NFL Draft Grades 2012: Surprise Teams Who Aced Round 1 Picks

Outside of teams like the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins, who aced their first-round picks by drafting franchise quarterbacks, there are other teams that made excellent value picks later on in the draft.

Acing a first-round pick can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, snagging a player who seemed to fall late in the first round or drafting a talented player who fills a need, should warrant an A.

Here's a list of four teams that aced their first-round pick.

Philadelphia Eagles

Fletcher Cox was projected to go in the top 10 of many mock drafts around the web, one of which was NFL Draft Countdown.

He was considered to be the best defensive tackle in the draft, which would fill a huge need for the Philadelphia Eagles, considering how their run defense had as many holes as a block of Swiss cheese last season.

Matt Miller projected that Cox would slip to No. 15 overall to the Eagles, but they felt otherwise and decided to trade up to No. 12 to get their guy.

Considering Cox's freakish ability to manhandle offensive linemen and the Eagles' need for a tackle, the Eagles aced this pick.

San Francisco 49ers

Contrary to what the experts said about the San Francisco 49ers reaching for A.J. Jenkins in the first round, it turns out that it was an excellent selection because Jenkins might not have made it past the 33rd overall pick.

According to an article written by Jim Thomas of St. Louis Today, the Rams were very high on Jenkins and were planning on drafting him with the first pick of the second round—or, in other words, three picks after the 49ers snagged him.

The article also stated that the Rams gave Jenkins a similar grade as Justin Blackmon, the first receiver taken in the draft.

Trent Baalke, the general manager of the 49ers, said that he put Jenkins' name in an envelope before the draft and stated that this would be the guy the 49ers drafted.

If this is true, the 49ers got their guy, and a speed receiver is exactly what the offense was missing.

Green Bay Packers

Mock drafts had defensive end Nick Perry going anywhere from No. 42 overall to No. 18 overall. His stock had been rising and falling more so than any other player in the class, so no one really knew where he'd end up when it was all said and done.

However, the Packers had a need at outside linebacker and decided to fill the need with their first-round pick by drafting Perry No. 28 overall.

Perry is a freak athletically, and will give opposing quarterbacks nightmares by rushing the edge opposite Clay Matthews.

To put it simply, Perry was a steal with the 28th overall pick and should drastically improve the Packers' pass defense.

Pittsburgh Steelers

General manager of the Steelers, Kevin Colbert, must've been salivating after he saw the Detroit Lions select Riley Reiff with the 23rd-overall pick in the first round, because it meant that David DeCastro somehow miraculously fell into his lap. 

I considered DeCastro to be the best guard in the class and easily the most NFL-ready offensive lineman to start from Day 1. He has everything from strength, tenacity, awareness and intelligence—he is a Stanford product after all— to become a perennial Pro Bowler in this league. 

And that's exactly what Pro Football Weekly believes, too.

Matt Miller, Bleacher Report's NFL draft lead writer, projected DeCastro to go No. 13 overall to the Arizona Cardinals, and Miller wasn't the only one to say he would go that high.

However, DeCastro fell to No. 24 overall, and the Steelers didn't hesitate to pick.