Hope springs eternal this time of year, and that’s good for every fan base. With the NFL Draft now in the books, let’s take a look at the teams that helped their trajectory the most over these last three days and others who failed to take a significant step forward in terms of organizational upside.
NFL Draft Winners: Cleveland Browns
Well, that was an eventful couple of days for the Dawg Pound. Cleveland set the draft world ablaze 10 minutes into the festivities on Thursday night by trading the 2nd overall pick, which ended up being Travis Hunter, and they were again trending when they passed on Shedeur Sanders twice at the top of the third round. And then again, when they traded up for No. 144 to take Sanders.
There’s a lot to digest, but in short, we could look back at this draft in half a decade and label it as a significant turning point. Mason Graham and Carson Schwesinger were their first two picks — two NFL-ready defenders that will join the highly paid Myles Garrett on a unit that, just two seasons ago, posted the second-best grade in PFSN’s Defense+ metric.
It’s not unreasonable to think that this unit could impact winning at a high level, a rarity in this offensive era. The Cleveland Broncos proved last season that a strong defense can support an unproven offense, and that seems to be Cleveland’s blueprint.
But wait — they also nabbed a pair of quarterbacks who were labeled as NFL starters throughout their collegiate career (Dillon Gabriel and Sanders). We are always talking about the value of the QB position, and now the Browns have taken two (inexpensive) bites at the apple.
Oh, and how about the FBS’ leader at the TE position in receptions (Harold Fannin Jr.)? Can I interest you in the most physically impressive running back in this class outside of Ashton Jeanty (Quinshon Judkins)?
This is a reactionary business. In a decade, we will have a better idea of whether all of this upside paid off. But for this exercise, how can you not be intrigued? This defense is ready to compete at a high level, and the number of wild-card pieces on the offensive side gives them the potential to sneak into the playoff conversation if a player or two can exceed expectations.
The Browns have served as a punching bag for the better part of a generation – 1990s kids might have to adjust what they think of this franchise.
Arizona Cardinals
We knew that the Arizona Cardinals would focus on the defensive side of the ball, and they didn’t disappoint. Arizona took nothing but defenders until the tail end of Round 6, forging a class that includes Walter Nolen’s elite pedigree (an elite pass rusher who now can pick the brain of Calais Campbell) and Will Johnson’s tremendous value (an instinctive corner who fell down draft boards based on his medicals).
We know that Kyler Murray has elite upside. We know Marvin Harrison Jr. checks every box you could ask of a prospect. We know that Trey McBride is the future of a position (along with Brock Bowers) that is seeing its value increase every year.
The offense could explode in 2025, and after this draft, the Cardinals now have a defense that has the potential to at least hold serve. This franchise hasn’t advanced past Wild Card Weekend since 2015 — that could change this winter.
Carolina Panthers
In the NBA, sharp teams draft 3-point threats and rim runners; the days of the midrange are long gone, so why not focus on the most valuable spots on the court?
The football equivalent of that, once you have the quarterback position addressed, is pass catchers and pass rushers.
Tetairoa McMillan is a 6’4” weapon for Bryce Young to develop alongside. The pick was a bit surprising, but Young showed enough down the stretch of last season to give this franchise hope that its rebuild is starting to trend up. Adam Thielen is the veteran receiver on this roster, but he’s clearly on the back nine of his career, and there’s no proven talent at the position around him.
The Panthers are playing the cast-a-wide-net game, adding McMillan to Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker. They don’t need to hit on all three of those receivers; they just need Young to be comfortable and elevate one of them to alpha status.
Carolina has ranked dead last in pressure rate in each of the past two seasons, making doubling down on rookie EDGE rushers a reasonable plan. Nic Scourton was their second-round pick and looked the part of a true game-changer at Texas A&M this past season due to his ability to impact both the run and pass game.
We will see if Young is the answer under center, but if he is, don’t be surprised if this Carolina team is in the playoff picture sooner rather than later.
Minnesota Vikings
J.J. McCarthy is an unknown — to us.
As for the Minnesota Vikings, they’ve had him in the building for a year and should have a good feel for him at this point. They didn’t have much draft capital at their disposal this season (five picks), but they spent the majority of them on specific offensive pieces that could allow the McCarthy era to hit the ground running.
With their first-round pick, Minnesota brought in Donovan Jackson, a guard with versatility who excels as a pass blocker. That feels like a good skill set to pair with an unproven QB, as does a field-stretching receiver in Tai Felton with sharp route-running traits to put next to an already explosive tandem of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
For good measure, what do you say we add a tight end with sneaky speed and the ability to shed tacklers at a high level (Gavin Bartholomew)?
The best thing about WR Tai Felton is he does something Justin Jefferson & Jordan Addison don’t do…
He is suited to run Jet Sweeps & Smoke & Tunnel screens. He has KR vision when he gets the ball in the open field. #Vikings will have a crowded room.
pic.twitter.com/h91QWNrDsx— Ron Johnson (@3RonJohnson)
Minnesota is treating McCarthy a lot like how I would have projected them to act if they had confidence that Sam Darnold could replicate what he did in 2024: be a QB who can elevate talent around him if kept clean and operating on time.
We learned to trust this offensive system a year ago, and if they are confident in things carrying over to 2025 (even with late-season struggles, they were our 13th-graded offense and very much a part of a tier that included the ninth-best unit), I am too.
New England Patriots
In 2020, the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Joe Burrow. They liked what they saw and invested heavily in his future 12 months later during the 2021 NFL Draft.
- Fifth overall pick: Ja’Marr Chase (WR)
- 46th overall pick: Jackson Carman (C)
As the draft progressed, they kept betting on Burrow in different ways. They took a tackle in the fourth round and went with another center and a running back in the sixth round. The idea was that they got the tough pick right (quarterback) and weren’t going to leave stones unturned in trying to build a reputable offense around him.
I’m not saying that Drake Maye is Burrow, but the approach taken by the New England Patriots is similar, and I think that’s the proper play if you truly believe in the signal caller.
- Fourth overall pick: Will Campbell (OT)
- 38th overall pick: TreVeyon Henderson (RB)
- 69th overall pick: Kyle Williams (WR)
Williams was a postseason riser in the draft process, as his 4.4-second 40-yard dash speed caught eyes at the NFL Scouting Combine, and his YAC ability is what can allow a young quarterback to develop at an accelerated pace.
The Pats went back to the offensive line in the seventh round and are clearly trying to surround Maye with pedigree. We don’t yet know if he will be a top-10 QB in this league at some point, but everything New England did in this draft will allow them to compete at a very high level should that be the case, and that’s all you can ask for: Hope.
NFL Draft Losers: Green Bay Packers
Last season, we struggled to acknowledge who the go-to receiver was in Lambeau, but it didn’t really matter because Josh Jacobs ran strong behind our eighth-graded offensive line. So the idea is to add more receivers to that chaos and spend a second-round pick on a tackle who prefers to run block?
Green Bay didn’t address the defensive side of the ball with a pick inside the top 120, instead prioritizing talent over roster construction. The Green Bay Packers are going to be a good team if Jordan Love’s development sticks, but that was going to be the case entering the draft. I worry that this team is trying to sustain what they did in 2024 instead of making significant strides, something that isn’t going to work in a loaded NFC North.
Las Vegas Raiders
Do the Las Vegas Raiders think they are a win-now team?
Ashton Jeanty might be as good as the hype has positioned him, and I’m not sure it’ll matter. Like the New York Giants when they drafted Saquon Barkley, this team’s timeline doesn’t really match up with the shelf life of a Round 1 running back, but here we are.
Generally speaking, rebuilding teams, if they don’t have a quarterback they trust long-term, strengthen their roster from the trenches out — Vegas opted for three skill-position players over two trench assets with their first six picks.
I don’t mind the players the Raiders selected in this draft, but the roster-building process is questionable at best, considering the division they are a part of.
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers haven’t re-signed Brock Purdy yet, but their actions during the draft suggest they are very comfortable with him controlling their future. San Francisco didn’t address the offensive side of the ball until the late stages of Round 4 (WR Jordan Watkins out of Ole Miss), a bit of a surprise given Christian McCaffrey’s injury history and seeing Jordan Mason/Deebo Samuel Sr. move on this offseason.
I don’t hate this decision, but their selections indicate a willingness to be patient, and that was … interesting. First-round pick Mykel Williams (EDGE) has plenty of strong traits, but the production at the collegiate level was never elite, and there’s a learning curve that needs to be baked in.
Alfred Collins was their next pick, a defensive tackle with limited versatility, and Nick Martin was plucked off the board in the third round, an undersized linebacker who was reported to have a Day 3, not Round 3, grade in most draft rooms.
This is still a very talented roster, and if Purdy is truly a top-10 quarterback, some of these roster flaws can be overlooked. That said, this team is walking a fine line due to how they addressed this draft, and that brings about plenty of short-term risk. Single-point-of-failure teams can win, but they can also fail in spectacular fashion, and that’s a risk they didn’t need to take.
