Despite there being 32 picks in the 1st round, NFL teams generally only give 15-20 1st round grades to its players. So there is a chance that teams picking in the last 5-10 picks will not be drafting a guy they have a 1st round grade on.
There isn’t a cut and dry reason why teams do this, it’s more or less a reason to differentiate a bit between who gets a “true 1st round grade” and where is there a slight drop-off in terms of talent and quality.
[Inscriber]
With that being said, this adds, even more, of a reason why teams are willing to trade up into the draft, or even why teams are willing to move down. They would move up if they are in danger of losing all their 1st round graded players before their pick, and they would move down if they have a ton of 1st round graded players still on the board and they likely still will if they move down.
Just to give you a slight background on how this all works… Now, who are my “TRUE 1st round graded players” in this draft?
1st Round Grades
Jonathan Allen DT
Myles Garrett DE
Solomon Thomas DE
Leonard Fournette RB
Patrick Mahomes QB
Mitch Trubisky QB
Marshon Lattimore CB
Jamal Adams S
Derek Barnett DE
Corey Davis WR
Reuben Foster LB
Sidney Jones CB
John Ross WR
Mike Williams WR
Malik McDowell DT
Haason Reddick OLB
These are my 16 1st round graded players. There is a slight drop off after these players. While the quality in drop off isn’t very big, some of the next few guys I would have on my list have some off the field concerns, which would absolutely affect my grade on them if I were an NFL GM.
Before I get hate for this post and people asking “where is…..” and “where is….” This is just my personal opinion. Keep in mind a lot of guys that get drafted in the 1st round actually have 2nd round grades by their teams.
[Sean2]
I’m sure a lot of your favorite players would have 1st round grades given by a lot of teams in the NFL. The problem is there is never a consensus in the NFL on any players. Just because you think “oh well….. so and so is the best player in the draft” trust me, teams RARELY have a consensus on 1 player. Just because the media all has a consensus on the best players at each position, teams don’t share the same sentiment.
This is just a fun little exercise to do. Grade all the players in this draft and then come up with your top 15-20 guys that absolutely should get 1st round grades. Who am I blatantly missing on my list? It’s not as easy as you think.