2014 NFL Draft: Day One Takeaways
Byron Lambert, Rosterwatch.com

By our count, at least fifteen teams bagged an elite prospect in Round One, and we can make a strong argument for all 32 picks. Further evidence to the quality of this draft. Here are our initial thoughts:

The Rams obviously got very sick with Greg Robinson and Aaron Donald. Opting to dominate in the trenches. They now have four young first rounders on on the defensive line: Chris Long, Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers, and Aaron Donald. On the offensive side they’ve added a mauler in Robinson to pair with former #1 overall pick Jake Long, as well as Roger Saafold who was just the second pick in round two of the 2012 draft, and is still only 25 years old.

We love the conviction that Jacksonville went after Blake Bortles with. He has the best overall quarterback skills of any prospect in this draft. Gus Bradley is building a defensive oriented team. David Caldwell knew he needed to add a franchise quarterback to compete with Andrew Luck for years to come. Blake Bortles was the only quarterback in this draft that fit the “franchise” mold.

Love that Buffalo recognized Sammy Watkins was a Top 3 talent in this draft, so maybe they got a deal at 4- primarily surrendering next year’s #1 pick. Quite a bit less than Atlanta paid for Julio a few years back. However, we believe Mike Evans was the much better fit for Buffalo- and would have come at a much cheaper price. Sammy Watkins guarantees to be a solid contributor, unfortunately we don’t think he meets his massive potential anytime soon in upstate New York.

Khalil Mack was a coup for Raiders fans at #5. We truly believe Oakland had Mike Evans in the cross hairs, not expecting Mack to be there. The number one overall prospect on many boards, Mack fell into Reggie’s lap. Edge rusher has been a huge position of need in Oakland for several years. Head Coach Dennis Allen brought a similar player, Von Miller, into the league a few years back and helped orchestrate a monster rookie campaign.

Owner Arthur Blank said they wanted to go nasty, instead the Falcons went with the technician at offensive tackle, selecting Jake Matthews over Taylor Lewan. Atlanta needs help now, and preferred the plug-in-play option.

Mike Evans is one of the truly elite talents in this rookie class. He’s going to be a phenom. The fit in Tampa is great with Josh McCown, Vincent Jackson, Doug Martin- and strong armed Mike Glennon in the waiting.

The Cleveland Browns made out like bandits with Justin Gilbert, Johnny Manziel, and the Bills 2015 first round pick. Already loaded on defense, the new regime has plugged one of the last holes by giving Joe Haden a premier running mate in Gilbert. The pairing should buy last year’s top pick, Barkevious Mingo more time to track down opposing quarterbacks. Although we believe Cleveland wasn’t an ideal cold weather landing spot for Manziel- we must admit that Josh Gordon, Jordan Cameron, and Johnny Football sounds like a match made in Heaven from Day 1.

Early scouting reports, and draft rankings on Anthony Barr turned out to be the most accurate. Mike Zimmer has a shiny new toy. The move to lock up Teddy Bridgewater late, was bold by Rick Spielman. We like the potential he offers Minnesota with Cordarrelle, and AP.

We were surprised Eric Ebron wasn’t in the Trashman’s Fantasy Article . The Lions threw caution to the wind, glossing over positions of need for one of the elite positional talents in this draft. The future is bright in Detroit.

His ten gallon hat was oozing snake oil. Somehow, Jerry found the resolve to make the safe pick and properly build in the trenches, with highly touted and versatile OL prospect Zack Martin. We love a young Cowboys offensive line consisting of Smith, Freiderich, and Martin.

We’ll see how Ozzie’s penchant for Alabama players works out. Consider us skeptical about a Courtney Upshaw, CJ Mosley Baltimore Crimson Tide LB corps.

Calvin Pryor to the Jets is a home run, considering we thought they were going to take Kenny Vaccaro last year. Pryor is a rangy enforcer with great ball skills that Rex Ryan will love. He and Dee Milliner could be a foundation for years to come.

Everybody and their mother knew when New Orleans traded up, it was for Tavon Austin-Clone- Brandin Cooks. You’re hard pressed to come up with many better fits than this one. Cooks is ready to play now, and he found the perfect landing spot with Brees and Payton. Barring injury, he’s going to flash big as a rookie.

Ted Thompson did it again, waiting for an unbelievable talent to fall right into his lap. Safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix truly is one of the elite prospects in this draft. Packers fans rejoice.

Dee Ford to the Chiefs is interesting. We thought it could be Anthony Barr if he slid. Tamba Hali is getting older, Justin Houston needs a young running mate. Ford is physically imposing with good speed. He’s known as a great teammate and competitor.

The Bengals got good value in Dennard. He was the number one cornerback on many draft boards. They need him with Leon Hall falling apart.

San Diego took our favorite corner in the draft. Jason Verrett is ultra talented in all phases, just a bit undersized. We don’t care. The Chargers have to be able to short circuit Peytonstein.

The Eagles surprised us a bit with Marcus Smith. But, they had been linked to Dion Jordan trade rumors all offseason- and we also saw Chip Kelly spending an awful lot of time with Smith at Louisville Pro Day. It’s interesting Philly “reached” over guys like Deone Bucannon and Kelvin Benjamin. Howie Roseman has said many times this offseason how much he covets a big defensive back and/or safety. Kelly had also spent time personally scouting Benjamin. It’s become widely known the Eagles are looking to get bigger at receiver.

Patrick Peterson, Crime Time, Honey Badger, Deone Bucannon sounds like a very sick secondary in The Desert.

In his usual way, Dave Gettleman quietly swindled everybody. The whole Panthers fan base has been crowing for receiver. Instead of doing anything drastic, he waited and rolled the dice on a player we have some reservations about, but inarguably has massive potential. Cam Newton has never had a big target like Kelvin Benjamin. We love the pairing.

There were quite whispers about Dominique Easley to the Patriots for a while. Word is, pre-injury they viewed him as a Top 5-10 talent in this draft, and a better prospect than Aaron Donald. Supposedly, Seattle believed the same thing.

San Francisco hit a home run with Eric Reid last year. This year, the continue to bolster the secondary with youth. Jimmy Ward is a firecracker that can play safety and corner.

Denver finished the overhaul of their secondary by stealing Bradley Roby late, to team up with big time veteran additions Aqib Talib and TJ Ward.

John Schneider showed that the Thursday night format, has not only increased the value of the first pick of the second round, BUT it also has increased the value of the last pick of the first round. It was obvious Teddy Bridgewater was the guy Minnesota was targeting, in an attempt to leapfrog the Texans and stonewall a massive coup in Houston. Adeptly, Seattle made the move. Likely, Houston realized this was a possibility and had an opportunity to move up as well- that tells us Rick Smith is looking to move down Friday night, and that Teddy Bridgewater was not their guy.