on pre-draft projections for players and team needs that were either successfully filled or not. I will also look at draft strategy for those who seemed to have one, or lack there of.
P.S. If you missed my NFL Free Agency Winners and Losers of March, check them out by clicking these links or perusing 'theHuddle' section of 'theNightCap'.
Arizona Cardinals:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- B+
NightCap Draft Grade- B+
I'm not a Cardinals fan but objectively, I thought they were the perfect team to draft Isaiah Simmons and it turns out they agreed. This defense needed a lot this offseason, but one thing it was short on was playmakers. Chandler Jones and Patrick Peterson fit that build, but Simmons versatility gives Arizona a ton of options. Their next pick was the real shocker, offensive tackle Josh Jones out of Houston. It wasn't a shock that the Cards drafted a tackle, but that this one slipped to round three! Jones was projected to be the fifth tackle off the board by most, some even had him graded higher than Mekhi Becton. He ended up being the ninth tackle selected. After Jones and Simmons, GM Steve Keim had a modest draft taking two defensive linemen and linebacker Evan Weaver, a tackle machine that Arizona could use in the middle. Running back Eno Benjamin rounded out the draft in the seventh, and some have him as a possible sleeper too. My main thing keeping this from an 'A' grade was the fact that they did not address their secondary. I understand Simmons could play safety or nickel corner in theory, but as of now he's still a linebacker (according to Keim). Aside from Peterson, the secondary is still the Cardinals greatest area of need.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- B+
NightCap Draft Grade- B+
For Bucs fans it has been the dream offseason. I'm not saying they're going to win the Super Bowl but considering where their hope was three months ago, I'd be pretty happy right now if I were them. Things kept right on rolling in the draft when my personal favorite tackle in this class surprisingly fell all the way to Tampa Bay in the first round (Tristan Wirfs), who desperately needed someone to protect Brady. Then they were able to select Antoine Winfield Jr. with their next pick, a highly touted safety with football in his blood (and another need position for the Bucs). I didn't love the Ke'Shawn Vaughn pick but Tampa must have seen something they liked in him. I thought they should have drafted Zack Moss here, Vaughn was a lot further down on most big boards. They also bring in running back Raymond Calais as a possible seventh round sleeper. I liked the Tyler Johnson pick too at WR, but my main issue was that Tampa didn't draft a cornerback. This secondary is awful and they needed more than Winfield Jr. to fix it. On the other hand, I thought it was smart to keep O.J. Howard.
New York Jets:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- B
NightCap Draft Grade- B+
So as a Jets fan I was very happy with this draft, but there were some curious moments. I didn't love taking Becton over Wirfs in the first but I'll trust Joe Douglas' opinion on offensive line over mine, it is his specialty after all. Mekhi Becton is a mammoth in a human's body, so I'll hope that translates to the NFL. I also didn't agree with taking a backup running back (La'Michal Perine) and quarterback (James Morgan) over an extra wide receiver (something the Jets really could have used in a WR heavy draft)... despite the fact that I marked Morgan as a QB sleeper before the draft. It's clear that Douglas wants depth at every position, but wide receiver seems to be one of the only positions left out. The other in recent history has been edge rusher, where NYJ added Jabari Zuniga in the third round. I've heard boom or bust projections for the pass rusher. Having said all this, it seems the Jets took a few sleepers based on grades by top analysts, including star wide receiver Denzel Mims (who they could have drafted higher, but expertly traded down and still got), safety Ashtyn Davis (who may allow Jamal Adams to play in the box where he excels more often), tackle/guard Cameron Clark, cornerback Bryce Hall (projected 3rd or 4th round talent taken in the 5th), and punter Braden Mann (top punter prospect in years). When you consider New York's draft history over the last 10 years, Joe Douglas already looks like a keeper.
Indianapolis Colts:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- A-
NightCap Draft Grade- B+
The Colts draft began perfectly, gaining the offensive playmakers they needed to help Philip Rivers take this unit to the next level. WR Michael Pittman Jr. and RB Jonathan Taylor were necessary additions in the second, plus WR Dezmon Patmon in the sixth. My favorite pick was actually Jacob Eason. I said before the draft that he reminded me of a poor man's Andrew Luck. At a fourth round value compared to a first or second, I thought Eason was the number one BANG FOR YOUR BUCK quarterback in this draft class. They also added safety Julian Blackmon in the third round, which should help the Colts secondary. Don't forget they also acquired the juggernaut defensive tackle DeForest Buckner for their 2020 first round pick. The reason I gave Indy a B+ was their later round selections, which seemed like mostly reaches and wastes from the projections I read.
Jacksonville Jaguars:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- C-
NightCap Draft Grade- B+
The Jaguars are tanking, let's call a spade a spade. Fan favorite quarterback Gardner Minshew is not tanking, lame duck head coach Doug Marrone is not tanking, the rookies that just got drafted won't be tanking, but this front office is CERTAINLY tanking. They want Trevor Lawrence and they are willing to forget 2020 ever happened (like most of the World) to get him. Their draft was very good, but because they are tanking and made it clear they wanted to trade Yannick Ngakoue and Leonard Fournette, it became a public failure when they were unable to move either. Now both players are fed up with the franchise, especially Ngakoue, a common theme for Jacksonville in recent years. If not for this blatant transparency gone wrong, the Jags would have had a top-notch draft. C.J. Henderson will be the corner who replaces Jalen Ramsey long-term. K'Lavon Chaisson could immediately replace Yannick when he goes, joining second-year edge Josh Allen. Laviska Shenault and Collin Johnson will bolster this receiving corp with unique talents. Tackle Ben Bartch was a steal in the fourth round, and so was cornerback Josiah Scott just after him. This once-dominant defense was overhauled with youth and promise, but they still need their franchise quarterback in 2021. Sorry Jacksonville fans, it's not Minshew, Jake Luton, or Mike Glennon.
Cleveland Browns:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- B+
NightCap Draft Grade- B
This will be one of the rare teams I use outright opinion to affect my grade, but the Browns possible 'A' grade lost steam when they drafted Jedrick Wills Jr. over Becton and Wirfs. The more I thought about it, the more I realized Wills Jr. was my least favorite of the four tackles. For starters, he is a right tackle (being that Tua was a lefty, he did protect the blindside at Alabama, but Baker is a righty) that will be asked to switch to left tackle. Free agent Jack Conklin does not play left tackle either. I wasn't all that impressed by Wills Jr. in college and felt he had the greatest chance of becoming a major bust, like many Bama stars from years past, but hey I could be totally wrong. Aside from that, Cleveland killed it. They got safety Grant Delpit at an unreal value, D-tackle Jordan Elliott looks solid, tight end Harrison Bryant might make David Njoku expendable, and I like wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones out of Michigan. Thought they reached on linebacker Jacob Phillips, but for the most part the Browns continue to move in the right direction.
Los Angeles Rams:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- D
NightCap Draft Grade- B
Jalen Ramsey was technically their first round pick in 2020. They must lock him up long-term, otherwise that trade was a total abomination for Los Angeles. RB Cam Akers and WR Van Jefferson in the second were good picks, they might immediately account for Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks 2019 output, and at a much cheaper rate. I did not agree with Terrell Lewis in the third, he is an injury prone edge rusher who has hardly played the last couple seasons. Safety Terrell Burgess was better, and will attempt to help fill the void left by Eric Weddle's retirement. Sixth rounder Jordan Fuller joins Burgess on that task. It was no surprise that the Rams later drafted a kicker, they now have three on their roster in the ongoing search to replace Greg Zuerlein. The quantity over quality method so far. The other pick that intrigued me was seventh round guard Tremayne Anchrum, he could compete for Rodger Saffold's old job (one that was never adequately accounted for). The Rams are dead broke right now with Ramsey's impending extension handicapping them even further, this draft gave them slight relief.
Miami Dolphins:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- B+
NightCap Draft Grade- B
Here's the second time I will use a bit of opinion, I thought the Dolphins had to take either Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert, but I'm not sure either is a lock to become a successful franchise quarterback. Miami had enough picks to take the risk however, so I was in favor of this pick, but I do not have faith in Tua's body holding up long-term. The reason for the 'B' grade comes because of some of the other selections by the Dolphins, I thought they had a good deal of reaches mixed in with decent draft picks (they had an extreme amount of picks). We won't truly know if I'm right or wrong until these players take the field. First round tackle Austin Jackson, guard Solomon Kindley (4th) and safety Brandon Jones (3rd) were necessary positions for Miami, but the choice of prospect in each scenario seemed like the wrong one with the other options available at the time. The biggest reach was long snapper Blake Ferguson in the sixth, it's almost like the Dolphins ran out of players to draft so they figured, what the heck let's draft a long snapper here. Some of the picks I heard better things about were cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, guard Robert Hunt, and edge rushers Jason Strowbridge and Curtis Weaver. Either way, the Phins had a million bullets in this year's draft, so long as they hit with at least half of them they should be in decent shape... especially that bullet named Tua.
New Orleans Saints:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- A (formerly A- before April moves)
NightCap Draft Grade- B
The Saints didn't have many picks in this year's draft. To be exact, they had a total of four. Intelligent franchises make the most of what they have however, and NOLA did just that. First they drafted the best center in the class, Cesar Ruiz, which was confusing being that they drafted Erik McCoy last year (who has looked the part so far). I pegged it as you can never have too many talented young offensive linemen, but after Larry Warford's cap release this week it's now clear New Orleans had a plan from the start. Either Ruiz or McCoy will play guard in 2020. In the third round they got another stud, Zack Baun, outside linebacker out of Wisconsin. Baun can learn from Demario Davis, one of the best 4-3 outside backers in the game. Finally, tight end Adam Trautman and seventh round QB Tommy Stevens join Sean Payton's offense. The only foolish pick was Stevens, who has been compared to Taysom Hill. Word on the street is Payton drafted him to keep him from Carolina, but you can afford picks like this when you have an embarrassment of riches.
Carolina Panthers:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- D
NightCap Draft Grade- B-
I had a feeling the Panthers would focus on defense in this year's draft, and Matt Rhule's team did a nice job bringing young talent in on the that side of the ball with defensive tackle Derrick Brown, edge rusher Yetor Gross-Matos, safeties Jeremy Chinn and Kenny Robinson, cornerback Troy Pride and more. I liked most of these picks, Gross-Matos and Chinn especially. They did make two key mistakes in their first draft however. One, Carolina avoided the offensive side of the ball entirely. I know they have CMC and a new QB, not to mention Robby Anderson, D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel and others, but I still thought this offense needed some help (specifically the offensive line). Teddy Bridgewater is the type of quarterback that needs the right situation. He was lackluster with the New York Jets in preseason, but decent behind the top-graded New Orleans O-line. For his tenure in Carolina to work out, he'll need a good unit around him. The second mistake was not trading down at least once to acquire more picks (ones they could have used on offensive players like OL or TE). The Panthers seemed to prefer the "best defensive player available" strategy, but they should have considered quantity and depth instead.
Detroit Lions:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- C
NightCap Draft Grade- B-
This was a tale of two drafts for Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn. It began magnificently, with cornerback Jeff Okudah drafted as expected to take over for Darius Slay. Okudah will be a lock-down corner in the NFL, he reminds me of a young Aqib Talib (P.S. I was a little disappointed that the Lions were unable to trade down here with either Miami or Los Angeles, but that's not a huge deal). Next, they finally drafted what they hope will become their stud franchise running back in D'Andre Swift (the Lions haven't had a consistent run game in decades and Swift may have been the best RB available in this draft class). Finally, third round edge rusher Julian Okwara has been talked about with high acclaim. After that, things took a turn for the worse. Detroit seemed to realize they hadn't improved their offensive line like they had hoped, reaching on Jonah Jackson and Logan Sternberg. Their last three picks (Huntley, Pensini, Cornell) also seemed rash and hurried, with undrafted free agent projections by most analysts.
Los Angeles Chargers:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- C+
NightCap Draft Grade- B-
The Chargers offseason ended an era, only I'm not sure the timing of their decision to move on from Philip Rivers fit where their franchise is currently at. If you know you are going to select Justin Herbert, who will probably go down as a slight reach when all is said and done (I thought Burrow, Tua, and Love were all reaches this year to be honest but QB's are always hyped more than other positions), why not retain Rivers and have him teach the rookie for one season. Now they have him competing with Tyrod Taylor, a has-been who was never a great starter, for a job captaining a win-now roster. This defense is stacked, especially with the addition of Kenneth Murray at middle linebacker. They have playmakers too. What's missing is a quarterback that can lead them, so I don't hate the draft pick at all, but I think they should have fought to keep Rivers one more season. None of the later picks wow'ed me, including RB Joshua Kelley and WR Joe Reed. Seventh round receiver K.J. Hill actually intrigued me more than those two.
Atlanta Falcons:
NightCap Free Agency Grade So Far- C- (changed from D+)
NightCap Draft Grade- B-
I didn't think the Falcons had a bad draft by any means, I just thought that they got foiled by other teams once or twice. The main time this occurred was obviously in the first round. I felt like Atlanta was prepared to trade up for cornerback C.J. Henderson, they needed a new franchise D-back, but Jacksonville kind of surprised everyone when they took Henderson in the top ten. The Falcons then settled for A.J. Terrell, who I don't think is a bad pick at all, but because they didn't want to miss out again they were forced to draft Terrell a tad higher than expected. I'll put it this way, I don't think Terrell was first on their board going into draft night, I believe they started scrambling to get a corner once Okudah and Henderson went early. The Marlon Davidson edge rusher selection and the Matt Hennessy interior O-line picks were both right up my alley. I thought the Falcons needed two things going into this draft, defensive playmakers and offensive line depth. Similar to the Detroit Lions, general manager Thomas Dimitroff's scouts seemed to have different opinions than analysts in the later rounds. Linebacker Mykal Walker and safety Jaylinn Hawkins felt like reaches in the fourth, and with minimal selections (and a punter taken in the seventh) in 2020, it just felt like Atlanta's draft was just okay.
Our final tier of grades covers our worst drafters of 2020, the 'C' and 'D' range. Stay Tuned!
Комментарии