The first round of the 2020 NFL Draft is officially in the books. A fully virtual draft started out with a fairly predictable top-10, and then suddenly the board turned into a roller coaster ride.
Some prospects went much higher than expected, some fell to everyone's surprise. Others didn't even get picked on Day 1, when the consensus thought it was a forgone conclusion they would be.
Here's a look at who came away looking like the early winners of the draft, and who didn't make the most of their top selection(s):
Winners:
- Dallas Cowboys
Pick No. 17: CeeDee Lamb - WR - Oklahoma
How do you draft Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb at 17th overall and not feel like an absolute bandit? This was highway robbery by the Cowboys.
Lamb was seen, by many, as the top wide receiver prospect, someone who would be a top-10 selection, top-15 at the latest.
Instead, the Alabama wide receiver duo went first with Henry Ruggs III heading to the Las Vegas Raiders at 12th overall, while Jerry Jeudy was snatched up by the Denver Broncos at pick No. 15.
No team elected to move up for the Oklahoma star, giving the Cowboys in unimaginable opportunity to pair Amari Cooper up with Lamb. Defenses are going to be up late trying to figure out how to match up with Cooper, Lamb, Michael Gallup, and Ezekiel Elliott.
- San Francisco 49ers
Pick No. 14: Javon Kinlaw - DT - South Carolina
Pick No. 25: Brandon Aiyuk - WR - Arizona State
The Super Bowl LIV runner-up was busy moving up and down the board on Thursday night. San Francisco only moved down one pick from 13 to 14 in a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while swapping a seventh round pick for a fourth round pick. They then selected a fierce pass-rushing defensive tackle in Javon Kinlaw to pair up with an already elite defensive line featuring Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, and Arik Armstead.
Not a bad replacement for DeForest Buckner.
It would have been a match made in heaven pairing Kyle Shanahan up with a top wide receiver prospect like CeeDee Lamb or Jerry Jeudy, however, the 49ers still managed to pair up their top wide receiver in Deebo Samuel with another explosive wide receiver with their second first round pick.
San Francisco used their fourth round pick from the first trade to trade up from 31st overall to 25th, acquiring Arizona State wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk is very similar to Samuel with top-tier run-after-catch ability and deep speed. His short-area explosiveness, along with a 6-foot-8 wingspan will make the 49ers offense even more dangerous.
- Jacksonville Jaguars
Pick No. 10: C.J. Henderson - CB - Florida
Pick No. 20: K'Lavon Chaisson - OLB - LSU
The Jaguars have a long way to go in rebuilding a defense that carried Jacksonville all the way to an AFC Championship Game appearance in 2017. The organization took a big step on Thursday in doing just that.
Jacksonville had significant needs on the front and back end of the defense. General manager David Caldwell needed to replace cornerback Jalen Ramsey, cornerback A.J. Bouye, defensive end Calais Campbell, and (eventually) defensive end Yannick Ngakoue.
In comes cornerback C.J. Henderson and linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson that, from a value perspective, were absolute steals at the picks the Jaguars acquired them at.
Henderson has an aggressive, fast, and technically sound style at cornerback, and is going to go a long way against NFL offenses that heavily feature speed and explosiveness across the formation.
Chaisson has all the upside in the world with the bend, strength, and first-step quickness he provides.
Losers:
- Seattle Seahawks
Pick No. 27: Jordyn Brooks - LB - Texas Tech
Leave it to Seattle every year to select a player nobody thought would be a first round pick. Whether it was Germain Ifedi, Rashad Penny, or L.J. Collier, the Seahawks' board always seems vastly different than the majority's.
Sometimes being outside of the consensus isn't a bad thing. However, these picks that appear to be "reaches" have, in fact, been just that. Will linebacker Jordyn Brooks break the cycle?
Brooks is a rangy, physical, space rocket of a linebacker that can develop into the perfect modern-day player at his position. However, he is extremely raw in coverage and the former Red Raider wasn't expected to be off the board until the middle-to-late portion of the second round.
Not only could the Seahawks have drafted Brooks at a much better price, but they passed up on LSU linebacker Patrick Queen for him. You'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of people that believed Brooks was better than Queen.
- Aaron Rodgers and Tyrod Taylor
With Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert headed to the Los Angeles Chargers and Utah State quarterback Jordan Love becoming a member of the Green Bay Packers, the clock is now ticking on Rodgers and Taylor.
The situations aren't exactly the same, but the result will likely be. Taylor seems to have officially become a "bridge quarterback". The Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and now the Chargers have all selected a quarterback in the first round rather than commit to Taylor as the long-term starter. It is only a matter of time before Herbert sees the field. It wouldn't be surprising to see him start Week 1.
Rodgers just helped Green Bay get to the NFC Championship Game, however the former Super Bowl MVP will be 37 by the end of the season. Even if he remains the starter for a season or two, Love is going to take over before Rodgers decides himself that it is time to hang up the cleats.
It is a different situation than that of Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, or even Tom Brady when he was still with New England. Each season may be, and may have been their last. However, the New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New England Patriots didn't take matters into their own hands by taking a quarterback in the first round.
Green Bay has set the timeline as opposed to Rodgers doing so.
- Minnesota Vikings
Pick No. 22: Justin Jefferson - WR - LSU
Pick No. 31: Jeff Gladney - CB - TCU
The Vikings came away with two prospects on Thursday at positions they lost crucial pieces at. Replacing wide receiver Stefon Diggs and cornerbacks in Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes was an important focus of Minnesota.
Although they appeared to have filled those spots with the selections of Justin Jefferson and Jeff Gladney, it felt like the Vikings had just missed out on better prospects, or passed on better options.
If the Philadelphia Eagles don't select TCU wide receiver Jalen Reagor with the 21st pick, that fast, dynamic outside wide receiver would have made much more since with Vikings wide receiver Adam Theilen than Jefferson does. Jefferson played almost exclusively inside at LSU last season, an area that Theilen thrives in the most.
Gladney is a really strong prospect out of TCU. However, it felt like they had an opportunity to land a steal by scooping up LSU cornerback Kristian Fulton.
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