Grading NFL Teams' 2017 Draft Classes Author : Grading NFL Teams' 2017 Draft Classes a few days following the draft is a fun exercise, but very often unrealistic and downright wrong. That is proven shortly just a few years later when players in the 2nd, 3rd and even undrafted free agents outperform 1st round players. The all too common solution of grading a draft is simply giving teams a grade based on your perceived value based on YOUR evaluations of a player. You can guess an experts' individual team's draft ranking based on that particular draft experts 'big board' before the draft. If they ABSOLUTELY love a particular player and 'said' team drafts him, you can be sure that particular team is going to receive high marks from that draft expert. In this article, I want to rank each team's draft and undrafted free agents based off not just MY evaluation of the players, but the common consensus among several draft experts. Combining that with value and team need is vitally important. That is why I am going to keep all those in mind when I rank each individual team. 1 / 13 Arizona Cardinals Grade: B Overview: I love Haason Reddick and I genuinely think he can be a stud pass rusher. I trust Arians and the Cardinals coaching staff to use him and put him in the right places to make plays. Budda Baker is a stud and will be a ridiculous partner with Tyrann Mathieu in the secondary. Chad Williams is a good player that WOWed at the senior bowl but was over drafted in my views when better players were on the board still. Dorian Johnson is a good player but has some injury concerns. He's a future starter on the offensive line. Undrafted Free Agents That Have a Shot: Sojourn Shelton is an interesting CB from Wisconsin that is a bit undersized but is a solid cover guy. The Cardinals gave him quite a bit guaranteed money, so they obviously think he has a shot to make the team. Trevor Knight QB from Texas A&M is a project but displays some raw physical tools to work with. Ricky Seals-Jones is an extremely talented TE that was a 5 star WR prospect in high school. His transition to TE has not been smooth, but there's no denying he has upside. Atlanta Falcons Grade: B- Overview: I like the boldness of going after Tak McKinley and coming up to get him before the Cowboys get him. He will be a nice piece to add on the other side of the line from Vic Beasley. But there are some concerns about him possibly being on PUP to start the season. Getting Duke Riley in the 3rd is a steal, Riley gives the Falcons even more speed on defense. Not a huge fan of Sean Harlow in the 4th, but getting Kazee and Saubert in the 5th rounds is an outstanding value. Undrafted Free Agents That Have a Shot: Darius English is an extremely productive LB from South Carolina that could be a really nice situational pass rusher. Alex Torgerson is a highly productive QB from Penn that had an outstanding career in the Ivy League Conference. I was surprised he didn't get drafted, he has a shot to win a roster spot. Baltimore Ravens Grade: A- Overview: I love the Ravens dedication to the defensive side of the ball. You can argue they didn't do enough to upgrade their WR's or their OL, but they drafted incredible value. I like Humphrey, but I think they drafted him a bit too early. But getting Bowser and Tim Williams where they got them is just flat out ridiculous. Both guys have 10+ sack a year potential. Tim Williams might have the best 1st step in the entire class. Whether he can stay on the field and not get in trouble will be his biggest question mark. Getting Eluemunor in the 5th round is even better value. Eluemunor should be a starter by year 2 at the very latest. 2 / 13 Undrafted Free Agents That Have a Shot: WR Quincy Adeboyejo certainly has a chance to really impress in camp. Adeboyejo has the rare combination of size and speed, showcasing his 4.42-speed pre-draft. Another WR Tim Patrick from Utah is a huge and impressive sized target at 6'5. He had a really good last year at Utah with over 700 yards and 5 TDs. Buffalo Bills Grade: A Overview: I absolutely love what the Bills did in trading down and picking up an additional 1st round pick next year. They got a really good and versatile man cover corner in White in the 1st round. Then getting Zay Jones in the 2nd, which gives them an immediate starter at WR. I like the Dion Dawkins pick as well at the end of the 2nd round. That gives them a potential starter at either guard or RT his rookie year. Getting both Matt Milano and Stephen Peterman in the 5th round is highway robbery. You can make the argument Peterman is the most pro-ready QB in this entire draft. He has a shot to be a really solid starter and at the very least a quality backup in the NFL. Milano is so fluid and athletic, absolutely love his film. Undrafted Free Agents That Have a Shot: Greg Pyke is a really good offensive lineman that was the definition of consistent at Georgia. He absolutely has starter potential. Keith Towbridge lacked the production at Louisville, but he is an old type of smash mouth TE that would be an intriguing inline TE. Carolina Panthers Grade: D+ Overview: I just felt the Panthers got too many niche players in this draft. I love McCaffrey and I think he's one of the most 'sure fire' things in the entire draft. But drafting him top 10 is a steep price to play for a guy that will likely get 10 carries a game as a runner. And then drafting Curtis Samuel in the 2nd round, who is basically the same kind of player as McCaffrey is just too much in my opinion. Taylor Moton in the 3rd round is a good player, and likely will need some time before he's a reliable starter at the next level. Daeshon Hall is a solid player against the run, but I felt was over drafted in the 3rd round and likely just a situational player. He's a better LDE and isn't a great pass rusher. Undrafted Free Agents That Have a Shot: Ben Boulware is a big-game player. Tough as nails and will be a special teams animal. Bryan Cox Jr dropped far too far, in my opinion, he's a really good player that isn't a great pass rusher but is just SOLID in every aspect. Chicago Bears Grade: C- 3 / 13 Overview: I don't necessarily have a problem with what the Bears did to secure Trubisky. If you believe in a QB THAT much, and think he can be a franchise QB, you do whatever you can to secure him. My biggest problem is the draft is about combining risk/reward and both of the Bears top 2 picks are HUGE risk players that likely won't play much this year. With a coach that is already on his last chance, that is a recipe for disaster. Shaheen has ridiculous upside but he's never played against top flight competition in his career coming from Ashland. I do like what they did getting Cohen and Morgan in the 4th and 5th rounds. Both guys should see valuable snaps sooner rather than later. Undrafted Free Agents That Have a Shot: I love Freddie Stevenson, the FB from Florida State. He was responsible for opening up many of the big holes for Dalvin Cook. Tanner Gentry from Wyoming is an intriguing WR option that certainly has a shot. Cincinnati Bengals Grade: A- Overview: I like John Ross more than anyone, but drafting a WR that hasn't proven that he can ever stay healthy top 10 overall is a HUGE risk. I don't think I need to report on Joe Mixon, everyone knows the talent of him. I absolutely love what the Bengals did in the 3rd and 4th rounds, getting Jordan Willis, Carl Lawson, and Ryan Glasgow. All three are tremendous values and should all play valuable snaps their rookie seasons. Not a huge fan of any of their 5th, 6th or 7th round picks. Undrafted Free Agents That Have a Shot: Boom Williams from Kentucky is an explosive and versatile weapon that could be an asset on special teams and as a 3rd down back. I really like Hardy Nickerson Jr as well from Illinois. He's a good 2 down linebacker that could be an immediate special teams guy. Cleveland Browns Grade: A Overview: The Browns absolutely killed it. They perfectly drafted 'potential' with 'value.' They added so much talent and depth throughout their roster. I love that they got DeShone Kizer in the 2nd round, giving them that QB to develop for the future and compete with Cody Kessler. I love Howard Wilson in the 4th as well, he's one of the most talented CB's in this entire draft. Then getting and taking the risk of Caleb Brantley in the 6th round is just insane. Undrafted Free Agents That Have a Shot: Channing Stribling the CB from Michigan is a guy that never completely lived up to his potential at Michigan, but is still a very solid cover guy.