The 2023 NFL Draft is two years into their careers and in today’s video we will be going back and grading the back half of the first round which is picks 17-31. For anyone who may not remember the reason there were 31 picks in the first round of the 2023 draft as the Dolphins forfeited their first round selection as a punishment for violations of the league’s anti tampering policy while trying to recruit both Tom Brady and Sean Payton. This is the third draft grade video of the season as we recently graded the 2024 first round which will be linked at the end. We will be going in reverse order and we will start with the Chiefs selection of pass rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah and finish with Patriots corner Christian Gonzalez. And for any Steelers fans wondering – we will include a text grade on screen of cornerback Joey Porter Jr at the end who was the 32nd overall pick though was technically a second round selection. But we all know why we’re here so let’s dive right in.
31 – Felix Anudike-Uzomah was the final first round pick of the night and through two years Felix has 3 career sacks and 3 career starts. There was a lot of upside with Anudike-Uzomah when he was selected and the hope was the Chiefs could develop him over the course of his rookie contract. I’m not saying that’s impossible and that – that still can’t happen – but it’s not looking good a couple of years in. Felix not getting on the field consistently is pretty telling and if there is any positive spin to this pick a couple of years in – it’s that he just turned 23 years old in January. He was a 21 year old rookie and whenever we discuss trench prospects that are young like Felix was in his rookie season – we always talk about the adjustment period for guys who are 21 years old going up against guys that are older and have that true grown man strength like a Penei Sewell or Lane Johnson for example. But FAU not getting on the field consistently and only having 15 pressures in his entire second season after basically having a redshirt rookie year isn’t good. Most of the time he is a non factor and that’s unfortunate because he is in a good situation for himself to succeed by having guys like Chris Jones and George karlaftis along the defensive line to be more of a focal point for the opposing offense to pay attention to. And two years later this is an F
30 – Nolan Smith was the Eagles second first round pick of the night with the other of course being Jalen Carter and Nolan didn’t play much as a rookie. He played really sparingly and only recorded 95 pass rushing snaps in 2023. But like he always does – Howie Roseman had a plan with Nolan Smith and we saw that plan in action in 2024. Nolan finished the 2024 season with 31 pressures and believe it or not – actually had 19 more pressures in the 4 postseason games during the Eagles Super Bowl run. He had 4 sacks in 4 games during their postseason run and I think that has to factor into the grade because if you look at Nolan’s raw numbers through 2 years – you can say that he only has 7.5 career sacks and that he hasn’t been much of a contributor. Which wouldn’t be the case at all. The Eagles are one of the best teams year in and year out and it’s because they prioritize the trenches and they know how to draft and develop talent. Smith is just 24 years old and I like where his game is headed due in large part to the progression we saw from him throughout the second half of the season. With the Eagles developing trench talent the way they do – and with having Jalen Carter able to help everyone eat because of how much attention he commands – I really think the sky is the limit for Nolan. I expect this to go up, but for now – a B+ grade
29 – Bryan Bresee was the Saints first round pick and Bresee has been a solid pass rushing defensive tackle through 2 years. He had a 7.5 sack second season and also had 14 quarterback hits. From a career projection standpoint – he reminds me a lot of the Bucs Calijah Kancey who we will discuss later in in the video. The unfortunate part for Bresee – is – he doesn’t have a Vita Vea next to him to help defend the run the way Calijah Kancey does. And because of this – there’s times where Bresee gets washed out in the run game and it shows up on tape. The Saints finished 31st in yards per carry against in 2024 31st in rushing yards allowed and it obviously wouldn’t be fair to attribute that solely to Bryan Bresee – but there’s a reason the Saints couldn’t stop the run in 2024. And Bresee played a part in that. He is really good in pass rushing situations and for the sake of his career – I really hope they get a good run stopping defensive tackle so Bresee can maximize his talents and the Saints can be an overall better football team. That would be extremely beneficial for both Bryan and the Saints at this point but the Saints have a – uh- very interesting way of going about how they build their team. Bresee is a really solid player and two years in this is a B+
28 – Myles Murphy was the Bengals first round pick and two years into his career he has a grand total of 3 sacks in 30 career games with 0 career starts. I know the immediate reaction is to automatically think this is an F grade and to move on and discuss the next player. And while I don’t entirely disagree – I think there needs to be some context around this pick – or more specifically – how this franchise has used Murphy since he was drafted. Murphy had 20 pressures on 215 pass rushing snaps in 2024 and actually had the second highest pass rush win rate on the team – only behind Trey Hendrickson of course. Sam Hubbard for references – had 18 pressures on 253 pass rushing snaps and was a pretty disappointing player – especially given he signed a $40 million dollar contract a couple of offseasons ago. Bengals fans are frustrated with owner Mike Brown and believe Hubbard is playing over Murphy because of money – and they have a rightful reason to feel that way. I don’t think Murphy is a hit by any definition – but I don’t think the organization has done a good job of using him either – much less getting close to maximizing what he can do. He will be just 23 years old in week 1 of the 2025 season so there is still hope he gets opportunities and can turn it around. He hasn’t been great and I do want that to be clear. I think this is a combination of failure on the organization side and the player also not performing at a high level either. An F grade
27 – Anton Harrison is up and I’ll be honest – I was very critical of Anton Harrison early in the 2024 season. The Jags did not have a good 2024 season as they started out 0-4 and Harrison was a part of the problem. He allowed 2 sacks in week 1 against the Dolphins and only another 3 pressures against the Browns in week 2 including a quarterback hit and I was worried about where he was headed as an NFL player. But I want to credit Anton for finishing the year they way he did as he had a really good end to his second season. He allowed 15 pressures in the first 6 games of the season including 2 games with 4 pressures – but allowed just 16 pressures in the final 10 games he played. And if you’re wondering why that’s 16 games and not 17 – it’s because he missed a game down the stretch. I was really worried the Jags drafted a bust at right tackle and that former GM Trent Baalke missed on another draft pick – but I think there was lot of positives from Harrison as the 2024 season ended and I am really looking forward to seeing the Jags offense in 2025. Obviously with Trevor Lawrence and now Brian Thomas Jr on this offense – Harrison will never receive national love or recognition unless he has a truly dominant all pro caliber season – but he gives Will Anderson fits regularly and he is just now 23 years old. I think they have a good right tackle and this is an A-.
26 – Mazi Smith was the Cowboys first round pick and I think there needs to be a lot of context around this selection. Mazi has not performed well through the first few years of his career – and in fact – was in a video we released late in the 2024 season about players who have disappointed from the 2023 NFL draft. But one of my biggest problems with this pick – wasn’t even Mazi himself as a prospect – it was how the Cowboys handled him as a player once he was drafted. There was an article that had quotes from former Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy that said something along the lines of we wanted to get him to a comfortable weight and that’s a part of the transition period and that always rubbed me the wrong way because a 335 pound defensive tackle is substantially different from a 310 pound defensive tackle and I hated the plan the organization had for Mazi to begin with. There’s always a lot of discussions about teams setting quarterbacks up to fail – and I think the Cowboys set Mazi Smith up to fail. He improved a bit in his second season compared to his first, but two years later I would give the organization a complete F for how they handled this – and for Mazi’s production – this gets a D grade
25 – Dalton Kincaid is up and this is a very tough pick to grade for a few reasons. He had a promising rookie season in which he had over 70 receptions and over 670 yards. He also caught 80% of the passes thrown his way which is insane for any player – let alone a rookie tight end. But 2024 was pretty frustrating for Kincaid because he missed some time and wasn’t the same player in his second season – as he was in his rookie season. And fair or not – any time a tight end is drafted in the first round – they are held to a higher standard because they are a pass catcher and they need to produce. But Kincaid never really produced in year 2 and the most amount of yards he had in a single game in 2024 was just 53 yards. If this was a receiver – the grade would be very low because he hasn’t produced close to the level you’d hope for from a first round tight end. He also has just 4 career touchdowns and yes you can obviously attribute Josh Allen’s legs to some of the reason as to why Kincaid doesn’t have as many receiving touchdowns as other players – but I think he was pretty disappointing in 2024 all things considered. He had 4 receptions or less in 11 of the 13 games he played and averaged just 34.5 receiving yards per game which was a decline from his rookie season. I think he can get back to the player he was as a rookie in 2025, but after a B+ grade last year – this is a C+.
24- Deonte Banks was the Giants first round pick and this was a tough pick for the Giants to make because they were the last team standing in a game of musical chairs. The receiving room heading into the 2023 season for the Giants wasn’t good and the run for the receivers in this drafted ended directly in front of them. Getting Daniel Jones a good receiver was the plan at the time as Daniel was coming off of a solid season in which the Giants won a playoff game and Daniel looked good in the process. Unfortunately Deonte Banks hasn’t worked out for the Giants and when he was targeted in 2024 – he allowed 6 touchdowns to 0 interceptions and had 6 penalties called on him in the process. There’s also been a lack of effort at times from Deonte and it’s been a very frustrating pick for the Giants and their fan base just two years in. There were flashes from Deonte in his rookie season – but the lack of effort and eventually getting benched in his second season is a good summarization of this pick. And the Giants missing out on the receiver run and drafting a player they had to bench and a player who was openly showing a lack of effort describes their last couple of seasons. An F grade
23 – Jordan Addison was the Vikings first round pick and the 4th consecutive receiver taken. He had a really productive rookie season as he had over 900 yards and 10 touchdowns and he followed it up with an 875 yard, 10 total touchdown season in year 2. And with guys like himself, Zay Flowers, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and even Puka Nacua in this class – you may be surprised to know that Jordan Addison actually leads this class in receiving touchdowns through 2 seasons. I am a firm believer that Addison – like another player we will discuss very shortly – is a good player that is not being maximized statistically speaking. And having Justin Jefferson as a teammate is naturally going to do that for not just Jordan Addison – but for anybody. He is only 23 years old and with the potential we’ve seen from him in the first two years – he should be a very good player in this league for a long time. I really think it’s a matter of time until he has a 1,000 yard season and unfortunately he missed a few games during the 2024 season – so if he played all 17 games – maybe he would have gotten it this year. He unfortunately didn’t, but he still had a pretty good season. Minnesota wanted a complimentary receiver to Justin Jefferson and that’s exactly what they got. Addison is a very good player and this is an A.
22 – Zay Flowers was the Ravens first round pick and two years into his career Zay Flowers is second in the 2023 class in receiving yards only behind the Rams Puka Nacua. Flowers had the first 1,000 yard season of his career in 2024 and also made the pro bowl. He is a very good player for the Ravens and for a franchise that has done so many things right over the course of their franchise history – drafting and developing receivers surprisingly is not one of them – at least not as much as you’d think. But Zay Flowers looks like he is going to be the guy to change that for the Ravens. Zay Flowers is already 17th in team history in receiving yards and if he has 1,000 yards in 2025 – which is very possible for him and to be completely honest I’d be surprised if he doesn’t – then he will move into the top 7 in receiving yards in franchise history. I like Zay a lot and I think he is a player who will be a perennial 1,000 yard guy if he stays healthy. I really do think we are just scraping the surface of what Zay is capable of. There was a point in 2024 where he had 4 games out of 5 with 110 or more yards and I think he is a very very good player. I also think it’s fair to say he’s not on a team that will maximize what he can do from a numbers standpoint, but the Ravens drafted a really good player in Flowers. And two years in this is an A
21 – Quentin Johnston was the second of four consecutive receivers taken and unfortunately for the Chargers he has been the least productive of the four. Johnston had a brutal rookie season as he averaged just 25 yards per game and was known for a big drop against the Packers. I don’t think Johnston is a player that’s doomed by any means as he had a much better second season than he did rookie year and believe it or not had over 700 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2024. I think it is absolutely worth noting he had 186 of his 1,142 career yards in a week 18 game against the Raiders and that was in a game against a very bad secondary – but I don’t think Johnston is this all time draft bust the way at times – he’s made out to be. Yes he has been disappointing as a first round receiver and I wouldn’t argue that – but I think there is a slight difference between how people view him versus the player he actually is – meaning I don’t think he is an all time draft bust the way social media makes him out to be at times. It also doesn’t help QJ that some of his drops come at the worst time and in front of everyone to see. He improved in 2024 and that is a positive, but for now this is a D+
20 – Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the first receiver taken in the 2023 draft and after being the third option in the Seahawks offense as a rookie in 2023 behind Tyler Lockett and Dk Metcalf – Smith-Njigba became the go to guy in 2024. He had his first both – 100 reception season and 1,000 yard season this past year and I think he is a very talented receiver and that the sky is the limit for him. COVID obviously impacted the draft in a big way and the age of prospects rose between 2020 and 2023 and it wasn’t uncommon to have a lot of 23 or 24 year old rookies – and even in some cases 25 – but this class had a lot of 21 year old rookies in guys like JSN, Jordan Addison, and Christian Gonzalez to name a few. And Smith-Njigba had a 7 game stretch in 2024 where he had 50 receptions for 701 yards and 5 touchdowns and I really love the duo of him and Dk Metcalf moving forward. We talk about having a plan for players when you draft them and the Seahawks absolutely had a plan with JSN – which was to eventually replace Tyler Lockett – and we saw that happen this year. We really try to reserve the A+ grades for the special players, but I think JSN’s is on the rise and could eventually get there. And after a C+ grade last year – it rises all the way to an A this year.
19 – Calijah Kancey is up and I think Kancey is a very solid defensive tackle for the Bucs and Bucs fans stop me if you’ve heard this before – but – a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player is underrated and under appreciated by the national media. Kancey missed some time in 2024 as he only played in 12 games – but he finished the year with 17 quarterback hits and 7.5 sacks – both of which were improvements from his rookie year despite playing 2 more games in 2023 – than he did in 2024. Kancey can get washed out in the run game at times, but he makes up for it with his ability to push the pocket and to be able to get after the quarterback. And to be completely honest – it’s fine if Kancey gets pushed around a little bit in the run game because Vita Vea is there along the defensive line and they perfectly complement one another. Kancey has violent hands and if he plays all 17 games in 2025 – I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he makes a pro bowl. He misses tackles at times, but I think he is a really good player and he will be just 24 years old at the start of the 2025 season. He’s missed 8 career games so I hope he can get that straightened out, but he has been a very solid player for Tampa. A B+ grade
18 – Jack Campbell had a solid rookie season as he had 95 total tackles along with 5 TFL’s and 2 sacks. He finished his second season with over 130 tackles, 5 TFL’s, 5 pass deflections, and had 5 quarterback hits. Campbell improved significantly from year 1 to year 2 and he only played 59% of the Lions defensive snaps in 2023 – yet looked like a really good player during his rookie year. That number jumped all the way up to 89% in year 2 and he is a very good player that should play for the Lions for the next several years. Campbell is a part of an insane draft class that included Jahmyr Gibbs, himself of course, Sam LaPorta, and Brian Branch and Campbell is definitely the least discussed of the big 4 from the Lions 2023 class – but he is a rock solid linebacker and a guy that a lot of teams wish they had. Jack Campbell to me was the definition of a safe prospect that will play at a high floor and I think when people hear that about a prospect – they think the player is boring with a relatively low ceiling – but that’s not the case with Campbell. He reads his keys right, he doesn’t miss a lot of tackles, and he is in the right place more often than not. I thought his rookie year was a stepping stone for him and his 2024 season was going to be a big year for him – and it was. Campbell is a really good player and Brad Holmes is a really good GM. Sometimes it’s as simple as taking the best player available and not overthinking it. 2 years in this is an A.
17 – I know the Patriots have not had a lot of team success over the past few years but I really really liked the selection of Christian Gonzalez at pick 17 when it was made. This was due in large part to Washington selecting Emmanuel Forbes at pick 16 of course, and Gonzalez had a pretty solid rookie season when he was on the field. Unfortunately, he tore his labrum and dislocated his shoulder which prematurely ended his rookie season. He looked good as a 21 year old rookie corner, but only played 4 games so the grade last year was obviously incomplete. With all of the time off I was admittedly a little worried that Christian would get picked on pretty early in the 2024 season as he was getting back from injury and back to live football but he more than held his own. He was a 2nd team all pro, had 2 interceptions, and even had a fumble return for a touchdown. I couldn’t believe he was available for New England at pick 17 and they didn’t make the mistake of passing on him. He is a really good player and is at this point in his career – a legitimate player to build around and a borderline franchise cornerstone. And two years later this is an A+. I hope you enjoyed today’s video and if you did please like and subscribe as well as check out the other draft grade videos we have so far. Until next time as always please be safe and have a great day. Love you guys
18 – Jack Campbell finished his rookie year with 95 total tackles including 5 TFL’s and 2 sacks. I really liked Jack Campbell coming out of Iowa and had no problem with Detroit taking him where they did despite being criticized for not just this pick – but the Gibbs selection too. The one negative from Campbell’s rookie year that comes up is his lapses in coverage which is to be expected from any rookie linebacker – not just Jack Campbell. What also needs to be factored in is the production Detroit received from him despite playing just 59% of the defensive snaps in his rookie year. When this pick was made I thought they were getting a player who would make over 100 tackles a year for the next 6 or 7 years and he fell 5 short of that number in year 1 – which was out of his control. I would also argue the coverage lapses from Campbell are a bit overblown and I think this rookie year is a great stepping stone for him and I think he can very easily be a pro bowler next year. And hell he might not even play in that game. A B+ grade
17- I thought the Patriots got an absolute steal when they drafted Christian Gonzalez at pick 17 thanks to Washington selecting Emmanuel Forbes at pick 16 and it looked that way through the first few games of Christian’s career. Through 4 games or really 3 and a half he had an opposing quarterback rating of 67.5 and even had an interception against the Dolphins. He missed just 1 tackle in 4 games and had 17 tackles in the 3 and a half games he played which is pretty good for – well any corner not just a rookie. Injuries were the name of the Patriots season on the defensive side of the ball in 2023 and unfortunately Gonzalez wasn’t an exception. His season would come to an end after both tearing his labrum and dislocating his shoulder. He showed a lot of flashes at just 21 years old which is very good for a rookie corner but as you can imagine with him playing as little as he did – this grade is incomplete. I would be shocked if he doesn’t have a great 2024 season. That’s all I have for today I hope you enjoyed and until next time as always please be safe and have a great day. Love you guys
