The 2015 NFL draft has concluded and there is a ton to review. We will start with which team did the best on offense and defense in the draft.
Offense
There were several good talented offensive weapons on the board in the first three rounds, and of course when it comes to offense, most analysts would lean toward the two quarterbacks at the top of the draft. Quarterbacks don’t necessarily always translate into making a team instantly better. The quarterback position may take time to yield success on the field, as it takes talent around him in many areas for his draft status to produce instant success.
So, when it comes to getting instantly better, what team did the best on offense in the draft ? The Oakland Raiders. A team that already has its franchise quarterback in Derek Carr and now with one good year of experience under his belt he will be ready to excel to the next level. To do that he will need weapons that can come in and make an immediate impact, and he has got that with the first round forth overall draft pick wide receiver Amari Cooper out of Alabama, who is the most polished receiver in this draft.
Cooper is a play maker standing at 6’1 211 lbs and runs a 4.42 40 yard dash, which is not bad for a big man. Cooper was a touchdown machine for the Crimson tide, catching 16 td passes and led the nation in receptions with 124.
The third round the Raiders ad a much needed position with the 68th overall pick 6’4 251 lbs tight end Clive Walford from the University of Miami. Walford will be a hard guy to cover on third down with match ups with line-backers and safeties, he has excellent separation and good hands and gives Carr an outlet from the blitz. Look for the Raiders to be instantly better on offense because of these two picks, as they have taking care of the woes they had in moving the chains. They got a third down guy and a first and second down guy and should be immediately better.
Defense
On the defensive side of the ball there were a few teams that did themselves pretty good, but they only got one good player in a rebuild situation. Most would thin that the Atlanta Falcons would be instantly better because their defense was so atrocious that getting anyone would make them instantly better. But this will be based on the value of the pick and where theta took the pick that makes for the best defensive draft. That team would be the Minnesota Vikings taking in the first round 11th overall pick Tre Waynes, the best corner in the draft out of Michigan State.
Waynes is a great cover corner now, and can translate that skill to the NFL level with no problem. He can easily find himself in the category of one of the lock down corners in a few years, but will make an impact immediately. The second round they took the linebacker from UCLA Eric Kendricks, who possesses the best thing a linebacker could have and that is fantastic instincts. Kendricks has speed and athletic ability to cover on third down,and could have easily been a first round talent. The Vikings with these two picks have instantly improved their defenses and will be able to compete and perhaps slow down the high powered offenses in Green Bay and Chicago.
Later we will go through each division and see who were the winners, stay tuned.
