Sure, it is easy to list winners and losers after the NFL Draft has come and gone. Just wait until you read the unconventional list below. Anyone can write about Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson being draft day winners and Will Levis possibly being a draft day loser, but nobody will give you the type of insight you will read below. So, let me put on all my best draft day jewelry, yes @Razzball has its own jewelry division, so all of the writers/bloggers stay icy.
@BobbyLaMarco will be chatting about his more conventional draft day winners on the Razzball YouTube channel. Tune in and be a part of the discussion with your questions and comments. Who do you think won/lost and even throw in which dudes came dressed correctly and which looked like trash? As always, if you want to discuss anything in this article, feel free to drop notes at the bottom of this thread.
WINNER: IGGLES Fans – Bookmark this now…place your three-bet parlay as fast as possible for the Philadelphia Eagles to win the NFC East (running away), NFC, and Super Bowl. The Philly front office absolutely stole the NFL Draft on night one by solidifying their defense and by placing the D’Andre Swift is washed bug in the ear of the Detroit front office after the curious selection of RB Jahmyr Gibbs out of Alabama. When the Eagles traded up in Round 1 to select Jalen Carter, they added the best overall player in this draft class. Now, Carter comes with some significant off-the-field baggage and for all concerned, I hope it works out for him. I will not get into the legal side of Carter, but the selection and my analysis would not be complete without a mention of the looming issue. Enough about that. All things being equal, Carter was the 1.01 in my book. Add to Carter Nolan Smith, Carter’s Georgia Bulldog teammate at the LB position. Many draft ‘experts’ had Philadelphia taking Carter at 1.10, and none had the player dropping to 1.30. The Eagles must have been amazed and ecstatic to see Smith lingering at the bottom of the first round, and they pounced on the freakish athlete, the first-ever Edge/LB to clock a sub-4.4 at the combine.
LOSER: Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones – What did the Giants do to help Saquon and Jones? Sure, they nabbed Minnesota Center John Michael Schmitz in Round 2, but did they provide enough protection for their franchise RB/QB? Remember the last couple of seasons as Jones seemed to be running for his life when the O-Line collapsed, or the defense stacked the box with eight players forcing Saquon to fight an uphill battle? Well, without sufficient help through the draft, I think both are losers by lack of addition.
WINNER: Sam Howell – Though I am not a fan of the Commanders’ overall 2023 draft (Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez [CB] should have been selected at 1.16 over Emmanuel Forbes), I think the prior release of Taylor Heinicke opens the window on Sam Howell szn in Washington. Are we going to load up on Howell in redraft leagues? Probably not, even though he does have some solid offensive weapons. I think where Howell gains his traction will be as QB3 in SuperFlex leagues and surprises with his ability to chuck the rock.
LOSER: Dak Prescott – With thin RB and WR rooms, the Cowboys needed to address both areas and did not do so. The loss of Dalton Schultz is going to be glaring during 2023. Even though Luke Schoonmaker (TE – Michigan) is a solid prospect, he is not Dalton Kincaid, who the Cowboys watched the Bills trade up to swipe at 1.26, forcing Jerrah and the Boys to pivot to land their first interior defensive player since 1991’s selection of Russell Maryland in Mazi Smith. As much as I love the addition of Deuce Vaughn late in Round 6, I am not sure he will be ready to fill the RB2 role behind Tony Pollard until later in the season. Vaughn is a great story and made for fun TV during the draft, but he probably will need some time to figure it out at the NFL level. I think of Vaughn as the 2023 Isiah Pacheco-type player. We shall see if my eyes are telling me the truth and Vaughn is a late NFL bloomer or if he can learn the ropes and contribute earlier than midseason. Either way, the Cowboys addressed major defensive needs in a division that will need to find a way to combat the sick Philly offense when they may have been better off trying to load up on offense and put up more points. In my humble opinion, Dak does not have enough weapons for America’s Team to win this division.
WINNER: Jalin Hyatt – As noted above, I do not think the Giants did enough to help Daniel Jones, though I do think the team looks better on paper heading into the 2023 season than they did heading into 2022. Adding Jalin Hyatt to the squad in the third round was a solid move and one that the Giants desperately needed to make. Their WR corps has been an absolute mess starting with the swing-and-miss signing of Kenny Golladay. The Giants do need outside WR help, and Hyatt grades out better in the slot, but it is a start, right? They were unable to fill all of their holes, so they put a little spackle down at the slot receiver position and will need to find a way to shore up the remainder of the WR group before I am sold on this team.
LOSER: Dallas Fans – Second only to the Bears, I dislike the Cowboys more than any other team…mainly because of their delusional fanbase holding onto Super Bowls from the early ’90s. I am here for the Cowboys not nailing the 2023 draft and seeing them as also-rans for the upcoming season, another one in which the fans will call for Dak to be replaced throughout the season. Keep yelling ‘How Bout Dem Cowboys’ at anyone that will listen as the league responds with ‘How Bout Dem Cowboys Not Winning the Division…Again.’
Overall, the 2023 draft was owned by the Philadelphia Eagles, and it’s not close. The Eagles probably run away with the division and find themselves right back in the Super Bowl next year. I will not be surprised to see the Giants continue to ascend while the Cowboys take a slight step back. The new ownership in Washington has a lot of work to do, and I do not see the Commanders coming up from the cellar for a few more seasons of rebuilding.
Thank you for coming back to read our stuff and be a part of the podcast by listening and commenting. We are here for you! We will come in the next few weeks to discuss other NFL tidbits.
-Mitch-
