College football reporters’ NFL draft takeaways
8:00 AM ET ESPN staff We finally made it through the end of the 2023 NFL draft, and there was certainly
no scarcity of surprises; nevertheless, if there was one constant, it’s that the SEC would reveal out.The SEC had the most players prepared with 62 total choices, followed by the Big 10 with 55 players and
the Big 12 with 30 players. Alabama and Georgia led all schools with 10 players prepared from each group. Speaking of Georgia, its defense has been controling the field and draft board the past couple years. Over the 2023 and 2022 drafts, 13 defensive players have actually been chosen from Georgia, and 5 of them have actually been prepared by the Philadelphia Eagles.After covering these players over the previous three to 5 years and speaking with college coaches, our CFB reporters break down a few of the week’s most intriguing selections.Based on covering these players last year, who was your favorite first-round pick?Ryan McGee: The Houston Texans needed to find starters on both sides of the ball and all they did
was grab the No. 1B-ranked QB on everyone’s lists in C.J. Stroud and then fifteen minutes later on got a defender who I think was the nation’s finest college football player in 2022, Will Anderson, through a sneaky trade up. They could have immediately closed their laptops and gone to bed for the remainder of the weekend and still received an”A”for their efforts. Are they going to win the AFC South this fall? No. Will they be in position to win it usually over the following years? Most likely, thanks to last Thursday night.Blake Baumgartner: How can you not like what the protecting NFC champ Philadelphia Eagles did Thursday night? Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni do not appear to be content with losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. They moved up one area with the Bears to pick potentially the best player in the draft in Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter– worth the threat at No. 9 for a group with a well-established hierarchy in the locker space– and enjoyed Carter’s teammate, linebacker Nolan Smith, fall under their lap with their second first-round pick (No. 30). Both Carter and Smith bring a championship foundation and ought to be Day 1 beginners for a defense that permitted 301.5 YPG in 2022(2nd in the NFL). The Athens, Georgia, to Philadelphia(protective tackle Jordan Davis, linebacker Nakobe Dean, Carter, Smith and protective back Kelee Ringo)pipeline continues.Harry Lyles Jr.: After Geno Smith had a profession year last season, the Seattle Seahawks got him another playmaker in the first round in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, somebody who was thought about one of the best wide receivers in college football going into 2022. Put Smith-Njigba and his route-running capability and ball-tracking abilities along with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and the Seahawks instantly have one of the very best getting corps in professional football. Specifically if Smith-Njigba ends up along with his running mates from 2021 carried out in Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Adam Rittenberg: The pass receivers went later in this draft, and numerous could be looked at as major steals. Boston College’s Zay Flowers is electric and efficient, and he would suit just about anywhere. Baltimore was wise to add him in the wake of its mega contract for quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens plainly require more trusted receivers to build around Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews in an offense now
under the instructions of Todd Monken. Flowers thrived at BC regardless of various coordinators and quarterbacks. He skipped more NIL money elsewhere to remain with the Eagles in 2022, and completed with profession highs in receptions (78), getting backyards (1,077)and receiving touchdowns( 12 ). He’s a terrific pickup for the Ravens and Jackson.David Hale: The New England Patriots invested some draft capital in both a punter and a kicker– the type of draft a novice fantasy football owner makes– but it’s tough to argue the Patriots didn’t discover some serious first-round worth in landing Oregon corner Christian Gonzalez. At 6-foot-1, Gonzalez has the size to compare with anybody, but his quickness, flexibility and ability to track the ball make him genuinely unique. That he fell all the method to the
17th pick– after 2 smaller corners, Devon Witherspoon and Emmanuel Forbes– was either a stroke of sparkle by the Seahawks and Commanders or a stroke of luck for New England. Gonzalez fits an instant requirement and needs to be a huge increase to the Pats’secondary in 2023, with genuine rookie of the year potential. Worst-case circumstance, he includes depth to a system that needed it, and has all the tools to become among the league’s most physical corners in years to come.Chris Low: There never ever must have been a debate(and groups are vulnerable to overthinking it way excessive ), but the Carolina Panthers got it right with the No. 1 pick. Bryce Young instantly alters that franchise’s trajectory. He’s prepared to be the starting quarterback from Day 1 and a difference-maker from Day 1. It’s never ever completely smooth sailing for rookie quarterbacks in the NFL, however Young’s capability to make plays under pressure and discover open receivers no matter how many defenders are breathing down his neck are what make him so special.
His incredible feel in the pocket will serve him well at the next level, and while everybody wishes to speak about his lack of size, go switch on the tape from the past 2 seasons and see him sculpt apart defenses and do it without seemingly breaking a sweat.Paolo Uggetti: I understand taking running backs in the first round, let alone the top 10, is not en style, but Bijan Robinson is not simply any running back. Robinson is quickly one of the very best potential customers at the position over the last few years, and the Atlanta Falcons are getting a dynamic player who will impact their group right now out of the backfield and as a receiver, too. For the 3rd year in a row, the Falcons have taken a playmaker with a high ceiling following the selection of pass receiver Drake London in 2015 and Kyle Pitts the year before. Atlanta is gradually constructing an actually appealing
offense with a capacity for a lot of explosive plays. Now if they could just find a franchise quarterback … Who was the greatest take of the draft? Tuli Tuipulotu has an opportunity to be a genuine steal in the long run. Stacy Revere/Getty Images Baumgartner: I wasn’t sure where Michigan State pass receiver Jayden Reed was going to go. The Green Bay Packers nabbed him midway through the 2nd round, over the likes of Rashee Rice(SMU ), Marvin Mims (Oklahoma ), Jalin Hyatt(Tennessee) and Cedric Tillman (Tennessee ). Alongside high school and college colleague Payton Thorne, Reed revealed what he was capable of throughout an 11-win season for the Spartans in 2021(59 receptions for 1,026 yards, 10 TDs and 2 punt returns for ratings). Injuries restricted him a bit last fall(55 catches for 636 yards, 5 TDs), however he’s electrical when he has the ball in his hands and has a knack for coming down with 50-50 balls, regardless of his 6-foot, 190-pound frame.
He will provide Jordan Love a vibrant playmaker on the outdoors as the remake of Green Bay’s offense commences.Rittenberg: The Pittsburgh Steelers normally know what they’re doing on draft weekend, and came through again with some outstanding options, including Georgia tight end Darnell Washington in the 3rd round and Wisconsin linebacker Nick Herbig in the fourth. Washington is a massive man at 6-7 and 264 pounds, and he will assist the Steelers both in blocking and pass-catching. Envision Washington and Pat Freiermuth terrifying defenses in the red zone. Herbig was unrelenting and productive with the Badgers, leading the team in sacks in each of the previous 2 seasons, and tape-recording 30 tackles for loss. He will once again group with second-round choice Keeanu Benton, providing the Steelers a tandem from one of college football’s continually elite defenses.Hale: Well, I’m an Eagles fan, and they landed arguably the draft’s leading talent in Jalen Carter at No. 9, a legitimate top-10 skill in Nolan Smith at No. 30, a guy who jumps off the tape at safety in Sydney Brown in the 3rd round and a corner numerous thought would be a first-rounder this time in 2015 in Kelee Ringo in the 4th round. Who’s the biggest take of the lot? Why bother disputing. The Eagles got worth at nearly every pick, so even if a couple of eventually fail to live up to their possible, it’s basically difficult to argue with the decision to buy them.Low: Centers are normally prepared lower than they ought to be, but seeing Michigan’s Olusegun Oluwatimi slip to the fifth round was unexpected– but fantastic news for the Seahawks that they could wait that long to get their center of the future. The 6-3, 310-pound Oluwatimi will play 10 years in the NFL and be a component in
the middle of that Seattle offensive line. He played on college football’s finest offensive line last season and won the Outland Trophy as the top interior lineman in college football and the Rimington Award as the top center. He has played in 3 different systems (Air Force, Virginia and Michigan)and will develop quickly into a top-tier NFL center.Uggetti: Perhaps it’s the fact that I had a front row seat to see USC defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu last season and got to see how he seemed to constantly find his way in the backfield pressing a quarterback on his method to 13.5 sacks and an All-American season.
Possibly it’s that Tuipulotu should move in seamlessly into a defense that already includes Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack and affect their unit immediately. In any case, this choice wasn’t just a great suitable for both the former Trojan and the Los Angeles Chargers, however it has the chance to be a real take in the long run.What was your biggest surprise? The Detroit Lions selected Jahmyr Gibbs with the No. 12 choice in the draft. Stacy Revere/Getty Images McGee: Every winter I get calls from my NFL buddies, met in various press boxes and professional days over the years, to inquire about people I’ve seen play a lot that perhaps they have not, and every winter season there’s always a name that keeps showing up and the line of questioning around him absolutely catches me off guard. This year that person was Nolan Smith. I was asked,”How tall is he actually?”and”How hurt was he really?”My reaction was constantly, “Ask Spencer Rattler, Hendon Hooker, Anthony Richardson and Bryce Young. “So, with those March questions in mind, I suppose I should not have been surprised when he fell all the way to the end of the first round. Simply as I won’t be amazed when yet another NFC East QB falls all the way to the turf wrapped in Smith’s arms.Lyles: The Lions choosing Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell
stood out to me at choice No. 18. I don’t understandthat anyone had him as a first-round choice, however provided what we understand about Dan Campbell and the mindset and energy he brings, Campbell is his type of player. I asked Kirk Ferentz about Campbell’s place among the players he has coached in his twenty years at Iowa prior to the Music City Bowl against Kentucky, and he told me,”You can’t improve than Jack Campbell … everything he does is remarkable.”Similar to his brand-new head coach in Detroit, he brings incredible energy, is going to uplift everybody around him, and give you everything he’s got every single day. Regardless of the surprise regarding the order in which Campbell was selected, it feels like he landed in the absolute right spot.Rittenberg: The response to Iowa’s Lukas Van Ness addressing No. 13 from Big Ten coaches I spoke to this weekend suggests the Packers reached a bit. Green Bay has done well with defensive players from the Big Ten, and Van Ness clearly
has upside as a pass-rusher, recording 13.5 sacks and 19.5 deals with for loss the previous 2 seasons. However he also used a defense filled with trustworthy standouts, including Campbell, third-round draft pick Riley Moss, fellow linemen Noah Shannon and Joe Evans, and others. He will not have the very same security with the Packers ‘defense, which had a hard time for much of the 2022 season. Green Bay could have added defensive backs Christian Gonzalez or Emmanuel Forbes, or an interior force like Calijah Kancey. They took a little bit of a gamble on Van Ness. We’ll see if it pays off.Low: Let’s say I marvel in a good way that Pitt’s Kancey was selected among the top 20 choices at No. 19. At 281 pounds, he may not be the prototypical defensive take on in the NFL, however he plays a lot bigger and more powerful than his noted weight. He’s a terrific run-stopper
, and as soon as he gets his hands on you, it’s generally over. He had 27 tackles for loss over the past 2 seasons. Kancey’s speed( he had the fastest 40-yard dash time for a defensive tackle at the NFL integrate since 2006)could enable the Bucs to get creative with him. In either case, good for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for valuing production over measurables and grabbing Kancey with their first-round pick.Hale: Stetson Bennett never requires to play a breeze in the NFL for his track record to be fully established. He could quickly call it a career, retire to his hometown in South Georgia, open a couple of automobile dealers and never ever spend for a meal in the state again. And yet, here he is, a fourth-round draft pick with a real shot to discover behind a fellow Bulldog in Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles
Rams. 2 years back, nobody thought Bennett could be a champion QB. A year back, he won his very first title but still appeared to be facing difficult odds as an NFL prospect. Who wishes to bet versus him doing something unique with the Rams now, too?