It’s been almost a week since the NFL draft which means we should have had enough time to look back and reflect on all the decisions made by the various teams around the NFL.
And while the Buccaneers are obviously the most important team to look at for this publication, their division rivals are also pretty significant.
There were some decisions that were reasonable, some less so but all worthy of discussion.
So let’s get into overall draft grades for each of the other three teams in the NFC South, starting with the defending champions.
Carolina Panthers: A-
The main thing you can say about the draft that the Carolina Panthers submitted is that they certainly got value according to most consensus big boards.
That’s something that most people talk about with these drafts and rightfully so. The consensus might not always be right, but teams that reach typically get bad results.
Plus, the Panthers also managed to snag some really interesting players that should support their quest to find out if Bryce Young should be their franchise quarterback moving forward.
Monroe Freeling is a long-term upgrade at tackle, with Taylor Molton aging and injuries at left tackle.
The addition of Sam Hecht only further solidifies their depth across the offensive line. Lee Hunter and Chris Brazzell II were both excellent value adds. Brazzell is a big bodied receiver with elite straight line speed. Will he be another large but fast receiver who disappoints at the NFL level, or will he be able to capitalize on his traits?
New Orleans Saints: B+
I thought corner was a bigger need than what their draft picks would suggest, but it’s hard to argue with their round one and round two selections.
Tyson and Miller could be immediate instant impact starters on both sides of the ball. Their third round selection of Oscar Delp raised an eyebrow a bit, but with the emergence of the popularity of 12 personnel, it’s a bit more understandable.
Having three potentially high impact pass catchers for their second year quarterback to go along with the two bookends tackles that they’ve selected in previous drafts, sets up a potentially solid offense.
We’ll see if their lack of secondary and pass rush talent comes back to bite them. Sounds a lot like the Buccaneers of previous seasons.
Atlanta Falcons: C+
When a team doesn’t have a first round pick, it can be difficult to give them anything super high, especially since it worked out so poorly.
Unfortunately, for the Falcons, they had plenty of needs that they could’ve addressed with that first round pick, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Their defensive interior and linebacker room are huge areas of improvement and unfortunately, there’s only so much you can do without that first round pick.
But the Falcons did do some nice things with the picks they did have, especially in round two, where they selected another member of the Terrell family to line up at corner.
Branch in round 3 is fine, but the Kendal Daniels reach in round four was especially perplexing. They made up for it slightly with a Harold Perkins selection later (a personal favorite), but the Daniels selection really drags down their draft grade.
Follow @ctbrantley12 on Twitter and listen to him on the RBLR Bucs Podcast
Follow, Like and Subscribe to Bucs Report
BucsReport.com
For more on this and everything Buccaneers check back here hourly at BucsReport.com.
