3GML DRAFT GRADES
These grades are based on a number of different analysis, primarily how many good players did you add obviously. However, they are also based on working on team needs not just for this season but for year 2 and beyond on your roster. We are NOT giving these grades out based on players added with the picks, however. Therefore Matthew Stafford, Denzel Ward, Micah Parsons, and Myles Garrett do not factor into the grades. We’re going to go in order of first selection and will focus on value added vs the rest of the NFL. The point of the draft is to add more talent than the other teams in order to improve faster than they do, therefore grades here won’t be in A-B-C format but rather in comparison to the rest of the NFL.
Houston Texans
The Texans began with the 19th pick and 7 overall selections before the draft started and yet didn’t take a single player at a spot they had before the draft started until midway through Saturday. GM TH maneuvered up and down the board throughout the draft, making 5 separate trades including two on Thursday night. The Texans moved from 19 to 23 and then again from 23 to 30 and yet still ended up with the player GM TH had been targeting the entire time, WR Luther Burden III. They continued to maneuver the board and turned their 7 picks into 10 by the end of the draft, and added a 6th round pick next season.
30. Luther Burden III, WR Missouri - overall 9th
67. Kevin Winston, S Penn State - overall 54th
101. Deone Walker, DT Kentucky - overall 49th
109. Jack Sawyer, DE Ohio State - overall 45th
133. Joshua Farmer, DT Florida State - overall 90th
136. Jeffrey Bassa, LB Oregon - overall 141st
142. Mitchell Evans, TE Notre Dame - overall 104th
186. Cameron Williams, OT Texas - overall 73rd
201. Quinn Ewers, QB Texas - overall 139th
202. Joshua Gray, IOL Oregon State - overall 85th
The Texans went hard after needs two years down the road here in the draft. The Texans are losing two of their three safeties next year, as well as starting DT Javon Hargrave, and currently only have 2 starting DEs on the roster after this year. They also had big time needs at backup QB, LB, and TE and filled those with guys who look to at least be contributors and high floor players. Snagging 4 of the top 54 players, as well as 10 of the top 141 guys in the class is a tremendous floor start. GM TH did take some risks though here with Kevin Winston and Deone Walker having serious injury history and Luther Burden III coming off a season where he didn’t eclipse 700 yards. The class is exceptionally talented, fills holes, and comes at positive value, including adding 4 picks to where they started, but it doesn’t come without risks. The Bassa pick felt forced but, heading into the draft with only 3 LBs forced his hand here.
GRADE: Improved, top 5-8 draft.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have a big of dilemma on their hands in terms of really needing to add to a few rooms and definitely improve their depth. However, the 9ers only had their late first round pick and a late 3rd round pick to make serious moves. They maneuvered the board, however, adding an easy additional 5th in round 1 by sliding back one spot, and traded a couple of mid round picks to jump up in round 3, adding their likely starting RB in doing so. The team had the weakest RB room in the NFL last year and now walks in with someone who should be ready to roll immediately. GM CD also packaged a pair of picks to move up before day 3 began, consolidating his selections to walk the tightrope of adding starters and adding depth.
32. Josh Simmons, G/T Ohio State - 44th overall
83. Kaleb Johnson, RB Iowa - 97th overall
98. Jared Wilson, IOL Georgia - 71st overall
118. Billy Bowman Jr. S Oklahoma - 151st overall
130. Elic Ayomanor, WR Stanford - 50th overall
156. Elijah Robersts, DL SMU - 129th overall
185. Chase Lundt, OT UConn - 140th overall
211. Brashard Smith, RB SMU - 101st overall
212. Jared Ivey, DE Ole Miss - 62nd overall
The 49ers twice took the best player remaining on the board in this draft with Elic Ayomanor and Jared Ivey. They ended up adding 9 top 151 players in this class adding immense depth to the team and filling the teams’ two biggest weaknesses, OL and RB. Johnson and Smith add a filthy combination and should immediately help. The Bowman pick was the only one that felt forced, much like the Bassa pick for the Texans they came in with a huge need and felt obligated to add to the depth in the room. Simmons and Wilson likely both get starting nods as rookies with Simmons playing inside and Wilson maybe taking over at Center for last year’s draft pick Beaux Limmer. Lundt is a nice developmental piece that gives them more options down the road and Ayomanor gives them a dimension in their passing game they don’t currently have. This was well thought out and well executed, particularly considering the lack of ammunition coming in.
GRADE: Improved compared to the rest of the NFL, plus
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers are a fascinating team in that they pushed almost all their chips in just one season after drafting Will Levis first overall to go, not only get Matthew Stafford, but to surround him with even more weapons. They got Davante Adams as a WR3, yes as a WR3, and paid massive money to keep some free agents like Dayo Odeyingbo. They resisted the urge to trade Christian McCaffrey and now have an aging roster that is already significantly over the salary cap for 2026. They do have two easy moves to get them under the cap, in defense of GM BD, but they are all in on 2025. In doing so they didn’t have a first round pick but still have serious holes on their roster, including on the right side of the offensive line, and backups there, and at safety and linebacker depth, particularly with the uncertainty surrounding JOK’s long term health. They had to get some pieces in the draft to help long term and add more capital for cheap pieces moving forward.
#49 Los Angeles Chargers - S Xavier Watts (Notre Dame), 26th overall
#80 Los Angeles Chargers - G Marcus Mbow (Purdue) 53rd overall
#95 Los Angeles Charger - QB Shadeur Sanders (Colorado), 37th overall
#110 Los Angeles Chargers - TE Gunnar Helm (Texas) 120th overall
#138 Los Angeles Chargers - HB DJ Giddens (Kansas State) 178th overall
#153 Los Angeles Chargers - K Andres Borregales (Miami) he’s a kicker so idk
#170 Los Angeles Chargers - HB Devin Neal (Kansas) 159th overall
#233 Los Angeles Chargers - G Garrett Dellinger (LSU) 6th round grade
Mixed bag here for the Chargers but adding 3 of the top 53 players overall including QB2 was a bold and exciting move. Watts, Mbow, and Sanders all went much later in the draft which makes their selections both good and bad for the Chargers. He gets them all significantly cheaper and Sanders gives him a chance in year 3 to move on from Stafford with an already established QB if it all works out. Mbow was a very nice selection as he can play likely 4 or maybe even 5 of the offensive line positions which gives him a great floor as a 6th OL, a much needed spot for the Chargers. I wasn’t a huge fan of Giddens of Neal but they both look like complimentary backs and the Chargers may have no backs on their roster after next season. Overall pretty solid considering the lack of a first round pick. Watts will start immediately which helps the grade.
GRADE: Improved at the same level as the rest of the league, above average
Green Bay Packers
The Packers used significant draft capital to go get Myles Garrett so if they could even hold serve in this draft it would be seen as a big time win. The Packers won the 2 previous Super Bowls and look intent on getting the Lombardi back, making the huge offseason push. The team is arguably the weirdest salary cap team in history, being unable to use enough salary cap space and barrelling toward a huge one time payment in 2027 to the rest of the roster to catch up - right in time for its teams major expenses to also come due. How they maneuver this is going to be unbelievably exciting to watch - insert Bill Hader eating popcorn gif here. The team needed to add cheap long term talent, but already had 52 guys on the roster heading into the draft. The fact they didn’t combine multiple picks to move up was something that did surprise me overall, and was something I expected that didn’t happen. A lot of their picks won’t make the roster.
#51 Green Bay Packers - TE Elijah Arroyo (Miami) - 38th overall
#62 Green Bay Packers - DT Darius Alexander (Toledo) - 52nd overall
#94 Green Bay Packers - WR Jaylen Royals (Utah State) - 124th overall
#102 Green Bay Packers - HB Dylan Sampson (Tennessee) - 80th overall
#135 Green Bay Packers - Edge Bradyn Swinson (LSU) - 35th overall
#139 Green Bay Packers - G Miles Frazier (LSU) - 162nd overall
#140 Green Bay Packers - LB Chis Paul Jr (Ole Miss) - 136th overall
#144 Green Bay Packers - QB Will Howard (Ohio State) - 148th overall
#169 Green Bay Packers - CB Zah Frazier (UTSA) - 164th overall
#238 Green Bay Packers - TE Molika Matavo (UCLA) - UDFA
#246 Green Bay Packers - TE Luke Lachey (Iowa) - UDFA
#249 Green Bay Packers - T John Williams (Cincinnati) - UDFA
Taking 12 players and coming out of the draft with 66 guys on the roster is again, just wild GM’ing by GM SD. He’s certainly earned the benefit of the doubt here but he’ll likely need to try to wheel and deal or just end up with a solid chunk of guys getting cut and eating some dead cap. I also do question him not adding an actual NT in this draft as his team is currently made up of 3T-5T guys on the inside and not adding at least one FF seemed shortsighted. That said, he added a lot of talented pieces here and for not having a pick inside the top 51, he sure ended up with a lot of quality depth and solid pieces. The Swinson pick wasn’t a homerun, it was a 3 run homer as he was the best player on the board for almost an entire round. Getting him at 135 is insane, as he’s the 35th best player in this draft. He’ll be a rotational backup but likely a dynamic one. Frazier and Paul both project as high end mutl position backups which was critical for GB and Jaylen Royals should provide good insurance if Amon Ra St Brown misses any time. Alexander will be a backup to Odighizuwa and Collins as the team’s 3rd 3T but his ability to move up and down the line, like Odighizuwa will be helpful if he misses any time. Arroyo depending on if the team trades Goedert may end up starting games this season, he’s ultra talented with huge upside. Sampson has starting caliber traits as well, he looks like he’s a draft pick for year 2 or 3 with the guys already on the roster, but nice move looking ahead at good value. I would have liked them to add more OL depth and a NT but they added a lot of quality depth which i know was the goal going into the draft based on conversations with SD. Adding 9 guys with 5th round or higher grades is a solid weekend.
GRADE: IMPROVED depth but maybe didn’t add a starter
