The NFL draft is in the books, which means it's time to give out draft grades. We already gave Joe Schoen's team their grade, but now it is time to do the same for the G-Men's NFC East rivals.
The good news coming out of draft weekend for the NY Giants is they had a tremendous draft, and filled their three main holes: wide receiver, center and cornerback. The bad news for New York is their rivals also had good drafts, especially the rival located just south of New York. Here are my draft grades for the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys:
Washington Commanders Grade: B-
Of all the NFC East teams, The Commanders have had the worst offseason. That theme continued in the draft. In the first round, the Commanders took Emmanuel Forbes, a cornerback out of Mississippi State, with the 16th pick.
That felt like a massive reach. The Commanders shied away from the consensus draft board, and drafted Forbes over Christian Gonzalez and Deonte Banks. Nothing against Forbes, but he is just not the second-best cornerback in the class.
Forbes weighs just 166 pounds, which is extremely lean for an NFL player. Gonzalez, a consensus top 10 prospect, was selected just one pick after Washington by the Patriots and secondary guru Bill Belichick.
The Commanders are absoultely not a good enough organization to make a reach like that. In the second round the Commanders selected Illinois safety Jartavius Martin. Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Martin 72nd on his big board. The Commanders took at him with pick 47.
The Commanders added center Ricky Stromberg in round three and guard Braeden Daniels in round four. Those were both strong picks, and those players could compete for playing time immediately on the mediocre Commander offensive line.
Washington rounded out its draft class with DE KJ Henry, RB Chris Rodriguez Jr., and OLB Andre Jones. All in all, they reached in both of the first two rounds. The Commanders needed to add serious talent last weekend to catch the three teams that finished ahead of them in the division last year and failed to do so.
Dallas Cowboys Grade: B
I don't think Dallas had a particularly great draft, but unlike Washington, they had very few team needs entering the three-day event. Dallas generally has a very different draft board than the rest of the league, and that transpired again in 2023.
There have been rumors floating that the Cowboys wanted to trade up for Giants corner Deonte Banks, and were also highly interested in Dalton Kincaid. After the Jaguars traded pick 24 to the Giants who took Banks, Jacksonville then traded pick 25 to the Bills who took Kincaid, one spot before the Cowboys were due to pick.
The Cowboys had to settle for Michigan DT Mazi Smith. Smith comes with some off the field risk. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun possession charge in January. The Cowboys are no stranger to bringing in guys with off the field issues, and it doesn't usually work out well.
On the flip side, Smith is an elite run-stopper and all three of Dallas' division rivals have strong rushing attacks. The Cowboys took another Michigan player in TE Luke Schoonmaker in the second round. Kiper had a third-round grade on the tight end, and there were certainly better tight ends available, including Tucker Kraft and Darnell Washington.
Dallas could have taken Michael Mayer in the first round instead of Smith. Dallas needed to add impact playmakers early in this draft like Mayer, but failed to do so.
The Cowboys added an athletic linebacker, Texas' DeMarvion Overshown, to their linebacking room in round three. Dallas also added a bunch of depth pieces in the later rounds. The one Giants fans have to watch out for - running back Deuce Vaughn. We all saw the viral video of Vaughn's Dad drafting him, but make no mistake, he will be a pest for the Giants.
What a moment.
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) April 30, 2023
Kansas State RB Deuce Vaughn had his dad, Chris Vaughn, who is the Cowboys assistant director of college scouting, call him to let him know he’s going to be a Dallas Cowboy with him pic.twitter.com/JYxwvkNAKh
Vaughn's pro comparison, and I hate to say this, is Boston Scott. Both are 5-6, shifty gadget players, who can do a little bit of everything. Vaughn had a much better college career then Scott, accumulating 4,884 scrimmage yards and 43 touchdowns in college. He seems like a Giant killer in the making.
Philadelphia Eagles Grade: A
Few people in this world detest the Philadelphia Eagles more than I do. Everything they do makes me angry, and that trend continued last weekend. Somehow the Eagles ended up with Jalen Carter, who many scouts and media members believe was the best player in the 2023 NFL Draft. Carter joins a ridiculous Philly interior defensive line that already features Jordan Davis and Fletcher Cox.
Oh by the way, the Eagles had a second first-round pick, and used it on a freak athlete, Georgia outside linebacker Nolan Smith. The Eagles continued to haul in Georgia Bulldog alums, drafting Kelee Ringo in the fourth round, a defensive back who many thought would be a top 10 pick back in January.
The Eagles then traded for D'Andre Swift, another Georgia alum, to fortify their backfield. The Eagles gave up a 2025 fourth-rounder for Swift. If Swift leaves next offseason, Philly will get a comp pick for the 2025 draft, likely in the fourth or fifth round. In essence, Philly got Swift for nothing.
The Eagles made two third-round picks and drafted talented Illinois safety Sydeny Brown and Alabama tackle\guard Tyler Steen. Both guys could push for playing time early in their rookie seasons. Philly also drafted Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee and Texas DE Moro Ojomo to round out their roster.
Philly made the best trade of the weekend and hauled in one of the best draft classes as well. It's getting annoying. At least they only have one Super Bowl in franchise history.
New York Giants Grade: A
You could make the argument the Giants had the best draft. Unlike the Eagles who drafted for luxury, the Giants drafted for Day 1 starters. Big Blue's first three picks are all guys who can contribute significantly in Week 1, and their fourth pick, running back Eric Gray, will likely backup Saquon Barkley and play a huge role in 2023.
In round one, Schoen drafted Deonte Banks, a freakishly athletic defensive back from Maryland. Schoen traded up to secure the services of Banks, which he deserves a lot of praise for. We have seen too many previous drafts where a team jumps the Giants and drafts the player Big Blue was going to take (none more painful than the 2021 trade between the Eagles and Cowboys which landed DeVonta Smith in Philly, and Micah Parsons in Dallas).
In the second round, Schoen added center John Michael Schmitz, the best interior offensive lineman in the draft. Schmitz is a plug-and-play starter. Jalin Hyatt, who was mocked to the Giants at pick 25 by multiple media members, was Schoen's third-round pick. Schoen traded up to secure the draft rights to the best college football wide receiver in 2023, one who had 207 yards and caught five touchdowns against Nick Saban's Alabama defense.
Schoen also drafted Tre Hawkins III, a very athletic corner in round six, and then added a humongous defensive lineman, Jordon Riley, and a play-making safety, Gervarrius Owens, in round seven. Schoen got three starters, and four impact depth pieces: the exact draft the Giants needed.
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