Grade: A+
Eagles fans can once again rejoice as their General Manager, Howie Roseman, played chess while the rest of the league played checkers during this year's draft. In round 1 they exercised patience in letting the draft fall their way, which paid off dividends as the best corner in this year's class, Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell, fell right in their lap at the 22nd overall pick. Corner was practically Philly's only position of "need" on an already loaded roster, and getting this year's best prospect at the position without having to trade up is downright criminal.
The steals didn't stop there. The end of day one and round one of the draft saw a bounty of stud players waiting to hear their name called going into day two, and Roseman had his eye on one in particular. After working the phones all day, they finally were able to find a trade partner (with their division rival Commanders, puzzlingly) to move up and select Cooper Dejean, defensive back extraordinaire out of the University of Iowa. The kind of value Dejean can provide for Philly's defense is ridiculous. He's a decent outside corner, but at Safety or slot corner he looks to become one of the biggest contributors in the NFL. Philly just needs to put him in space and allow him to be near the ball every play so his freak athleticism and ferocity can be on full display. Cooper was one of my favorite players to watch during this draft cycle, as his love for the game is evident with each snap.
It's extremely rare for a team to gain two top 20 players in a draft class without spending a single top 20 pick, and the Eagles did just that.
Their impressive haul wasn't just limited to those two picks, either. They also snagged Jeremiah Trotter Jr, LB from Clemson. I was a bit lower on Trotter than most, as he was propped up largely by being an NFL legacy with his father being a former player. That being said, he was a steal in the 5th round. At worst, his great athleticism for the position could provide great value on Special Teams, while the Eagles try to help him reach his upside.
Another great selection was Johnny Wilson, the freakish 6'8" wide receiver from Florida State. I think Wilson would have developed a lot more had FSU had better QB play, and he's an underrated route runner given his monstrous size for the position. Here's hoping Philly continues to develop him, as opposed to taking the easy route and converting him to TE.
All in all, a solid weekend's work is an understatement for Howie and crew. The gap between them and the rest of the NFC East widened even further as a result.

Grade: A+
Some people discredit the Bears for taking Caleb Williams first overall because it was such an obvious decision, but I think that's unfair to ignore the moves they made in last year's draft to make this happen. Drafting a generational prospect to be your franchise QB is never something to scoff at, especially when you adeptly positioned yourself to do so. On top of that, the Bears bolstered their new signal caller by adding an elite weapon to his supporting cast with Rome Odunze at pick 9. Chicago could have gone defense or trenches here, but the opportunity to give Caleb a dynamic, skilled receiver to grow with for years to come was too good to pass up. Not to mention, with how crazy WR contracts have been lately, this is a smart move for their mid-term finances and cap management. Kiren Amegadjie was also a great dart to throw in the 3rd round at a developmental tackle prospect. He has NFL size and wicked long arms. To wrap up the weekend, they drafted the best punter in the draft and Austin Booker, a great rotational edge rusher that should have been gone two rounds earlier.

Grade: A+
In the first draft of the Jim Harbaugh era, the Chargers left with a bounty of my favorite prospects in this year's class. A lot of Chargers fans were upset at their round 1 selection of Joe Alt, OT out of Notre Dame, but Harbaugh is sending a clear message that they're going to play smash mouth, physical football which is a direct antithesis to the previous regime. I know people wanted a receiver, but this offensive line is shaping out to be a top 5 unit, giving time for Herbert to scan the field and locate the receivers they do have. Of course, fans didn't have to wait long for help in the passing game, as the Chargers selected route running phenom out of Georgia, Ladd McConkey to kick off day 2. The Mad Ladd will be a great safety valve for Herbert that will keep them on schedule with the offensive play sequencing. Wrapping up day 2, they selected the best LB in this class, Junior Colson out of Michigan. Fresh off of being a key contributor for Harbaugh's championship winning Michigan team, Colson was clearly well sought after by him. They continued into day 3 by adding good depth and a rotational DL player in Justin Eboigbe. Then Kimani Vidal was one of my favorite backs in this class and they took him at least two rounds later than he should have gone. They finished the weekend by taking some fliers on a pair of talented receivers in the 7th round. All in all, this was an outstanding graph for Harbaugh to implant his identity of the team and gain some ground against the Chiefs.

John Schneider, Seattle's GM, certainly impressed with his first draft haul sans Pete Carroll. Entering the weekend without a 2nd round pick, many people, maybe even John included, expected a trade down from the 16th overall pick. However, the first 15 picks saw just one defensive player selected before their pick which left the number one player on their entire board, Byron Murphy, available at 16. Murphy was never mocked to Seattle, as pretty much everyone believed he would be long gone by the time it came to be Seattle's turn. Murphy is a dominating, force of nature on the defensive line that makes everyone around him better. New coach, Mike Macdonald, gets to start his Seahawks career off with a bonafide star in Murphy. The 2nd round saw a lot of potential targets for Seattle fly off the board, as they waited patiently and let the draft play out. That worked out extremely well, as they ended up not having to move up to get the best pure guard in the draft class with Christian Haynes. On day 3, Schneider kicked off an impressive day by selecting developmental LB, Tyrice Knight out of UTEP. Knight has a lot to learn about pass coverage, but he finished last season with the most stops in D1 college football. They followed that by taking AJ Barner, the best blocking TE in the class and a scrappy outside corner in Nehemiah Pritchett. All five of these players will have starting roles early for Seattle on an already loaded roster.

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