1. Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Burrow, QB, LSU
Nothing changes up top. Burrow is the best player in this draft class at the most important position, so that’s a no-brainer. The Bengals still have Andy Dalton on the roster for the moment, despite some noise about his future with the Patriots, which comes from analysts who apparently haven’t watched any Dalton tape since about 2015. Grabbing defensive tackle D.J. Reader is a sneaky good move, and opposing offenses will not enjoy having to deal with Reader and Geno Atkins next to each other. There are still a ton of needs here, which one would expect from a team that finished 2-14 last season, but the Bengals get the quarterback thing sorted out here.
2. Washington Redskins: Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State
The Redskins brought Kendall Fuller back from Kansas City on a four-year, $40 million deal with $10 million guaranteed despite some uninspiring tape during Fuller’s time in Kansas City after the Alex Smith trade. They also released Josh Norman (which was the right call) and traded Quinton Dunbar, their one good cornerback last season, to the Seahawks for a fifth-round pick (which was definitely the wrong call). Not sure what Ron Rivera and the front office is thinking here, but despite this positional shortfall, we think they will reinforce the defensive line with Young, as opposed to taking Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah. In that case, the strategy in the nation’s capital will be to offset a really iffy secondary with all kinds of pressure up front.
3. Detroit Lions: Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State
Somebody, please save Matt Patricia from himself. The Lions played more man coverage (54%) than any other team last year, so of course Patricia offloaded Darius Slay, one of the NFL’s better man coverage cornerbacks, in another one of his culture-changing moves. The Lions then signed ex-Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant, who is not at all a top-tier man-coverage guy. Whatever. At least the Lions can get better in the secondary with the selection of Okudah, who played man and match concepts at a very high level for the Buckeyes over the past three seasons.
4. New York Giants: Isaiah Simmons, Defense, Clemson
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman made some atypically strong moves in free agency, acquiring cornerback James Bradberry and linebacker Blake Martinez to help a defense in desperate need. The decision to apply the franchise tag to defensive lineman Leonard Williams was utterly mystifying, except when you consider Gettleman’s history of surety that his way is the right way. Bradberry projects as a top cornerback, and Martinez is a good run-stopping linebacker who gets lost in coverage quite easily. To further help this defense, let’s give them Isaiah Simmons, who has become the prototype of the modern do-it-all linebacker, and can show up anywhere from the edge to the slot to any ‘backer position to safety.
5. Miami Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama
Before the Dolphins are even able to avail themselves of their three first-round draft picks, they took the NFL’s biggest barrel of cap dollars and made quite the splash with the acquisitions of cornerback Byron Jones, linebacker Kyle Van Noy, guard Ereck Flowers, running back Jordan Howard and defensive linemen Emmanuel Ogbah and Shaq Lawson. Mostly good stuff there, so now, it’s time to select the guy Nick Saban has compared to both Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers to get the long-term quarterback situation right. All signs point to Tagovailoa’s hip situation as a positive over time, and if he plays up to his potential, the once-tanking Dolphins suddenly become pretty interesting.
6. Los Angeles Chargers: Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia
The Chargers have said they’re cool with Tyrod Taylor as their starting quarterback to kick off the post-Philip Rivers era, which has everyone thinking they’ll take a quarterback with the sixth overall pick. But here’s the hidden factor: Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn was the Bills’ offensive designer and running backs coach in 2015 and 2016, when Taylor threw 37 touchdown passes to just 12 interceptions and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl. Lynn knows what Taylor is and isn’t, and that the quarterback shouldn’t be judged by his disastrous turn in Cleveland. Taylor can be a bridge guy as the Chargers address other needs. Primary among them right now is the hole at left tackle after the team traded Russell Okung to the Panthers for guard Trai Turner. Now consider the free-agency deal that brings Bryan Bulaga in to play right tackle and add Thomas’ combination of strength at the point of attack and mobility in space. All of a sudden, Lynn has a new and more fundamentally sound offense. … Unless you think taking Justin Herbert here is a full-round reach based on potential, which I do.
7. Carolina Panthers: Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn
It would be easy to project a cornerback here after James Bradberry signed with the Giants, but let’s assume the Panthers want to stick with their most glaring non-quarterback sore spot in 2019 — a run defense that did not defend much at all. With Teddy Bridgewater on board to take care of the quarterback situation, Brown would be an excellent interior run-stuffer and disruptor who can line up anywhere from nose tackle to end with above-average to great results. At the scouting combine, new Panthers head coach Matt Rhule talked a lot about the importance of defensive positional versatility, and Brown fits the bill.
8. Arizona Cardinals: Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama
One imagines that in the back of his mind, Kyler Murray may still want former Sooners teammate CeeDee Lamb in his receiving corps in the Valley of the Sun. But after head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim were able perform highway robbery on the perennially outmatched Bill O’Brien, bringing DeAndre Hopkins aboard to catch passes with Larry Fitzgerald, even Murray might agree that the most important thing now for the future of the Cardinals’ offense is an offensive line that will help its quarterback reduce his league-high total of 48 sacks from 2019. Granted, more than enough of those sacks were Murray’s fault as he was figuring things out at the NFL level, but with the addition of Wills, who has the potential to lock down the right tackle position immediately and transition to the blind side over time, that right-handed mobile passing game takes things to a new level — which allows Murray to do the same.