2016 NFL Draft Grades: Round 1

Philadelphia Eagles: Carson Wentz – QB – North Dakota St

Following suit with the Rams, the Eagles took the expected path and drafted Carson Wentz.  This gives Philly their franchise QB, but also gives them a QB controversy.  Not a “who will start” controversy…no, just a “Sam Bradford doesn’t want to be there” controversy.  Just trade the guy already and move on.

I understand the initial move of signing Bradford.  The Eagles had no idea if they were going to be able to trade up (as evidenced by their getting outbid for the No. 1 overall pick).  So Bradford was the backup plan.  Well, now that plan isn’t needed…so move on.  I applaud them for going after their guy, but their total handling of this situation is starting to look a little ridiculous.

Grade: B

Pittsburgh Steelers: Artie Burns – CB – Miami

Putting aside my anger that the Steelers crushed my draft prediction, this is a pick that makes a lot of sense for them.  The CB market was drying up pretty quick and they got a guy with a very high ceiling.  Burns will have some growing pains in the very weak Pittsburgh secondary, but when he puts it together, he will be difficult to account for.  And given how the board fell to the Steelers, it’s difficult to say there was another player here that they should have taken instead.

Grade: B+

San Diego Chargers: Joey Bosa – DE – Ohio State

The Chargers essentially had the #1 pick in this draft.  After Goff and Wentz came off the board, the Chargers had their choice of any player they wanted.  Bosa isn’t a bad choice as a player.  However, there is some question about scheme fit.  The Chargers run a 3-4, and that doesn’t seem as good a fit for Bosa.  But the real question I had here is why they didn’t go OL?

The Chargers are still built on the success of Philip Rivers, and over the past couple of years he’s been taking an awful lot of hits.  I understand not taking Tunsil given the situation, but Ronnie Stanley would have been a great fit.  Bosa is a good player, but he won’t have a turn-around impact on this team.  Stanley could have.

Grade: B-

San Francisco 49ers: Deforest Buckner – EDGE – Oregon; Joshua Garnett – OG – Stanford

Deforest Buckner is a perfect fit for what he 49ers need…I just hope that was the reason he was drafted and that this isn’t simply a repeat of what Chip Kelly was doing in Philly.  If I’m grading on that pick alone, I have to give this an “A”…but of course, that’s not how it worked out.

The 49ers traded back into the first round to get a guard that would likely have been there for them in the second round.  This might be the dumbest trade I remember seeing.  There was no reason to make this trade, except that Garnett is a Pac-12 guy. Wow. Chip Kelly is doing exactly what he did in Philly.

Grade: D-

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