Atlanta Falcons
(4) Kyle Pitts TE Florida
(40) Richie Grant S UCF
(68) Jalen Mayfield OL Michigan
(108) Darren Hall CB San Diego St
(114) Drew Dalman C Stanford
(148) Ta’Quon Graham DT Texas
(182) Adetokunbo Ogundeji DE Notre Dame
(183) Avery Williams CB Boise St
(187) Frank Darby WR Arizona St
Immediate Impact: TE Kyle Pitts, S Richie Grant
Pitts would have an immediate impact on any team but with Atlanta he steps into an offense that is uniquely set up to take advantage of his talents. He has a veteran QB, he’s not the only option in the offense, meaning teams can’t focus on him, and his new head coach likes using TEs. Pitts is a mismatch for everyone and he should dominate for the Falcons. The Falcons are pretty weak at the safety position after losing three free agents in the off season. Grant is probably the most talented safety on the roster now and I expect him to start from day one.
Best Value: OL Jalen Mayfield
I really like Mayfield’s potential and it’s possible he steps in at LG this year. He also has the potential to end up at OT in the future and LT Jake Matthews is pushing 30. Mayfield can be the swing tackle for now as they develop him into what he can become. He’s a pretty good player for a third-round pick.
Sleeper: WR Frank Darby
The team has Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage at WR but doesn’t have much beyond them. They signed Cordarrelle Patterson but he’s more of a special teams signing than anything. Darby is a talented guy who played in a less than productive offense last season. With a QB like Matt Ryan, he could put his talents to good use. Darby has the size to play outside but might be best used in the slot.
Overall Analysis
Pitts might be the best player from this draft in five years. S Richie Grant was a pretty solid choice too. The Falcons aren’t exactly stacked at safety after losing Keanu Neal, Damontae Kazee and Ricardo Allen in free agency. The only decision the staff may have to make on Grant is whether to start him at free safety or strong safety, he’s the best player at both positions. I like Jalen Mayfield and I think he plays sooner than people think.
The Falcons needed help at CB too and they drafted an outside CB in Darren Hall and a nickel corner Avery Williams. The team probably needed better help than those two but they do add competition to the position. C Drew Dalman was also added for interior depth on the line. He should back up Matt Hennessy at center and also offers depth a guard. The team needed help on the defensive line but I don’t think fifth round picks Ta’Quon Graham and Adetokunbo Ogundeji are going to offer much help. Darby is my sleeper for this team, he can be a more productive pro than he was in college because he’ll have better QB play.
Carolina Panthers
(8) Jaycee Horn CB South Carolina
(59) Terrace Marshall Jr. WR LSU
(70) Brady Christensen OT BYU
(83) Tommy Tremble TE Notre Dame
(126) Chuba Hubbard RB Oklahoma St
(158) Daviyon Nixon DT Iowa
(166) Keith Taylor CB Washington
(193) Deonte Brown OG Alabama
(204) Shi Smith WR South Carolina
(222) Thomas Fletcher LS Alabama
(232) Phil Hoskins DT Kentucky
Immediate Impact: CB Jaycee Horn, OT Brady Christensen
The Panthers signed veterans like AJ Bouye and Rashaan Melvin at CB but both of them are past their primes. Horn can still get better as he gets more experience at CB but he’s got plenty of talent for now. He has size and skill that make him a better matchup against the bigger WRs the Panthers will face in their division. Christensen may have been a third-round pick but he’s good enough to compete for and I think he wins the LT job. Greg Little is penciled in there right now but he’s going to lose that battle. Christensen isn’t flashy but he’s reliable and that’s all they need at LT.
Best Value: Christensen (if he wins the job at LT), Daviyon Nixon
If Christensen wins the LT job it’s hard to say he’s not the best value considering he was a third-round pick. If he’s the backup than Nixon becomes the best value. Nixon has a chance to not only play a lot but he could steal a starting spot next to Derrick Brown. Bravvion Roy took over as the starter next to Brown for the last half of last year and he might stay the starter because he’s bigger and stronger on running downs. However, he doesn’t bring much punch as a pass rusher and that’s where Nixon excels. The team needs someone to push the pocket and if they can get Nixon to become more consistent against the run, he can become the starter.
Sleeper: OG Deonte Brown
For now, Dennis Daley and Pat Elflein seem like the top options to start at the OG spots. That’s not a great duo. Brown is a gigantic man who moves better than you would think for a guy that’s 6’4 350 lbs. He is exactly as hard to move as a guy who 6’4 350 lbs. which is why he can take a starting job despite being a sixth-round pick. I won’t be shocked if the starting left side of the offensive line is Christensen at LT with Brown at LG. The Panthers have done worse.
Overall Analysis
Horn was a necessary piece to the defense that lacked an elite cover corner. He has size and skill that will come in handy against WRs like Mike Evans, Julio Jones, Michael Thomas and even Kyle Pitts (a guy he faced in college). WR Terrace Marshall Jr. gives Sam Darnold another top receiving target to go with Robby Anderson and DJ Moore. If Christian McCaffrey is healthy, the Panthers offense should be pretty good. The team added Brady Christensen and Deonte Brown to the offensive line, reinforcements they certainly needed.
They continued to add to the offense with TE Tommy Tremble and RB Chuba Hubbard. Tremble was mainly used as a blocker at Notre Dame but he has the athleticism to become a pass catcher with some development. I don’t like Hubbard, he’s too much of a one-trick pony, but McCaffrey doesn’t have a legitimate backup so it’s his job to lose. In round six the Panthers took WR Shi Smith, he’s a small slot receiver that I normally wouldn’t give much of a chance to make the team. However, the Panthers don’t have a pure slot receiver at the moment so he could stick around.
After going all defense in last year’s draft and starting off with Horn in this draft the Panthers went offense with four straight picks in rounds 2-4. Then they went back to defense with DT Daviyon Nixon and CB Keith Taylor in round five. Nixon was a steal. Taylor was a solid choice and gives them another big CB to run out against their division, he’s 6’3. They finished off the draft with a long snapper, Thomas Fletcher, and DT Phil Hoskins. Hoskins is a very large man who is more likely to end up on the practice squad due to his inconsistency. Fletcher is a long snapper, he was supposedly very good at Alabama, isn’t everyone?
New Orleans Saints
(28) Payton Turner DE Houston
(60) Pete Werner LB Ohio St
(76) Paulson Adebo CB Stanford
(133) Ian Book QB Notre Dame
(206) Landon Young OT Kentucky
(255) Kawaan Baker WR South Alabama
Immediate Impact: LB Pete Werner, CB Paulson Adebo
The Saints needed help on defense, especially at LB and CB. Werner wasn’t a top-rated guy but he’s a good athlete with some coverage skills and he’s a great tackler. The Saints need all the help they can get and Werner should start pretty quickly. Adebo was a top prospect a few years ago, then he had an injury and then he opted out of last season. It’s been two years since we saw him at his best but he has all the tools to be good. The Saints need a starter opposite Marshon Lattimore and Adebo will get every opportunity to take the job. He’s long and skilled and I fully expect him to step up.
Best Value: Adebo
A third-round pick who is going to end up a starter a CB, that’s value. A few years ago, Adebo was a likely first-round pick so he’s a bargain.
Sleeper: OT Landon Young
Young is 6’7 321 lbs., you can’t teach that kind of size. He’s also pretty quick for a guy that big and he’s a good run blocker. He needs coaching to get better at pass protection because his technique needs work. Luckily, he’s going to a team with a great offensive line where he won’t have to play anytime soon and he can learn from guys like Terron Armstead, Ryan Ramczyk, and even backup James Hurst.
Overall Analysis
I didn’t like the Patrick Turner pick in round one. He is still too much of a project to be a first round pick and the team is still trying to develop the last first round DE they picked, Marcus Davenport. The fact that Davenport is still trying to figure it out doesn’t make me feel confident in Turner’s future. Turner has plenty of athletic ability but after three years as a starter at Houston he still relies too much on one pass rushing move and he still plays too high. Those are pretty typical issues for a guy who’s 6’6 and a guy who’s usually a better athlete than those he’s going up against, but why isn’t he a little better already? He has loads of potential but the Saints could have used a better player out of round one.
Werner and Adebo are more polished at their positions and will step in immediately. Luckily, those two can really help the defense but the Saints need to hope Turner figures it out quickly or he’s going to end up like Davenport, still a project going into year four. The last three picks were all on offense and with the exception of Young being a potential sleeper, I’m not impressed. Ian Book was a great leader at Notre Dame but he lacks the arm strength to ever be anything more than a third-stringer at the NFL level. The idea he could become like Taysom Hill is a little far-fetched, Book is considerably smaller than Hill, he won’t hold up long as a gadget guy. The Saints definitely could use a WR but Kawaan Baker isn’t likely to be that guy. He’s pretty raw and not better than what they already have on the roster.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(32) Joe Tryon OLB Washington
(64) Kyle Trask QB Florida
(95) Robert Hainsey OL Notre Dame
(129) Jaelon Darden WR North Texas
(176) KJ Britt LB Auburn
(251) Chris Wilcox CB BYU
(259) Grant Stuard LB Houston
Immediate Impact: None
The Buccaneers return every starter from their Super Bowl winning team so a rookie having an impact would surprise me. Joe Tryon might help the pass rush a bit but I doubt he makes a major impact.
Best Value: None
None of the picks the Bucs made were above their value or offer a great value overall. They may only be one future starter in this entire draft, Joe Tryon, and he was the last pick of round one.
Sleepers: OL Robert Hainsey, CB Chris Wilcox
Hainsey offers versatility and for now he can backup all three spots on the interior and could potentially play OT if needed. I do think he has a shot to take one of the interior spots in the future if the team moves on from Ryan Jensen or Alex Cappa. Wilcox looks the part of an NFL CB but he needs some work. Luckily for him, he got drafted to a defense coached by Todd Bowles, arguably the best defensive backs coach in the NFL. If anyone can turn Wilcox into a legitimate NFL corner, it’s Bowles.
Overall Analysis
Joe Tryon is an investment in the future of the defense. Jason Pierre-Paul is 32 and isn’t going to be around forever. Tryon needs to work on his game and learn to be a standup OLB instead of a DE. He has talent but I do think there were better pass rushers available when the Bucs drafted him. I understand the Kyle Trask pick given the depth chart behind Tom Brady and the fact that despite all evidence to the contrary, some day Brady will retire. I’m not a big Trask fan, he’s a bit of a statue and he doesn’t have the strongest arm. Those are some of the same things said about guys like Brady and Brees so it can be overcome. Bruce Arians is a pretty good coach and knows a thing or two about QBs, good place for Trask to learn.
Hainsey is a solid investment for the interior of the offensive line. They drafted WR Jaelen Darden and while he has electric speed, he’s going to find it really difficult to make this roster with the WR group ahead of him. The last three picks were LB KJ Britt, CB Chris Wilcox and LB Grant Stuard, saying it’s an uphill climb to make the roster for those three is putting it mildly.
The Hott Read 