NFL draft’s winners and losers of round one
Coming from USC, Caleb Williams was a highly touted prospect and was selected first overall by the Chicago Bears (Photo courtesy of Michael Reaves/Getty Images).
The National Football League (NFL) commenced the NFL draft on Thursday, Apr. 25. The first round has given us a plethora of new NFL superstars. The 32 players who got their names called Thursday night will have the opportunity to become part of a decorated history, but not everybody will. Here are the 2024 NFL Draft winners and losers from round one.
Winners- Chicago Bears
A somewhat boring choice, however, the Bears had a stellar first round. The Bears owned the first pick of this year's draft as part of their robbery in the trade with the Carolina Panthers last year and owned their original ninth overall pick. The Bears selected University of Southern California quarterback (QB) Caleb Williams first overall and University of Washington wide receiver (WR) Rome Odunze with the ninth pick. Caleb Williams was always going to be the first overall pick. It was just a matter of whether the Chicago Bears would trade this pick or take him themselves. They chose the latter and will hopefully move into this new era with a new franchise QB. Rome Odunze fell right in the Bears’ laps at the ninth pick after being connected to teams as high as the Giants at pick six. The combination of value and top-tier talent makes the Chicago Bears winners in a big way.
Losers- Atlanta Falcons
Everyone should have seen this one coming. What are the Falcons doing? The Falcons owned the eighth overall pick in this year's draft. The current Falcons team is full of talented weapons on the offensive end and signed top free agent QB Kirk Cousins to a massive four-year, 180 million dollar contract with 100 million in guaranteed money. One would think drafting the best defensive player available would be the best option or possibly even beefing up their o-line, but nope! The Falcons elected to take University of Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the most baffling first-round draft choice in years. Strictly talking about Penix Jr.'s talent, he is definitely one of the best quarterbacks in this draft, however, Penix Jr. is currently 24 years old and has dealt with two torn ACLs and two separated shoulders already. Combine that with the fact that he will be sitting behind Kirk Cousins for at least two years, and you will find yourselves as draft-day losers.
Winners- Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles have done it again. It seems like the Eagles kill it in the first round every year, and this year is no different. The Eagles sat at pick 22 in this year’s draft and desperately needed some defensive secondary help. At the twenty-second pick, you may get a decent talent, but nothing too special. This was not the case for the Eagles, as there was no defensive secondary player picked in the first 21 picks, meaning the Eagles had the opportunity to take whichever defensive back they wanted. They opted to take Toledo centerback (CB) Quinyon Mitchell. The fact that Mitchell is the best CB in his class is irrelevant. The Eagles are winners purely because they had the option of any defensive back in the draft all the way back at the twenty-second pick alone.
Losers- Denver Broncos
Similar to the Atlanta Falcons, the Broncos not only reached for a quarterback, but they picked one who doesn’t fit their timeline. The Broncos owned the overall pick and picked University of Oregon’s QB Bo Nix. Nix is a decent QB prospect, but that isn’t the problem. Nix was projected to be either a late first-round pick or a day-two pick. The Broncos really had no choice but to take Nix in the middle of the first round as he was the last tier-one quarterback available, and they couldn’t trade down because the quarterback-less Las Vegas Raiders were breathing down their necks at the thirteenth pick. Nix is a 24-year-old prospect on likely the worst all-around roster in the NFL, so this pick doesn’t make too much sense. By the time the Broncos get some top-tier talent around Nix, he will either be 30 years-old or at least be pushing that age, making this a pretty big loss for the Denver Broncos.
Of course, all these winners and losers are subjective, as these young players haven’t even stepped foot into the NFL yet. Some honorable mention winners of this year's first round include the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Jets, along with some extra first-round losers in the Green Bay Packers and the Carolina Panthers.