Fox’s NFL Draft Grades: Teams #1-12
By jonfox
The 2016 NFL Draft Grades are In!
With the draft over, it’s now time to pontificate on the just finished up NFL draft. As I always have, I rank the teams by how many “Mel Kipers” they got. 1 is the least, 10 is the most and let me explain my criteria: I’m impressed by teams who balance the demands of filling needs and getting talent.
A 10 Kiper team will see their picks ranked by the order that they drafted them because that means there’s been an even distribution of need based talent and talented lottery picks in the later rounds.
And to explain this more, I believe that 1st round picks should be 5 year starters for their team, 2nd and 3rd round picks should be 3-4 year starters and anything after that is a pure gamble. So less risk in rounds 1-3 and crazy risk in rounds 4-7.
1. Jacksonville Jaguars
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Jalen Ramsey, DB FSU
Myles Jack, LB UCLA
Sheldon Day, DL Notre Dame
Brandon Allen, QB Arkansas
Yannick Ngakoue, EDGE UMD
Tyrone Holmes, LB Montana
Jonathan Woodard, DL Central Arkansas
The Jags absolutely slathered on the defensive talent in this draft. Ramsey, Jack and Day should play big roles before you know it. But the elephant in the room is Jack’s knee. Much like Dallas’ pick of Jaylon Smith, his health will be all that anyone remembers about their draft. That said, it’s hard to argue with their picks.
Grade: 9.5/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? It’s hard to think of one. Maybe taking a risk on Jack? But that’s it.
2. Chicago Bears
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Cody Whitehair, OL K-State
Jon Bullard, DL Florida
Nick Kwiatkoski, LB WVU
Leonard Floyd, LB UGA
Daniel Braverman, WR Western Michigan
DeAndre Houston-Carson, DB William & Mary
Jordan Howard, RB Indiana
Deion Bush, DB Miami
Deiondre’ Hall, DB Northern Iowa
The Bears had to rebuild their defense and almost accomplished this in this draft class. I’m not a huge fan of Floyd but they got 3 players I rated as top 50 picks. That’s pretty good and their later round picks should net them some contributors.
Grade: 9.25/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? I wouldn’t have dealt up for Floyd. If someone else took him, then deal down and take another edge rusher.
3. Green Bay Packers
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Jason Spriggs, OL Indiana
Kyler Fackrell, EDGE Utah State
Dean Lowry, DL Northwestern
Kenny Clark, DL UCLA
Kyle Murphy, OL Stanford
Blake Martinez, LB Stanford
Trevor Davis, WR California
They had a need based draft. They filled some of their biggest needs and often will guys who should contribute quickly. Spriggs needs to learn a power move or two and he could be the best left tackle from this draft. Clark, Fackrell and Lowry could start week 1 for them.
Grade: 9/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? Maybe take Myles Jack over Kenny Clark? That’s about it.
4. San Diego Chargers
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Joey Bosa, DL Ohio State
Max Tuerk, OL Southern Cal
Jatavis Brown. LB Akron
Joshua Perry. LB Akron
Hunter Henry, TE Arkansas
Derek Watt, FB Wisconsin
Donavon Clark, OL Michigan State
Drew Kaser, P Texas A&M
Bosa was a surprising pick, but he shouldn’t have been. They couldn’t take an offensive lineman because of all the money slathered on King Dunlap and Joseph Barksdale, so it came down the best defender in their eyes. The rest of their draft was mostly about reinforcing their front 7 and I love their Tuerk pick. He could start when healthy.
Grade: 8.7/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? Bosa over Ramsey? If Bosa busts out and Ramsey is a star, no one will ever forget it.
5. Seattle Seahawks
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Germain Ifedi, OL Texas A&M
Rees Odhiambo, OL Boise State
Alex Collins, RB Arkansas
Kenny Lawler, WR California
Quinton Jefferson, DL UMD
Jarran Reed, DL Alabama
Nick Vannett, TE Ohio State
Zac Brooks, RB Clemson
C.J. Prosise, RB Notre Dame
Joey Hunt, OL TCU
How’d you like to be Thomas Rawls now that the Seahawks took 3 Rbs in this draft? This was the usual Seahawks draft: take prospects a bit high but since they fit your system, who cares? I’m not that big a fan of Reed for the Hawks’ system nor a fan of Prosise but it’s hard to argue with this draft.
Grade: 8.67/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? Prosise over Graham Glasgow or Paul Perkins(who was born to play in that system).
6. New York Giants
Picks ordered from best to worst:
BJ Goodson, LB Clemson
Sterling Shepard, WR Oklahoma
Paul Perkins, RB UCLA
Darian Thompson, DB Boise State
Jerell Adams, TE South Carolina
Eli Apple, DB Ohio State
I’m a big fan of this draft, after the first round. I don’t know whether Jerry Reese panicked after Floyd and Conklin were taken, but there’s just no defending Eli Apple. After that, Reese absolutely aced this draft. Just about everyone else they drafted could start for them by 2018.
Grade: 8.5/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? Eli Apple
7. Cincinnati Bengals
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Andrew Billings, DL Baylor
Tyler Boyd, WR Pittsburgh
Christian Westerman, OL Arizona State
William Jackson III, DB Houston
Nick Vigil, LB Utah State
Cody Core, WR Ole Miss
Clayton Fejedelem, DB Illinois
Another quietly solid draft for the Bengals. I had top 50 grades on 4 of their picks and they absolutely stole Billings and Westerman. Boyd could start opposite of AJ Green week 1. My only complaint is that WJ3 is yet another big corner that they’ve expended a 1st round pick on. The previous two didn’t work out that well.
Grade: 8/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? WJ3 over Mackensie Alexander.
8. Dallas Cowboys
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Ezekiel Elliott, RB Ohio State
Charles Tapper, DL Oklahoma
Maliek Collins, DL Nebraska
Dak Prescott, Qb Miss State
Rico Gathers, TE Baylor
Anthony Brown, DB Purdue
Kavon Frazier, DB Central Michigan
Darius Jackson, RB Eastern Michigan
I’ve taken Jaylon Smith, LB Notre Dame off this board due to his injury.
Obviously this draft class will be remembered solely if Jaylon Smith makes it back on the field again. And since Dallas’ team surgeon repaired his knee this past winter, they might have inside information about the long term status of his knee. Outside of Smith, the Cowboys had a solid draft. Gathers, Brown, Collins and Tapper could all contribute on top of Zeke Elliott who’ll start for them at RB immediately.
Grade: 8/10 Kipers, 10/10 if Smith gets healthy and becomes the player he was at Notre Dame.
The biggest regret? Elliott over Ramsey. They were torn between the two, but choose Elliott.
9. Pittsburgh Steelers
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Sean Davis, DB UMD
Jerald Hawkins, OL LSU
Javon Hargrave, DL South Carolina St
Artie Burns, DB Miami(Fl)
Travis Feeney, LB Washington
Tyler Matakevich, LB Temple
DeMarcus Ayers, WR Houston
Artie Burns was a truly bizarre pick. He doesn’t fit the kind of corner that the Steelers generally look for, but perhaps this was a change in philosophy. Outside of him, the rest of their higher picks appear to be home runs. Davis, Hawkins and Hargrave should all contribute quickly and could be starters by the end of the season.
Grade: 7.99/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? Artie Burns over any number of prospects
10. Buffalo Bills
Picks ordered from best to worst:
Reggie Ragland, LB Alabama
Jonathan Williams, RB Arkansas
Adolphus Washington, Ohio State
Cardale Jones, QB Ohio State
Shaq Lawson, DE Clemson
Kolby Listenbee, WR TCU
Kevon Seymour, DB Southern Cal
They collected a bunch of talent, but outside of Ragland and Williams they didn’t get much value from their picks. Lawson might not have been the best Clemson defender in the draft and who knows what they’ll get from their Ohio State players. That said, a solid draft for a team that needed starters on defense.
Grade: 7.44/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? Lawson over Dodd, Ogbah and Noah Spence.
11. Denver Broncos
Picks ordered from best to worst:
DeVontae Booker, RB Utah
Connor McGovern, OL Missouri
Paxton Lynch, QB Memphis
Justin Simmons, DB BC
Adam Gotsis, DL Ga Tech
Andy Janovich, FB Nebraska
Riley Dixon, P Syracuse
Will Parks, DB Arizona
This draft rises and falls on Paxton Lynch. He has an amazing arm but needs time. Whether Sanchez is good enough to give them enough time to let Lynch learn is the big question. I did really like the picks of Booker and McGovern, and they could both start week 1. As for the rest, they don’t do much for me.
Grade: 7.3/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? Gotsis over Bullard or Adolphus Washington
12. San Francisco 49ers
Picks ordered from best to worst:
DeForest Buckner, DL Oregon
Rashard Robinson, DB LSU
Joshua Garnett, OL Stanford
Aaron Burbridge, WR Michigan State
Will Redmond, Db Miss State
Ronald Blair, DL App State
Fahn Cooper, OL Ole Miss
Kelvin Taylor, Rb Florida
John Theus, OL UGA
Jeff Driskel, QB Louisiana
Prince Charles Iworah, CB Western Kentucky
They made a lot of moves and ended up trying to throw a ton of talent against the wall and seeing what stuck. Some of these picks I loved and some were just bizarre. They took on a lot of risk with their later picks, but Kelly has time. I’m not sure Baalke does.
Grade: 7.3/10 Kipers
The biggest regret? Will Redmond over a more pro ready prospect at QB like Jacoby Brissett.