The 2020 NFL draft is in the books, and it was ... interesting. Green Bay surprised everyone with a quarterback in Round 1, and Philadelphia did the same thing in Round 2. On Day 3, I was surprised that quarterbacks Jacob Eason and Jake Fromm were still available. We also had a whopping 36 wide receivers in the 255 picks, which is tied with the 2003 class for the most WRs drafted in a single year since the draft was shortened to seven rounds in 1994.
So let's get to my grades for all 32 NFL teams. Which team really had the best class? A reminder, as always: What I do here is assess two main things, using my own player grades as the prism:
How effectively did teams address key personnel holes?
How efficient were they in maneuvering on the draft board?
Let's go from best class to worst class, with teams with the same grades in alphabetical order. All right, let's get to it, starting with a team I know well.
Jump to:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LV | LAC | LAR | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
Baltimore Ravens: A
Top needs: ILB, WR, G/C, DT
Look at this Ravens roster. Where are the holes? Definitely middle linebacker. Maybe wide receiver. Probably a guard to replace Marshal Yanda. But that's it. So I liked that the Ravens got an off-ball linebacker at No. 28 whom Lamar Jackson called "Ray Lewis Jr.," and I liked that they didn't have to move up to get him. Patrick Queen started only 16 games in his LSU career, but his talent bursts on the tape. He's a fit as a long-term C.J. Mosley replacement. (By the way: Baltimore has now drafted three linebackers in the first round: Lewis in 1996, Mosley in 2014 and Queen. Those first two were/are pretty good.)
The Ravens entered this draft with three picks in the first two rounds, and they ended up with five total picks on Day 2. Here are those picks, along with where I had them in my overall rankings:
55. J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ohio State (27 on my board)
71. Justin Madubuike, DT, Texas A&M (42)
92. Devin Duvernay, WR, Texas (64)
98. Malik Harrison, LB, Ohio State (74)
106. Tyre Phillips, OT Mississippi State (83)
So as you can see, all five of them were at least 20 spots higher on my final Big Board. That's outstanding value. Baltimore fortified the middle of its defense -- it gave up 4.4 yards per carry last season, most in franchise history -- got a playmaker to help Jackson in the slot, and picked a tackle with guard experience who could compete to take over for Yanda, along with fourth-round pick Ben Bredeson (143). I'm also a big fan of James Proche (201), a super-productive pass-catcher who could fill a role, and safety Geno Stone (219) could be a special-teams menace as a rookie. Getting him in the seventh round is stellar.
General manager Eric DeCosta had another really strong draft. Expect Baltimore to be a Super Bowl contender again.
Indianapolis Colts: A-
Top needs: QB, WR, Edge, CB
It's easy to forget that the Colts have made the playoffs only once in the past five seasons. Heading into last season, there was some buzz around this team. But then Andrew Luck shockingly retired, Jacoby Brissett took over at quarterback and Indianapolis' holes were exposed in a 7-9 year. Still, general manager Chris Ballard has done a good job of stocking the roster with talent since he took over in 2017. The Colts have some young stars, highlighted by a tremendous 2018 draft class, and Ballard dealt the No. 13 overall pick in this draft for defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who has emerged as one of the best interior defenders in the league. Ballard also has a new starting quarterback, with veteran Philip Rivers taking the reins for at least the next year, and he also has an extra second-round pick from Washington, which traded up into Round 1 in last year's draft.