Time once again for an annual exercise here at SB Nation: a college football fan who pays full attention to one NFL team (well, like 75 percent attention) and not much to any of the others will attempt to grade the NFL Draft.
A college football fan’s 11 favorite 2018 NFL Draft classes
Let’s ignore serious business like TEAM NEEDS and just look at who landed the most college stars.
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
In 2017, I gave the Texans the crown simply because they picked Deshaun Watson. Ignore the other two takes in there. In 2016, I had the Jaguars No. 2, and now they’re AFC contenders. Ignore the No. 1 team in there.
How this works: even after watching and helping to cover the whole draft, I still don’t know each team’s NEEDS and whether anybody REACHED beyond what the mock drafts predicted. Here’s what I do instead: see who picked the most really good college football players.
(If you wanna see what actual NFL knowers think, go here.)
11. Packers
It’s cool when one team loads up on a specific type of player. Iowa’s Josh Jackson might’ve been college football’s best pure corner last year, now joining delightful athlete Jaire Alexander of Louisville. Green Bay also added three WRs over 6’3, led by Mizzou’s J’Mon Moore.
10. Steelers
Pairing up Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph and WR James Washington could be a hoot. In this household, we stan NC State athlete Jaylen Samuels.
9. Colts
One team drafting Notre Dame’s Quenton Nelson and Auburn’s Braden Smith is hilarious. Nelson plays like Thanos, and Smith made national noise as a weightlifer back in high school, then lived up to it in college. Indy is, uh, set at guard.
8. Seahawks
Seattle had a weird draft, as always, and while I don’t understand taking San Diego State RB Rashaad Penny in the first round, he still meets our criteria: very good college football player. UCF LB Shaquem Griffin, Texas punt god Michael Dickson, and Ohio State OT Jamarco Jones are standout late picks.
7. Raiders
Six or so months ago, if you said one team got Michigan DT Maurice Hurst and LSU DE Arden Key, I’d have assumed that team had two first-round picks.
6. Cardinals
UCLA’s Josh Rosen is one of the draft’s three best quarterbacks. Getting him as the fourth QB drafted is a steal. I also like Texas A&M WR Christian Kirk a lot.
5. Cowboys
A lot of quality picks. Moving Texas’ Connor Williams to guard fits him into an already excellent Dallas offensive line (See? I know at least a couple NFL things), and it’s fun when teams lean into their strengths. WKU QB Mike White was crazy prolific in college, and Alabama RB Bo Scarbrough is a behemoth when healthy.
4. Broncos
Lots of proven ballers, especially in the middle rounds. Oregon’s Royce Freeman statistically profiles as one of the draft’s two or three best RBs, and playmaking LB Josey Jewell was the heart of a really good Iowa defense.
3. Browns
It’d be hard for the Browns not to appear on this list. Baker Mayfield was my choice for No. 1 overall, and he gives this class a top-five ranking all by himself. Whether mock drafters liked Ohio State DB Denzel Ward at No. 4 or not, he’s great. Never forget Miami DE Chad Thomas produced a Rick Ross song.
2. Washington
Other than the fact that they drafted a Louisville offensive lineman — Geron Christian might be good, but if so, he lacked help, to say the least — the Washington grabbed themselves an all-conference team. Washington continues to build Alabama’s 2016 defense, college stats say LSU’s Derrius Guice (like Freeman above) is just as promising as Saquon Barkley, Penn State’s Troy Apke is a great athlete, Virginia Tech’s Tim Settle had disruptive numbers despite often playing nose (not easy), and SMU WR Trey Quinn is the rare Mr. Irrelevant who actually made a mark in college, leading the country in catches per game.
1. Ravens
As Alex Kirshner put it in his winners and losers post:
The Ravens picked a bunch of guys who were great college football players, which is a strong indicator that they can be good NFL players. Examples:
QB Lamar Jackson? Great college football player.
OT Orlando Brown? Great college football player, even if he had a terrible combine.
TE Mark Andrews? Great college football player who caught tons of balls and was a matchup nightmare.
CB Anthony Averett? Great college football player who started for a national champion and got a five-year education with Nick Saban as his position coach.
WR Jaleel Scott? College player who made the country’s best catch in 2017.
S DeShon Elliott? College player who ball-hawked more efficiently than maybe any other college player.
I adore this draft class.
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