Winner – Chicago Bears

Well, this an obvious team to choose for the best draft. Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze headlined this incredible draft that could be remembered in Chicago for years.

A franchise QB and maybe a franchise WR in Rome Odunze, Chicago probably has the best reciever core in the league with DJ Moore Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze. Tory Taylor is also just a special punter and will be a dominant one for years to come.

Loser – Atlanta Falcons

The falcons had a great opportunity this year to majorly upgrade their pass rush by getting the likes of Dallas Turner or Laitu Latu. Instead, they draft their successor of Kirk Cousins in Micheal Penix Jr.

Penix is a great quarterback, but the value was too high and the situation truly doesn’t add up. Cousins is on a 4-year deal that pays him a lot of money. Penix has a chance to be great but everything needs to fall in place. Moving onto the later rounds, Ruke Orhorhoro with the 35th pick was a bit of a reach but, mainly fine. 

Winner – New Orleans Saints

The Saints crushed this draft. Tailese Fuaga with the 14th pick was perfect value and a great fit. The main steal of the draft were two picks, Kool-Aid Mckinstry with the 41st pick and Spencer Rattler with the 150th pick.

These two guys have huge upside and can be not only productive starters, STARS. In terms of Rattler, his upside is through the roof, he throws a better ball than a lot of guys in the league currently. 

Loser – Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas didn’t get a quarterback, it’s that simple. I love the Brock Bowers pick, but in a league as competitive as the NFL, you need to at least have a guy that’s a lottery ticket. When I say lottery ticket I mean a 4th rounder or 5th rounder that could boom and become a franchise guy, take Spencer Rattler for example or for someone actually in the league Dak Prescott. 

The post Who Were the Winners and Losers of the 2024 NFL Draft? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

The Good

Penix is a phenomenal prospect and definitely worthy to go first round. Penix has the rocket arm and athleticism to justify taking him top 10.

An underrated part of the pick is letting Penix sit behind Cousins for a year or two the figure things out as a backup. Penix could learn a lot from a veteran QB in Kirk Cousins and could no doubt change a lot of minds coming into Atlanta.

The Middle

The only problem with taking Penix this early is the other candidates on the board. Dallas Turner, Laiatu Latu, Rome Odunze were all on the board but instead you get the most important position a couple of picks earlier. Importantly, the projected spot for Penix was late first round maybe even late second. Nevertheless, the Falcons got their guy and are ready to roll.

The Bad

Kirk Cousins doesn’t seem to be to happy with the pick. The Falcons called Cousins earlier in the week and informed him they’d be taking a quarterback in the later rounds. Naturally, Cousins was shocked when Penix was taken at eighth. Cousins was “stunned at the news” per ESPN’s Dianna Russini.

This probably isn’t the greatest sign considering the organization just paid Cousins 100 million guaranteed to come play quarterback for them. This could play out like another Jordan Love situation where Atlanta keeps Penix in their back pocket for years. 

Overall, I think the good trumps the bad by a small margin and gives the Atlanta’s fanbase something to look forward to. The question now remains: Will Kirk Cousins stay healthy? 

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Quarterback

Long story short, this quarterback class is loaded. In most drafts, a prospect like Jayden Daniels is a lock to be a top 3 picks but there is a true chance with all the talent on the board he could fall to maybe 8-10th overall. On the other hand, the first few picks are looking like they will be quarterbacks as well.

Caleb Williams is nearly a lock to go number 1 overall, the discussion is surrounded around where he will go with the Bears currently owning the first overall pick. Drake Maye would be the first quarterback taken off the board in 90% of other classes, he’s just that talented. A couple of other guys like Micheal Penix Jr. and Bo Nix from Washington and Oregon have  chance to go in the 1st round if not very early second. 

Wide Receiver

Well, this was a popular position during the combine with guys like Xavier Worthy lighting it up in the 40 yard dash. To look at it frankly this is the best wide receiver class in years and maybe in a decade or so. Marvin Harrison Jr is a blue chip and a lock to go top 5 overall and Malik Nabers shouldn’t fall to far behind him.

This class is not only top heavy with MHJ, Nabers and Rome Odunze but has some really good depth with Brian Thomas Jr (LSU) and Keon Coleman being available late first round maybe even second round. Xavier Worthy’s draft stock is also rapidly rising with his impressive 40 yard dash time, he wouldn’t be a surprise for his name to be called on day 1. 

Offensive Tackle

Joe Alt is the big name for this class, the left tackle out of Notre Dame has a very good shot to go top 7 in this year’s draft. Also at the top Olu Fashanu (Penn St.) is very likely to go early. My personal favorite prospect is Taliese Fuaga (Oregon State). Tackle is a very big need for NFL teams needing to protect their Quarterbacks, so I could see a world in where some trades are made maybe by the Cardinals to protect their guy.

The 2024 class is one of the more exciting classes in recent years considering how strong this particular class is. The only true class that is bad is the running back. Everything else has top to bottom quality starters, and we could potentially look back at the 2024 class and think of it as the turning point.

Out of all three classes listed I would give the slight edge to the Wide Receivers, much more depth than both other positions and maybe even more talent at the top. 

The post What Position in the 2024 Draft Class is the Best? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.