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NFL Draft Diamonds Grading the Draft: NFC is up; Vikings and Bucs killed it

I love that the Vikings selected T.J. Clemmings from Pitt in the fourth round
I love that the Vikings selected T.J. Clemmings from Pitt in the fourth round

Arizona Cardinals

24. Florida OT D.J. Humphries
58. Missouri OLB Markus Golden
86. Northern Iowa RB David Johnson
116. Delaware State DE Rodney Gunter
158. West Virginia DE/OLB Shaq Riddick
159. UAB KR/WR J.J. Nelson
256. Louisville TE Gerald Christian

Best Pick – David Johnson – The UNI back has great hands and can pound the ball. 

Sleeper Pick – Rodney Gunter – We love this kid, watched every game of his and he will ball out in the NFL.

Grade: B

Atlanta Falcons

8. Clemson DE/LB Vic Beasley
42. LSU CB Jalen Collins
73. Indiana RB Tevin Coleman
107. East Carolina WR Justin Hardy
137. Clemson DT Grady Jarrett
225. Eastern Washington OT Jake Rodgers
249. San Jose State DB Akeem King

Best Pick – Justin Hardy to go along with Roddy and Julio….WOW

Sleeper Pick – Tevin Coleman is an elusive back, who could take reps away from Freeman

Grade: B+

Carolina Panthers

25. Washington LB Shaq Thompson
41. Michigan WR Devin Funchess
102. Oklahoma OT Daryl Williams
169. Texas State LB David Mayo
174. Auburn RB Cameron Artis-Payne

Best Pick – Devin Funchess – Cam needed more weapons, this will be fun to watch. Pairing him with Kelvin B and Greg Olsen. 

Sleeper Pick – David Mayo!!! I love this guy, his long hair and physicality is amazing. The kid is a freak

Grade: C-

Chicago Bears

7. West Virginia WR Kevin White
39. Florida State NT Eddie Goldman
71. Oregon C Hroniss Grasu
106. Michigan State RB Jeremy Langford
142. Penn State S Adrian Amos
183. TCU OG Tayo Fabuluje

Best Pick – Jeremy Langford is a very solid player that can help Matt Forte out as a pound back.

Sleeper Pick – Tayo Fauluje is a big man, the mountain of a man can immediately help the Bears now 

Grade: C

Dallas Cowboys

27. Connecticut DB Byron Jones
60. Nebraska DE Randy Gregory
91. Florida T/G Chaz Green
127. Minnesota ILB Damien Wilson
163. Purdue DE Ryan Russell
236. Wyoming LB Mark Nzeocha
243. Virginia Tech OT Laurence Gibson
246. Texas TE Geoff Swaim

Best Pick – Randy Gregory at #60? I am not even saying anything else

Sleeper Pick – Ryan Russell is a very sound player, with great technique. He could end up better than Gregory when it’s all said and done.

Grade: B

Detroit Lions

28. Duke OG Laken Tomlinson
54. Nebraska RB Ameer Abdullah
80. Stanford CB Alex Carter
113. Auburn DT Gabe Wright
168. Rutgers FB Mike Burton
200. Texas CB Quandre Diggs
240. South Carolina OT Corey Robinson

Best Pick – Ameer Abudallah might be the best running back the Lions have drafted since Barry. He has issues holding the ball, but he runs hard.

Sleeper Pick – Mike Burton reminds me of Brian Leonard, and he loves physicality. 

Grade: C+

Green Bay Packers

30. Arizona State DB Damarious Randall
62. Miami (OH) DB Quinten Rollins
94. Stanford WR/KR Ty Montgomery
129. Michigan ILB Jake Ryan
147. UCLA QB Brett Hundley
206. Oklahoma FB Aaron Ripkowski
210. Louisiana-Lafayette DT Christian Ringo
213. UAB TE Kennard Backman

Best Pick – Ty Montgomery is one of my favorite wide outs in the draft.  I love the pick and feel he will tear it up in Green Bay’s offense. 

Sleeper Pick – Jake Ryan might be a starter by week one. The Packers need help at linebacker and the kid has heart.

Grade: B-

Minnesota Vikings

11. Michigan State CB Trae Waynes
45. UCLA ILB Eric Kendricks
88. LSU DE Danielle Hunter
110. Pittsburgh OT T.J. Clemmings
143. Southern Illinois TE MyCole Pruitt
146. Maryland WR Stefon Diggs
186. Oklahoma OT Tyrus Thompson
193. Louisville DE B.J. Dubose
228. Alabama G/T Austin Shepherd
232. Newberry OLB Edmond Robinson

Best Pick – T.J. Clemmings should have been taken in the second round, and the Vikes were able to get him in round 4.  

Sleeper Pick – MyCole Pruitt is a very solid tight end with great speed.  Vikings will use him a lot as a rookie.

Grade: A-

New Orleans Saints

13. Stanford OT Andrus Peat
31. Clemson ILB Stephone Anthony
44. Washington OLB Hau’oli Kikaha
75. Colorado State QB Garrett Grayson
78. Florida State CB P.J. Williams
148. UT-Chattanooga OLB Davis Tull
154. Fresno State NT Tyeler Davison
167. Georgia DB Damian Swann
230. Missouri RB/KR Marcus Murphy

Best Pick – P.J. Williams from Florida State will be a starter in the NFL.  He should have been a second round pick, and fell.  

Sleeper Pick – Davis Tull is a special kid. He might be the most athletic white boy since Jason Sehorn, and he plays linebacker….

Grade: B

New York Giants

9. Miami OT Ereck Flowers
33. Alabama SS Landon Collins
74. UCLA DE Owa Odighizuwa
144. Texas S Mykkele Thompson
186. Connecticut WR Geremy Davis
226. Florida State OT Bobby Hart

Best Pick – Landon Collins will start for the Giants, and it was a brilliant trade by Jerry Reese and company

Sleeper Pick – Geremy Davis from UConn has speed, and great hands.  He has heart and the Giants do a good job at finding wide outs. 

Grade: C

Philadelphia Eagles

20. USC WR Nelson Agholor
47. Utah CB Eric Rowe
84. Texas LB Jordan Hicks
191. Kansas CB JaCorey Shepherd
196. Kansas State CB Randall Evans
237. Boston College DE Brian Mihalik

Best Pick – Nelson Agholar will replace Jeremy Maclin and probably will not miss a beat. 

Sleeper Pick – JaCorey Shepherd was rated as a third rounder, and the Eagles snagged him with the 191st pick. Great Value 

Grade: C-

San Francisco 49ers

17. Oregon DE Arik Armstead
46. Samford S Jaquiski Tartt
79. Virginia OLB Eli Harold
117. Oklahoma TE Blake Bell
126. South Carolina RB Mike Davis
132. Georgia Tech WR DeAndre Smelter
165. Clemson P Bradley Pinion
190. Boston College OG Ian Silberman
244. Florida OG Trent Brown
254. South Carolina TE Rory Anderson

Best Pick – Eli Harold from Virginia was projected as a first round pick, he fell to 79 and the Niners did what every other team should have, and that is select him.

Sleeper Pick – Trent Brown is a big man, and I could see him eventually starting on the line. 

Grade: D

Seattle Seahawks

63. Michigan DE Frank Clark
69. Kansas State WR/KR Tyler Lockett
130. San Diego State T/G Terry Poole
134. West Virginia G/C Mark Glowinski
170. Towson CB Tye Smith
209. Oregon State DE Obum Gwacham
214. Buffalo OG Kristjan Sokoli
248. Oregon State DB Ryan Murphy

Best Pick – Tyler Lockett is a top five wide out of mine. I love this kid, he will tear it up in Seattle. 

Sleeper Pick – Mark Glowinski from West Virginia is a mauler.  He will be a starter soon, mark my words.

Grade: B-

St. Louis Rams

10. Georgia RB Todd Gurley
57. Wisconsin OT Rob Havenstein
72. Louisville OG Jamon Brown
89. Oregon State QB Sean Mannion
119. Iowa OT Andrew Donnal
201. Missouri WR Bud Sasser
215. Fresno State OG Cody Wichmann
224. Baylor LB Bryce Hager
227. Memphis DL Martin Ifedi

Best Pick – Todd Gurley!!! Need I say more?

Sleeper Pick – Bryce Hager is a machine, and I love his ability on the field. He is a great kid and a playmaker

Grade: D-

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1. Florida State QB Jameis Winston
34. Penn State OT Donovan Smith
61. Hobart OG Ali Marpet
124. LSU OLB Kwon Alexander
162. Nebraska WR Kenny Bell
184. Utah KR Kaelin Clay
231. Hawaii FB Joey Iosefa

Best Pick – Jameis Winston is the best player in the draft, the Bucs finally have a Franchise QB.

Sleeper Pick -Kenny Bell will be a great slot WR, who can spread the field.  He will score 6 plus TD’s this year.

Grade: A

Washington Redskins

5. Iowa T/G Brandon Scherff
38. Mississippi State OLB Preston Smith
95. Florida RB Matt Jones
105. Duke WR Jamison Crowder
112. Alabama OG Arie Kouandjio
141. Arkansas ILB Martrell Spaight
181. Virginia Tech S Kyshoen Jarrett
182. Arkansas CB Tevin Mitchel
187. Ohio State WR Evan Spencer
222. South Florida C Austin Reiter

Best Pick – Arie Kouandjio is a very strong kid. I like him better than his brother Cyrus currently on Buffalo. 

Sleeper Pick – Austin Reiter is a nasty offensive lineman, who the Redskins coaches will fall in love with.

Grade: D

Damond Talbot

NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com

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