NFL Draft 2013 Round 1: Breaking Down Best and Worst Values of Day 1

Heading into the final day of the 2013 NFL draft, there have been 97 dreams that have come true at Radio City Music Hall. 

And while this draft won’t be known for the crowning of the next Robert Griffin III, it may forever go down as one of the most active drafts in history. That was especially the case in the first round, where top-flight prospects stayed on the board while major surprises were boundless. 

Though big names like Manti Te’o and Geno Smith came off the board in Round 2, it’s those Thursday-night festivities that will always create the lasting impression. Drafts aren’t remembered because of the marginal talents taken with a middle-round pick (though perhaps they should be). 

Drafts are remembered for the bear hugs given to Roger Goodell by joyous prospects. For the massive trades that send a shiver down the spine of crowds at Radio City. For the big swings taken by teams in Round 1 and the potential windfall/pitfalls that come along with them. 

Ultimately, they’re remembered for the decisions—good and bad—made in each team’s war room. With over 24 hours of perspective to our benefit, let’s take a look back at Round 1 and note the best and worst values of the first 32 picks. 

Best: Jarvis Jones (No. 17 to the Pittsburgh Steelers)

Talk about a pick working out almost completely according to plan. Jarvis Jones winding up with the Steelers was not one of the most shocking things to happen on Thursday night. It wasn’t even one of the most notable. 

Jones heading to the Steel City, for all accounts, was perfectly mundane. ESPN's Todd McShay had the Georgia product landing there, as did many of his draft pundit cohorts. 

That being said, there was no more perfect fit between player and team in Round 1. Long considered the league’s best team that excels at developing pass-rushing linebackers, Jones’ arrival comes at a time when Pittsburgh’s status was fast becoming more reputation than production. 

After finishing inside the top-two in total sacks from 2008-10, the Steelers’ aging linebacking corps was on a rapid decline. They finished around league average in both 2011 and 2012, amassing only 37 sacks last season. 

And advanced stats were even less kind. Pro Football Focus’ pass rush rating ranked the Steelers dead last in the league last season, calling into question both the talent on the roster and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau’s schemes.

While LeBeau will be back, Pittsburgh made some major moves to switch up the talent portion of the equation, most notably ending the James Harrison era.

Jones should step into the role Harrison leaves behind in Week 1. While he may never be the fastest or the biggest linebacker, Jones produces on the field—which is more than what you can say about plenty of the pass-rushers taken prior to No. 17. 

This wasn’t a pick made based on potential or what could be down the line. Jones is a great pass-rushing outside linebacker and will be almost instantly for Pittsburgh.  

Best: Sharrif Floyd (No. 23 to the Minnesota Vikings)

Outside of possibly Geno Smith and Manti Te'o, two former first-round locks who dropped out of the first 32 picks entirely, there was no more shocking free-fall than Floyd on Thursday night.

Pegged as an extremely likely top-five pick—ESPN's Todd McShay and Mel Kiper both had him going No. 3 overall to the Oakland Raiders—Floyd watched in dismay as his name continually failed to be called.

And it wasn't like NFL teams colluded to avoid defensive linemen, either. Depending on your evaluation of Barkevious Mingo (Browns) and Dion Jordan (Dolphins), as many as five defensive linemen went in the first 14 picks on Thursday. Included in those selections were contemporaries Star Lotulelei and Sheldon Richardson, both of whom were projected to go after Floyd.

But Floyd's loss in the bank account is the Minnesota Vikings' gain. They wasted little time taking the Florida product with their first of what would be three first-round picks at No. 23. Needing a top-flight defensive tackle to go alongside Kevin Williams, Floyd was the first in a trio of masterful picks by Vikings general manager Rick Spielman.

The Floyd selection is not only special for the of player he is—an ascendant talent against both the pass and the run, a perfect fit for any 4-3 scheme. And the fact that he lasted to No. 23 was in no way a knock on his skill-set. He was likely one of the first few names on many teams' draft boards, only coming in second or third every step of the way. 

That won't matter to Minnesota once Floyd steps on the field. His selection was a perfect storm of everything that the Vikings needed to happen—and that extra little fire in his belly for lasting so long will only help matters. 

Worst: EJ Manuel (No. 16 to the Buffalo Bills)

The cliche goes that hindsight is always 20/20, and that’s especially the case for NFL draft picks. 

We can look back at how the board fell and criticize a team for making a “reach” of a selection with the benefit of knowing how things went. When on the clock, teams don’t have that same luxury—making the rampant anger about reaching overzealous for the most part.

That being said, knowing what we do now, it’s hard to say that the Bills would take Manuel again at No. 16 with a second opportunity. Not only was the Florida State product the only quarterback taken in the first round, he was the only signal-caller drafted in the first 38 picks.

So while the Bills obviously valued Manuel over the likes of Geno Smith, Matt Barkley and Ryan Nassib and got their man, they did not maximize their spot.

Manuel is a project quarterback who will need a ton of work with his accuracy to become remotely pro-ready, though his potential is arguably higher than that of Barkley and Nassib—both of whom are still readily available heading into the weekend. 

Some would find Nassib and Barkley’s descent comforting. That the Bills made the right call in the eyes of the remainder of the league.

Maybe that’s right. It’s likely that Manuel wouldn’t be joining Barkley and Nassib waiting to hear his name called on Saturday. But it’s also clear that if the Bills weren’t drafting a quarterback in Round 1, no one else was. 

With plenty of movement in the back half of the first round, the Bills missed an opportunity to flip their pick for a second time while still landing Manuel. 

Worst: Desmond Trufant (No. 22 to the Atlanta Falcons)

On the surface, the 49ers and Falcons found themselves in similar situations on Thursday. Neither team had an abundance of holes in their starting lineup on either side of the ball, but both could have used help in the secondary—San Francisco at safety and Atlanta at cornerback.

Seeing their top target available at spots they were comfortable at, the Falcons and 49ers did what plenty of teams would do: They traded up. San Francisco moved from No. 31 to No. 18 to take safety Eric Reid, giving up only an extra third-round pick (per the Sacramento Bee’s Matthew Barrows).

Atlanta grabbed cornerback Desmond Trufant after moving up from No. 30 to No. 22 and sending an extra third-rounder and seventh-rounder the Rams’ way for their troubles (h/t Pro Football Talk’s Mike Wilkening). 

The values of the deals were overall pretty similar, and neither Reid nor Trufant were reaches on the level of Manuel. 

There’s just one big difference between the Falcons and 49ers. One had the roster depth and extra selections to make what it gave up negligible (San Francisco); the other was a depth-needy team that is still hurting for young backups from the last time it made a move upward in the draft (Atlanta).

Whether or not they loved Trufant, going back to the Julio Jones draft strategy well is risky at best, irresponsible at worst. The Falcons have gotten extremely lucky injury-wise over the past couple years, making the repercussions of its Godfather offer to Cleveland in 2011 minimal. 

But this is a roster desperately in need of depth and cheap talent across the board. Giving up a critical third-rounder isn’t exactly the way to make that happen. 

Drafting Trufant wasn’t a horrible move. What they paid for the right to do so, though, could prove crippling in the long-term. 

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