NFC West Draft Review
No one from the NFC West is building a contender from this draft but most of them don’t have to because they were well on their way. Arizona got some nice players to put around Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins, on both offense and defense. The 49ers were in the Super Bowl last year and replaced their two biggest free agent losses with younger, cheaper versions of those guys. The Seahawks had another unorthodox draft but it seems to work for them. The Rams are in transition and it’s going to be a bumpy ride. This draft class isn’t going to turn around their fortunes but there are some solid players in this group.
Arizona Cardinals
(8) Isaiah Simmons LB Clemson
(72) Josh Jones OT Houston
(114) Leki Fotu DL Utah
(131) Rashard Lawrence DL LSU
(202) Evan Weaver LB California
(222) Eno Benjamin RB Arizona St.
Immediate Impact: LB Isaiah Simmons
Simmons could change the trajectory of the entire Cardinals defense. He can play all over the field and while he will line up at LB, he’s chess piece the team can move all over. He can drop into coverage, blitz off the edge and chase down any RB in the league. Within his own division he’ll be covering George Kittle one week and trying to chase down Russell Wilson the next. He’s a perfect defender for today’s NFL.
Best Value: OT Josh Jones
Seriously? The guy had first-round ability and the Cardinals got him in round three. The team has Marcus Gilbert set to play RT but he’s 32 and he missed last season with an injury. Jones can take that job pretty quickly and he is so much more talented than a third-round pick. He isn’t flashy but he’s good. The team needs to protect Kyler Murray and they lucked into a starting caliber RT with the 72nd overall pick.
Sleeper: RB Eno Benjamin
They are bringing back Kenyan Drake after trading for him last season and they have Chase Edmunds but Benjamin is good enough to push Edmunds down the depth chart. He’s not the biggest RB in the world but he’s actually the same size as Edmunds. Benjamin carried the load at Arizona St. the last two years and proved that his size isn’t a detriment to him being a full-time player. He has a multitude of skills and he’ll find a place in what should be a high-powered Arizona offense.
Overall Analysis
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and the Cardinals got lucky plenty of times in the draft. Simmons falling to 8th overall makes him a steal. Then they didn’t have a second-round pick but they end up with a first-round talent in OT Josh Jones at a position of need in round three. The two d-lineman, Leki Fotu and Rashard Lawrence aren’t household names but they add some heft and some run-stopping prowess to defensive line that needed it badly. LB Evan Weaver is an underrated player because he’s not a superior athlete but when you can potentially play him with uber-athlete Simmons that drastically reduces the problem of his athletic limitations. RB Benjamin is legitimately the best seventh-round pick of the year. This draft was damn good overall. It wasn’t a big class but it is a good one.
Los Angeles Rams
(52) Cam Akers RB Florida St.
(57) Van Jefferson WR Florida
(84) Terrell Lewis OLB Alabama
(104) Terrell Burgess S Utah
(136) Brycen Hopkins TE Purdue
(199) Jordan Fuller S Ohio St.
(234) Clay Johnston LB Baylor
(248) Sam Sloman K Miami-OH
(250) Tremayne Anchrum OL Clemson
Immediate Impact: RB Cam Akers, OLB Terrell Lewis
The Rams can pretend they really like the combination of Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson at RB but Akers is the more talented back. I don’t think it will take him long to take the starting job. Brown is the bigger power back while Henderson is the smaller shiftier guy but Akers is good at both. He would allow Brown to be the short-yardage back and Henderson to be the third-down specialist. Lewis has to be more consistent and stay healthy but the Rams lost Dante Fowler Jr. and cut Clay Matthews so they need someone to bring the pressure from the OLB spot. DE Aaron Donald shouldn’t have to be the lone focus for offenses to stop. Lewis might not be the biggest impact player but they need him pretty badly.
Best Value: OLB Terrell Lewis
Lewis has first-round talent the only thing that held him back was his injury history. It’s certainly a concern but if he’s healthy, on this roster, he’s a starter. That’s pretty good value for a third-round pick.
Sleeper: TE Brycen Hopkins
He’s a sleeper here because the team already has Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett at TE so no one is expecting a lot from Hopkins. He was only a fourth-round pick but he’s got plenty of skills. He runs good routes and he’s a very good athlete. He will be hard to handle in the passing game and while he’s not a great blocker he is willing and that’s half the battle. The biggest concern with him is that he’s the type of guy who will make a tough catch one play and then drop a routine one the next play. He needs to work on his consistency catching the ball. Higbee and Everett are young guys but their contracts will be coming up soon and the team has some salary cap issues. Hopkins would be a cheap alternative if they decide not to bring one of these guys back in the next couple of years.
Overall Analysis
I love the Cam Akers pick considering the team had to let Todd Gurley go. Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson are nice complementary backs but Akers is a better overall talent. The Van Jefferson pick was also a solid choice. Jefferson isn’t flashy and he was almost a forgotten man in a draft so stocked with WR talent. However, Jefferson is a technician at WR which probably comes from the fact his father, Shawn Jefferson, was a long-time NFL WR and is now a WR coach. The team traded Brandin Cooks and while Jefferson won’t outright replace him, he does offer nice depth and he could compete with Josh Reynolds to be the third WR behind Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. Obviously, I like the Lewis and Hopkins picks and that is mostly because while they have their issues the team didn’t overdraft either one and they both have great upside. The team took S Terrell Burgess in round three and S Jordan Fuller in round six. Burgess is a CB sized safety with good coverage skills while Fuller is the bigger, more physical safety. Considering the team doesn’t have much beyond starters Taylor Rapp and John Johnson, these were very solid picks. Clayton Johnston is a coverage LB I’m not sure makes the roster. The took a kicker, they needed a kicker so I won’t argue with taking one in round seven. The one spot that stands out as a problem with this draft is that while the team clearly needed some help on the offensive line, they only drafted one and it was Tremayne Anchrum in the seventh round. LT Andrew Whitworth is 38 years old and LG Austin Corbett was a bust in Cleveland the Rams traded for last year. This team needed more than a developmental seventh-rounder.
San Francisco 49ers
(14) Javon Kinlaw DT South Carolina
(25) Brandon Aiyuk WR Arizona St.
(153) Colton McKivitz OL West Virginia
(190) Charlie Woerner TE Georgia
(217) Jauan Jennings WR Tennessee
Immediate Impact: DT Javon Kinlaw, WR Brandon Aiyuk
The 49ers traded for the 13th pick which they then flipped to Tampa Bay to move down one spot and still get the player they wanted. In that trade they gave up DeForest Buckner and Kinlaw is a younger and cheaper version of Buckner. He could become a starter rather quickly or just be one of the many talented d-linemen they like to rotate. The team moved up at the end of the first round to grab WR Brandon Aiyuk out of Arizona St. because the need a playmaker. They got Emmanuel Sanders last year and he really helped but he left for the Saints and that left Deebo Samuel to fend for himself. Aiyuk is a big play monster and he’s actually a pretty good blocker for a WR, that will help on a team that loves to run.
Best Value: None
When you only have five picks it’s hard to find great value. It was a pretty good move to pick up a pick for the 13th spot and still get Javon Kinlaw, the guy they would have taken at 13.
Sleeper: OT Colton McKivitz
There isn’t a lot to choose from with only five picks but I like McKivitz. He shouldn’t play this season since the team traded for Trent Williams to play LT and they have Mike McGlinchy entrenched at RT and that’s good because McKivitz is a bit of a project. Williams will be 32 this season so they should be looking at a long-term replacement there. McKivitz looks the part as he’s 6’6 and move quite well. He can be their swing tackle for now and develop over the next several years. He may not be the long-term solution but he’s worth a shot.
Overall Analysis
Kinlaw and Aiyuk fill a couple of key holes for a team that went to the Super Bowl last year but this draft probably doesn’t move the needle overall for the team. They are still good and they will still heavily rely on their run game. Kinlaw and Aiyuk are much cheaper replacements for veterans DeForest Buckner and Emmanuel Sanders so that helps the team moving forward. McKivitz is worth a shot but I feel like Woerner and Jennings are longshots for the roster. The team isn’t extremely deep at either WR or TE but it will be an uphill battle to make a Super Bowl roster.
Seattle Seahawks
(27) Jordyn Brooks LB Texas Tech
(48) Darrell Taylor DE Tennessee
(69) Damien Lewis OG LSU
(133) Colby Parkinson TE Stanford
(144) DeeJay Dallas RB Miami
(148) Alton Robinson DE Syracuse
(214) Freddie Swain WR Florida
(251) Stephen Sullivan TE LSU
Immediate Impact: OG Damien Lewis
This speaks volumes about the Seahawks draft overall but I’ll get to that. The team drafted Lewis to bring some power and nastiness to the interior offensive line. Lewis is a beast on the inside and he should start right away after the team cut DJ Fluker after drafting Lewis. He was a part of the best offensive line in college football last season at LSU and he should be a starter for the next decade in the NFL.
Best Value: Maybe TE Colby Parkinson
Parkinson is a tall, rangy athlete that could turn into a valuable asset in the passing game. He’s long and has a giant catch radius which Russell Wilson should find useful. The team got him in the fourth round and he has starter potential down the road. The one roadblock is the Seahawks have quite a few bodies at TE and while newly signed Greg Olsen should start easily Parkinson might find it difficult breaking through so many players to find snaps as a backup. He was well worth the fourth-round pick they used on him.
Sleeper: DE Alton Robinson
Robinson is a fifth round pick out of Syracuse that showed flashes of pass rushing ability that could be quite useful to the Seahawks who are counting on LJ Collier and Bruce Irvin to be their main source of pressure. The team took Darrell Taylor from Tennessee in round two but I actually think they got a better deal with Robinson in round five and he could break out. He needs to be more consistent but if the team coaches him up a bit, they may find a steal.
Overall Analysis
Evaluations of Jordan Brooks were all over the place and as they usually do, the Seahawks zig when everyone else zagged. Brooks could be a good player but the Seahawks have Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright set at two starting LB spots with Shaquem Griffin and Ben Burr-Kirven set to compete for the other spot so Brooks might not contribute much next season. For a team looking to compete for a Super Bowl title they may have spent their first-round pick on a guy that sits on the bench next season. Darrell Taylor fits a need as a DE but there were better DEs available. This team has a weird idea of what they want off the edge. Taylor was extremely inconsistent and disappears for long stretches. The Lewis pick was great, he is exactly what they need for their power running game and they finally invested in the offensive line. I like Parkinson’s potential; I just hope he can navigate his way to some playing time. DeeJay Dallas is proof the Seahawks like average RBs. Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny, Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas, yeah, he fits right in. Robinson is a boom or bust pick but if you’re going to take an inconsistent edge player it’s better to do it in round five not round two. WR Freddie Swain and TE Stephen Sullivan are going to find it hard to make the roster considering the depth the Seahawks have at WR and TE.
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