The first round of the NFL Draft is the sizzle, but Friday night is the steak. Truth be told, it shouldn’t be that difficult to find decent talent on the opening night of the draft, but night two is where we see teams truly differential themselves when it comes to the quality of their scouting departments, and the discipline to maintain their boards effectively.
Discipline is the word of the day when it comes to these rounds. It can be semi-easy to project who might be available in the first, but the second in particular is where a player you might have had a 1st round grade on is available — and the skill comes where you’re playing chicken with the board and not rushing the process.
Winner: Cleveland Browns
I really love the discipline by Cleveland not to take any bait by trading out of this pick and instead getting a, dare-I-say, elite talent at the top of the 2nd round with Carson Schwesinger. One scout I talked to prior to the draft was gushing over the UCLA linebacker, comparing his football IQ and play diagnosis to Luke Kuechly.
Schwesinger doesn’t have Kuechly’s first-step athleticism, so pump the brakes just a touch — but he should be a tackling machine in the box and will quickly become a fan favorite.
The decision to take Quinshon Judkins over teammate TreVeyon Henderson at running back might have been a touch of a head scratcher, but it’s one of those picks where the more I think about it, the more I like it. Judkins is a very Browns running back, and for a team that built itself around Nick Chubb I totally get going with a more physical, bruising RB who relishes contact and can run over linebackers in blitz situations.
I also like the move to take Harold Fannin Jr. He’s a bit of a one-trick pony as a TE, but I like the approach of finding guys with two of three really good traits, instead of a middling all-around talents. Fannin is one of those guys who is more a big receiver than a true tight end, and he’s not going to block well — but he’s young, moldable, and the kind of guy who can contribute in gadget packages.
UPDATE: Shortly after I finished writing this the Browns took Dillon Gabriel in the third round of the draft. I’m extremely tempted to delete them as a winner — but will leave this up for posterity.
Loser: New Orleans Saints
I don’t know what this franchise is doing. This was an organization that took a reach on Kelvin Banks night one, then got an old, middling quarterback in Tyler Shough. It’s as if there’s no vision, just throwing darts at a board.
There’s justification to waiting on a QB — especially when you have holes like the Saints do. I don’t know what Brandon Weeden 2.0 does for you.
Brass tacks: You’re looking for teams to get better after two days. I’m not sure the Saints are a much better team than they were a week ago.
Winner: Carolina Panthers
There was a lot of raised eyebrows when Carolina opted to take Tetairoa McMillan with the No. 8 pick instead of addressing their horrific pass rush. After Day 2 the Panthers are laughing.
The team got two extremely good pass rushers in Nic Scourton (who can be an immediate starter) and Princely Umanmielen in the third, who seems tailor made to be a rotational speed rusher. This was a team that still had an aging Jadaveon Clowney on the roster, so they get some youth and find a way to stop the bleeding at EDGE — which they can build over time.
This was a case where need met BPA in all three picks, and the Panthers took monumental steps forward on both sides of the ball without mortgaging their future by trading picks in 2026.
Winner: Dallas Cowboys
As much as I hated what Dallas did in the first round by reaching for Tyler Booker at No. 12, I am obsessed with this team’s picks on the second day. Both Donovan Ezeiruaku and Shavon Revel Jr. are guys who had the talent to be first round picks, but fell due to various reasons.
If Revel is fully healed he can be a difference maker. As for Ezeiruaku, I have no idea how the hell he lasted into the second round. He’s a baller who will be an amazing complement to Micah Parsons and open up the pass rush even more.
These picks were good enough to make Dallas potential winners of the whole draft.
