NFL Draft 2013 Results: Biggest Steals in First Round

The NFL draft never goes as planned, although that could be a good thing for many teams.

While a few teams chose to reach for a player they really wanted in the first round, others were fine waiting for a top prospect to fall to them later in the draft.

There were certainly reasons that each of these men fell down draft boards, but this led to a few teams getting great value in the middle to the end of the first round.

No. 14 Carolina Panthers: Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah

Prior to the NFL Scouting Combine, Star Lotulelei was considered a top-five pick. An apparent heart issue saw his stock fall a little, but a later MRI showed "no evidence of dysfunction" (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com).

Putting this issue behind him should have put the talented defensive tackle back among the top selections in the draft.

Unfortunately, the run of offensive linemen caused Lotulelei to fall to the Carolina Panthers, where they were waiting with open arms.

The Utah star can penetrate into the backfield as well as take on blockers, which will free up the team's talented defensive ends to make more plays.

This was likely the best-case scenario for the Panthers, and they should be more than satisfied with their first selection.

No. 22 Atlanta Falcons: Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington

Atlanta needed a cornerback in this draft after losing Dunta Robinson and Brent Grimes this offseason. The team was willing to trade up in the first round, but it seemed like the top players at the position would be taken too early.

However, the Falcons did not need to give up nearly as much as they should have to acquire Desmond Trufant.

Arguably the second-best cornerback in the draft behind Dee Milliner was still available at No. 22, and the team made the decision to move up eight spots in a trade with the St. Louis Rams.

Trufant has great speed and can use that to stick with the top receivers in the NFL. This move could end up being huge as the squad looks to contend for a Super Bowl this season.

No. 23 Minnesota Vikings: Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida

There were a couple of surprising slides in the first round, but few were as shocking as the drop by Sharrif Floyd.

With great versatility to play anywhere on the defensive line at a high level, many projected the defensive tackle to be taken as high as the No. 2 pick. That was not the case on Thursday night.

Instead, Floyd continued to drop due to apparent character concerns, according to Mike Mayock of NFL Network (via Chris Wesseling of NFL.com).

Then again, Jeff Darlington of NFL.com disagreed with this assessment:

As a result, the Vikings get to fill a position of need with one of the best overall players in the entire class with the No. 23 pick. Pair this with the selections of Xavier Rhodes and Cordarrelle Patterson, and Minnesota had a very good day.

Complete First-Round Results (via NFL.com)

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School
1	Kansas City Chiefs	Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan
2	Jacksonville Jaguars	Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M
3	Miami Dolphins (via OAK)	Dion Jordan	DE	Oregon
4	Philadelphia Eagles	Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma
5	Detroit Lions	Ezekiel Ansah	DE	BYU
6	Cleveland Browns	Barkevious Mingo	OLB	LSU
7	Arizona Cardinals	Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina
8	St. Louis Rams (via BUF)	Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia
9	New York Jets	Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama
10	Tennessee Titans	Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama
11	San Diego Chargers	D.J. Fluker	OT	Alabama
12	Oakland Raiders (via MIA)	D.J. Hayden	CB	Houston
13	New York Jets	Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri
14	Carolina Panthers	Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah
15	New Orleans Saints	Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas
16	Buffalo Bills (via STL)	E.J. Manuel	QB	Florida State
17	Pittsburgh Steelers	Jarvis Jones	OLB	Georgia
18	San Francisco 49ers (via DAL)	Eric Reid	S	LSU
19	New York Giants	Justin Pugh	OT	Syracuse
20	Chicago Bears	Kyle Long	OT	Oregon
21	Cincinnati Bengals	Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame
22	Atlanta Falcons (via STL)	Desmond Trufant	CB	Washington
23	Minnesota Vikings	Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida
24	Indianapolis Colts	Bjoern Werner	OLB	Florida State
25	Minnesota Vikings	Xavier Rhodes	CB	Florida State
26	Green Bay Packers	Datone Jones	DE	UCLA
27	Houston Texans	DeAndre Hopkins	WR	Clemson
28	Denver Broncos	Sylvester Williams	DT	North Carolina
29	Minnesota Vikings (via NE)	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee
30	St. Louis Rams (via ATL)	Alec Ogletree	ILB	Georgia
31	Dallas Cowboys (via SF)	Travis Frederick	C	Wisconsin
32	Baltimore Ravens	Matt Elam	S	Florida

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