With The First Pick
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Fox’s NFL Draft Grades 2: The Best Picks

By jonfox

Apr 28, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Jalen Ramsey (Florida State) with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the number five overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft at Auditorium Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 28, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Jalen Ramsey (Florida State) with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the number five overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft at Auditorium Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /
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NFL Draft Grades that breakdown some of the top picks in the draft.

Part 2 of my NFL draft grades. And the first half of this is the draft picks that I thought were the best picks in the draft. You should look at these picks as falling into two categories: 1-late(r) round steals and 2-home run picks in the first part of the draft. Coming soon the companion piece to this: the worst picks in the NFL draft.

#5 Jalen Ramsey, DB Jacksonville. Ramsey was a top 2 player for me in this draft, so anyone who got him did well. Getting him at #5 was an absolute steal.

#39 Noah Spence, DL Tampa. Going to the Strip Club capital of America probably won’t end well for Spence or the Bucs, but they desperately needed a pass rusher off the edge for Mike Smith’s defense. Spence has loads of talent for this role.

#137 Dean Lowry, DL Green Bay. Some scouts had a high grade on Lowry, but his lack of athleticism pushed him down pretty far. He’s one of those relentless motor type linemen, he’ll keep coming and coming. In the Packers’ defense, they don’t need him to be a 10 sack guy, they need someone to hold the point. Lowry could be a real steal.

#3 Joey Bosa, DL San Diego.  Bosa was my #1 player in this draft and the Chargers on sheer talent hit a home run. But why he’s not #1 overall in this analysis is because unless they’re going to a defacto 4-3 or playing a lot of hybrid fronts, I think he’s not as good a fit.

#132 Willie Henry, DL Baltimore. Henry has amazing quickness for a defensive lineman. But he’s raw and needs time. The Ravens love to draft guys like him, stash them for 2-3 seasons, then unleash them on the league. Henry could be McPhee 2.0.

#136 DeVontae Booker, RB Denver. Booker is the best runner on the Broncos’ roster right now. It’d be surprising if he wasn’t the clear starter by the end of the season. He has health and mental question marks about him, but he was a very effective two way runner/catcher in the mold of Le’Veon Bell.

#233 Jalen Mills, DB Philadelphia. I had Mills as a top 60 prospect. He’s not a tackler and won’t contribute much on special teams in this, but his coverage skills are very advanced for a prospect. There must be some red flag about Mills for him to drop this far, but this might be the best value pick in the draft.

#18 Ryan Kelly, OL Indianapolis. If they did nothing else this offseason, the Colts needed to find protection for Luck or his career would be going to the way of Robert Griffin III. Kelly is a big step in the right direction since they’ve never truly replaced Jeff Saturday.

#47 Michael Thomas, WR New Orleans. I loved the pick of Sheldon Rankins, but I liked this pick more for the Saints. Thomas is Coltson’s replacement at Flanker and with Brees throwing to him, a lot of his flaws won’t be as noticeable.

#14 Karl Joseph, DB Oakland. Joseph won’t be asked to be the star of the defensive backfield with all the talent that they have there now, so he won’t be rushed. And that’s how the Raiders could find a potential superstar here: not rushing him until he’s ready.

#28 Joshua Garnett, OL San Francisco. Not that high for him, Garnett was an impressive power blocker going to a team that really needed the help. The tradeup was relatively cheap as well. He’s Alex Boone’s replacement in year 1.

#149 Paul Perkins, RB New York Giants. I had Perkins tagged as a 2nd due to his short area quickness. The Giants need a prime back to take over from their latest attempt at a running back committee. Perkins isn’t that, yet but he clearly could become that guy.

#101 Charles Tapper, DE Dallas. Even without the suspensions of Gregory and Lawrence, I’d bet that Tapper would be the starter at end for the opener. He’s a good pick for the Boys, who desperately need the line help.

#40 Sterling Shepard, WR New York Giants. This seems like a luxury pick with Beckham and a reportedly healthy Victor Cruz, but one of their biggest problems last year was that after Larry Donnell went down, they didn’t have a 2nd receiving option after Beckham. With a healthy Cruz, they don’t need Donnell to be 100% now.

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#123 Jerald Hawkins, OL Pittsburgh. He struggled in 2015 due largely to nagging injuries but he was so good in 2014 that this smells like a steal. The Steelers need an option at left tackle if Alejandro Villanueva isn’t effective. It’s hard to see him stepping up like Villanueva did in 2015, but that’s what people said when Beachum went down.

#23 Laquon Treadwell, WR Minnesota. I’m still not a big fan of Treadwell, but this late in the 1st round and in this situation, it’s hard not to like this pick. They need a big target for Bridgewater and Treadwell can certainly be that. They have to understand his limitations and I think that they do.

#44 Jihad Ward, DL Illinois. Ward is a swiss army knife: he can play the 9, 8, 7, 6, 3 and even played some 0 for Illinois. Del Rio loves to move his guys around the formation and is going to find a good role for Ward. Just a smart pick.

#48 Jason Spriggs, OL Indiana. The Packers like Bakhtiari, but he’s a free agent and cap room is tight. Spriggs needs to learn a better punch, but he could start once he learns that. Perhaps they maximize everything by moving Bakhtiari inside, play Spriggs on the left and save a lot of cash.

#198 Derek Watt, FB San Diego. Watt blocked for Gordon at Wisconsin, so it’s a subtle and deft move to draft him so that he can continue this role in the pros. They know each other and it’s a cheap way to try and see if Gordon is the future.

#242 Keith Marshall, RB Washington. The Redskins’ RB situation is very unsettled. They like Matt Jones but hate his fumbling problems. There’s people at Georgia who still swear that if Marshall had stayed healthy, he would have shined brighter than Gurley or Chubb. Marshall has amazing speed and they’ll find a way to use him. Great value with this pick.

#55 Cody Whitehair, OL Chicago. Whitehair could be Kyle Long 2. He can move around the line and plug in holes for the Bears. Assuming he replaces Long at guard, they shouldn’t see much of a drop off in play.

#122 Andrew Billings, DL Cincinnati. Billings was seen by myself and a lot of other draftniks as a top 20 talent. He dropped suddenly because of questions about his knee(it might need surgery) and a belief that he’s a 2 down tackle(and by which I mean a run stopper). We’ll see, but this could be Geno Atkins 2.0.

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