Breaking Down the NFL Draft 1st Round
A lot of trades went down as the first round of the NFL draft was completed late Thursday night. Looking back on my mock draft I was right on a lot of the bigger name guys but with the amount of movement that happened I realized that I couldn't be right on all my selections. Many teams filled big time needs such as the Lions getting Reiff to protect Stafford, the Dolphins getting their QB, the Browns and Jaguars got their play makers with Trent Richardson and Justin Blackmon respectively. Here is a rundown of the selections and how teams moved around via trades. In my mind the story of this year's first round will be the amount of trades that went through.
#1- Andrew Luck QB Stanford- Colts
No surprise here as Luck looks to fill Peyton Manning's shoes. Luck has all the upside in the world and with a handful of weapons could have a solid rookie campaign.
#2- Robert Griffin III QB Baylor (from St. Louis)- Redskins
As predicted RG3 goes to the Redskins. It may take a little time to evaluate this pick but once he gets some weapons around him he should have a solid year under the Shannahan's offense.
#3- Trent Richardson RB Alabama (from Minnesota)- Browns
Richardson, who I predicted would go to the Browns, is the best running back available in any draft since 2008 when Chris Johnson was apart of 5 first round running backs to be taken. Richardson is the next Maurice Jones Drew. I love this selection. If your wondering why the Browns gave up so much to move into the third overall pick it was because they were scared. They were worried that the Vikings would give the 3rd pick to another team the way the Jaguars stole Blackmon out from under the Rams.
#4- Matt Kalil OT USC (from Cleveland)- Vikings
I think the move down to the 4th spot was irrelevant as they knew the Browns were either going to take Richardson or Claiborne with the third pick so giving up one spot wouldn't effect their choice of Kalil. Kalil is the best lineman in the draft this year. I love Kalil and now Christian Ponder has legitimate protection for his back side.
#5- Justin Blackmon WR OKST (from Tampa Bay)- Jaguars
The Jags were very sneaky with this trade. They knew Blackmon was going to go to the Rams and they had to make a move. They made a great trade and now sophmore Blaine Gabbert has an outside threat to go along with All Pro runner Maurice Jones Drew. I love this pick and the trade.
#6- Morris Claiborne CB LSU (from St. Louis from Washington)- Cowboys
Jerry Jones gets another flashy play maker after trading up with St. Louis. Next Deion Sanders???
#7- Mark Barron S Alabama (from Jacksonville)- Buccaneers
Barron is the best safety in this draft. I think the Bucs made a great pick here.
#8- Ryan Tannehill QB Texas A&M- Dolphins
Just like I predicted the Dolphins get their guy.
#9- Luke Kuechly ILB Boston College- Panthers
I love Kuechly here, I thought he would fall a little further but Carolina had other thoughts.
#10- Stephon Gilmore CB South Carolina- Bills
The Bills grab the 2nd best corner in the draft with the 10th overall pick.
#11- Dontari Poe DT Memphis- Chiefs
The Chiefs sure up their D-line with this pick. If Tannehill or Kuechly were available I think they would have went in a different direction.
#12- Fletcher Cox DT Miss St.- Eagles
The Eagles filled a big need here. Putting a big time stopper in the middle will allow the secondary to play more of a zone coverage which is their strength (Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie mostly).
#13- Michael Floyd WR Notre Dame- Cardinals
Floyd gives Kolb a great number 2 option in the passing game. Floyd will benefit from Fitzgerald on the other side.
#14- Michael Brockers DT LSU (from Dallas)- Rams
After having Blackmon stolen out from under their nose the Rams traded down and went with Brockers. I think they had their eyes on Floyd but when he went they weren't going to reach for Kendall Wright.
#15- Bruce Irvin OLB West Virgina (from Philadelphia)- Seahawks
Irvin will come in and offer the Seahawks an outside rush that they have been lacking.
#16- Quinton Couples DE North Carolina- Jets
Couples gives another tool for Rex Ryan to use as he looks to get to Brady, Fitzpatrick, and Tannehill.
#17- Dre Kirkpatrick CB Alabama (from Oakland)- Bengals
I think Kirkpatrick can cover almost any wide out in the game today. Dre fills a need as the Bengals will compete against Roethlisberger, Flacco, and now Weeden.
#18- Melvin Ingram DE South Carolina- Chargers
I'm a little surprised with this pick. The Bolts obviously are looking to improve on their rush defense which ranked 20th last year. I thought Kendall Wright would have made more sense.
#19- Shea McClellin OLB Boise State- Bears
The Bears look to the future with Shea and the hope is that he will learn from Urlacher and Briggs.
#20- Kendall Wright WR Baylor- Titans
Clearly helping Locker with this pick. Wright is a solid pick here as he profiles as a good #2 WR in my eyes.
#21- Chandler Jones DE Syracuse (from Cincinnati)- Patriots
Pats traded up to get Jones. They just keep adding versatile pass rushers.
#22- Brandon Weeden QB OK St. (from Atlanta)- Browns
After selecting Richardson early the Browns went with Weeden to turn the franchise around. It's clear McCoy isn't their QB moving forward.
#23- Riley Reiff OT Iowa- Lions
What's not to love about the Lions solidifying their O-line as they look to protect Stafford for years to come.
#24- David DeCastro OG USC- Steelers
I was shocked to see him fall this far and of course the Steelers start this draft off with a bang. Love this pick.
#25- Dont'a Hightower ILB Alabama (from Denver)- Patriots
I love Hightower and his potential. With Jones and Hightower I'd say the Pats had a great draft so far.
#26- Whitney Mercilus DE Illinois- Texans
After losing Mario Williams to the Bills this off seson Mercilus makes perfect sense.
#27- Kevin Zeitler OG Wisconsin (from New England from New Orleans)- Bengals
Time to protect Andy Dalton and hopefully give him enough time to find A.J. Green deep. I like Zeitler's upside and I feel like the Bengals filled a lot of major needs entering the draft already.
#28- Nick Perry DE USC- Packers
I'm a little surprised they didn't go with O-line here but this may have just been a case of having someone high on your draft board that fell and management didn't want to let him fall any further.
#29- Harrison Smith S Notre Dame (from Baltimore)- Vikings
The Vikings get some secondary help late in the first round. When you play against Rodgers, Cutler, and Stafford having a strong secondary greatly improves your chances of winning.
#30- A.J. Jenkins WR Illinois- 49ers
The biggest thing holding the 49ers back is an outside threat. Crabtree never really developed as a deep threat so the hope is Jenkins can give Alex Smith a legit down the field option.
#31- Doug Martin RB Boise State (from Denver from New England)- Buccaneers
The Bucs grab another running back to pair with Blount. Martin is a solid all around player that I thought would have gone a few spots higher. I like this pick to take some pressure off Freeman.
#32- David Wilson RB Virginia Tech- Giants
This is not a great pick in my mind but after losing Brandon Jacobs Wilson it makes more sense. The defending champs give Eli Manning another weapon coming out of the backfield that he will utilize.
Come back later this weekend to read about my recap of the draft. I will have draft grades up as soon as all 7 rounds are completed. Thanks for reading my 1st round recap. Be sure to listen to the last podcast, if you go to the podcast tab on the home page you can listen to the most recent shows. Be sure to hit me on twitter @Awies28
Alex Wiesner
A lot of trades went down as the first round of the NFL draft was completed late Thursday night. Looking back on my mock draft I was right on a lot of the bigger name guys but with the amount of movement that happened I realized that I couldn't be right on all my selections. Many teams filled big time needs such as the Lions getting Reiff to protect Stafford, the Dolphins getting their QB, the Browns and Jaguars got their play makers with Trent Richardson and Justin Blackmon respectively. Here is a rundown of the selections and how teams moved around via trades. In my mind the story of this year's first round will be the amount of trades that went through.
#1- Andrew Luck QB Stanford- Colts
No surprise here as Luck looks to fill Peyton Manning's shoes. Luck has all the upside in the world and with a handful of weapons could have a solid rookie campaign.
#2- Robert Griffin III QB Baylor (from St. Louis)- Redskins
As predicted RG3 goes to the Redskins. It may take a little time to evaluate this pick but once he gets some weapons around him he should have a solid year under the Shannahan's offense.
#3- Trent Richardson RB Alabama (from Minnesota)- Browns
Richardson, who I predicted would go to the Browns, is the best running back available in any draft since 2008 when Chris Johnson was apart of 5 first round running backs to be taken. Richardson is the next Maurice Jones Drew. I love this selection. If your wondering why the Browns gave up so much to move into the third overall pick it was because they were scared. They were worried that the Vikings would give the 3rd pick to another team the way the Jaguars stole Blackmon out from under the Rams.
#4- Matt Kalil OT USC (from Cleveland)- Vikings
I think the move down to the 4th spot was irrelevant as they knew the Browns were either going to take Richardson or Claiborne with the third pick so giving up one spot wouldn't effect their choice of Kalil. Kalil is the best lineman in the draft this year. I love Kalil and now Christian Ponder has legitimate protection for his back side.
#5- Justin Blackmon WR OKST (from Tampa Bay)- Jaguars
The Jags were very sneaky with this trade. They knew Blackmon was going to go to the Rams and they had to make a move. They made a great trade and now sophmore Blaine Gabbert has an outside threat to go along with All Pro runner Maurice Jones Drew. I love this pick and the trade.
#6- Morris Claiborne CB LSU (from St. Louis from Washington)- Cowboys
Jerry Jones gets another flashy play maker after trading up with St. Louis. Next Deion Sanders???
#7- Mark Barron S Alabama (from Jacksonville)- Buccaneers
Barron is the best safety in this draft. I think the Bucs made a great pick here.
#8- Ryan Tannehill QB Texas A&M- Dolphins
Just like I predicted the Dolphins get their guy.
#9- Luke Kuechly ILB Boston College- Panthers
I love Kuechly here, I thought he would fall a little further but Carolina had other thoughts.
#10- Stephon Gilmore CB South Carolina- Bills
The Bills grab the 2nd best corner in the draft with the 10th overall pick.
#11- Dontari Poe DT Memphis- Chiefs
The Chiefs sure up their D-line with this pick. If Tannehill or Kuechly were available I think they would have went in a different direction.
#12- Fletcher Cox DT Miss St.- Eagles
The Eagles filled a big need here. Putting a big time stopper in the middle will allow the secondary to play more of a zone coverage which is their strength (Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie mostly).
#13- Michael Floyd WR Notre Dame- Cardinals
Floyd gives Kolb a great number 2 option in the passing game. Floyd will benefit from Fitzgerald on the other side.
#14- Michael Brockers DT LSU (from Dallas)- Rams
After having Blackmon stolen out from under their nose the Rams traded down and went with Brockers. I think they had their eyes on Floyd but when he went they weren't going to reach for Kendall Wright.
#15- Bruce Irvin OLB West Virgina (from Philadelphia)- Seahawks
Irvin will come in and offer the Seahawks an outside rush that they have been lacking.
#16- Quinton Couples DE North Carolina- Jets
Couples gives another tool for Rex Ryan to use as he looks to get to Brady, Fitzpatrick, and Tannehill.
#17- Dre Kirkpatrick CB Alabama (from Oakland)- Bengals
I think Kirkpatrick can cover almost any wide out in the game today. Dre fills a need as the Bengals will compete against Roethlisberger, Flacco, and now Weeden.
#18- Melvin Ingram DE South Carolina- Chargers
I'm a little surprised with this pick. The Bolts obviously are looking to improve on their rush defense which ranked 20th last year. I thought Kendall Wright would have made more sense.
#19- Shea McClellin OLB Boise State- Bears
The Bears look to the future with Shea and the hope is that he will learn from Urlacher and Briggs.
#20- Kendall Wright WR Baylor- Titans
Clearly helping Locker with this pick. Wright is a solid pick here as he profiles as a good #2 WR in my eyes.
#21- Chandler Jones DE Syracuse (from Cincinnati)- Patriots
Pats traded up to get Jones. They just keep adding versatile pass rushers.
#22- Brandon Weeden QB OK St. (from Atlanta)- Browns
After selecting Richardson early the Browns went with Weeden to turn the franchise around. It's clear McCoy isn't their QB moving forward.
#23- Riley Reiff OT Iowa- Lions
What's not to love about the Lions solidifying their O-line as they look to protect Stafford for years to come.
#24- David DeCastro OG USC- Steelers
I was shocked to see him fall this far and of course the Steelers start this draft off with a bang. Love this pick.
#25- Dont'a Hightower ILB Alabama (from Denver)- Patriots
I love Hightower and his potential. With Jones and Hightower I'd say the Pats had a great draft so far.
#26- Whitney Mercilus DE Illinois- Texans
After losing Mario Williams to the Bills this off seson Mercilus makes perfect sense.
#27- Kevin Zeitler OG Wisconsin (from New England from New Orleans)- Bengals
Time to protect Andy Dalton and hopefully give him enough time to find A.J. Green deep. I like Zeitler's upside and I feel like the Bengals filled a lot of major needs entering the draft already.
#28- Nick Perry DE USC- Packers
I'm a little surprised they didn't go with O-line here but this may have just been a case of having someone high on your draft board that fell and management didn't want to let him fall any further.
#29- Harrison Smith S Notre Dame (from Baltimore)- Vikings
The Vikings get some secondary help late in the first round. When you play against Rodgers, Cutler, and Stafford having a strong secondary greatly improves your chances of winning.
#30- A.J. Jenkins WR Illinois- 49ers
The biggest thing holding the 49ers back is an outside threat. Crabtree never really developed as a deep threat so the hope is Jenkins can give Alex Smith a legit down the field option.
#31- Doug Martin RB Boise State (from Denver from New England)- Buccaneers
The Bucs grab another running back to pair with Blount. Martin is a solid all around player that I thought would have gone a few spots higher. I like this pick to take some pressure off Freeman.
#32- David Wilson RB Virginia Tech- Giants
This is not a great pick in my mind but after losing Brandon Jacobs Wilson it makes more sense. The defending champs give Eli Manning another weapon coming out of the backfield that he will utilize.
Come back later this weekend to read about my recap of the draft. I will have draft grades up as soon as all 7 rounds are completed. Thanks for reading my 1st round recap. Be sure to listen to the last podcast, if you go to the podcast tab on the home page you can listen to the most recent shows. Be sure to hit me on twitter @Awies28
Alex Wiesner
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