NFL Draft Grades 2019: Full Results, Analysis and Reaction from Round 1

After months of speculation, misdirection and anticipation, the first round of the 2019 NFL draft is finally in the books. 

Some of the picks were exactly what we expected, despite last-minute smokescreens. The Arizona Cardinals stood pat and selected Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray No. 1 overall. Immediately after them, the San Francisco 49ers didn't get too cute, selecting consensus No. 1 edge-rusher, Ohio State's Nick Bosa. In fact, your brother's cousin's mock draft likely nailed the first three selections of the night.  

But one of the best parts of the NFL draft is that it's usually anything but predictable. Starting with the Oakland Raiders at No. 4 overall, the selections started getting interesting pretty quickly.

We saw a surprise quarterback come off the board at No. 6 overall, and our first trade of the night at No. 10 overall. The player the Steelers selected, however, was hardly a surprise; Michigan linebacker Devin Bush fills a hole the defense has been feeling since Ryan Shazier's injury. 

We'll take a look at each of the 32 picks from Thursday night's action. Then we'll analyze a select number of the night's juiciest and most franchise-changing picks, with plenty of fan and Twitter reaction to boot. 

2019 NFL Draft Results

Notable Picks, Analysis and Reaction

4. Oakland Raiders: Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson

At No. 4 overall, the Oakland Raiders were the first team to rock the boat on Thursday night when they selected Clemson defensive end Clelin Ferrell. While Ferrell is little doubt a first-round talent, most experts had him coming off the board sometime between picks 10 and 25. 

Raiders general manager Mike Mayock and head coach Jon Gruden made headlines last week when word got out that they had sent their scouts home and would be finishing their draft deliberations alone. Some thought their first selection of a total three first-round picks would therefore be a curveball, and it was.

Pass-rusher is one of Oakland's needs, but Kentucky edge player Josh Allen, who was still on the board, was widely considered a top-five talent. The Raiders brain trust, however, feels confident that it got a foundational player on which it can build the defense of the future. 

NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero called the pick "bold." 

With Gruden at the helm, how could it not be?

Grade: C-

6. New York Giants: Daniel Jones, QB, Duke

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

The metaphorical gasps could be heard around the Internet as the New York Giants came in hot with their selection at No. 6 overall, Duke quarterback Daniel Jones. 

On the NFL Network broadcast, Ian Rapoport reported that of all the quarterbacks in this year's class, the Giants front office felt Jones was best equipped to handle the rigors of the New York media market and all that comes with it.

Yahoo NFL reporter Charles Robinson tried to warn us:

It was reportedly the first selection to elicit audible gasps in the media room:

To select Jones, the Giants bypassed Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Missouri's Drew Lock was another passer in play. 

But New York, looking for Eli Manning's eventual successor, chose instead to make that player Jones. It's worth nothing the Duke product was coached by David Cutcliffe, who also coached Eli and brother Peyton.

Grade: C

21. Green Bay Packers: Darnell Savage Jr., S, Maryland

The Green Bay Packers were aggressive here, moving up from their second first-round pick at No. 30 to the Seattle Seahawks' selection at 21st overall. In the process, the Packers gave swapped first-rounders and gave up two fourth-rounders. 

With such an aggressive maneuver, some figured the Packers had to be moving up for someone they thought was coming off the board imminently.

In the prior pick, No. 20 overall, the Denver Broncos had drafted Iowa tight end Noah Fant. Perhaps the Packers were targeting Alabama tight end Irv Smith Jr.? Another pass-catcher in Oklahoma wideout Marquise Brown? 

Instead the Packers went with a defensive back in Maryland's Darnell Savage Jr. It marks the fourth defensive back the Packers have drafted in the first round in the last five NFL drafts...for a player many draft experts didn't have coming off the board until early in Round 2. 

Packers beat writer Ryan Wood noted that free safety was Green Bay's biggest need, and therefore the pick made sense:

Indeed, perhaps Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst feels that his team needs to, once and for all, address its secondary deficiency. But to make such an aggressive maneuver, he should hope that he found his guy. 

Grade: B