Biggest winners from the 2023 NFL Draft

The 2023 NFL Draft is in the books and it’s time to break down everything that happened over the weekend. Obviously, everybody got better by adding young talent, but some teams used their draft capital better than others – whether that’s just the players they picked or their overall strategy.

In this article, I will lay out my five biggest winners from the weekend. This could be a specific team that did really well in terms of how they used their assets, individual prospects, position groups or NFL veterans, due to how they will be affected.

One name I considered a winner here was Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson since he signed a contract that, in terms of average annual value is the largest in NFL history before his team got him a new stud receiver in the first round.

However, I didn’t want the first half of this equation to factor in too much here, even though in terms of Thursday, nobody had a better 24 hours than him.

Pittsburgh Steelers v Philadelphia Eagles

Howie Roseman & the Bulldogs graduate program

Early on Day 3, I tweeted out that this has to be a bit at this point, because of the absurd amount of Georgia players joining the Eagles recently.

Last year, they traded up a couple of spots for big defensive tackle Jordan Davis in the first round and then were able to take advantage of some medical concerns around Nakobe Dean, who I thought purely based on tape, was worthy of a Day 1 selection. Now this time around, they spent both of their first-rounders on two more members from that historic 2022 Bulldogs defense.

Jalen Carter was my number one overall prospect, purely based on tape, and swapped spots with the Bears at number nine in exchange for a 2024 fourth-rounder.

While I personally had Nolan Smith as my number six edge rusher right in the range he was selected at, I don’t think anybody thought he’d be available at 30th overall. They came back on Day 3 and picked cornerback Kelee Ringo at 105th overall, who was mocked in the first round a couple of months ago, and I had him as my CB6.

Because they didn’t feel like any Georgia guys they liked were still on the board, they called the Lions, who just shocked everybody by taking a running back 12th overall, and traded a 2025 fourth-rounder for a still very talented (when healthy) player in D’Andre Swift.

While it’s certainly not always the soundest strategy to pick the guys from the best programs in the country, those were all among the best names available at the times when Philly was on the clock and we can all appreciate them not overthinking things and potentially reaching on some smaller names that they feel in love with on tape.

That’s obviously also great for the Georgia program, to have this pipeline to the NFL, where more kids coming out of high school want to commit to Kirby Smart, because they know he can ultimately get them to the pros.

I also really liked the Eagles’ four other selections, Alabama tackle Tyler Steen (65th overall) as somebody whose only weakness at this point is the way he can absorb power effectively. Illinois’ Sydney Brown (66th) was my number two safety and somebody I believe has the potential to be a Brian Dawkins-like player if he becomes a more reliable tackler.

Tanner McKee (188th) is a bit curious because of how drastically different his profile is to Jalen Hurts but he was my QB8. Finally, Texas’ Moro Ojomo (249th) could have easily gone in the early 100s as a powerful athlete with alignment versatility along the D-line.

Geno Smith

In terms of a veteran quarterback who didn’t just earn a massive contract to secure himself as the face of a franchise like Lamar Jackson, nobody probably had a better weekend than Geno Smith.

First, the Seahawks were in prime territory for one of the top QBs in the draft at fifth overall – which I wouldn’t expect them to get another chance like this anytime soon, because the roster is too good at this point – but instead, they selected Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon.

Then, at 20th overall, Kentucky’s Will Levis, who most teams had as QB4 on their boards, was still available, yet instead they picked Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba – a perfect fit for them in the slot to tie their room of pass-catchers together.

Seattle still had a chance to trade back into the late first round or even up to one of the top two picks on Day 2 for Levis. Instead, they let the Titans pick him 33rd overall. After some people connected them to Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker, they passed on him as well with both of their second-round picks, in favor of Auburn edge rusher Derick Hall (37th overall) and the consensus number three running back Zach Charbonnet from UCLA (52nd), to give them one of the most formidable backfield duos along with another second-rounder Kenneth Walker.

On Day 3, the Hawks got two more interior O-linemen with starter qualities in LSU’s Anthony Bradford (108th) and Michigan’s Olu Ouwatimi (153rd), along with another RB in the seventh round, with Kenny McIntosh (237th) as a replacement for Travis Homer as a designated third-down back.

So instead of potentially taking advantage of the increased draft capital they possessed to invest into a future signal-caller to eventually replace Geno, they got him an uber-reliable slot receiver who does a great job of being friendly to the quarterback with his angles out of breaks.

They added some bodies to an interior O-line that was a bit concerning and they filled out that backfield with two guys that can help out in the passing game as well, when you look at Charbonnet’s work in the screen game and making guys miss in the flats off dump-offs, while McIntosh can be a legit extra receiver, who can flex out wide and go vertical.

This offense has a chance to be really explosive and without any competition added, Geno is going to pull the trigger for them the next couple of years at least.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Thinking of a team that every single time they were on the clock selected a prospect I had higher on my personal board, I think the Steelers absolutely aced their draft. The one name where it wasn’t an actual surplus but rather right in line with my rankings was the first one.

However, with the top three offensive tackles off the board already, they did what I projected them to in my final mock draft and moved up – not four spots as I thought, but rather three – in exchange for a fourth-round pick (120th overall) with the Patriots and sniped the Jets a spot later, who everybody projected to go O-line.

The Gang Green brass vehemently denies that they were locked in on that position, but I certainly think that’s the case. So Pittsburgh recognized that they needed to make this move, and were probably helped out gladly by New England, allowing them to move in front of their AFC East rivals and get a pro-ready right tackle, after which I saw a significant drop-off.

From Day 2 on, however, is when they really started to add value. Having the very first pick in the second round, they received several calls about teams wanting to move up, but instead stuck there and selected the guy many projected them to target at 17th overall due to his dad being a cornerstone player for that defense in the past.

Another big position of need was covered with Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. – a super-long, talented corner, who will be a great fit with his ability to squeeze down passing downs in Pittsburgh’s zone-heavy scheme and gives them some versatility to play press-man into the boundary, if you have a safety clouding over the top.

Wisconsin interior D-lineman Keeanu Benton (49th overall) has the ability to actually turn himself into a Cam Heyward-esque player and now gets to learn from the man himself. Georgia tight-end Darnell Washington (93rd) received some first-round buzz at times thanks to his profile to turn into a dominant blocker, his massive frame and the speed he can move at for being 265 pounds, to rumble through defenses.

With their three picks on Day 3, they took advantage of another undersized outside linebacker from Wisconsin, falling to Nick Herbig (132nd overall), who shows very active hands and understands how to finish his rushes, now getting him paired up with a fellow Badger in T.J. Watt. Purdue cornerback Corey Trice (241st) was on the top-100 board for many draft analysts with tremendous length and athletic tools, along with already being an excellent tackler.

And finally, they take a stab at a physically talented offensive lineman in Maryland’s Spencer Anderson (251st) with starting experience at guard, center and tackle.

2023 CFP National Championship - TCU v Georgia

Kicking specialists & Mid-round quarterbacks

This one is pretty insane. Let’s start with the specialists because we saw three kickers and punters each selected in this draft. In 2022, we actually saw four punters go, but only one kicker.

We didn’t have any long-snappers selected, but just looking at “kicking” specialists, over the last 20 years, we’ve only seen six guys hear their names called on three other occassions – 2004, 2012 and 2018. Even more glaring to me was how early those guys went.

We didn’t have somebody like Roberto Aguayo, who was a second-round pick in 2016 – and look how that turned out – but the 49ers used a top-100 pick on Michigan’s Jake Moody (99th overall), the Patriots picked Maryland’s Chad Ryland (112th) early on Day 3 and the Packers took Auburn’s Daniel Carlson (203rd) in the sixth round.

In terms of the punters, New England came back and took another specialist just inside the top-200 in Michigan State’s Bryce Baringer (192nd) and then we had two more with the second Michigan guy here in Brad Robbins (217th) going to Cincinnati and Ethan Evans (223rd) from Wingate joining the Rams.

Meanwhile, we had an unprecedented run on quarterbacks in the middle rounds. We started the draft with three QBs inside the first four picks, while Will Levis from Kentucky had to wait until the top of Day 2 for the Titans to make the move up for him.

After that, there was a break for 35 spots until we saw Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker (68th overall) come off the board – a range I thought was much more appropriate than some first-round buzz he received, considering he’s a 25-year-old who will miss his at least most of his rookie season with a torn ACL and is coming from an offensive system that shows very little resemblance to what he will be asked to do in the pros.

Things really started to pick up from 127th overall on, as over the next 72 selection, we saw eight(!) signal-callers come off the board – Fresno State’s Jake Haener, Georgia’s Stetson Bennett, Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell, UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Houston’s Clayton Tune, Penn State’s Sean Clifford, BYU’s Jaren Hall and Stanford’s Tanner McKee in that order.

Half of them went where I thought it was appropriate for them. Yet, you can absolutely tell that there was a Brock Purdy effect, considering how many teams took a stab on these guys in the middle rounds when better football players were available – as 12 selected within the first five rounds actually set a new record. We’ll have to see how that strategy turns out, but good for all the guys that benefitted from it already.

Arizona Cardinals Introduce Jonathan Gannon as Head Coach

Monti Ossenfort

The final name I wanted to give credit to here is the new general manager of the Arizona Cardinals. Because after just one draft, I’m a bigger fan of what he was able to accomplish than really any of the decade Steve Keim had to turn the Birds into a contender, other than maybe 2015.

And it’s not just the players he selected individually, but rather the positions he targeted in those ranges and his process behind it all. Perhaps most impressively, the way they maneuvered around the board throughout the weekend.

Now, first and foremost, it feels like Monti and company probably got a little bit lucky at the top, with the Texans apparently having a generational-type grade on Alabama edge defender Will Anderson Jr. and being willing to invest as much draft capital to move up for him, after already grabbing their QB of the future in C.J. Stroud second overall.

Otherwise, it appeared that Arizona might ultimately be stuck at number three, but they were able to package that with an early fourth-rounder (105th overall) for a massive haul – pick 12 and a quasi-first-rounder with 33, along with the Texans’ first and third next year.

Yet, after the Lions probably were scrambling a little bit considering the guy heavily favored to be their choice at sixth overall in Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon was taken by the Seahawks a spot earlier, the Cardinals decided to move back up six spots, in exchange for a much smaller return – pick 34 and 168, while getting pick 81 back – and they still got the guy that was really picking up steam for them being the choice at third overall – the consensus top-ranked left tackle Paris Johnson Jr.

However, that’s not where things stopped for Arizona. In the second round, they moved down eight spots with the Titans having eyes on the falling Kentucky QB Will Levis, in exchange for moving up nine spots in the third round and another three next year.

With those selections, they brought in my fifth-ranked edge defender in LSU’s B.J. Ojulari and a top-ten corner not taking injury into account Syracuse’s Garrett Williams, who is now projected to return from the torn ACL in July already.

Plus, then the best trade they pulled off in my opinion – going back to the well with the Lions – they traded pick 96, which Detroit used on a barely drafted D-tackle in my opinion (Brodric Martin from Western Kentucky) for picks 122, 139 and 168.

They went on to turn those into a guard who put up elite testing numbers at the combine in UCLA’s Jon Gaines II, a developmental quarterback with great arm and movement talent in Houston’s Clayton Tune and run-and-hit linebacker with 4.39 speed in Auburn’s Owen Pappoe.

That’s along with selecting one of the most refined route-runners in Stanford WR Michael Wilson (94th), a feisty nickel in Louisville’s Kei’Trel Clark (180th) and an interior D-lineman I had inside my top-100 overall prospects late in the sixth round with West Virginia’s Dante Stills (213th).

Others draft classes I liked: Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants & Seattle Seahawks

If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider checking out the original piece and feel free to check out all my other video content here!

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