Grading every pick from the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
1. Chicago Bears: Caleb Williams (QB, USC)
Grade A: A formality ever since the Bears traded Justin Fields on March 16, Williams is an electric playmaker and an eccentric personality. He is always looking for the big play out of the pocket.
2. Washington Commanders: Jayden Daniels (QB, LSU)
Grade A: The reigning Heisman Trophy winner threw 34 touchdowns and zero interceptions on passes 15 yards or further downfield.
He is a better passer but not quite the runner as a younger Lamar Jackson.
3. New England Patriots: Drake Maye (QB, North Carolina)
Grade A: With the Giants and Vikings interested in trading up, the Patriots instead started over at quarterback.
Maye is a polarizing prospect who fires lasers over the middle but needs to improve his lower-body mechanics.
4. Arizona Cardinals: Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR, Ohio State)
Grade A+: Considered the best wide receiver prospect in years, Harrison is the son of a Hall of Famer.
He runs smooth routes and taps his toes like his dad, but with a bigger, more physical body.
5. Los Angeles Chargers: Joe Alt (OT, Notre Dame)
Grade A-: Despite some late buzz that run-blocking mauler J.C. Latham might sneak up here, the Chargers took the best all-around offensive tackle — despite losing top receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams this offseason.
6. New York Giants: Malik Nabers (WR, LSU)
Grade A-: With quarterback J.J. McCarthy on the board, the Giants showed faith in Daniel Jones by taking the blazing Nabers, who led all receivers in the nation with 3.64 yards per route run, per Pro Football Focus.
7. Tennessee Titans: J.C. Latham (OT, Alabama)
Grade: B-: After the Chargers grabbed Alt, the Titans pivoted to (and reached for) the next-best offensive lineman.
The 342-pounder played 27 straight games and bulldozed running lanes.
Too bad Derrick Henry is no longer around.
8. Atlanta Falcons: Michael Penix Jr. (QB, Washington)
Grade D: Huh? After giving Kirk Cousins a four-year, $180 million contract, the Falcons drafted a 23-year-old quarterback who is ready to play right now instead of a defensive starter?
Penix is a pure thrower but had four season-ending injuries in college.
9. Chicago Bears: Rome Odunze (WR, Washington)
Grade A: Some teams had Odunze ranked ahead of Nabers.
He is arguably the cleanest character evaluation and lowest-bust potential of any top-10 pick.
A contested-catch machine, he led the nation with 1,640 receiving yards.
10. Minnesota Vikings (trade with Jets): J.J. McCarthy (QB, Michigan)
Grade B+: It’s good value for a quarterback who was in the conversation as high as No. 2.
But McCarthy didn’t make many NFL-caliber throws as a facilitator in a run-first offense, piling up a 27-1 career record.
11. New York Jets (trade with Vikings): Olu Fashanu (OT, Penn State)
Grade A-: General manager Joe Douglas defaulted to his roots as a big-man evaluator.
He chose to add protection for QB Aaron Rodgers (and insurance against injuries to OTs Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses) instead of playmaker Brock Bowers.
12. Denver Broncos: Bo Nix (QB, Oregon)
Grade C: Panic move? The Broncos took the sixth quarterback of the night! He made an NCAA-record 61 career quarterback starts and is ranked top-six all-time passing yards and total touchdowns.
He is probably second-round value but could start.
13. Las Vegas Raiders: Brock Bowers (TE, Georgia)
Grade A-: Will the Raiders regret not being more aggressive trading up for a quarterback? Maybe.
But you can’t argue with the great value of adding a game-changing versatile weapon that is a yards-after-catch machine.
14. New Orleans Saints: Taliese Fuaga (OT, Oregon State)
Grade B: Maybe there was no team with a more obvious need than the Saints had at offensive tackle, so they were happy the fourth of the consensus top-four offensive tackles was available.
Fuaga finishes his blocks into the dirt.
15. Indianapolis Colts: Laiatu Latu (Edge, UCLA)
Grade B: The first defensive player off the board after a draft-record 14 straight offensive selections. Latu (neck) was forced to medically retire at Washington before transferring and notching 23.5 sacks in 25 games.
There were safer high-end options available.
16. Seattle Seahawks: Byron Murphy (DT, Texas)
Grade A-: Interior pass rush is incredibly valuable in today’s NFL and Murphy (33 pressures last season) provides it.
No surprise that new head coach Mike Macdonald – former Ravens defensive coordinator – wanted to bolster the front-seven.
17. Minnesota Vikings (trade with Jaguars): Dallas Turner (Edge, Alabama)
Grade A: A popular choice to be the first defensive player picked – as high as No. 8 – Turner had to wait.
He had an 11-sack season as SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He reels ball-carriers in with his long arms.
18. Cincinnati Bengals: Amarius Mims (OT, Georgia)
Grade C+: A rare athlete at his 6-foot-8, 340-pound size, Mims made just eight career starts in college, though two were under playoff pressure.
He is the definition of boom-or-bust and will be helped if the Bengals give him time.
19. Los Angeles Rams: Jared Verse (Edge, Florida State)
Grade B+: The Albany transfer is a former tight end who became a rugged pass-rusher who plays against the run, too.
He hones in on the ball like a missile and lets his emotions run hot.
20. Pittsburgh Stelers: Troy Fautanu (OL, Washington)
Grade B-: Is he a guard? A tackle? A center? The belief is that he has five-position versatility and a high ceiling at all of them, though he has injury concerns.
But it’s hard to ignore that the Steelers need more pass-catching weapons after trading Diontae Johnson.
21. Miami Dolphins: Chop Robinson (Edge, Penn State)
Grade A-: A good example of when need meets value. Robinson is explosive around the outside, creating more disruption than his 11.5 sacks in 35 career games suggests.
He was at his best against vaunted Michigan.
22. Philadelphia Eagles: Quinyon Mitchell (CB, Toledo)
Grade A: How did the NFL let this happen?
The Eagles get the No. 1 cornerback taken – about 10 picks later than he should have gone – and fill their biggest need.
Mitchell is a press-man coverage ballhawk.
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (trade with Vikings): Brian Thomas Jr. (WR, LSU)
Grade B: One of the big questions of the first round was, “Who is the fourth receiver?” Answer: A speedster who had an FBS-best 17 touchdown catches last season to replace free-agent departure Calvin Ridley.
There are injury concerns.
24. Detroit Lions (trade with Cowboys) Terrion Arnold (CB, Alabama)
Grade A: The hometown team traded up five spots to get one of the first round’s unexpected tumblers and fill their biggest need.
He had 17 passes defended and five interceptions in his 2023 breakout season.
25. Gren Bay Packers: Jordan Morgan (OT, Arizona)
Grade C: The four-year starter has guard-tackle versatility, but there are questions about his physicality and ability to handle a bull rush.
Morgan is just the second of the last 14 first-round picks made by the Packers to join the offense.
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Graham Barton (OL, Duke)
Grade B: Whether at center as a freshman or at left tackle over the last three years, Barton logged more than 2,500 career snaps. He is at his best blocking in space.
Former starting center Ryan Jensen retired in February.
27. Arizona Cardinals: Darius Robinson (Edge, Missouri)
Grade B: With a pick acquired in a draft-day trade with the Texans last year, Robinson offers inside-outside pass-rush versatility.
The last player (of 13) in the on-site green room had 14 tackles for loss last season and 13 career sacks.
28. Kansas City Chiefs (trade with Bills): Xavier Worthy (WR, Texas)
Grade A-: The fastest player in NFL Combine history (4.21-second 40-yard dash) is going to the speed-obsessed Chiefs.
Worthy adds punt return value, too. And the Bills — who never beat the Chiefs when it matters — allowed it?
29. Dallas Cowboys (trade with Lions): Tyler Guyton (OT, Oklahoma)
Grade C-: It made sense to pick a replacement for All-Pro Tyron Smith (signed with the Jets). But it’s a tough sell that the Cowboys wouldn’t have wanted Barton or Worthy and would like a trade do-over.
30. Baltimore Ravens: Nate Wiggins (CB, Clemson)
Grade B: Do the Ravens ever get a defensive draft pick wrong?
Wiggins is a route-jumping ballhawk with two career pick-6s. But there were questions about his tackling and worth ethic.
Team culture might erase those.
31. San Francisco 49ers: Ricky Pearsall (WR, Florida)
Grade B+: Check out his one-handed catch against Charlotte last season. It wasn’t the exception. He has sticky hands. Is this an indication that receiver Brandon Aiyuk is about to be traded?
32. Carolina Panthers (trade with Bills) Xavier Legette (WR, South Carolina)
Grade B-: The record-tying seventh receiver of the first round broke out as a fifth-year senior with a 1,200-yard season. He is a feisty run-blocker.
Legette revealed recently that was told that the Panthers would pick him – and he was right.
