2024 NFL Re-Draft: Everything is 20/20 in hindsight…

As we are hit by the reality that we won’t be watching NFL football for over half a year sinks in, we thought it would be a good time to look back to the 2024 NFL draft. In every sport, the draft provides opportunity, it also can make teams and general managers look a bit silly at times. With that being said, let’s re-draft the 2024 selections after watching them play for a year.

We don’t think the Bears will regret the Caleb Williams selection as his career develops, but the obvious pick with hindsight is Jayden Daniels. Daniels looked composed and comfortable at the NFL level, with both his mental and physical traits coming to the fore in his rookie season.

With Daniels off the board, Williams is the obvious pick. There’s an argument for Drake Maye, or J.J. McCarthy, who the Commanders reportedly ranked highly, per ESPN. Williams was considered by most to be the top quarterback in the draft, so to get him with the second pick is good value.

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The situation in New England was tough in 2024, and Drake Maye looked good anyway. They were desperate for a quarterback solution and Maye is the best bet, even in this re-draft.

There was plenty of debate in NFL draft media between Nabers and Marvin Harrison Jr. as wide receiver one in last year’s draft. We had Harrison ahead of Nabers pre-draft, but we think the former LSU standout looked better in his first year in the league. We were even tempted to send Brian Thomas Jr. to Phoenix with this pick.

Like the Patriots ahead of them, the Chargers stick with their selection here. Alt has looked like a stud, allowing just a 6.7% pressure rate, which is the best rate by a rookie tackle, per Kris Rhim for ESPN.

The Giants went wide receiver here, with their quarterback set. Unfortunately, things fell apart in New York during the season, with Daniel Jones getting benched and then released. With hindsight, we are able to get them the next-best QB from the draft in Bo Nix. The reasons behind this pick are self-explanatory.

Chris Trapasso for CBS Sports recently did a re-draft of his own and sent the Titans Cooper DeJean. We understand the logic, but think he has underestimated Quinyon Mitchell, who essentially locked down one side of the field by himself in his rookie year. You can’t go wrong with either, but for us, Mitchell is currently the better cover corner.

The only issue we had with the Penix selection at the time was the process of signing Kirk Cousins in free agency before selecting the rookie. Penix is a talented player and looked more comfortable than Cousins during his brief stint in charge of the Atlanta offense. In a vacuum, this was a good pick, with context, the whole organization looks a bit silly.

Rome Odunze looks like a good player, who will be productive in the NFL for years to come. However, adding a wide receiver to a team with more holes than we initially thought, isn’t always a good idea. Jared Verse was ferocious in his rookie season, blending his huge size and physicality together to make him almost impossible to block at times. A potential game changer.

There is logic to the Jets selecting another offensive weapons like Brian Thomas Jr. or Rome Odunze here, but given how the season went, we think there’s not much point. Fashanu could well be a stalwart of the Jets’ offensive line for a decade, which we think is more important than any skill position player.

Sam Darnold showed he could be a good enough option for the Vikings to lead them to the playoffs, making the J.J. McCarthy selection unnecessary. The Vikings’ secondary was aging group heading into 2024, and now looks to be going through a see-change, given the number of players entering free agency. At least with DeJean, they would’ve added some young blood.

With Bo Nix off the board, the Broncos select J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy is the next-best QB available and could have had a similar year as Nix in Sean Payton’s system, presuming he doesn’t get injured.

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The Raiders hit on the Brock Bowers selection, but in this re-draft, he’s off the board. Thomas showed he could succeed despite a bad situation around him, and that’s what he would be entering in Vegas. The Raiders need to improve the entire roster, so getting a talented receiver certainly doesn’t hurt.

There are a few options the Saints could go here. Wide receiver, offensive tackle or defensive end would all be sensible picks. Instead, we have sent them T'Vondre Sweat, who looks like he could be a monster for the Titans. Sweat is huge and disruptive against both the run and pass, and would instantly upgrade the Saints’ defense.

Latu looks to be a solid player, even if his four sacks in 2024 doesn’t look like fantastic output. The Colts could have looked at offensive line here, but they needed to upgrade the pass-rush too, so Latu makes sense.

The Seahawks picked Byron Murphy II here, who could turn out to be a good player in time, but he didn’t have the instant impact that Braden Fiske did in LA. Fiske finished the season with 8.5 sacks, per ESPN, which is an excellent return for any defensive tackle, let alone a rookie one.

The Jags traded out of this pick originally, with the Vikings selecting Dallas Turner here. Instead, Jacksonville is going to stay put and select the best wide receiver left on the board in Ladd McConkey. McConkey become Justin Herbert’s safety blanket in Los Angeles and could do the same for Trevor Lawrence in Duval.

The Bengals took Amarius Mims here in 2024, but with JC Latham still on the board, we are going to send him to Cincinnati instead. Latham graded out as the 70th best offensive tackle per Pro Football Focus, with Mims ending the season ranked 96th. PFF grades aren’t everything, but we do think Latham looked a level or two above Mims in his rookie year.

With Jared Verse and Braden Fiske off the board, the Rams turn to the next-best pass rusher (in our opinion)  in Dallas Turner. Turner didn’t set the world alight like Verse and Fiske, but three sacks in his rookie season is solid production.

The Steelers’ selection of Troy Fautanu is difficult to judge, given he lost most of his rookie year to a knee injury. Instead, we are sending them Taliese Fuaga, who looked consistent and NFL-ready with the Saints in 2024.

The Dolphins took Robinson here in 2024 and after a solid rookie season, we don’t see any reason why they would change. Miami’s failings last season weren’t due to their draft.

The Eagles are arguably the biggest losers in this re-draft, as their top-two selections are off the board. Without Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, they probably don’t win the Super Bowl. After missing out on those two players, the Eagles plan for the future and take Mims with an eye to the former Georgia Bulldog, eventually taking over from Lane Johnson at RT.

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The Vikings fill two long-term holes in this first round after selecting both Cooper DeJean and Troy Fautanu. Fautanu projected as either a tackle or guard in the NFL, two positions the Vikings need to upgrade at, especially given Christian Darrisaw’s injury during the season.

The Cowboys finished 32nd in the NFL in EPA/Rush against, per SumerSports, in large part due to their soft defensive interior. Byron Murphy II wasn’t a standout in his rookie year, but the traits are there, and defensive tackles often take some time to develop.

The Packers’ secondary could look very different by the time the 2025 season starts. If they had selected Kamari Lassiter here, they would be comfortable knowing at least one spot is locked down for the future. Lassiter was excellent for Houston as a rookie and would ease any concerns Green Bay may have about potentially losing Jaire Alexander this offseason.

Graham Barton was good as a rookie at the center of the Bucs’ offensive line, but Zach Frazier was better in Pittsburgh, so this is just a straight swap. Tampa Bay has built an impressive offensive front, and Frazier would have become a key cog in it.

We weren’t overly impressed by Marvin Harrison Jr.’s rookie season. He was by no means bad, but he wasn’t the game-changing wideout we thought he was going to be. Still, he stays in Arizona in this re-draft, just 23 spots later than in the actual 2024 draft.

Xavier Worthy was selected by the Chiefs with this pick after trading up with the Bills. He goes at 28 again, but this time to Buffalo. The Bills had a dominant run game in 2024, which should open things up for Worthy over the top. We would love to see him run under a Josh Allen deep ball.

The Eagles nailed the 2024 draft, with their third round selection playing a huge role for them down the stretch. Hunt played as a safety for Cornell before moving to defensive end while at Houston Christian. The Eagles selected him with a view to the future, but following injuries, he found himself as the next man up and didn’t miss a beat. The Lions’ could’ve used him last year.

The Ravens selected Nate Wiggins here, who improved as the season went on, but didn’t look as impressive as Mike Sainristil did during his rookie season in Washington. Mike Sainristil was a revelation for the Commanders, bringing a physicality and smarts to their secondary in year one.

The Niners needed to upgrade their offensive interior last offseason and didn’t, outside of Dominick Puni in the third round, who looks like a steal. The results were obvious, with Brock Purdy often running for his life. Ricky Pearsall had some nice moments once he recovered from an offseason shooting incident, but there’s only so much a wide receiver can do.

The Chiefs lost the Super Bowl because their offensive line was beaten over and over again by the Eagles. Xavier Worthy made some nice plays once the game was essentially over, but in hindsight, they probably rue the missed opportunities to upgrade their offensive front.

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