The 2024 NFL Draft is in the books and it’s time to recap all the action. Thursday started off pretty chalky until the Atlanta Falcons sent shockwaves across the internet when they selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall. We didn’t see a defensive player selected until pick number 15. Late in the first round leading into day two, we saw a big run on wide receivers, which the depth of the class was illustrated by 35 total names coming off the board. Offensive tackle came in close behind that with 27 selected and cornerback actually edged out the WRs by one more taken (36), as the two other quality position groups. The big surprise was that we didn’t just get six quarterbacks inside the top-12 to set a new record, but then it took 138 additional spots before we got to QB7.
In this article, I’m going to break down the biggest winners and losers from the weekend, which can be teams overall in terms of the hauls they put together, individual players, coaches or general managers. After that, we’re getting to the biggest steals and reaches, based my individual rankings, consensus boards and general circumstances. All of this of course comes with a certain level of subjectivity and it’ll be another three years before we can make any definitive statements on these new members of the NFL, but I strongly believe in team-building through the draft, understanding where you can acquire value, how to maneuver around the board and how this piece fits into the puzzle, as you consider the way you’ve positioned yourself coming in and the vision behind the operation.
Let’s get into it: