Round 1 Roundup: Jags Go Bold, Drake Maye Gets Protected, and The Most Surprising Moves of Thursday Night

"This feels like it's going pretty quick" - me to myself after two and a half hours and only being at pick 20.

Time flies when you're talking football.

While this rendition of the first round didn't have as many fireworks as years past, it still had its moments. It still pulled at the heartstrings. It still left you wanting more. Because it always does. These are the moments that brought my emotions out the most, one way or another.

Jacksonville Trades Up For Travis Hunter

Boy was I wrong about the Jags being the lull of the draft. Maybe they read the blog and wanted to prove me wrong. That seems most likely to me.

Before my dinner could even get cold the draft had turned on its head. I thought there was no way either Cleveland or New York would pass on a generational talent that Hunter and Carter were deemed to be, but when you get offered a farm in exchange for one cow how can you say no?

That's quite possibly the worst analogy of all time, but we move on. I like the trade for both sides. The Browns need help all over the roster, and with the capital they got back they can do so while likely putting themselves in a great position to draft a QB next year when DeShaun's dead cap hit will feel a bit lighter.

The Jags get another weapon to pair with Brian Thomas Jr, and like my Malik Nabers/Travis Hunter comp in my preview blog, are set on the outside for years to come. They also fill a need at corner to help fix the league's worst passing defense. The new GM, ignoring the fact he looks like a teenager, makes an immediate splash and gives the fans something to be excited about for a franchise starving for excitement.

Trevor Lawrence is out of excuses. It's put out or get out for him.

Drake Maye Has His Protector

If you want to hear some Patriots criticism you won't find any here.

While I'm unsure if Will Campbell was in fact the best player available, I'm also not an NFL scout so who am I to say. All I know is Louis Riddick and Booger MacFarland drooled over him for five minutes following the pick. I saw the highlights of him dominating the best players in the best conference in college football on loop. I heard his country ass interview that sounded like he had a chaw in that's half the length of his tiny little arms.

Surprise surprise, I'm all in.

He was the best left tackle in the draft, and pretty unanimously the best OL altogether. He was considered NFL ready by all people educated enough to make those claims, with an extremely high floor.

He will soon take the oath to be the projector of the Drake. He will love him, fight for him, and dedicate his life to him.

The Patriots, while already back, have taken another pivotal step to becoming all the way back.

The Panthers Disfunction Continues

The Panthers are just out here playing pin the tail on the donkey.

Wtf was this pick? Sure they don't have the most stacked receiver room in the league, but may I remind you of their defensive rankings last year?

Total Yards/Game - 32nd

Pass Yards/Game - 23rd

Rushing Yards/Game - 32nd

Points Allowed/Game - 32nd

Friendly reminder there are 32 teams in the NFL. Important context.

Other important context is they gave up 68 more points (4 PPG) than the 31st ranked defense. They allowed 650 more rushing yards (38 YPG) than the 31st ranked defense. I don't even want to tell you the difference between them and the best defenses in these rankings.

They had, as I predicted, their pick of the litter of defenders at 8, and went WR? I can't make sense of it.

This is no shade on Tet McMillan either. I'm not saying this was a reach. It just didn't make sense for this team.

The Bucs May Have Too Many WRs

In my opinion the second most confusing pick of the night was also a WR. Emeka Egbuka is a certified stud; again, we're not questioning the player here.

But I'm wrapping my head around the Bucs taking a WR3 when they could've filled one of several other holes on the team, specifically defense.

My first thought was Chris Godwin is either more injured than they realized or he's on his way out. But they just gave him a 3-year deal for $66M, two years guaranteed, so that doesn't check out.

I then think of Jalen McMillan, who had a sneaky great rookie season for Tampa and I thought carved out that WR3 soon-to-be WR2 spot.

Soooo...? It has to be a best player available pick, with Egbuka light years above the next guy they had on their board. Maybe they look to trade McMillan. They have to right? There's not enough spots on the field for these guys.

I love Egbuka, but I just thought he'd go somewhere where they needed him more. I have to be missing something here.

Two Mid-20s Trades Were Equally As Crazy

The obvious one was the Giants trading for Jaxson Dart. According to the insiders this wasn't a shock, as the Giants were apparently higher on Dart than they were Sanders all along. But the sheer fact Shedeur was still on the board, and still is, was one of those moments where you audibly say a slow "wowww" even though it wasn't all that surprising.

The Falcons trade went way under the radar for how crazy it was. They already got what many would consider a steal at 15 with Jalon Walker, and decided to double down on the defensive line and grab another pass rusher. A+ on the idea.

But they gave up their first round pick next year to get the 26th pick?? On top of their 2nd and 3rd rounders this year? That's an insane haul to get an edge rusher at the end of the first round. First rounders are NFL caviar; they're delicacies that are way overpriced. So the fact Atlanta was willing to toss theirs out like a Capri Sun at recess really shocked me. They're really banking on being good next year, and James Pearce Jr. better be one of the reasons why. I could argue the Rams were the winners of the night with that trade.

First Round Grade: B-

This isn't like the stupid winners/losers blogs you'll see today, or grading the pick based on how accurate their mock drafts were. This grade is based on the intrigue and excitement of the first round, felt by me.

What started out with a boom tapered off quickly, without too many surprises or reaches. Teams were for the most part sensible, and in some cases surprisingly so (Jets/Cowboys in particular not taking a weapon). There were just two QBs taken, and the biggest story of the night was the one who wasn't. The Patriots pick went how I expected, so that only caused a mild sense of fervor.

The highlight of the night was the Green Bay pick, where the CEO of the team lit the crowd up by taking a first-round WR for the first time since 2002. That was as good of a reaction as you can possibly ask for at a draft, and made standing a half mile from the stage for three hours worth it for Packers fans.

Football is inching back. Last night was the perfect tease.