The 2024 NFL Draft is over, and it didn’t go as many predicted. The quarterback-needy teams did not mortgage their franchises to move up in the first round, yet six quarterbacks were picked in the first round.
No one had Michael Penix Jr. going to the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth overall pick on their bingo card. And for the first time in NFL history, a defensive player did not get picked until the 15th overall selection.
For the most part, the biggest surprise was not the lack of movement of teams up and down the draft selections in the first round. There were only five deals made on the first day of the draft. The Minnesota Vikings moved up twice including a jump up to the 10th pick to grab quarterback JJ McCarthy and the 17th pick to grab Alabama’s Dallas Turner.
The Buffalo Bills traded back twice, even giving one spot to the reigning Super Bowl Champions, Kansas City Chiefs. The Detroit Lions moved up to pick No. 24 to grab cornerback Terrion Arnold.
The biggest surprise were the players that lost draft capital and fell to the second and third rounds of the draft. The second round witnessed the fall of cornerback Cooper DeJean and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. DeJean was recovering from a fractured fibula he sustained in mid-November, making his slide understandable due to the medical condition. Mitchell’s fall was a little more cloudy, meaning the Indianapolis Colts got a steal when selecting him at No. 52.