31) San Francisco 49ers, Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida
32) Carolina Panthers (from Bills), Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina
That’s it for the evening. Thanks to everybody for following along with the Guardian’s live coverage of the draft. The Bills will be first up on the board tomorrow. Will they finally take a receiver?
32. Carolina Panthers: Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina
The Panthers are good to their word! They reportedly ‘promised’ the South Carolina receiver they’d select him with the first pick in the second round. But they jump up to the final pick in the first to make sure they land their guy. Legette is a bulky, quick receiver who has some Deebo Samuel to his game.
The Niners have reportedly been on the phone exploring trades for Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. There could be some movement overnight.
From what I've been told, the Niners have been on the phones all night -- up until and through their pick at 31 -- exploring trades for both Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.
Considering the Ricky Pearsall pick, I'd imagine they're not done exploring those trades.
Welcome to the first round, Carolina Panthers. They trade up with the Bills to snag the last pick of the night. They reportedly ‘promised’ wide receiver Xavier Legette they would pick him with the 33rd pick. Does that promise hold at 32?
31. San Francisco 49ers: Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida
San Francisco picks up a receiver to pair with *deep breath* Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. Adding a receiver in the first round adds more fuel to the Brandon Aiyuk fire.
An upside play from the Ravens at corner. The defensive backfield was a pressing need for Baltimore, and Wiggins will compete for a starting spot from the jump. He got cooked by Drake Maye and North Carolina last season, but has top-tier length and speed – the tools that the NFL most covets at the position.
The Cowboys find their Tyron Smith replacement. Guyton has been discussed as a ‘project’ throughout the draft process. But he’s much further along in his development than he’s given credit for. Guyton has a towering, long frame and he packs a punch in the run game.
The Chiefs go ahead and draft their Tyreek Hill replacement. Dropping Worthy’s speed onto an offense with Patrick Mahomes is flat-out unfair. But Worthy is about more than speed; he’s a tenacious competitor and a more polished route-runner than other deep burners in the class. Some speedsters are one-dimensional. Not Worthy.
But how about the Bills? After trading away Stefon Diggs, Buffalo are in need of finding some deep speed and a reliable pass-catcher outside. Worthy would have ticked both boxes. Instead, they now face the prospect of seeing the Mahomes-Worthy connection up close and personal in the AFC playoffs.
KC trades with Buffalo to grab the quickest player in the draft with the 28th pick: Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who broke the 40-yard dash record at the combine.
27. Arizona Cardinals: Darius Robinson, DL, Missouri
The Cards use their second first-round pick to select a versatile defensive lineman. Robinson has rocks for hands, and can line up inside or outside. The Cardinals finished 28th in pass-rush win rate last season. They needed to get bigger, deeper and more flexible up front. Robinson will help solve all those problems.
And now all the o-linemen are coming off the board! Barton is considered one of the safest prospects in the draft. He’s a crafty linemen who played tackle in college but projects as a center in the NFL. He should be an instant starter in Tampa.
The Packers pick up another solid offensive lineman. Morgan is on the shorter side for a tackle with a small wingspan. He might have to move inside to guard in the NFL. But he’s a solid pass protector who could slot in for the outgoing David Bakhtiari at left tackle or start inside.
The hometown Lions trade up to select cornerback Terrion Arnold
Terrion Arnold is on his way to the Lions. Photograph: Brett Farmer/REX/Shutterstock
No team entered the draft with a more pressing need at corner than Detroit. They handed a third-round pick to the Cowboys to jump up and select Terrion Arnold out of Alabama. Arnold is a ball-hawk. He picked off six passes and had 20 pass breakups in his college career. Draft analysts were split on whether Arnold or Quinyon Mitchell was the top cornerback in this class: Arnold is a savvy corner, further along in his development than Mitchell; Mitchell has more athletic upside. “There are guys that like football. There are guys that love football. And then there’s Terrion Arnold,” Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network says.
23. Jacksonville Jaguars: Brian Thomas Jr, WR, LSU
With Calvin Ridley leaving in free agency, the Jags take a swing on a boom-or-bust receiver. Thomas is a vertical threat who ran only two routes at a greater than 10% clip at LSU. Like his LSU teammate Malik Nabers, Thomas is a burner down the field. He led college football in 2023 with 17 touchdowns and averaged 17.3 yards per catch.
22. Philadelphia Eagles: Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
The Eagles select a cornerback in the first-round for the first time since 2002. Mitchell is all about speed, speed and more speed. He didn’t concede a single touchdown as the nearest defender in coverage in four years in college.
The Dolphins select edge-rusher Chop Robinson with the 21st pick.
Miami swoops in and grabs the springiest edge-rusher in the draft. Robinson is an undersized pass-rusher who can toggle between positions. Miami entered the draft in desperate need of a pass-rusher. Their defense fell apart down the stretch last season once Jaelan Phillips was lost to an injury. Robinson may never become an every-down player, but he’ll be a threat on third downs.
It’s just dawned on me that the NFL is still investigating the Falcons for tampering with Kirk Cousins prior to free agency. Is the funniest outcome to the Cousins-Penix situation, Cousins asking to be traded next year and the Falcons losing their 2025 first-round pick?
The Steelers select offensive tackle Troy Fautanu with the 20th pick.
Pittsburgh goes back-to-back years with offensive tackles in the first round. Fautanu is the most athletic linemen in a draft loaded with uber athletes. How often do you see an o-lineman dropping a spin move on a pass-rusher to counter their spin move?
The LA Rams select edge-rusher Jared Verse 19th overall.
There was some thought the Rams could go hunting for an Aaron Donald replacement here. Instead, the Rams go with an all-gas, no-break edge rusher. Verse is a rocket off the snap and plays with a nasty streak. As technicians go, Verse would be well down the list in this class. He’s more of a through-your-facemask rusher. But his style – Verse wracked up 10-plus TFLs in each of his four seasons in college football.
The Bengals select offensive tackle Amarius Mims with the 18th pick.
Cincy adds another hulking tackle to go alongside Trent Brown and Orlando Brown Jr. Mims is one of the wildcards of the draft. He has the prototypical height, weight, speed and build for a top-tier offensive tackle. But he’s played barely any football. Mims struggled with injuries in his final year at Georgia, and has only seven career starts to his name. The talent is there – and the Bengals needed offensive line reinforcements – but this is a swing-for-the-fences pick.
Dallas Turner is on his way to Minnesota. Photograph: Jeff Roberson/AP
The Vikings select Alabama pass-rusher Dallas Turner with the 17th pick.
Minnesota is going all Texans. First, they selected JJ McCarthy with the 10th pick. Now, they deal back up to grab the most explosive edge-rusher in the class. Turner is a classic dip-and-rip rusher who wins with speed and bend off the edge. He lacks some polish, but Turner plays with reckless abandon when defending the run and has the talent to be a three-down defensive anchor. The Vikings were heavily reliant on blitzing to get after opposing quarterbacks last season. Adding Turner will allow the team to get home with a four-man rush more consistently.
The Seahawks select defensive tackle Byron Murphy II with the 16th pick.
Murphy is the slight, quick-twitch penetrator in this class. Think Ed Oliver. Or, if you squint hard enough, you could see Aaron Donald. Internal pressure is the toughest thing to protect against in the NFL. Murphy will bring some needed sizzle to Seattle’s interior.
Indy lands a new star pass-rusher. Photograph: Jeff Roberson/AP
“I knew it. I manifested it,” Laiatu Latu tells NFL Network of being the first defensive player selected in the 2024 NFL draft two years after he was forced to medically retire.
The Colts select edge-rusher Laiatu Latu with the 15th overall pick.
Indy would have loved to have been in the Brock Bowers sweepstakes. But with Bowers off the board, the Colts essentially had the No 1 overall pick in the 2024 defensive draft. They used the pick to select the best edge-rusher in the class.
Teams have access to more statistics than ever, but when it comes to the final evaluation, GMs fall back on the oldest method of all: watching actual games. And if you watch those games, it’s clear Latu is as gifted as any player in this class.
But there are medical concerns. Latu suffered a neck injury at Washington in 2020 and was forced to retire from the sport. During his hiatus, he had multiple operations on his neck and took up rugby in Seattle. In 2022, he was cleared to return to football and transferred to UCLA, where he spent the next 24 months clowning all before him. His tape against Arizona is for mature audiences only.
It’s the style that grabs you with Latu. He’s the most distinctive pass-rushing prospect in recent years. It’s tempting to say Latu plays at his own pace, but that phrase is typically attached to slower guys. The 23-year-old is explosive in tight spaces. He’s good slow and fast. He plays at whatever pace serves him. There are times when he isn’t even really rushing the passer, at least not in the traditional sense. It’s as though he’s playing his own sport, some fusion of MMA and interpretive dance; he’s all limbs and head fakes and unorthodox approaches to knifing into the backfield.
Latu is stylistically mesmerizing, but that style has substance. He finished with 27 sacks and 107 total pressures in his two years at UCLA, the highest rate in college football. His 26.2% pass rush win rate in his final year is tied for the highest figure on record. If the surgeries affected his game, it didn’t show up at UCLA. In two seasons with the team he did not miss a game due to injury.
Latu is one of the coolest stories of the draft: He’s gone from being a part-time rugby player/part-time fire-fighter to being the first defensive player off the board.
“The record of most offensive players to open a draft was seven in 2021. And now the record has been doubled: first 14 picks have all been offensive players.”
The Saints select Oregon State Taliese Fuaga with the 14th pick.
The Saints probably need to come out of this draft with two starters on their offensive line. They start early, grabbing the best run blocker in the class with the 14th pick. Fuaga started 25 games at right tackle in college, but he has a small wingspan so could move inside at the next level. He’s an elite blocker on the move and is always looking to blast people. Fuaga is the first Oregon State player to be drafted in the first round since Brandin Cooks in 2014.
— charles (“you look good” - andy reid) mcdonald (@FourVerts) April 26, 2024
And NFL Network reports that Kirk Cousins was not given a heads up that the pick was coming. ESPN’s Dianna Russini reports Cousins was ‘stunned’ by the pick. No worries, he only has $100m guaranteed to him for the next two seasons. Uh-oh.
That offense-defense tally: 13 picks; 13 offensive players; zero defensive players. Let’s set the over-under for the rest of the first round at 6.5 for defensive players.
Brock Bowers goes off the board to the Las Vegas Raiders with the 13th pick.
One of the most fascinating prospects in the class is on his way to Vegas. Bowers is a dynamic tight end who, in reality, is a wide receiver in tight ends clothing. Bowers had 56 catches for 714 yards and six touchdowns last season, doing a ton of damage with the ball in his hand after the catch. There might not have been a more fun player in college football over the last two years. He hurdles defenders. He runs through defenders. He runs away from defenders. As a pure tight end, he’s a limited blocker. But Vegas did not draft him to lead the line in the run game. He’s arriving to bounce around the formation and catch passes.
Profile: Bo Nix, QB, Oregon. Nix is an older QB who was viewed as an undraftable prospect back in his Auburn days but caught fire once he transferred to Oregon. He’s a point-guard style quarterback, who distributes the ball around to his playmakers and has enough of a feel as a playmaker to create plays with his legs. If you squint hard enough, you can see an NFL starter. He has the experience in an expansive offense to be able to play for Sean Payton right away.
The Denver Broncos select Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the 12th pick
Woah. Sean Payton and the Broncos could not help themselves. In desperate need of a quarterback, the Broncos go ahead and take their guy rather than trading down and playing the waiting game. Poor Zach Wilson.
That’s 11 offensive players off the board with the first 11 picks. Denver are up next. And with all the top quarterbacks off the board, we should see the first defensive player taken here.
The Jets select Olu Fashanu, LT, Penn State with the 11th pick.
So the Jets decide to find a protector for Aaron Rodgers rather than trying to find a spark-plug at the skill positions. Will the moaner-in-chief be happy with the decision?
Fashanu is still a raw tackle. He has started only 21 games in his career and turned 21 in December. He’s a big toolsy tackle with arms so long they look CGI’d on. In the run game, he moves like a tight end. In pass protection, he’s too big for pass-rushers to run through and has quick enough feet to shuffle with even the most agile pass-rushers. His technique needs some work. And that stuff takes time, something the Jets are short on.
Profile: JJ McCarthy, QB, Michigan. If ever there was a place for McCarthy to land, it would be Minnesota. From my pre-draft look at McCarthy:
“No player has been more polarizing this cycle than McCarthy. His advocates see a quarterback of untapped potential, with a big arm, wheels and a fearless streak. His detractors point to McCarthy’s time at Michigan and say, with those skills, he should have produced more.
McCarthy guided Michigan to the national championship with a roster loaded with future NFL talent – by the time the draft concludes, the 2023 Wolverines roster will probably have more players drafted than any team in history. Given the surplus of talent, McCarthy was asked to mind the shop, to play within the offense, to hand the ball off to running backs (a lot) and play smart, mistake-free football. He rarely threw on third down, largely because Michigan were comfortably ahead in games – or they were so overwhelming that they did not need third downs.
For some decision-makers, McCarthy is the platonic ideal of a quarterback prospect: A talented passer with the athletic traits and intangibles that make scouts and GMs purr. He’s a proven winner and leader, who has been drawing up plays since he was five years old. He told fellow recruits looking at joining Michigan that “if they wanted to party and chase girls, go somewhere else”, according to draft analyst Dane Brugler.
It’s telling, however, that leaks from the scouting world reference everything except McCarthy’s ability to complete passes. Call it the Daniel Jones Zone. There are flashes from his college resume, but the quarterback that teams want him to be in the pros is different from the one he was asked to be at Michigan.”
Minnesota is the ideal landing spot, though. No coach is more willing to overhaul the mechanics of their system to fit their QB than Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. McCarthy was pushed into a more traditional system at Michigan, which hampered some of his natural instincts. He has a dynamite arm and an excellent athlete. O’Connell will tap into that side of his game more than Jim Harbaugh did at Michigan. Oh, and throwing to Justin Jefferson isn’t a bad thing for a young quarterback.
From Neil Saffer: “With Malik Nabers, have the Giants found the perfect blend?”
They sure have! In a normal world, where Marvin Harrison Jr walking around, Nabers would be the slam-dunk top receiver in the draft. He’s more of a nuanced route-runner than he’s given credit for because his speed leaps off the screen. He wins contested catches. He creates after the catch. And he can dunk on defensive backs down the field. Brian Daboll is one of the best play-callers in the league at springing receivers open through play design. If he’s able to get Nabers out into space untouched, no one can keep up with him.
Profile: Rome Odunze, WR, Washington. How about this for a one-two punch? After picking up Keenan Allen via trade this offseason and stealing DJ Moore last season, the Bears add Rome Odunze to the fold. Odunze is a big-bodied receiver who dominates at the catch-point. He’s one of those outside receivers who widens a quarterback’s margin for error. His most common comparison in the pre-draft process: Keenan Allen. The Bears certainly have a type.
Profile: Michael Penix Jr, QB, Washington. THE shock of the draft. The Falcons grab a quarterback of the future in the same offseason they signed Kirk Cousins to a huge free-agent contract. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that this is all about ‘succession’ planning, which is strange, because Penix is 24-years-old and will be 26 by the time Cousins’ contract expires. Penix is the best pure pocket passer in this class. He can spin it to anywhere on the field. The knocks on Penix are three-fold: he played in a goofy offense at Washington; he was surrounded by first-round talent; he’s had a series of injuries. Penix had four season-ending injuries in college. He tore two ACLs in two years, and it limits his ability to move around and extend plays, a prerequisite in the modern NFL. If anything, Penix has some Kirk Cousins to his game – albeit with a bigger arm. Maybe the Falcons know what they’re doing after all.
Shock! The Falcons select quarterback Michael Penix Jr at No 8
Woah. The chaos begins. The Falcons grab the Washington quarterback with the eight pick in the same offseason they inked Kirk Cousins to a mega-money free-agent deal.
