NFL Teams That Improved the Most Through 2015 Draft

It's important we preface this by saying the NFL draft is, at its core, a crapshoot. You can make the correct pick by talent and see that player fail by any number of methods: off-field issues, injuries, poor scheme fit and so on.

So these are evaluations of what I think about the cumulative talent of the players coming in more than anything. I don't know the outcomes, and I won't pretend I do.

That said, here's one man's opinion of which teams have improved the most in this draft. My main criterion was how talented I think the players are, and then I made certain allowances for fit, scheme and need. There are a few selections that are really easy and a few where it feels like I'm sifting through about 10 teams that improved about the same amount. I am heavily under the influence of #DraftTwitter, so read into that what you will.

7. Cincinnati Bengals

Players selected: OT Cedric Ogbuehi (1-21), OT Jake Fisher (2-53), TE Tyler Kroft (3-85), LB Paul Dawson (3-99), CB Josh Shaw (4-120), DL Marcus Hardison (4-135), TE C.J. Uzomah (5-157), FS Derron Smith (6-197), WR Mario Alford (7-238)

The Bengals couldn't solve their real problem in this draft: There was no real replacement for Andy Dalton.

But what they did do was very important. Cincinnati has had a huge problem at inside linebacker the last few years, which often led the club back to Rey Maualuga as the laziest available solution even though he's been up and down at best. TCU linebacker Paul Dawson may have bombed his combine training, but what he showed on the field matches up with any off-ball linebacker in the draft this year.

With Ogbuehi and Fisher, the Bengals have effectively solidified the future of the offensive line, which had some issues recovering from Anthony Collins' defection to Tampa Bay last offseason. Neither guy has to play right away, though I could see Fisher finding his way onto the field sooner rather than later. 

Shaw and Smith are quality picks—especially Smith, whose draft-day fall reminds me a lot of George Iloka's—and Hardison is a good scheme fit. This isn't the draft that will get the Bengals to the top tier of the AFC, but it's a nice sustaining draft that will help them in that goal.

6. New England Patriots

Players selected: DL Malcom Brown (1-32), S Jordan Richards (2-64), DL Geneo Grissom (3-97), DL Trey Flowers (4-101), OL Tre' Jackson (4-111), OL Shaq Mason (4-131), LS Joe Cardona (5-166), LB Matthew Wells (6-178), CB Darryl Roberts (7-247), OLB Xzavier Dickson (7-253)

This is exactly what you expect to happen to the New England Patriots on draft weekend:

• A silly overdraft of a sixth-round safety in the second round.
• An early focus on special teams in long snapper Cardona and core special-teamer Wells.
• A solid player at a need position somehow fell all the way to No. 32 in the form of Brown, who should help blunt the loss of Vince Wilfork to the Texans.

The Pats didn't get a player from Rutgers or a wideout that will inevitably bust, but the team checked most of the boxes that we expected.

More importantly, though, between Brown, Flowers, Jackson and Mason, the Pats have committed to shoring up two weak areas: the front seven and the offensive line that struggled to protect Tom Brady early last season. 

5. Baltimore Ravens

Players selected: WR Breshad Perriman (1-26), TE Maxx Williams (2-55), DT Carl Davis (3-90), DE Za'Darius Smith (4-122), RB Javorius Allen (4-125), CB Tray Walker (4-136), TE Nick Boyle (5-171), OL Robert Myers (5-176), WR Darren Waller (6-204)

The Ravens came into this draft with the usual Ravens problems. The team is still good, but the offseason salary-cap smush let wideout Torrey Smith and tight end Owen Daniels flee, and Baltimore also had to replace versatile front-seven player Pernell McPhee and planetoid nose tackle Haloti Ngata. 

The first four picks went directly to those needs. Baltimore left the draft with the best tight end in Minnesota's Maxx Williams, a speedy deep receiver in Perriman and an edge defender with a lot of potential in Smith.

To top it off, the Ravens also took a stab at fortifying the running back position with Allen and found a potential first-rounder in the third as Carl Davis somehow fell to them at 90th overall. Like usual, general manager Ozzie Newsome slayed it on draft day. 

4. Cleveland Browns

Players selected: DT Danny Shelton (1-12), OL Cameron Erving (1-19), OLB Nate Orchard (2-51), RB Duke Johnson (3-77), DT Xavier Cooper (3-96), S Ibraheim Campbell (4-115), WR Vince Mayle (4-123), CB Charles Gaines (6-189), TE Malcolm Johnson (6-195), TE Randall Telfer (6-198), ILB Hayes Pullard (7-219), CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu (7-241)

This is a vote for attrition. 

The draft didn't solve the Cleveland Browns' actual problems. They didn't get to trade up for Marcus Mariota, so quarterback is a question mark. They didn't find a wide receiver. No amount of drafting can make ownership more patient or put the right front office and coaching staff parts in place.

That said, I found a lot to like about this draft. The Browns benefited early and often from trading down and picking up more selections. Shelton is an automatic entry into the Planet Theory tent, and Erving gives the Browns a potentially dominant offensive line along the lines of what Dallas had last season. 

The player we'll all be talking about, though, is Miami back Duke Johnson. Terrance West didn't show the Browns enough last year, and they don't have much invested in Isaiah Crowell. Johnson is a true bell-cow back waiting to happen, and the only question is when he'll get on the field. Behind this offensive line, the run game could be explosive.

3. Tennessee Titans

Players selected: QB Marcus Mariota (1-2), WR Dorial Green-Beckham (2-40), OL Jeremiah Poutasi (3-66), DL Angelo Blackson (4-100), FB Jalston Fowler (4-108), RB David Cobb (5-138), OLB Deiontrez Mount (6-177), C Andy Gallik (6-208), WR Tre McBride (7-245)

The Titans did exactly what a team in their situation should do. 

They had no real quarterback of the future. Though allowing a trade-up made sense if the price was high enough, it's hard to fault them for sticking with Oregon's Marcus Mariota if they believe he can be that guy.

Pairing him with Green-Beckham, who would have been the first receiver off the board if his off-field record was clean, could be huge. These are both high-risk, high-reward moves. But this is a franchise that needs a jolt. 

I'm also a big fan of running back David Cobb; he's an immediate challenger to Bishop Sankey's status as lead back on the depth chart. Tre McBride was available late into the seventh round because he reportedly had a diva personality, according to Rotoworld, but he could rise up the depth chart quickly. 

Both of the Titans' Day 3 picks are admissions of what we already know: Mariota isn't going to grasp the offense right away, and Tennessee is going to have to run the ball to be successful on offense. Cobb can be the kind of sustaining back that gives the Titans options.

2. Atlanta Falcons

Players selected: OLB Vic Beasley (1-8), CB Jalen Collins (2-42), RB Tevin Coleman (3-73), WR Justin Hardy (4-108), DT Grady Jarrett (5-137), OT Jake Rodgers (7-225), DB Akeem King (7-249)

The Falcons were the beneficiaries of some upheaval near the top of the draft, claiming the best pure pass-rusher in Clemson's Vic Beasley. New head coach Dan Quinn came out of the proceedings with the edge-rusher Atlanta has desperately needed for years in the "Leo" role and also added Collins, who was the top corner in the draft in the estimation of Sports Illustrated's Doug Farrar.

Jarrett is one of the steals of the draft at the beginning of the fifth round. A lot of experts started comparing him to Geno Atkins when he fell to Day 3.

I'm not quite as high on Coleman or Hardy, but they are fits for a team that needed more certainty at the skill positions. The Falcons didn't fix tight end, which was a need area, but it was hard for them to do that with such a weak class at the position. 

1. Minnesota Vikings

Players selected: CB Trae Waynes (1-11), LB Eric Kendricks (2-45), DE Danielle Hunter (3-88), OT T.J. Clemmings (4-110), TE MyCole Pruitt (5-143), WR Stefon Diggs (5-146), OT Tyrus Thompson (6-185), DE B.J. Dubose (6-193), OT Austin Shepherd (7-228), LB Edmond Robinson (7-232)

The Vikings got two of the steals of the draft—and both at need areas—when UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks and Pittsburgh tackle T.J. Clemmings fell to them in the second and fourth rounds, respectively. 

Kendricks, a true three-down linebacker who can start right away, fell because of non-ideal size (6'0", 232 lbs) for a linebacker. If there's one thing we've seen time and again over the last 20 years, whether it's Lavonte David or Derrick Brooks, it's that teams worry too much about size and not enough about skill at the position. 

A predraft stress fracture precipitated Clemmings' fall. And though I'm not the biggest Trae Waynes booster, he also fits in this defense well.