Grades and analysis of Saturday’s NFL Draft picks

Below are observations and updates from the notable picks during Saturday at the 2018 NFL Draft. Here’s a tracker with every pick, and SB Nation staff filled in our observations throughout below for the final day. For selected picks, we’ve assigned a grade of good, bad, or fine.

Grade: Good. This means the Draft is over, so the pick is good by default.

Grade: Good. If Rob Gronkowski does decide to hang it up anytime soon, Izzo could be an heir apparent.

Grade: Good. Scarbrough in a RB stable that also has Zeke Elliott? Yes please.

Grade: Good. Mailata hasn’t played a down of football from what we can tell. He’s actually a Rugby player, so this pick is immediately awesome and there’s nothing that will persuade me otherwise.

Grade: Good. Everyone laughs about the idea of LSU offense, but Etling ranked No. 13 in the country in 2017 passer rating. Don’t blame him for LSU’s whole bad half-decade of offense.

Grade: Good. I mean, look at him!

Grade: Good. He’s pretty good, but mainly, I want to celebrate the greatest full name in football history: Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown.

Grade: Bad. At this point, any pick of a football-playing human is hard to criticize too harshly, but Lee had a ROUGH college career. He was mostly known in 2017 for throwing pick-sixes, but is a good athlete.

Grade: Fine. If you want a respectable backup QB who can either fill the air with footballs or just take about 100 hits, he’s your man.

Grade: Fine. He’s either a steal, due to his injury history, or just a flier. Mainly just noting the Skins continue to assemble Alabama’s 2016 defense.

Grade: Good. Always draft the athletic LSU receiver. You don’t even have to look him up to know he’s raw and barely had any catches in college, because, as noted, he played WR at LSU.

Grade: Good: A quality athlete and team leader whom some considered among the draft’s best safeties.

Grade: Fine. A promising deep threat who struggled with drops in his final college season.

Grade: Good. The talented Californian played in the front seven under Kyle Whittingham in college, which is about all I need to hear.

Grade: Good. He’s fast as hell, peeling off a 4.32 at the Combine, tied for this year’s fastest.

Grade: Good. Kelly was almost literally the only good thing about the Vols’ entire 2017.

Grade: Good. Back-to-back punters! The run on punters has begun. I support punters, and I hope the run on long snappers begins soon.

Grade: Fine. The guy put up hilariously prolific numbers in Conference USA.

Grade: Good. He’s the draft’s most versatile player and one of the most efficient. He’ll save the Steelers some roster spots by being able to play so many positions.

Grade: Good. Settle could’ve been a third-round pick, maybe a second-rounder.

Grade: Good. I think Okoronkwo fell because he ran a 4.77-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. That wasn’t good, and there’s no need to pretend it was. But he was a bulwark for Oklahoma, and he has the strength and size to play end or outside backer. (He’s maybe a little small for an OLB at 6’2, but no so much that he can’t do it.)

Grade: Good.

Grade: Good. Fumagalli is probably a blocking tight end first at the professional level, but he has the skill to get downfield and make some catches. He had more than 500 receiver yards each of the last two seasons at Wisconsin, where the Badgers loved him for his leadership. He feels like a player fans are going to love.

Grade: Good, with the potential to be great. Crosby could’ve been a second round pick or so, and it seems like injury concerns dropped him. He’s nimble and big.

Grade: Good. The best punting prospect in years.

Grade: Fine. Allen is an impressive athlete, and everyone thought he’d go sooner than his co-starting safety at PSU, Troy Apke. He didn’t, but he’s good value here for the Steelers. The thing I wonder about is need; the Steelers took safety Terrell Edmunds in the first round, signed safety Morgan Burnett and free agency, and are two years removed from taking safety Sean Davis in the second round. They could’ve used a linebacker.

Grade: Good. Bentley is a classic thumper of a middle linebacker, kind of in the Dont’a Hightower mold that’s served the Patriots so well over the years. Bentley isn’t fast, but he’s a 260-pounder who can play against the run.

Grade: Amazing. I love it. Griffin, the draft’s best story by far and one of its best athletes, gets to join his twin brother, cornerback Shaquill, in Seattle.

Grade: Potentially off the charts. Hurst has first-round talent, but he fell in the draft because of concerns over a heart condition the league uncovered at the NFL Combine. If Hurst can stay on the field, he represents unbelievable value at this spot.

Grade: Fine, because that is an extremely Wisconsinite name. He’ll fit right in!

Grade: Good. I really like this one. Edmonds was a great FCS player. He’s kind of a bowling-ball RB at 5’9 and 205 pounds, but he’s strong and explosive. The NFL Network’s Mike Mayock likened him to a Branden Oliver type, and I could see that.

Grade: Good, because look at this freaking catch.

Grade: Fine. Ballage isn’t that big or that strong, but I can’t give a bad grade to a dude who once scored eight touchdowns in one game.

Grade: Good. I default to assuming all Eagles defensive line picks are good. Also, this:

Grade: Good. Street’s been injured, but he’s a terrific talent. He’s agile and strong, and the 49ers had R2-D2 from Star Wars announce the pick. All about it.

Grade: Bad.

It’s a deeply unpopular selection in the court of public opinion.

Grade: Fine. Not an urgent need, but he’s an explosive athlete.

Grade: Good. Maddox is a physical, athletic corner. He’s also got a sense of humor about him, and it’s good when football players are fun.

Grade: Good. Armani Watts? That’s the most electric man in fashion. He’s also got a knack for being in the right spot at the right moment.

Grade: Good. Smythe’s a big, physical tight end who can contribute as an H-back or flex out and catch a few passes. He can help in a lot of different formations.

Grade: Good. Averett has gotten a more comprehensive education in DB play than anyone else in this draft. That’s what you get when you’re a Nick Saban corner for five years.

Grade: Fine. Hand never really put it together after he was the No. 1 recruit in the country at one point three years ago, but he still won two national titles and started on Bama’s championship team last season. He probably still has some untapped potential.

Grade: Good. I love what the Broncos are doing with receivers in this draft. They got a first-round talent in SMU’s Courtland Sutton in the second round, and Hamilton is a reliable, athletic target.

Grade: Good. Walton is a brutal, physical runner. He’s good enough to bowl over NFL linebackers right now and could contribute immediately.

Grade: Great, because this kid went to my high school in Pittsburgh. Shout out to the Mount Lebanon Blue Devils. Also he’s really fast.

Grade: Fine. Every QB at this point in the draft is a lottery ticket, especially someone from an FCS program. But he might be good, right?

Grade: Bad. They took the wrong NC State running back. They should’ve taken Jaylen Samuels, a do-everything Swiss Army knife who’s one of the draft’s most efficient players at either running back or receiver. It’s wild that he’s still on the board.

Grade: Good. How cool is that the Texas are taking a dude who played college ball in Texas and, more notably, had 1,400 yards last year? And they had Andre Johnson announce it!

Grade: Good. Thomas is a fluid athlete with good hands who made some excellent plays over the years at Indiana. He could’ve easily been a third-round pick.

The 2018 NFL Draft concludes with the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds on Saturday. The draft moves more quickly and is less dramatic on its last day, but plenty of contributors remain on the board. The league’s 32 teams will find future starters here. Above, we’ll post updates as the draft moves along.

Here’s a list of winners and losers from Friday’s second and third rounds, because there’s nothing more American than leaping to conclusions in the immediate wake of the draft. Throughout Saturday’s rounds, SB Nation staff will chime in here with observations, grades, and analysis on the players whose NFL journeys are getting underway.

The best player available is Michigan defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, a first-round talent who has evidently fallen in the draft over medical concerns.

Other top players still out there include Virginia Tech defensive tackle Tim Settle, Oregon offensive tackle Tyrell Crosby, NC State do-everything skill-position player Jaylen Samuels, Notre Dame receiver and captain of the draft’s All-Name Team Equanimeous St. Brown, and Ohio State offensive tackle Jamarco Jones. Also available: UCF linebacker Shaquem Griffin, who put up one of the great NFL Combine performances ever and did it with one hand.

All of these players could be good as rookies.