Top 5 Surprises From the NFL Draft

May 5, 2017 by CFP Staff

Another NFL draft has come and gone and like always, there are some big storylines to follow-up on. Here are the top 5 things that surprised quite a few in this year's NFL Draft.

5. Jonathan Allen to the Redskins (Rd 1, Pick 17)

Every mock draft I saw going into draft night had Allen in the top 10. Most of them even had him going top 5. It's a wonder that he fell so far to number 17 and kind of makes me curious to the reason why. Either way, the Redskins seem to have gotten a steal with Allen at 17 and will add him to an already stout frontline on defense that is led by Pro-Bowl defensive end Ryan Kerrigan.

4. Wasn't this supposed to be defense heavy draft?

With only a couple 1st round quality QB talents available and most of the top 15 picks needed defense, it was looking like the first round of the draft would be very defensive player heavy. Turns out, that was not the case at all. Of the first 10 picks in the draft, 7 were offense and 3 of the top 12 were QBs. The fact that teams started picking certainly added to the reason that players like Jonathan Allen fell some much farther than anticipated.

3. Christian McCaffrey to the Panthers (Rd 1, Pick 8)

I would have been surprised if McCaffrey went top 20, but the Panthers apparently saw something special in McCaffrey that they like because they took him off the board at the 8th spot. Don't get me wrong, McCaffrey is a great talent with outstanding agility and some of the speed to break out a big run at any time. However, I just didn't see an undersized running back like McCaffrey going so early, especially since it is unlikely he can be an every down back in this league.

2. Dah Bears

For some reason the Bears decided to give up 3 picks to the 49ers so that they could switch from the 3rd pick to the 2nd pick. Clearly the Bears thought they had to make this move if they wanted to land highly touted QB prospect Mitch Trubisky, but it will be interesting to see if the move proves worth it in the end. The organization would have made more use of its time playing online casino games. Trubisky only started 1 year of college and led the Tar Heels to a 8-5 record. He definitely isn't the virtually surefire Andrew Luck type prospect that you know can start right away. In fact, the Bears are currently saying that he will likely be the back-up this year anyway. Only time will tell if this was the right move for the Bears.

1. The Browns actually won the draft!

THIS IS NOT A DRILL. The Browns front office showed more than just competence with their draft picks, they actually looked like they knew what they were doing. They clearly weren't super interested in putting all their chips into an unproven guy like Trubisky, so they went for who they thought is the best talent in the draft in Myles Garrett. Houston had their eye out for Clemson superstar Deshaun Watson, so Cleveland smartly traded their pick and got the 25th pick and a first rounder for next year instead. They turned that 25th pick into an all-around athlete in Jabrill Peppers. They stuck to the game plan with the rest of their picks and even selected DeShone Kizer in the third round. Kizer is low risk pick in the third round who has a very high talent ceiling if given the time to develop. All-around, I'd say the Browns franchise is going in the right direction from last year, which really isn't saying that much.