2012 NFL Draft Grades: New England Patriots and More Round 1 Winners

The first round of the 2012 NFL draft came and went, and it was full of surprise picks and wild trades.

Some of the best fits and top selections went to teams that made the shrewdest moves.

Let’s take a look at three teams that made the biggest splash and can be considered the winners of the first day.

Dallas Cowboys

It’s not often that a team sees a player falling that it needs and decides to make a brash move to trade up and get him.

St. Louis moved down again (they moved from No. 2 before the draft began in a deal with the Redskins) and this time Dallas was the beneficiary.

The Cowboys flipped their No. 14 and No. 45 pick for the No. 6 spot and took the best defensive playmaker in the draft, Morris Claiborne.

New England Patriots

The Pats parlayed their No. 27 and No. 31 picks (along with a third- and fourth-rounder) in two separate trades to get two of the best defensive prospects available.

With the No. 21 pick acquired from Cincinnati, they were able to get Chandler Jones, a solid pass-rusher with incredible versatility. He’ll be able to play DE and OLB, depending on if New England goes with a 3-4 or 4-3 look.

Then they moved up again, this time dealing with Denver in order to get the No. 25 pick and Nick Saban-educated LB Dont’a Hightower.

Hightower is one of the most solid players in the middle and will be able to adapt to whatever the Pats need him to do.

Minnesota Vikings

As a GM, you are definitely a winner if you can trade down from No. 3, snag three solid picks from the team directly behind you at No. 4 and still get the player you want.

That is what Rick Spielman did when he flipped No. 3 to Cleveland and then took Matt Kalil immediately after watching Trent Richardson come off the board (a player they had zero need for).

Spielman added fourth-, fifth- and seventh- round picks for his troubles and it was definitely the best deal of the draft.