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2015 NFL Draft Winners/Losers: Gurley to the Rams for the win
By Will Brinson | NFL Writer
May 2, 2015 8:09 pm ET
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...s/losers-gurley-makes-rams-nfc-west-contender
The 2015 NFL Draft is over. Three days of grueling, grinding picks, mascot analysis and international mystery. Or something. Look, we all make snap judgments at this point, and that's what we're doing here.
Five winners from the draft and five losers, including a surprise for me up top: the St. Louis Rams. Thanks to their fleecing of the Washington Redskins in the Robert Griffin III trade, the Rams have been pumping picks into the defense over the past few years
In 2015 they chased offense and it puts them in a position to chase the contenders in the NFC West. This defense is elite -- the line is second to none -- and the offense will take a step forward this year thanks in large part to their first pick, transcendent talent Todd Gurley.
WINNERS
St. Louis Rams: How you feel about St. Louis and the draft probably depends on how you see Gurley. Drafting a running back in the top 10 isn't the same value as grabbing someone in the second round and pairing that back (Ameer Abdullah, T.J. Yeldon?) with a wide receiver in the first. To me, Gurley is a special, special player who is a potential ROY candidate. The Rams weren't going to have a high-octane passing offense regardless, not with Nick Foles running it and Jeff Fisher in charge of everything. Gurley coupled with Tre Mason and Benny Cunningham can turn this rushing attack into a dominant unit. The Rams didn't draft a defensive player until No. 215 overall and pumped resources into the offensive line by grabbing Robby Havenstein (57th), Jamon Brown (72nd) and Andrew Donnal (119th). Greg Robinson should develop and the defense is already a monster.
Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn is a walking fire emoji right now, hitting home run after home run in this draft. The first round saw Vic Beasley fall to Atlanta, giving a pass rusher it sorely needs to in a division with Jameis Winston, Drew Brees and Cam Newton. Beasley doesn't need to play every down and stuff the run (and he won't), he just needs to attack the passer when he's on the field. Jalen Collins has red flags but he's a long corner with first-round value. Tevin Coleman gives them a big, physical presence in the running game to complement Devonta Freeman. Justin Hardy in the fourth is a perfect replacement for Harry Douglas, while Grady Jarrett could end up being the best pick in the entire draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Crazy impressive draft once again from David Caldwell, who's done a great job churning a roster in Jacksonville. Dante Fowler Jr., was an easy pick up top. T.J. Yeldon early in the second round gives them a quality value pick as a running back, A.J. McCann could play early and help the running game and the combo of Rashad Greene/Julius Thomas (the latter via free agency) gives Blake Bortles some short-yardage weapons. He shouldn't be on his back as much next season. Michael Bennett in the sixth? We're just getting silly.
Baltimore Ravens: Ozzie Newsome continues to crush the draft year after year. Breshad Perriman is the newest cheap deep threat for Joe Flacco, while Maxx Williams is the best tight end in the 2015 draft and another weapon. Carl Davis and Za'Darius Smith are great examples of the Ravens grabbing value players in the draft to eventually replace departed talent. Haloti Ngata gone in a trade? No one replaces him but the Ravens have depth on the interior of their line. Pernell McPhee leaves in free agency and Smith can flip in.
Minnesota Vikings: Rick Spielman's personnel history is spotted with questionable quarterback decisions, a resume he fixed by drafting Teddy Bridgewater late in the first round last year. Otherwise he's done a nice job in the draft and it continued. Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks and Danielle Hunter are all young defenders getting tossed into a defense that is going to break out in a big way next season. Mike Zimmer's a stud defensive coach and he's got tons of talent on that side of the ball. Harrison Smith, Xavier Rhodes, Anthony Barr, Everson Griffin and Shariff Floyd -- there are a lot of big investments. They could be dominant next year. Adrian Peterson didn't go anywhere and that's a win too, with his agent playing nice. T.J. Clemmings and Stephon Diggs are value picks to add to an ascending offense.
LOSERS
New Orleans Saints: When you come into a draft, even a relatively shallow one, with five picks in the first 78 selections, you want to come out with a pile of immediate-impact players. Instead the Saints walked away with a group of players who appear more likely to to help them over the long haul. Garrett Grayson is a theoretical long-term Drew Brees replacement. He's no good to them next season. Andrus Peat could be a lineman without a place to play, although depth and strength in the run game is a good thing. Stephone Anthony felt like a reach in the first round. Hau'oli Kikaha gives them an edge rusher. P.J. Williams has off-field issues and might combine with Brandon Browner for 452 pass-interference penalties next season, although he presents good value where they got him. The Saints might end up with good players but I expected to feel like they came away with more early-round production.
Cleveland Browns: I like the players Cleveland took. Danny Shelton is a monster and Cameron Erving offers positional versatility on the O-line. Nate Orchard has nice pass-rush ability. Duke Johnson is a draft-day favorite and an underrated option at running back. This might very well be the best first-round combo the Browns have taken in the past five years and it still feels underwhelming. How does this team improve on last year with one wide receiver (Vince Mayle, fourth round) drafted in addition to Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline while using Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel at quarterback? There's more talent on the roster than a few years ago but it feels like wheels are spinning.
Brett Hundley: To be clear here: it's GREAT for Hundley that he's "stuck" in Green Bay, unable to play, buried behind Aaron Rodgers on the depth chart and "forced" to learn at the Mike McCarthy School of Quarterbacks. But this guy once was thought to be a potential first-round pick. Staying at UCLA would've given him more time to get polished as a signal caller and potentially move up the draft. Instead he's a fifth-round pick to the Packers. There are certainly worse landing spots but the Packers hope he won't see the field for them in meaningful fashion for the duration of his rookie contract. Ted Thompson, by the way, had another strong draft.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs were always taking Jameis Winston. He was the top quarterback in the draft and the guy most likely to help Tampa in 2015. Credit to Jason Licht and Lovie Smith for getting him help too: Tampa added Kenny Bell and Kaelin Clay to Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson and Austin-Sefarian Jenkins in the draft, giving them additional talent in terms of pass-catching weapons. Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet are immediate help on the offensive line. There's no one who pops here and I'm on record as not being a fan of Winston either on or off the field. My BOLD prediction for next season is 30 interceptions for Winston.
Carolina Panthers: Disappointing to come away with only five picks. Dave Gettleman stayed true to his board and stealing Daryl Williams in the fourth round as a potential tackle to improve the run game is huge. But missing out on D.J. Humphries in the first round led to grabbing Shaq Thompson and trading up for Devin Funchess was an expensive move. Williams and Funchess definitely fit what the Panthers do on offense, creating a methodical offense built on red-zone efficiency but it doesn't feel like a dominant draft class.
By Will Brinson | NFL Writer
May 2, 2015 8:09 pm ET
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...s/losers-gurley-makes-rams-nfc-west-contender
The 2015 NFL Draft is over. Three days of grueling, grinding picks, mascot analysis and international mystery. Or something. Look, we all make snap judgments at this point, and that's what we're doing here.
Five winners from the draft and five losers, including a surprise for me up top: the St. Louis Rams. Thanks to their fleecing of the Washington Redskins in the Robert Griffin III trade, the Rams have been pumping picks into the defense over the past few years
In 2015 they chased offense and it puts them in a position to chase the contenders in the NFC West. This defense is elite -- the line is second to none -- and the offense will take a step forward this year thanks in large part to their first pick, transcendent talent Todd Gurley.
WINNERS
St. Louis Rams: How you feel about St. Louis and the draft probably depends on how you see Gurley. Drafting a running back in the top 10 isn't the same value as grabbing someone in the second round and pairing that back (Ameer Abdullah, T.J. Yeldon?) with a wide receiver in the first. To me, Gurley is a special, special player who is a potential ROY candidate. The Rams weren't going to have a high-octane passing offense regardless, not with Nick Foles running it and Jeff Fisher in charge of everything. Gurley coupled with Tre Mason and Benny Cunningham can turn this rushing attack into a dominant unit. The Rams didn't draft a defensive player until No. 215 overall and pumped resources into the offensive line by grabbing Robby Havenstein (57th), Jamon Brown (72nd) and Andrew Donnal (119th). Greg Robinson should develop and the defense is already a monster.
Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn is a walking fire emoji right now, hitting home run after home run in this draft. The first round saw Vic Beasley fall to Atlanta, giving a pass rusher it sorely needs to in a division with Jameis Winston, Drew Brees and Cam Newton. Beasley doesn't need to play every down and stuff the run (and he won't), he just needs to attack the passer when he's on the field. Jalen Collins has red flags but he's a long corner with first-round value. Tevin Coleman gives them a big, physical presence in the running game to complement Devonta Freeman. Justin Hardy in the fourth is a perfect replacement for Harry Douglas, while Grady Jarrett could end up being the best pick in the entire draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Crazy impressive draft once again from David Caldwell, who's done a great job churning a roster in Jacksonville. Dante Fowler Jr., was an easy pick up top. T.J. Yeldon early in the second round gives them a quality value pick as a running back, A.J. McCann could play early and help the running game and the combo of Rashad Greene/Julius Thomas (the latter via free agency) gives Blake Bortles some short-yardage weapons. He shouldn't be on his back as much next season. Michael Bennett in the sixth? We're just getting silly.
Baltimore Ravens: Ozzie Newsome continues to crush the draft year after year. Breshad Perriman is the newest cheap deep threat for Joe Flacco, while Maxx Williams is the best tight end in the 2015 draft and another weapon. Carl Davis and Za'Darius Smith are great examples of the Ravens grabbing value players in the draft to eventually replace departed talent. Haloti Ngata gone in a trade? No one replaces him but the Ravens have depth on the interior of their line. Pernell McPhee leaves in free agency and Smith can flip in.
Minnesota Vikings: Rick Spielman's personnel history is spotted with questionable quarterback decisions, a resume he fixed by drafting Teddy Bridgewater late in the first round last year. Otherwise he's done a nice job in the draft and it continued. Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks and Danielle Hunter are all young defenders getting tossed into a defense that is going to break out in a big way next season. Mike Zimmer's a stud defensive coach and he's got tons of talent on that side of the ball. Harrison Smith, Xavier Rhodes, Anthony Barr, Everson Griffin and Shariff Floyd -- there are a lot of big investments. They could be dominant next year. Adrian Peterson didn't go anywhere and that's a win too, with his agent playing nice. T.J. Clemmings and Stephon Diggs are value picks to add to an ascending offense.
LOSERS
New Orleans Saints: When you come into a draft, even a relatively shallow one, with five picks in the first 78 selections, you want to come out with a pile of immediate-impact players. Instead the Saints walked away with a group of players who appear more likely to to help them over the long haul. Garrett Grayson is a theoretical long-term Drew Brees replacement. He's no good to them next season. Andrus Peat could be a lineman without a place to play, although depth and strength in the run game is a good thing. Stephone Anthony felt like a reach in the first round. Hau'oli Kikaha gives them an edge rusher. P.J. Williams has off-field issues and might combine with Brandon Browner for 452 pass-interference penalties next season, although he presents good value where they got him. The Saints might end up with good players but I expected to feel like they came away with more early-round production.
Cleveland Browns: I like the players Cleveland took. Danny Shelton is a monster and Cameron Erving offers positional versatility on the O-line. Nate Orchard has nice pass-rush ability. Duke Johnson is a draft-day favorite and an underrated option at running back. This might very well be the best first-round combo the Browns have taken in the past five years and it still feels underwhelming. How does this team improve on last year with one wide receiver (Vince Mayle, fourth round) drafted in addition to Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline while using Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel at quarterback? There's more talent on the roster than a few years ago but it feels like wheels are spinning.
Brett Hundley: To be clear here: it's GREAT for Hundley that he's "stuck" in Green Bay, unable to play, buried behind Aaron Rodgers on the depth chart and "forced" to learn at the Mike McCarthy School of Quarterbacks. But this guy once was thought to be a potential first-round pick. Staying at UCLA would've given him more time to get polished as a signal caller and potentially move up the draft. Instead he's a fifth-round pick to the Packers. There are certainly worse landing spots but the Packers hope he won't see the field for them in meaningful fashion for the duration of his rookie contract. Ted Thompson, by the way, had another strong draft.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs were always taking Jameis Winston. He was the top quarterback in the draft and the guy most likely to help Tampa in 2015. Credit to Jason Licht and Lovie Smith for getting him help too: Tampa added Kenny Bell and Kaelin Clay to Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson and Austin-Sefarian Jenkins in the draft, giving them additional talent in terms of pass-catching weapons. Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet are immediate help on the offensive line. There's no one who pops here and I'm on record as not being a fan of Winston either on or off the field. My BOLD prediction for next season is 30 interceptions for Winston.
Carolina Panthers: Disappointing to come away with only five picks. Dave Gettleman stayed true to his board and stealing Daryl Williams in the fourth round as a potential tackle to improve the run game is huge. But missing out on D.J. Humphries in the first round led to grabbing Shaq Thompson and trading up for Devin Funchess was an expensive move. Williams and Funchess definitely fit what the Panthers do on offense, creating a methodical offense built on red-zone efficiency but it doesn't feel like a dominant draft class.
