2015 NFL Draft Grades: Rounds 1-3 Results and Scores for Each Team

According to the calculator app I just pulled up on my phone, we are 66.6666666 percent of the way through the 2015 NFL draft. 

For those who spend their every waking moment covering the event, it's a bit bittersweet. On one hand, all of the work you've just poured into the last 12 months vanishes the second Mr. Irrelevant comes off the board. On the other, even the most diehard football fan can get a bit winded after the 16 or so hours of coverage strewn over three days.

Just look at all stuff that's gone down over the first two. I bet by now you couldn't even pick Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota out of a lineup. For those of you who have forgotten their names altogether, one was a quarterback at Florida State University, and the other a quarterback at the University of Oregon. Florida State is a college based in Tallahassee, Florida, and Oregon is based out of Eugene. Florida is a state in the United States that joined the union in 18—

OK, maybe I don't have to go that far. But for the sake of funsies, let's look at the first two days and hook everyone up with the old GPA treatment. 

Team	Picks	Grade
Arizona Cardinals	(24) D.J. Humphries, OT; (58) Markus Golden, DE; (86) David Johnson, RB	C+
Atlanta Falcons	(8) Vic Beasley, DE/OLB; (42) Jalen Collins, CB; (73) Tevin Coleman, RB	A
Baltimore Ravens	(26) Breshad Perriman, WR; (55) Maxx Williams, TE; (90) Carl Davis, DT	A-
Buffalo Bills	(50) Ronald Darby, CB; (81) John Miller, G	B-
Carolina Panthers	(25) Shaq Thompson, OLB; (41) Devin Funchess, WR/TE	B+
Chicago Bears	(7) Kevin White, WR; (39) Eddie Goldman, DT; (71) Hroniss Grasu, C	A-
Cincinnati Bengals	(21) Cedric Ogbuehi, OT; (53) Jake Fisher, OT; (85) Tyler Kroft, TE; (99) Paul Dawson, ILB	B
Cleveland Browns	(12) Danny Shelton, NT; (19) Cameron Erving, OL; (51) Nate Orchard, DE/OLB; (77) Duke Johnson, RB; (96) Xavier Cooper, DT	B+
Dallas Cowboys	(27) Byron Jones, CB; (60) Randy Gregory, DE/OLB; (91) Chaz Green, OT	B+
Denver Broncos	(23) Shane Ray, OLB; (59) Ty Sambrailo, OT; (92) Jeff Heuerman, TE	B
Detroit Lions	(28) Laken Tomlinson, G; (54) Ameer Abdullah, RB; (80) Alex Carter, CB	B
Green Bay Packers	(30) Damarious Randall, FS; (62) Quinten Rollins, CB, Miami Ohio; (94) Ty Montgomery, WR	B-
Houston Texans	(16) Kevin Johnson, CB; (43) Benardrick McKinney, ILB; (70) Jaelen Strong, WR	A
Indianapolis Colts	(29) Phillip Dorsett, WR; (65) D'Joun Smith, CB; (93) Henry Anderson, DL	C
Jacksonville Jaguars	(3) Dante Fowler Jr., DE/OLB; (36) T.J. Yeldon, RB; (67) A.J. Cann, G	B
Kansas City Chiefs	(18) Marcus Peters, CB; (49) Mitch Morse, G; (76) Chris Conley, WR; (98) Steven Nelson, CB	B-
Miami Dolphins	(14) DeVante Parker, WR; (52) Jordan Phillips, DT	B+
Minnesota Vikings	(11) Trae Waynes, CB; (45) Eric Kendricks, ILB; (88) Danielle Hunter, DE	B+
New England Patriots	(32) Malcom Brown, DT; (64) Jordan Richards, S; (97) Geneo Grissom, DE	B
New Orleans Saints	(13) Andrus Peat, OT; (31) Stephone Anthony, ILB; (44) Hau'oli Kikaha, DE; (75) Garrett Grayson, QB; (80) P.J. Williams, CB	B-
New York Giants	(9) Ereck Flowers, OL; (33) Landon Collins, SS; (74) Owamagbe Odighizuwa, DE	B-
New York Jets	(6) Leonard Williams, DL; (37) Devin Smith, WR; (82) Lorenzo Mauldin, OLB	A
Oakland Raiders	(4) Amari Cooper, WR; (35) Mario Edwards Jr., DE; (68) Clive Walford, TE	B
Philadelphia Eagles	(20) Nelson Agholor, WR; (47) Eric Rowe, CB; (84) Jordan Hicks, OLB	C+
Pittsburgh Steelers	(22) Bud Dupree, DE/OLB; (56) Senquez Golson, CB; (87) Sammie Coates, WR	A-
San Diego Chargers	(15) Melvin Gordon, RB; (48) Denzel Perryman, ILB; (83) Craig Mager, CB	C
San Francisco 49ers	(17) Arik Armstead, DE; (46) Jaquiski Tartt, SS; (79) Eli Harold, OLB	B
Seattle Seahawks	(63) Frank Clark, DE; (69) Tyler Lockett, WR	A-
St. Louis Rams	(10) Todd Gurley, RB; (57) Rob Havenstein, OT; (72) Jamon Brown, OT; (89) Sean Mannion, QB	C
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	(1) Jameis Winston, QB; (34) Donovan Smith, OT; (61) Ali Marpet, G, Hobart	A-
Tennessee Titans	(2) Marcus Mariota, QB; (40) Dorial Green-Beckham, WR; (66) Jeremiah Poutasi, G	A-
Washington	(5) Brandon Scherff, OL; (38) Preston Smith, DE; (95) Matt Jones, RB	B-

Best of Rounds 1-3

Atlanta Falcons

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

The Falcons have done arguably the best job of combining need and talent. Vic Beasley is a physical marvel who should fill Atlanta's desperate need for pass-rushing help. Jalen Collins was seen by some as a first-round talent and might finally provide a fully functional starting lineup alongside Desmond Trufant. Tevin Coleman is a running back whose speedometer goes about 50 miles per hour.

Odds are, at least one of those picks won't pan out. Maybe Beasley's just a workout warrior, Collins' lack of collegiate production carries over or Coleman was overworked at Indiana. Whatever. Too often we wind up judging the results over the process with draft picks, forgetting that it's an inexact science for even the best general managers.

The process for each of these Falcons picks was near-perfect.

Houston Texans

You'll never guess what the Texans did: They combined value and need for a very successful first two days. Kevin Johnson was a bit of a stretch for my taste at No. 16—I'd viewed him as a late first-rounder—but Bill O'Brien and Co. brought back the goodwill two home runs on Friday.

Benardrick McKinney will start Week 1 and should be considered a dark horse for Rookie of the Year. The Mississippi State product is going to pile up tackles in the run game and has the athletic profile of a guy who can excel against the pass. McKinney and Brian Cushing together is going to be hell for opposing offenses.

Jaelen Strong being there at No. 70 was just good fortune. No one would have blinked an eye if Houston selected Strong at No. 43. He's a reasonable skill-set replacement for the departed Andre Johnson—at least the version of him who was around in 2014. While not an explosive downfield threat, Strong can work between the numbers to complement the more explosive DeAndre Hopkins.

Once, you know, there's a dude throwing the ball in their near vicinity. 

New York Jets

The Jets will also have quite the receiving corps once they figure out that a person needs to throw those players the ball. Ohio State's Devin Smith will bring a downfield flair to a depth chart that already includes big underneath targets in Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall. Smith can work out of the slot and projects as a special teams maven if used as a returner.

New York was also the beneficiary of five teams forgetting that Leonard Williams is awesome at football. How Washington didn't select Williams remains baffling, even though I like Brandon Scherff quite a bit. Williams is a Richard Seymour 2.0 and is going to give the Jets their best 3-4 defensive line in recent memory.

Lorenzo Mauldin was a bit of a stretch, but those first two picks are unimpeachable.

Worst of Rounds 1-3

Indianapolis Colts

Hot takes on draft day have a tendency to bite people back over the long term, so I'll avoid such karmic justice and say I didn't especially love anything Indy's done so far. 

Phillip Dorsett was a Day 2 talent and creates a bit of a redundancy with T.Y. Hilton. D'Joun Smith, who I felt might be a sleeper if he fell to Saturday, wound up being taken about a round too early. Henry Anderson's a guy who other people liked a lot more than me, so it's hard to downgrade that pick too much. Todd McShay actually had him as his No. 77 prospect.

The Colts are loaded at most positions, so this draft was always going to be about luxury picks for them. It just feels like they went for mediocre depth rather than going for the home run. If they were going to swing for wide receiver, this should have been a Dorial Green-Beckham destination.

San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams

The Rams and Chargers are getting lumped together because the key basis for their grades is similar: Do not draft running backs in the first round. It is a bad idea.

Adrian Peterson was selected in the first round in 2007. Here's a list of the guys selected since:

Year	Player	NFL Status
2007	Marshawn Lynch	Bust in Buffalo, became a star in Seattle
2008	Darren McFadden	Bust
2008	Jonathan Stewart	Disappointment
2008	Felix Jones	Bust
2008	Rashard Mendenhall	Bust
2008	Chris Johnson	Star
2009	Knowshon Moreno	Disappointment
2009	Donald Brown	Bust
2009	Chris Wells	Bust
2010	C.J. Spiller	Disappointment
2010	Ryan Mathews	Disappointment
2010	Jahvid Best	Bust
2011	Mark Ingram	Bust turned redemption story?
2012	Trent Richardson	Bust
2012	Doug Martin	Disappointment
2012	David Wilson	Bust

There are 16 players on that list. Exactly one became a star for the team that drafted him. While some may feel the criteria for "bust" and "disappointment" is harsh, remember the purpose of a first-round pick is to find a foundational piece. It's not to add someone who flashes signs of talent and gets hurt or has one Pro Bowl year before fizzling out. 

Chris Johnson's the biggest success story on that list, and he gave the Titans one historically great season and five pretty good ones.

Heading into this year, it appeared NFL teams had learned their lesson. No running backs went in Round 1 in 2013 or 2014, and the world did not move off its axis.

Yet St. Louis spent a top-10 selection on a dude who is coming off an ACL tear (Todd Gurley), and San Diego gave up two solid mid-round choices to move up two spots and select Melvin Gordon. The Chargers ostensibly moved up to leapfrog the Houston Texans, who employ Arian Foster.

Nothing either team did in the second day was enough to make up for the sins of their first. This especially goes for St. Louis, which turned around and used a surprisingly high pick on Sean Mannion.

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