2016 NFL Draft: Day 1 Winners

By Luke Inman on Friday, April 29th 2016
2016 NFL Draft: Day 1 Winners

Jacksonville Jaguars

First Round, 5th Pick: Jalen Ramsey, Safety, Florida State 

Everyone from the Jaguars front office to the fan base knew that having Jalen Ramsey fall into their lap all the way at pick number five was the dream scenario. Welcome to the NFL draft my friends. After an unlikely series of events including Joey Bosa going third overall to the San Diego Chargers, Ramsey trickled his way past the Dallas Cowboys and into the Jaguars war room.  

Ramsey was a consensus top-three player and the highest rated player on my own personal big board as an extremely valuable player in the secondary, thanks to his outstanding versatility as both a cornerback and safety. His big play ability with the ball in the air is just an added bonus making the value that Ramsey brings to Gus Bradleys defense clearer than crystal.   

Now, with last years third-overall pick Dante Fowler returning from injury, Bradley has a slew of young blue chip talent to work with as he continues to build his ideal defense. Regardless of how the rest of their draft goes Jaguar fans will be riding these good vibes well into training camp.

 

San Francisco 49ers

First Round, 7th Pick: Deforest Buckner, Defensive Line, Oregon 

First Round, 28th Pick: Joshua Garnett, Guard, Stanford

Chip Kelly is starting fresh in the bay and has plenty of holes to fix on the current Niner’s roster. However, when two quarterbacks were taken with the first two picks it was clear the front office was going to watch one of the blue-chip players fall down the totem poll.

The player was defensive lineman DeForest Buckner, who at a towering 6’7” 291 pounds was rumored to have the raw talent and skill-set to be the first defenseman taken in the entire draft. Kelly and the front office swooped up Buckner who has the versatility and athleticism to line up up-and-down the entire line in the team's 3-4 front.

Starting upfront in the trenches is where any good team rebuilds their foundation, and teaming Buckner up with last years first-round pick Arik Armstead solidifies an outstanding young core of talent to work with for years to come.

But, general manager Trent Baalke wasn't done there as he used his surplus of draft picks to his advantage and moved his way back into the first round.  With the 28th pick the team added major beef on the offensive line in Stanford’s Joshua Garnett who was my number one run-blocking guard in the entire draft.

With how many late round draft picks the team had to use, moving up nine spots for just a fourth and sixth round pick was well worth the compensation to help erase the loss of Alex Boone and help Kelly maintain his running attack.

The team still has nine picks to go and has already added two players that were argued as the best for their respective positions.

Solidifying the quarterback position now becomes Kelly’s number one priority through day two and three.

 

Miami Dolphins

First Round, 13th Pick: Laremy Tunsil, Offensive Tackle, Ole Miss 

While it wasn't pretty, the Dolphins wound up with the best player in the entire draft and didn't even have to trade up to get him.

Tunsil's night quickly went up in smoke after a video went viral of him smoking weed out of a gas mask just minutes before the draft took place.  The fiasco led to Tunsil plummeting down draft boards and leaving fans watching with the possibility he could fall all the way out of the first round.  

The Dolphins however, overlooked the mishap and pulled the trigger adding a premier blue-chip offensive tackle in the middle of round one.  Adding Tunsil to the mix helps solidify an already solid offensive line, and helps protect and develop the Dolphins investment into Ryan Tannehill for years to come.  

Addressing the linebacker and secondary remain big needs for the front office, and will likely be address early on day two.

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

First Round, 11th Pick: Vernon Hargreaves, Cornerback, Florida 

Not many players and teams were linked as closely as Hargraves was to the Bucs throughout the entire pre draft process. The speedy cornerback who has outstanding technique and quickness has all the traits of a number one cornerback except for the tall frame and long arms teams covet. Because of it, he fell down the board further than he should have.

No sweat off the Bucs back as they viewed him as one of the top players in the draft to begin with, and even found a way to trade down and add a fourth-round pick to their ammo before pulling the eventual trigger on him two picks later.

The front office got their man they had targeted all along in Hargraves that fills a huge hole in the secondary, and ended up with another early day-three pick in the process.  

 

Cincinnati Bengals

First Round, 24th Pick: William Jackson, Cornerback, Houston 

The Bengals never flinched as they watched a string of three receivers go consecutively before them likely evaporating any chance of filling their void opposite of A.J. Green in the process.  Instead, they stayed calm and in turn let one of the best cornerbacks in the draft slip to them at the end of round one.

Jackson is tall, long, and physical giving him all the traits to be molded into a true number-one cornerback in due time.  While the depth chart may not say it, the age of Pacman Jones and the priority Marvin Lewis places on the position made cornerback a subtle yet important need.  

Jackson makes a solid group stronger and turns the Bengals cornerback group into one of the deepest in the NFL.  In a league that watches offenses spread out receivers four and five wide more than ever, you can't ever have enough of these guys.  Now, the Bengals can go toe to toe with any shotgun formation and feel confident about it. 

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