NFL Draft 2015 Results: Full List of Selections and Grades from Round 1

Thirty-two down, only 224 to go. The first round of the 2015 NFL draft came and went Thursday without too many eye-opening moments.

Jameis Winston went No. 1 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tennessee Titans elected to select Marcus Mariota rather than trade his rights and it was mostly smooth-sailing the rest of the way. There were only two trades of note, neither of which were of the blockbuster variety, and there were only a handful of picks that made folks really scratch their heads.

All of which should make the grading process pretty easy for yours truly.

The lack of outwardly egregious picks helps avoid hot-takey comments that would almost surely come back to haunt me years later. It also helps prognosticators, who did a fine job of mapping out the first round, feel good about their research. Perhaps this is an anomaly or perhaps we're beginning to figure the whole thing out.

Regardless, let's take a look back at how the first round shook out and assess some of the smartest selections from Day 1. 

Pick	Team	Selection	Grade
1	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Jameis Winston, QB, FSU	A-
2	Tennessee Titans	Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon	B+
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	Dante Fowler Jr., DE, Florida	A-
4	Oakland Raiders	Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama	A-
5	Washington Redskins	Brandon Scherff, G, Iowa	B-
6	New York Jets	Leonard Williams, DE, USC	A
7	Chicago Bears	Kevin White, WR, West Virginia	A
8	Atlanta Falcons	Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson	B
9	New York Giants	Ereck Flowers, G, Miami	B-
10	St. Louis Rams	Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia	C-
11	Minnesota Vikings	Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State	B+
12	Cleveland Browns	Danny Shelton, DT, Washington	A
13	New Orleans Saints	Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford	B
14	Miami Dolphins	DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville	A-
15	San Diego Chargers (via SF)	Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin	C-
16	Houston Texans	Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest	B
17	San Francisco 49ers (via SD)	Arik Armstead, DT, Oregon	A
18	Kansas City Chiefs	Marcus Peters, CB, Washington	B
19	Cleveland Browns	Cameron Erving, C, FSU	B+
20	Philadelphia Eagles	Nelson Agholor, WR, USC	B
21	Cincinnati Bengals	Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M	B-
22	Pittsburgh Steelers	Bud Dupree, OLB, Kentucky	A-
23	Denver Broncos	Shane Ray, DE, Missouri	B+
24	Arizona Cardinals	D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida	B
25	Carolina Panthers	Shaq Thompson, OLB, Washington	B-
26	Baltimore Ravens	Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF	A-
27	Dallas Cowboys	Byron Jones, CB, Connecticut	B
28	Detroit Lions	Laken Tomlinson, OG, Duke	B+
29	Indianapolis Colts	Phillip Dorsett, WR, Miami	C+
30	Green Bay Packers	Damarious Randall, FS, Arizona State	C+
31	New Orleans Saints	Stephone Anthony, ILB, Clemson	B-
32	New England Patriots	Malcom Brown, DT, Texas	A-

The Best

New York Jets Select Leonard Williams

The Jets had this pick fall into their laps. To some, Williams was the best overall player in this class, a Richard Seymour clone who should already be installed as the Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite. Everyone with a pulse thought he was heading to Washington once Jacksonville took Dante Fowler Jr., but Washington's loss is New York's gain.

Selecting Williams puts the Jets at an interesting crossroads. Adding him to a line that already includes Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson gives them perhaps the best front three in football. However, with ESPN's Adam Schefter reporting Wilkerson's name has been floating around the trade block, don't be surprised if teams start making calls again Friday.

Wilkerson is due a massive pay raise and appears adamant about receiving it before showing up to camp. He's also a good enough player that the Jets could reasonably ask for a second-round pick and another starter-level player. 

No inside information here, but if the Chicago Bears are looking to get rid of Jay Cutler, there are worse possible matches here. (Note: I don't expect Chicago to trade Cutler. The widely reported talks the Bears had about moving up to No. 2 were just as much about Marcus Mariota as moving on from their oft-maligned incumbent.)

Chicago Bears Select Kevin White

Earlier this offseason, the Bears went from having one of the NFL's best one-two punches at receiver to becoming a single jabber. Trading Brandon Marshall to New York was probably the right locker room fit, yet it left a gaping hole across from Alshon Jeffery. Marquess Wilson has shown potential and the Bears signed Eddie Royal, but, like, no. Not the same.

Adding White here brings back the potential of a dynamic duo in the Windy City. The West Virginia product boasts solid size with elite top-end speed and a quick first step, instantly giving Cutler a downfield threat that neither Jeffery nor Marshall provided. (For as much success as they had together, Jeffery and Marshall were a bit redundant from a skill standpoint.)

"This guy’s dynamic, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s ultra-competitive," Bears general manager Ryan Pace told reporters, via the Chicago Tribune's Dan Wiederer. "If I could stress one word for him, he’s competitive. You see it after the catch. You see it in the way he attacks the ball in the air. This is a dynamic playmaker for our offense....Big-play weapon for us. Competitive, tough player.”

White zoomed up draft boards by flashing freakish skill in every aspect, and he already has the braggadocio down to a T. Once again, all eyes will be on Cutler to see if he can take advantage. 

Cleveland Browns Select Danny Shelton 

I might wind up starting at receiver for the Browns at this rate, but Cleveland's front office did an excellent job at filling its other holes. Danny Shelton is a monster of a nose tackle who could arguably push Williams for the best defensive lineman in this class.

Shelton is 6'2" and 339 pounds, so most would picture him as little more than a huge man stuffing run holes. But he's so much more. Surprisingly agile on his feet, Shelton is a strong pass-rusher out of the nose tackle spot and would be just fine in a 4-3 alignment. 

Cleveland needed help across its defensive line after ranking 31st against the run last season in Football Outsiders' DVOA metric. Shelton's a Week 1 starter who will go a long way toward plugging those holes.

Plus, dude did this:

I don't care if he's terrible at football. You lift the commish, you're automatically getting a good grade from me. 

San Francisco 49ers Select Arik Armstead

The 49ers win here by not only getting their guy, but somehow adding picks while they're at it. The San Diego Chargers gave up picks in the fourth and fifth round to move up from No. 17 to No. 15, per CSN Bay Area, before selecting Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon. I'm not sure whether San Diego was 100 percent convinced Houston would select Gordon at No. 16 or what, but the whole thing looks really desperate in retrospect.

As it stands, the 49ers get the man they'd been linked to for months. Armstead is going to need time to develop. He has a tendency to get pushed around a bit and has moved up draft boards based more on potential than production. But Jim Tomsula's a solid developer of talent on the defensive line, and Armstead could be a perfect Justin Smith replacement if he ever puts it all together.

“You talk about the (ability to) bend, you talk about the athleticism, you’ve seen enough plays that he’s got some power and push and explosion,” Tomsula told reporters, via the San Jose Mercury News' Cam Inman. “When you look at his body, it’s all there. Now you meet the guy and it’s intriguing, it’s a nice guy, a good guy. And he’s a competitive guy.”

With the infrastructure the 49ers have in place—remember, there's still a possibility Smith comes back for 2015—there was no better situation for Armstead. 

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.