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2024 NFL Draft Winners & Losers

2024 NFL Draft Winners & Losers

Breaking down 6 teams who either hit or missed

Michael Valenzano
May 02, 2024

The 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone. As the dust settles and the rookies settle into their new homes, we’ll break down some of the teams who got the most value out of their picks and which teams missed the mark on multiple occasions.

NFL Draft Winners

1. Chicago Bears

Round 1, Pick 1: Caleb Williams, Quarterback, USC
Round 1, Pick 9: Rome Odunze, Wide Receiver, Washington
Round 3, Pick 75: Kiran Amegadjie, Offensive Tackle, Yale
Round 4, Pick 122: Tory Taylor, Punter, Iowa
Round 5, Pick 144: Austin Booker, Defensive End, Kansas

The Bears lock up their offensive weapons of the future, selecting a quarterback and wide receiver with their first two picks. Getting the two on the same timeline will allow them to develop together and cement what is now the best wide receiver core in the league. Caleb Williams will have three talented pass catchers to throw to, and Rome Odunze gets two veteran mentors to help him develop into a potential star.

Kiran Amegadjie won’t see much playing time barring an injury to starter Braxton Jones, but the Illinois native grew up a Bears fan and joins a group of Bears fans turned players that Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus love to acquire.

Tory Taylor addresses an underrated positional need for the Chicago Bears. The Bears were dead last in the NFL in Net Punt Average last year with just 38 yards. The Australian punter out of the University of Iowa, aptly nicknamed “The Crocodile Punter,” joins Chicago as one of the best punting prospects in recent years. He averaged 10 more yards per punt than Bears punter Trenton Gill last year, landed 43.1% of his punts inside of the 20, finished with 43 career games of 40+ yards per punt (NCAA Record), and won the Ray Guy award this past year for the nation’s best punter.

The Bears addressed nearly every positional need on their roster, landing three immediate starters who will no doubt improve the Bears as they approach one of the most anticipated seasons in franchise history.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

Round 1, Pick 20: Troy Fautanu, Offensive Tackle, Washington
Round 2, Pick 51: Zach Frazier, Center, West Virginia
Round 3, Pick 84: Roman Wilson, Wide Receiver, Michigan
Round 3, Pick 98: Payton Wilson, Linebacker, NC State
Round 4, Pick 119: Mason McCormick, Gaurd, South Dakota State
Round 6, Pick 178: Logan Lee, Defensive Tackle, Iowa
Round 6, No. 195: Ryan Watts, Cornerback, Texas

The Pittsburgh Steelers knocked their first four picks out of the park. Their first two selections bolstered an offensive line that struggled in 2023. With their offensive acquisitions of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields this offseason, two of the most sacked quarterbacks in football, the Steelers will rely heavily on the Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier to protect them.

Roman Wilson joins a weak Pittsburgh receiver room that lost Dionte Johnson this year in a trade to the Panthers. The University of Michigan wide receiver should see a healthy amount of volume as he slots in as a day-one WR2 for Pittsburgh.

Payton Wilson could be the steal of the draft. This class’s best linebacker fell to the third round as teams have begun to use less draft capital on off-ball linebackers. Wilson will join an already great Steelers defense and play in a city that breeds defensive superstars.

Pittsburgh, a playoff team in 2023, got great value from their early selections and could make yet another push to the postseason in 2024.

3. Washington Commanders

Round 1, Pick 2: Jayden Daniels, Quarterback, LSU
Round 2, Pick 36: Jer’Zhan Newton, Defensive Tackle, Illinois
Round 2, Pick 50: Mike Sainristil, Defensive Back, Michigan
Round 2, Pick 53: Ben Sinnott, Tight End, Kansas State
Round 3, Pick 67: Brandon Coleman, Offensive Line, TCU
Round 3, Pick 100: Luke McCaffrey, Wide Receiver, Rice University
Round 5, Pick 139: Jordan Magee, Linebacker, Temple
Round 5, Pick 161: Dominique Hampton, Safety, Washington
Round 7, Pick 222: Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Defensive End, Notre Dame

The Washington Commanders had my favorite draft of any team this year. Though I’m not sold on Jayden Daniels just yet, they selected the quarterback with arguably the highest ceiling of anyone in the class.

Where they shined was in the second round. With their first of three second-round picks, the Commanders picked up Jer’Zhan Newton out of Illinois. For just about the entirety of the college football season, Newton was regarded as the best defensive player in this year’s class. Newton falling out of the first round was shocking and the Commanders made sure not to let him slip any further by taking him at 36.

With the second of their second-rounders, the Commanders doubled up on defense with defensive back Mike Sainristil out of Michigan. The 5’9” corner plays bigger than his size. He set the tone for Michigan’s college football championship-winning defense and will be a great addition to a defense that allowed 388.9 yards per game last year (last in the NFL).

Ben Sinnott was their final second-round pick and will be a decent compliment to tight end and 11-year pro Zach Ertz.

In the third round, the Commanders added another pass catcher in the form of Rice University’s Luke McCaffrey. Luke, the brother of star running back Christian McCaffrey, is an ex-quarterback turned wide receiver. Some would say his college numbers aren’t that impressive, but I say he’s the best product to come out of Rice since Krispie Treats.

Few teams had a better first two picks than the Washington Commanders. They nailed their selections on both sides of the ball and now its up to their coaching staff to make the new additions work.

NFL Draft Losers

1. Denver Broncos

Round 1, Pick 12: Bo Nix, Quarterback, Oregon
Round 3, Pick 76: Jonah Elliss, Linebacker, Utah
Round 4, Pick 102: Troy Franklin, Wide Receiver, Oregon
Round 5, Pick 145: Kris Abrams-Draine, Cornerback, Missouri
Round 5, Pick 147: Audric Estime, Running Back, Notre Dame
Round 7, Pick 235: Devaughn Vele, Wide Receiver, Utah
Round 7, Pick 256: Nick Gargiulo, Center, South Carolina

The Denver Broncos have been on a never-ending carousel of semi-athletic white quarterbacks since the departure of Peyton Manning. Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, and Drew Lock have all been failures by the Broncos front office to find a franchise QB and I expect Bo Nix’s name to be added to that list. My least favorite of the top-six QB prospects lands on a team that has been dysfunctional from top to bottom and is paying a quarterback who isn’t on their team anymore $38 million in 2024.

While I commend the Broncos for pairing Bo Nix with his college teammate, Troy Franklin, I doubt that any of their seven selections have a long-term impact for the team.

None of the Broncos picks stand out to me and I expect them to finish last in their division and among the worst teams in the NFL in 2024.

2. Carolina Panthers

Round 1, Pick 32: Xavier Legette, Wide Receiver, South Carolina
Round 2, Pick 46: Jonathan Brooks, Running Back, Texas
Round 3, Pick 72: Trevin Wallace, Linebacker, Kentucky
Round 4, Pick 101: Ja’Tavion Sanders, Tight End, Texas
Round 5, Pick 157: Chau Smith-Wade, Cornerback, Washington State
Round 6, Pick 200: Jaden Crumedy, Defensive Tackle, Mississippi State
Round 7, Pick 240: Michael Barrett, Linebacker, Michigan

While I love the Panthers first selection of wide receiver Xavier Legette, I hate their decision to trade up for him. The Panthers, who finished last in the NFL and didn’t own their first-round pick due to a trade with Chicago, were slated to make their first selection at 33rd overall. They instead elected to trade up into the first with Buffalo to draft a player that was likely to be there for him anyway, sacrificing valuable draft capital in the process.

The Panthers then decided to trade back into the second round to select a running back. Running back has quickly become the least valuable and most replaceable position in football. While Jonathan Brooks was the best RB in the class, he is coming off an injury, and the Panthers are already paying two competent RBs in Miles Sanders and Chubba Hubbard.

Two unnecessary trades with their first two picks make it hard to justify their selections, despite the players being talented. Panthers owner David Tepper is known for having a say in the Panthers’ front office decisions and this year doesn’t seem to be any different. I hope that the added weapons can help their quarterback, Bryce Young, develop but I can’t help but think about how they’ve stunted their long-term growth at other positions.

3. Atlanta Falcons

Round 1, Pick 8: Michael Penix Jr., Quarterback, Washington
Round 2, Pick 35: Ruke Orhorhoro, Defensive Tackle, Clemson
Round 3, Pick 74: Bralen Trice, Edge, Washington
Round 4, Pick 109: Brandon Dorlus, Defensive Line, Oregon
Round 5, Pick 143: JD Bertrand, Linebacker, Notre Dame
Round 6, Pick 186: Jase McClellan, Running Back, Alabama
Round 6, Pick 187: Casey Washington, Wide Receiver, Illinois
Round 6, Pick 197: Zion Logue, Defensive Tackle, Georgia

I should preface this by saying I actually don’t mind the Falcons draft picks this year. I don’t think they are the biggest losers of the draft but rather their new quarterback, Kirk Cousins, is the one who drew the short straw.

The Falcons just signed Kirk to a 4-year, $180 million deal this offseason and he wasn’t informed of Atlanta selecting Penix Jr. until the Falcons were on the clock to make the decision. The logic behind the selection of Penix is fairly sound. Atlanta, who will compete for a playoff spot this year, didn’t expect to be in a position to draft a player of Penix’s caliber in the coming drafts. They elected to lock down their QB of the future now rather than later.

The issue with the pick is that Michael Penix Jr. is already 24 years old. If Kirk ends up playing for the remainder of his contract, Penix could be 28 in his first full season. Penix was also already regarded as one of the most NFL-ready quarterback prospects, coming off a productive season and a national championship appearance. If you were going to take a developmental prospect, it made more sense to take a 20-year-old J.J. McCarthy, who’ll have more years left in the tank by the time he starts. A puzzling decision logistically by Atlanta, but I do like Michael Penix Jr. as a prospect.

Atlanta addressed their defense with five of their next seven picks, landing Bralen Trice out of Washington, who I think could be a nice rotational piece in their defense. I still expect Atlanta to be competitive this year and likely a playoff team, but we probably won’t see how the Michael Penix Jr. pick plays out for a couple years.

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