7 takeaways from Day 1 of the 2019 NFL Draft

My main takeaway from the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft is this: I loved it! Many teams improved Thursday night by taking quality NFL players who have the upside to be Pro Bowlers and All-Pros.

It wasn’t a flashy draft. It was a meat and potatoes draft: teams loading up on defensive linemen, edge rushers, linebackers, and offensive linemen.

Here are of seven other thoughts from Round 1 of the draft.

I mean, I can’t believe I wrote this. Washington might have gotten the steal of the night with Dwayne Haskins at pick No. 15. He’s the best quarterback in this draft, in my opinion. I’ve stated this before and it doesn’t change with Kyler Murray going No. 1. I prefer a pocket quarterback. Outside of a few outliers, pocket quarterbacks have longer and more successful careers. That is Haskins.

Also, it’s worth noting the last two quarterbacks Alex Smith mentored were Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Mahomes. Both of those players were excellent when Smith handed them the keys.

Then, Washington traded back up into the first round for highly talented Montez Sweat, who fell down the draft boards because of a reported heart condition. The value of grabbing Sweat and Haskins can’t be understated. That is what the draft is about.

The Steelers’ defense hasn’t been the same since the unfortunate injury to Ryan Shazier, and now they’ve found their answer for that loss: speedy linebacker Devin Bush. The Steelers aren’t a team that often trades up like this, so I appreciate the aggressiveness to get the player they wanted.

The Jets were able to snag Alabama’s Quinnen Williams with the third-overall pick. They got the best player in the draft to pair with possibly the best player in the draft from last season.

Williams is the most polished pass rusher in the draft, and it’s rare to find a defensive tackle who has multiple pass-rush moves coming out of college. Great pick.

I’ve been saying the Cardinals would make this pick for months now. Again, I’m not totally sold on Murray being a huge success in the NFL, but I’m excited to watch him. He fits their offense better than Josh Rosen, and if you’re going to hire Kliff Kingsbury, get him his guy.

The surprise is Rosen not being moved before the first pick. His value is now plummeting down as teams know they need to trade him. The Cardinals might need to wait until another quarterback gets hurt in training camp to get some value for Rosen.

Daniel Jones doesn’t excite anyone. He was poor against pressure and making adjustments. He doesn’t have a great deep ball, and while he has a decent short game, that’s only some of the time. When was the last time a quarterback who was just OK in college was drafted high and turned out to be excellent in the NFL? Never.

They could have drafted Sam Darnold last season and a pass rusher this season, and that would’ve been better. However, I’ll give the Giants some credit: They drafted the quarterback they loved early in the draft, which is exactly how they should have done it. (Or they should have traded for Rosen.)

The Giants then turned the Odell Beckham Jr. pick into nose tackle Dexter Lawrence. Big whoopie!

I do like their trade back into the first round for Deandre Baker, the corner from Georgia, though.

I don’t dislike the Packers’ picks, but entering the draft they had a chance to grab two offensive players to help bolster that unit — and just passed on it. That’s surprising with an offensive coach running the show.

The tackle out of Florida was supposed to be a top-10 pick. He wasn’t selected in the first round and I’m not sure why. It could be because of a bum knee, but otherwise, there doesn’t seem to be a reason why he hasn’t been drafted yet. That should change early on Friday night.