2014 NFL Draft Winners

The draft just ended, but it's never too early to evaluate the winners from the 2014 NFL Draft


St. Louis Rams

The Rams helped themselves tremendously in this draft by not only addressing need areas like offensive line, but also adding quality depth at positions that were already strengths like the defensive line.  The Rams helped shore up an offensive line unit that at times imposed their will in the running game, but also struggled at times pushing opponents off the ball by drafting Greg Robinson.  Robinson can step in on day one and help create some lanes for Zac Stacy and Tre Mason to run through. Robinson's pass protection needs some shoring up, but that is to be expected with the spread option run attack the Tigers ran last season.

The Rams also made a strength stronger by drafting defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Donald is a three down tackle that can not only stop the run, but can also rush the passer as shown by his 10 sacks last season.  While he isn't a huge tackle, this actually has worked to his advantage by allowing him to get better pad position against the opposing offensive lineman. Teaming Donald up with Michael Brockers on the inside should create some serious pressure on the interior of the opponents offensive line, which will help defensive end's Chris Long and Robert Quinn collapse the pocket by getting one on one match ups on the outside.  The addition of Michael Sam will also help if he can make the team.  While most people point out that most of his sack production occurred during a three game stretch, the same people fail to mention that Sam started receiving more attention, which helped open up more opportunities for Kony Ealy.  Sam also created many QB pressures throughout the season, which is a valuable trait to have.

The Rams best picks, however, were cornerback Lamarcus Joyner and running back Tre Mason.  Joyner is a ball hawking corner who can also lay the wood on an opposing receiver.  His size hurt him in the draft, but he will be used as a slot corner, which makes his size less of an importance. He also has return skills if anything were to happen to Tavon Austin.  Lastly, the Rams helped bolster their backfield by acquiring Tre Mason in the third round.  Mason is a speedster who can get to the next level in an instant.  This was a great pick for two reasons.  First it helps provide an insurance policy in case Zac Stacy gets hurt at any time during the season or struggles coming out of the gate.  Secondly, this allows the Rams to have a change of pace back who can not only catch defenses off guard after dealing with Stacy's power, but also allow the Rams to run an even faster hurry up offense given that Mason came from a no huddle system.

While there were many winners during the draft, the Rams had by far and away the best draft.


San Diego Chargers

The Chargers let the draft come to them and found some good value in many of their picks.  The Chargers had to address their biggest need of all, which was cornerback and they addressed it immediately with cornerback Jason Verrett.  Verrett is a physical corner who has shut down the likes of Jarvis Landry, Steadman Bailey and many others throughout his time at TCU.  While he is smaller than prototypical corners, he makes up for this with his ability to jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage and give them as little airspace as possible while in routes.  Verrett immediately improves the Charger secondary, which ranked 29th against the pass last season.  He will also help the Charger's in the run game as he is not afraid to mix it up and try to put a hit on the running back.  The Chargers filled another key need by drafting outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu in the form of pass rush.  The Chargers ranked 25th in sacks last year and needed to bolster up a pass rush considering they play in the same division as Peyton Manning.  Attaochu racked up 12 sacks this past season and can provide instant improvement in this area with his array of moves.

The Chargers also found very good value in the last two rounds of the draft. In the 6th round, the Chargers selected running back Marion Grice to help provide some depth at the running back position. Ryan Mathews has been banged up a few times over the last couple of years, so Grice should see some playing time sooner rather than later.  Grice is a small but powerful back who averaged almost six yards per carry during his time at Arizona State.  Grice can also catch the ball out of the backfield as he totaled 91 catches over the last two seasons.  If Grice can stay healthy, he can provide a Darren Sproles type spark off the bench for the Chargers and provide the Chargers with greater flexibility not only on the field, but in trade offers as well.  The Chargers also picked up speedster wide receiver Tevin Reese in the seventh round.  At times last year, it seemed like the only offense the receiver the Chargers had was Keenan Allen after the injury to Malcolm Floyd along with Eddie Royal and Vincent Brown inconsistencies.  Reese can come in and help spread the defense out with his speed and open up more opportunities through the air not only for Allen but for his teammates as well.  Reese has lightening quick speed and could find himself playing a majority of the time in the slot.  There is no doubt Reese has the speed and the play making ability to help the Chargers.  The questions will be can he stay healthy and can he run patterns other than the go route consistently.  If he can, than this will be a huge steal for the Chargers.



Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Wow did the Buccaneers address their offensive needs or what.  First the Bucs addressed their wide receiver need by taking Mike Evans at the 7th spot.  Evans is a big receiver who can stretch the field and help keep defenses from doubling Vincent Jackson.  Evans has proven to be a very good go route receiver, but he will need to better develop other routes.  This shouldn't be a problem with Vincent Jackson as his mentor.

Next the Bucs took tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins to provide some production at a position that was non existent last season.  Seferian-Jenkins is a great receiving tight end who will put pressure on linebackers because of his speed as well as safeties because of his size. His ability to stretch the field will make it even more difficult to defend the Bucs passing game when you pair him with Jackson and Evans.  These new weapons will help the Bucs be even more successful in the running game given that defenses will be paying a lot of attention to the much improved passing attack, so they don't give up the big play.

The Bucs best pick, however, came in the third round with running back Charles Sims.  Sims is a great change of pace back that has 4.4 speed.  He is lightening in a bottle if he can get into the open field.  This pick bolsters the running back position for the Bucs with Doug Martin and Mike James coming off season ending injuries.  Sims can also be used as a kick/punt returner as well, which only adds to his value.

Given the free agent signings, it was expected that the Bucs would focus their attention on the offensive side of the ball in the draft.  They did exactly that and found not only great value, but also great talent at  the positions they drafted.


Chicago Bears

The Bears did a very good job addressing their needs on both sides of the ball. The Bears started by taking cornerback Kyle Fuller who will step in immediately as the team's nickelback and will eventually take one of the outside corner spots when Charles Tillman or Tim Jennings leave.  Fuller is a physical corner that also has very good play making ability, but wasn't heard about much given that he played for Virginia Tech.

Another big area of need was defensive tackle after Henry Melton left for the Cowboys and the Bears got an absolute steal here with Will Sutton.  Sutton was a 1st round talent last year, but was seen as undersized for the position so he went back to school and put on more weight, which ultimately worked against him as his best asset of speed was taken away from him with the added bulk.  The Bears will more than likely have him drop back to his original playing weight and will have a defensive tackle that can wreck havoc both in the pass and run game.  Chicago also drafted defensive tackle Ego Ferguson in the 2nd round to help address the position as well. Ferguson may have been a reach at that point in time in the draft, but time will tell if the Bears knew something others didn't.

Chicago also got great value in the fourth round with the addition of running back Ka'Deem Carey.  Carey is a very explosive back that can help provide a nice one two punch with Matt Forte out of the backfield.  He can run between the tackles and catch the ball out of the backfield just like Forte and may ultimately be the successor at running back if Forte decides to move on in the future. Expect Carey to see the field early and often this year.

Lastly and in my opinion the best pick in the entire draft, the Bears addressed their quarterback need by drafting David Fales from San Jose State in the 6th round.  Fales was spectacular in his two seasons at San Jose State throwing for over 8300 yards 66 touchdowns.  While some will say he played against weak opponents, Fales went head to head with Derek Carr and beat the previously undefeated Bulldogs.  He also played well against Stanford twice, BYU and Minnesota.  In those five games, Fales threw for 14 touchdowns and only five interceptions and had a 164.5 QB rating.  Fales obviously won't be starting anytime soon with Jay Cutler at the helm, however, he will get to learn from quarterback guru Marc Trestman who has already done wonders for both Cutler and Josh McCown.   If Cutler struggles or gets hurt at some point during the season, Fales can step in and move the ball the field as he has shown throughout his college career.  Ultimately, I believe Fales will succeed Jay Cutler at the position within the next three years.



San Francisco 49ers

The last winner of the draft was the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers came into the draft with a plethora of picks and had two glaring needs that needed to be filled: wide receiver and cornerback/safety.  Not only did the 49ers fill these needs through the draft and trades, they also acquired some great depth at key positions with great value.

The 49ers filled their safety void by drafting safety Jimmie Ward from Northern Illinois. Ward is like Dashon Goldson in that he lays the wood on his opponents and can be a force against the running game.  He also covers the pass really well as evident by his six interceptions last season.  Ward might step in and start immediately after the 49ers lost Donte Whitner to free agency, but he could also learn from Antoine Bethea as well.  Either way, Ward will see some significant playing this season. The 49ers also drafted three corners to try and help replace the losses of Carlos Rogers and Tarrell Brown.  San Francisco still has Chris Culliver and Parish Cox along with Eric Wright so it is unlikely that any of the three draft picks will find their way up to the top of the depth chart, but it isn't out of the question for one of the three guys to win the nickel spot.

San Francisco also addressed their wide receiver need by acquiring Stevie Johnson in a trade from the Bills and by drafting Bruce Ellington in the fourth round.  Johnson is a solid receiver that can add some punch to a receiving corps of Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree.  While he is no longer a number one receiver, Johnson still has the ability to beat his opposing corners and take the top off the defense.  He occasionally drops some catchable passes, however, getting Johnson for a 4th round pick(3rd depending on how he does this season) was worth the risk.  Ellington is a small but speedy receiver who will play predominately in the slot in the NFL.  He will get to learn from some of the best in Bolding and Crabtree, which should help his growth for the future.

The two best picks for the 49ers, however, were luxury picks that bolstered already strong units.  Linebacker Chris Borland was drafted in the third round, which was a great pick for two reasons. First, Navarro Bowman is still recovering from the gruesome knee injury he suffered in the NFC Championship game against the Seahawks so this works as a safeguard in case he isn't ready to return right away.  Secondly, Borland is a great tackling linebacker who plays the run extremely well a la Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman.  If either Willis or Bowman were to go down or sign elsewhere in the future, the 49ers would have already have their replacement on the roster.

The best pick from San Francisco's draft came on the offensive side of the ball in the form of running back Carlos Hyde.  In the last couple of years, the 49ers have tried to have a reliable back behind Frank Gore who can do it all in the form of catching, rushing and blocking.  Hyde is the closest thing to Frank Gore.  Anthony Dixon and LaMichael James were limited in what they could do and Marcus Lattimore is still recovering from one of the worst leg injuries since Willis McGahee in the National Championship game against Ohio State.  Hyde gives the 49ers a ton of flexibility at the position.  Gore and Hyde can be the one two punch the 49ers have tried to establish over the last few years while Kendal Hunter can become the third down back and Lattimore can continue to be eased back slowly while James will be traded or cut.  Gore has taken a pounding over the last several years and the drafting of Hyde and Lattimore the last two years could signal the 49ers see that Gore's time with them is coming to an end.  Both Hyde and Lattimore are strong north south runners like Gore and can fill his shoes in the running game, but will need to improve on their pass protection if either of them plan on taking over for Gore in the near term.  The fact that San Francisco has this type of flexibly in their backfield after this pick makes this their best pick of the draft.



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