NFL Draft winners and losers: Raiders, Saints miss mark

The NFL Draft always gets graded way too soon by people who ought to give it three or even four years before making such declarations. Then again, I’m about to throw around some judgments because that is what we do, and that’s part of the reason the NFL is so damn popular.

Here are five teams that deserve some criticism, at least in the immediate aftermath.

5. New Orleans Saints

The Saints had the league’s best rookie crop a year ago, landing Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, Alvin Kamara and Marcus Williams. Still, this time around, general manager Mickey Loomis deserves plenty of critiquing. The Saints ended up with a good player in the first round in UTSA’s edge rusher Marcus Davenport, but you can’t move up 13 spots and give up next year’s first round choice for anything other than a quarterback. Just horrific value.

4. Dallas Cowboys

Didn’t like what Jerry Jones and Co. did here. Leighton Vander Esch was a borderline first-round pick in the eyes of many, and the Cowboys snatched him up with the 19th pick. Additionally, Dallas, which released Dez Bryant earlier this month, could have taken any receiver on the board, but passed on them all. If Calvin Ridley becomes a star and Vander Esch doesn’t, this is tough to defend.

3. Buffalo Bills

You can’t select Josh Allen and then not get him any help the rest of the way. Buffalo surrendered both of its second-round picks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to move up and take Allen (a highly-questionable move in its own right), but then failed to take a receiver until the sixth round, getting Ray-Ray McCloud. The current starting tandem of Zay Jones and Kelvin Benjamin aren’t getting the job done.

2. Cleveland Browns

Let me say that this isn’t a bad class, but there is criticism to be handed out. The Browns could have had Sam Darnold and Bradley Chubb, arguably the safest quarterback and best talent in the draft, respectively. Instead, John Dorsey rolled the dice with Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward. In the fourth round, Cleveland took Antonio Callaway, a talented but very troubled receiver from Florida. It’s a ton of chances for a team that can’t afford to keep missing.

1. Oakland Raiders

This was, by far, the weirdest class. The pick of Maurice Hurst in the fifth round was terrific, considering if the medicals check out, he’s a top-20 talent. Still, Kolton Miller was a reach at No. 15, especially considering the vast defensive needs in Oakland. P.J. Hall was a big reach in the second, and the third round netted a swing tackle. In Day 3, the Raiders took a punter. It was rough.