Thursday 3 August 2017 14:06, UK
The annual NFL Draft concluded over the weekend and 253 new players are dreaming of taking the next step to stardom.
Here are my winners and losers after the major off-season event in Philadelphia, firstly, the winners…
Let's start right at the top where the Browns turned two first-round choices into three by trading down and picking up Houston's first round selection in 2018. The Browns added three instant starters in defensive end Myles Garrett - the consensus best pick in this class - explosive safety Jabrill Peppers and exciting, young tight end David Njoku.
Cleveland took a shot at their quarterback of the future and it didn't cost them as much as other passer-hungry teams when they grabbed DeShone Kizer in the second round. Third round selection Larry Ogunjobi is a quick defensive tackle who can become a rotational contributor as a rookie.
The Chargers have often been accused of wasting some of Philip Rivers' best years. Well, now they are surrounding him with talent. The first three selections saw the Chargers add wide receiver Mike Williams and interior offensive linemen Forrest Lamp and Dan Feeney.
They could have addressed the safety position a little earlier than the fifth and sixth rounds when they took Desmond King and Rayshawn Jenkins, but helping Rivers was the priority for the Chargers and they got the job done early.
An NFL Draft is never about just one player but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became winners in my mind as soon as they selected Alabama tight end OJ Howard in the opening round.
Howard was the elite tight end talent in this class and teaming him with Cameron Brate gives the Bucs two men on the end of the line who can block and catch with equal skill. Oh, and adding him to a passing game led by quarterback Jameis Winston and wide receivers Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson could be scary.
There was pre-Draft talk that the Cardinals would search for their quarterback of the future. Instead, they opted to replenish a defence that was raided in free agency. Haason Reddick is a sideline to sideline presence at linebacker who can tackle from the inside and rush the passer on the outside. Budda Baker is a safety Bruce Arians will love - he can cover and hit.
Steelers fans are going to love the passion and commitment of first round choice TJ Watt and his bloodlines are not too shabby, either. He can play inside and outside for years to come and either way, Watt should be a playmaker.
The Steelers went wide receiver before addressing their defensive back needs and JuJu Smith-Schuster could be just the physical wideout this team needs. His selection prompted a Twitter spat between current Pittsburgh receivers Martavis Bryant and Sammie Coates - head coach Mike Tomlin had to step in and tell them to "play nice."
Cameron Sutton and Brian Allen could bring playmaking to the secondary, while Joshua Dobbs was fourth round insurance at quarterback for Ben Roethlisberger.
While he may not be everybody's cup of tea, all Alex Smith has done at quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs is win. But that didn't stop his team giving up a third round pick in 2017 and their first round selection in 2018 to swap places with Buffalo in order to grab Texas Tech passer Patrick Mahomes.
Smith is just 33 - no age for a starting quarterback - and only Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have more wins than him since he joined the Chiefs. There are miles left on the clock and years left on his contract, but the clock is ticking on his exit from Kansas City.
You don't give up that much in Draft collateral without planning a succession at quarterback. Mahomes is not ready yet and Smith is a good soldier and a classy man who will help him get ready. But I happen to think Smith has done very little wrong with the Chiefs.
The Cincinnati Bengals are taking some heat for picking a controversial player in the second round. They selected Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon, whose video of a previous crime disgusted NFL fans around the world. It is hard to imagine anyone who has seen that video being able to cheer Mixon on in 2017.
Mixon's selection was greeted with thunderous boos in Philadelphia and the Bengals are now going to have to deal with that mark on their franchise for his entire career. Mixon's arrival has done nothing to erase accusations that the 'Bad News Bengals' are a magnet for troubled players.
Away from Mixon, the Bengals took John Ross at receiver with the ninth overall pick. Ross can fly but the selection that high in round one might be a bit rich. He has been compared to Ted Ginn Jr. which is both exciting and terrifying - Ross also has an injury history that means he is no sure thing.
I'm not saying that the move up to get Mitchell Trubisky is doomed to failure - but it does show just how aggressive NFL teams feel they need to be in order to find their franchise quarterback.
The North Carolina passer was dubbed the best in this year's quarterback class. But make no mistake, this is not the second coming of Andrew Luck - this is a raw prospect with just 13 college starts to his name.
Yet the Bears gave San Francisco their third round pick this year, a fourth rounder this year and a third round selection next year - just to move up one spot in the Draft. If Trubisky turns out to be a star, that price will not be all that bad. But we should also remember that this team signed Mike Glennon to a three-year $45 million deal this spring and seemed intent on him being more than a stop-gap. That will no longer be the case and we have to assume they will get out of the Glennon deal and move on to Trubisky.
