Buffalo Bills
(30) Maxwell Hairston CB Kentucky
(41) TJ Sanders DT South Carolina
(72) Landon Jackson DE Arkansas
(109) Deone Walker DT Kentucky
(170) Jordan Hancock CB Ohio St.
(173) Jackson Hawes TE Georgia Tech
(177) Dorian Strong CB Virginia Tech
(206) Chase Lundt OT UConn
(240) Kaden Prather WR Maryland
Immediate Impact: CB Maxwell Hairston
When your roster is as good as the Bills roster, you don’t get a lot of rookies who crack the lineup. Unless your CB depth chart looks this one than Maxwell Hairston has a chance to start. Christian Benford is coming off an injury and they needed help so much they brought back Tre’Davious White, who is coming off a pretty rough year. Hairston wasn’t my favorite CB in this class but he’s a major upgrade for the Bills opposite Benford.
Best Value: DE Landon Jackson
Somehow a 6’6 264 lbs. DE fell all the way to round three for the Bills. Jackson had a good year at Arkansas and while he’s a little stiff, he’s still a productive pass rusher. He’ll be a part of the rotation with Greg Rousseau, AJ Epenesa, and Joey Bosa and if I were a betting man, I would bet he plays in more games than Bosa.
Sleeper: CB Dorian Strong
Christian Benford was a sixth-round pick in 2022 and he turned out to be an excellent CB. The Bills may have pulled it off again. While Hairston gets the name recognition as the first-round pick, Strong could also develop into a good CB. He has more size and plays physical. While he doesn’t have Hairston’s elite speed, he was plenty fast for a CB with a 4.5 40.
Overall Analysis
This team knows it’s offense will be fine as long as Josh Allen is running it so they went defense with the first five picks. Hairston fills a major need while the next three picks focused on the defensive line. They traded up to get DT TJ Sanders in round two. He will give them a nice rotational piece inside. Jackson gives them another DE for the rotation. DT Deone Walker is a lottery ticket. He’s 6’7 331 lbs. and yet he’s not a great run stopper. He probably needs a redshirt type of year. He could learn a lot from DaQuan Jones, he’s a similar type of big man who has been around a long time. Jones is the run stuffer next to Ed Oliver, they need Walker to pick up his game.
The Bills then took CB Jordan Hancock from Ohio St. because they really understood the assignment, fix the secondary. Between Hairston, Hancock, and Strong, one of them should be good. They got some depth pieces on offense with TE Jackson Hawes, OT Chase Lundt, and WR Kaden Prather. I wouldn’t necessarily expect any of those three to make the roster but Hawes could be their blocking TE. Prather has been compared to a poor man’s Keon Coleman but I’m not sure that was a compliment.
Nitpick or Concern: The Deone Walker pick in round four. They definitely needed some interior defensive line help and I can understand thinking a man of his stature is worth the risk, but this team is trying to win now. Walker didn’t have a good year last year and he needs work. There were DTs on the board who could help now. If you wanted a interior pass rusher, Ty Robinson or Cam Jackson were available. A run stuffer? CJ West and Yahya Black were on the board.
Miami Dolphins
(13) Kenneth Grant DT Michigan
(37) Jonah Savaiinaea OG Arizona
(143) Jordan Phillips DL Maryland
(150) Jason Marshall Jr. CB Florida
(155) Dante Trader Jr. S Maryland
(179) Ollie Gordon II RB Oklahoma St.
(231) Quinn Ewers QB Texas
(253) Zeek Biggers DL Georgia Tech
Immediate Impact: DT Kenneth Grant, G Jonah Savaiinaea, DL Jordan Phillips
Give the Dolphins credit, they understood their assignment too. They needed help on the lines, especially the defensive line, and they attacked it. DT Kenneth Grant becomes an immediate starter at NT and he’s a major upgrade. Then they traded up in round two and took Savaiinaea who will start at guard. I’m not sure spending draft capital to move up was the smartest decision but getting a new starting guard was smart. Usually a fifth-round DT wouldn’t be an immediate impact guy but they need bodies on the defensive line and Phillips can play. He will get into the rotation and could play a lot given his skill set.
Best Value: QB Quinn Ewers
Ewers was clearly not for everyone but he’s still a talented QB. He’s also good enough to beat out Zach Wilson for the backup job and being the backup QB in Miami means you may have to play. Getting a QB with Ewers talent in round seven is good value.
Sleeper: RB Ollie Gordon II
The Dolphins have De’Von Achane and Jaylen Wright, both are lean, speed backs and they signed Alexander Mattison to be a bigger body. Mattison has never been all that good but Gordon was very good two years ago. He had a rough year last year like everyone at Oklahoma St. but he’s got great size and power. He would be a great compliment to the Achane and Wright.
Overall Analysis
The Dolphins did a good job of addressing their most pressing needs, both lines. Grant, Savaiinaea, and Phillips are all going to get plenty of playing time, but they aren’t the only ones. CB Jason Marshall Jr. was taken in round five but they are in desperate need of CB help and that’s before they have even traded Jalen Ramsey. Marshall looks the part of an NFL CB, now he has to play like one. S Dante Trader Jr. will also have a chance at playing time. The safety room isn’t much better than the CB one. Gordon and Ewers are talented players who might be guys who develop into useful guys. DT Zeek Biggers is big enough to help at DT, he just needs to work on his development too.
Nitpick or Concern: Trading up to get Jonah Savaiinaea cost them some early draft capital and while they needed a guard, they could have used the extra pick to get a better CB prospect too. I’m not Savaiinaea is so much better at guard than the next guy that it was worth hurting your chances at CB. They need CB help badly.
New England Patriots
(4) Will Campbell OT LSU
(38) TreVeyon Henderson RB Ohio St.
(69) Kyle Williams WR Washington St.
(95) Jared Wilson C Georgia
(106) Craig Woodson S California
(137) Joshua Farmer DT Florida St.
(146) Bradyn Swinson Edge LSU
(182) Andres Borregales K Miami
(220) Marcus Bryant OT Missouri
(251) Julian Ashby LS Vanderbilt
(257) Kobee Minor CB Memphis
Immediate Impact: LT Will Campbell, RB TreVeyon Henderson, WR Kyle Williams, K Andres Borregales
Yes, Will Campbell is the LT, he will be the immediate starter there and Drake Maye can feel confident his blindside is well protected. Henderson is going to be the juiced-up version of James White in Josh McDaniels’s offense. He’s an electric runner who gives this offense some actual playmaking in the backfield. Rhamondre Stevenson is still going to be the primary back for now because Henderson isn’t an every down guy, but Henderson is going to play a lot.
WR Kyle Williams is a welcome addition to a WR group devoid of playmakers. He’s a little undersized but he knows how to get separation better than almost every receiver on the Patriots roster. He also has downfield ability they lack and should make for a great target for Drake Maye.
Borregales was a necessary pick, they have been wandering in the kicker wasteland since the end of the Stephen Gostkowski era about five years ago. Normally I don’t like taking kickers and this has backfired on the Patriots before, hello Chad Ryland, but this was a sixth-round pick not a fourth and it was their eighth pick out of 11 overall picks. This team isn’t going to be great this year but they are going to be competitive and having a good kicker is going to keep them in games.
Best Value: C Jared Wilson
The Patriots traded down in round three with the second pick they had and ended up taking Wilson with the 95th pick. Wilson was the best pure center in the draft with Grey Zabel being the only prospect ranked a head of him at the position and Zabel didn’t play the position in college. Wilson was only a one-year starter at Georgia but he was pretty good and he will give Garrett Bradbury a run for the money to start at center. My money would be on Bradbury for this year because Vrabel will likely stick with the veteran, but Wilson could make it a tough choice.
Sleeper: Edge Bradyn Swinson
I had the Patriots taking Swinson in the third round of my mock draft and they ended up with him in round five. He isn’t an elite edge player because he doesn’t play the run all that well but he has elite pass rushing potential. The Patriots won’t ask him to play on run downs so they can mitigate his weaknesses while adding his pass rush ability to their defense. They need pass rush juice and Swinson has it.
Overall Analysis
I’m not the only one saying this but the Patriots had a terrific draft. The first four picks; Campbell, Henderson, Williams, and Wilson, were all guys taken to support Drake Maye, good strategy. The team spent free agent money on defense and draft capital on offense. When you have a good young QB, you want an offense that will grow with him. These guys could be long-term players around Maye as he grows into the QB he’s going to be over the next five years.
The next three picks were on defense and address areas of need. S Craig Woodson is a hybrid player who could be used as a nickel back and a safety. The Patriots starting safeties are Kyle Duggar, coming off a rough year, and Jabrill Peppers, guy got arrested last year. Both those players are aging and expensive. Woodson gives them a different skill set and some youth. He also gives them a bigger body and probably a healthier one at nickel than Marcus Jones. Farmer give them another penetrating DT to play in the rotation with Milton Williams and Christian Barmore. He fits the attacking interior DT type they want on defense. Edge Bradyn Swinson I already covered, well worth the pick.
I’m not usually a fan of drafting a kicker but like I mentioned the team had 11 picks, it’s hard for that many rookies to make any roster. Using one on a really good kicker when you don’t have a kicker isn’t a bad move. OT Marcus Bryant is a bet on a guy who has all the measurables you want at OT (namely the length Campbell doesn’t have) but isn’t nearly that good. He’s a project.
Nitpick or Concern: As universally loved as this draft was, I am going to nitpick the last two picks. They took a long snapper four picks before TE Luke Lachey was picked in round seven by the Texans. The Patriots ha Joe Cardona at LS (they have now released him), they need a developmental TE, and long snappers generally don’t get drafted, they get signed after the draft. The Patriots also had the last pick in the draft and took CB Kobbe Minor, a guy who has virtually no chance of making this roster. They could have drafted Lachey and then taken a long snapper with Mr. Irrelevant. It’s a tiny nitpick but if Lachey actually becomes a decent TE in the NFL, I’m going to remember this.
New York Jets
(7) Armand Membou OT Missouri
(42) Mason Taylor TE LSU
(73) Azareye’h Thomas CB Florida St.
(110) Arian Smith WR Georgia
(130) Malachi Moore DB Alabama
(162) Francisco Mauigoa LB Miami
(176) Tyler Baron Edge Miami
Immediate Impact: RT Armand Membou, TE Mason Taylor
The Jets got off to a good start getting two immediate starters in Membou and Taylor. Membou slides right in to the RT spot vacated by Morgan Moses and he and Olu Fashanu make nice bookend OTs for the at least the next few years. Taylor is the type of TE who does everything well and nothing at an elite level. On this team, that means he starts. He’s better than every TE they have, and it’s not particularly close.
Best Value: CB Azareye’h Thomas
Thomas was a good player at Florida St. and was rising on draft boards until he went out and ran a slow 40 time and his rise immediately stopped. He’s not fast, but he’s got good height and length and he’s tough. He was a steal in the third round and with Aaron Glenn as his coach, I would bet he reaches his ceiling as a player. If I were Brandon Stephens, their free agent CB signing, I’d be looking over my shoulder.
Sleeper: DB Malachi Moore
Moore was at one time a freshman starter on Nick Saban’s Alabama defense, that usually means good things. He never lived up to that high standard but he was a good player for Alabama. He’s played some in the nickel but he’s best at safety. The Jets’ starting safeties right now are Tony Adams and Andre Cisco, if you tell me Moore is starting by week six, I’ll believe it. He’s another guy who will benefit from playing for Aaron Glenn.
Overall Analysis
Membou, Taylor, and Thomas are great picks and they are going to make the Jets better this season. They aren’t turning the whole thing around but they are some foundational pieces moving forward. The team needed to get better at WR but they pick Arian Smith instead. Smith is a speed demon but he’s not a good receiver. Mauigoa and Baron are back of the depth chart dart throws trying to find some developmental pieces in the front seven. Athletic guys the Jets are taking a chance on.
Nitpick or Concern: The WR depth chart is rough behind Garrett Wilson so Smith could make the team but I wouldn’t be surprised if they get him on the practice field and decide he needs the year on the practice squad, at minimum. The next three WRs off the board were Jaylin Lane, Jalen Royals, and Elic Ayomanor, all three of those guys are better prospects and would help this team sooner. I also think guys like Tory Horton and KeAndre Lambert-Smith offer more upside than Smith.
The Hott Read 