First impressions are not always the best impressions. That being said, no NFL Draft would be complete without them. Most of us who study the draft have put in hundreds of hours of study over the past several months. We just can’t let this three day extravaganza go without speaking our minds. 

Grading drafts before players ever play one down in the NFL is an inexact science. It can also be quite controversial. My own board is bound to be different from others, and players some of us like, others will not like. Some of the things I look for include the following: Did a team address most, if not all of their primary needs? Did a team leave higher rated talent on the board at the time they drafted? Did a team draft lower rated players at the position they drafted? Did a team get value with their pick, both early in the draft as well as on days two and three?

No grades will be presented here.  That will be done later on once I have had more time to digest what happened these past three days.  What follows is a brief summary for each team.  How did each team manage their draft board and take advantage of the opportunities presented to them?

Please feel free to agree or disagree.  I am more than happy to answer any and all questions.  You can leave comments below or reach me on twitter @ronacesports, or via e-mail at ronace2477@aol.com.  Without further ado, here are my first impressions as I wrap up work on my 36th NFL Draft!

Baltimore Ravens: GM Ozzie Newsome is the best in the business at letting the draft come to him.  He got value in each of the first three rounds with LB Mosley, DT Jernigan and safety Brooks. I like Urban for this team, and the late pick of WR Campanaro gives them a savvy route running slot receiver.  I was hoping they would address their offensive line earlier than in the fifth round and I thought they could have added another option for their secondary.  I don’t see any wasted picks however.  

Buffalo Bills: I’d call this draft confusing and risky.  I am curious as to whether GM Whaley had a game plan for this draft.  In the short run, he has a talented rookie WR in Watkins taking over for an established veteran in Johnson.  Based on typical rookie WR metrics, production will be at best flat for ’14 and not improved.  While the long run prognosis is for Watkins to outperform Johnson, the Bills will be without a 1st round pick next year, likely slowing down team growth.  Buffalo addressed their offensive line three times but failed to address a critical need for a run stopper and failed to adequately replace free safety Byrd or add much needed depth in the secondary.  Buffalo could and should have accomplished much more. 

Cincinnati Bengals: Grabbing talented CB Dennard in the first round and finding the eventual replacement for RB Green-Ellis in the second round (Jeremy Hill) were the highlights of Cincinnati’s draft.  The rest of the draft lacked value and impact.  I thought they could have done better than draft a lower rated center (Bodine) to fill one of my primary need areas.  I also felt they should have addressed depth at LB earlier.  Marquis Flowers won’t move the needle much.  WR James Wright was a reach in a draft full of WR talent.  QB McCarron found a landing spot but I’m not ready to dish QB Dalton who has helped this team get better and far more consistent.  Overall this draft did bog down, although DB Westbrooks (7-252) was not a bad late choice.

Cleveland Browns: Try this on for size.  Cleveland opened the draft with ten picks and traded down at pick #4, yet still ended the draft with just six selections!  That’s not easy.  Of course they do own extra picks in the 2015 draft, including Buffalo’s first round pick.  Many key needs were met, including QB (Manziel), OL (Bitonio), CB (Gilbert and Desir) and RB (West).  I like every one of these players.  LB Kirksey was overdrafted, and I would have chosen Borland or a few other players before him.  The only area not addressed was WR, which is quite puzzling considering this amazingly talented WR class. I would have hit this area twice.  Cleveland was finished drafting after pick 127.  I’d have sacrificed a pick in the 2015 draft to make certain WR needs were addressed.  

Denver Broncos: Bradley Roby may not be a finished product at CB but the speedy ex-Buckeye has the talent to succeed and getting him at the back end of the 1st round represents value.  Fast rising WR Latimer did not make my top ten list but he’ll thrive playing in this system and with this QB, so his post draft grade will move up a bit (still can’t crack the top ten of this deep class).  I mostly see a bunch of role players after that, with each of the remaining draft picks having limitations.  Other than perhaps LB Barrow I felt better Denver could have very easily selected better players.  Denver could have done a better job finding players who could stop the run and should have added another RB to compliment Ball and replace Moreno. 

Houston Texans: Houston is not your typical 2-14 team.  As a result, they might be back near the top of the AFC sooner rather than later.  Clowney was the draft’s best player.  Su’a-Filo was my top rated guard.  TE Fidorowicz was highly rated and fills a need.  Nix represents solid value where he was drafted.  Prosch is interesting as fullbacks are often forgotten in the NFL but he was my only rated player at that position.  I also like Hal.  Only DE Pagan and RB Blue were overdrafted.  There are two concerns.  1st, LB was not addressed.  2nd, none of us really know if Tom Savage is the answer at QB.  He fits the mold for Bill O’Brien, but he has to work on his reads and must continue to work on his accuracy, which until last year was well below NFL standards. 

Indianapolis Colts: The Colts were at a disadvantage right from the start, having lost their first round pick in the trade last year for RB Trent Richardson and having but five overall picks.  As I said in pre-draft reports, the Colts needed to mortgage 2015 picks to make certain would be able to fully participate in this deep draft.  That did not happen, and Colts fans cannot be too excited about their haul.  I like Jack Mewhort if he fills one of the voids on the interior of their line.  Moncrief has talent and speed, but the Colts get dinged since WR was hardly a critical need.  CB, safety and run stopping DL needs were completely ignored.  

Jacksonville Jaguars: There’s plenty to like about this draft.  Bortles was the right choice and Lee and Robinson are top tier rookie WR’s.  Maybe there will be growing pains early but I like the potential of this group.  I don’t like the trade up to get OG Linder.  I feel he’s a marginal player and it’s a double whammy giving up an extra draft pick.  Colvin and the pair of front seven defensive players Telvin and Chris Smith were properly drafted and add depth to a team who could certainly use it.  I’m not as high on RB Storm Johnson as others might be but taking him at pick 222 is fine.  I would have selected two different players for the offensive line without wasting a draft pick, and then I would add a pass rusher, and maybe one more RB to give Jacksonville some competition but there is no question the team is on the right track.

Kansas City Chiefs: Kansas City was without a second round pick and should have tried to trade back from 23 and get at least an extra third out of the deal.  Dee Ford has upside but trading down and adding WR Lee was the right move.  CB Gaines carries some talent but again, I want the more critical needs (WR, offensive tackle) addressed first.  KC took two offensive linemen late, but as usual for this team the players selected are developmental types.  Ultimately, this draft could be a bust; however I am one of the few that gave QB Murray a top five grade.  I love the fit here and he will have a chance to unseat Alex Smith as early as 2015. 

Miami Dolphins: If I’m a Miami Dolphin fan, I’m celebrating the fact that Jeff Ireland is no longer the GM.  Miami was strapped early when the top four OL were off the board but I felt they rebounded well by selecting two potential starters in James and Turner.  WR Landry fell due to poor timed speed but he has maybe the best hands of the class and is a great fit here as a #2 next to the speedy Wallace.  CB Aikens has talent but picking him in the 4th round may have been a tad high.  I see no wasted picks in this group and I believe the focus of their picks were spot on.  Maybe they could have done a little better at LB but overall I’d call this a solid draft. 

New England Patriots: Coming into the draft I listed New England’s primary needs as TE, safety, depth at LB, DL, speed at WR and depth at RB.  I feel the Patriots did not meet most of these needs.  Easley has a huge upside but is a medical risk.  If all goes well Garoppolo, like Mallet before him will never see the field, at least for the foreseeable future.  The three OL have some talent, but not “wow” talent.  RB White fills a need, but is he the right guy?  The good news is that there are far fewer off the wall picks in this New England draft.  Still, I would have addressed TE and safety with picks 29 and 62 and go from there.

New York Jets: This was quite a polarizing draft for me.  I love the picks for safety Pryor, TE Amaro, OG Dozier and the value late with LB Reilly.  I am puzzled by what GM John Idzik and Rex Ryan saw in CB McDougle that caused him to be selected so high.  WR was the top need for the Jets and to their credit they addressed this area three times.  Unfortunately, the Jets made mistakes with all three choices.  My pre-draft ratings show Saunders at 31, Evans in the 35-44 range and Enunwa completely unrated (not in my top 44).  They were drafted at spots 104, 115 and 209 respectively.  Compare that to what Green Bay did.  The Packers drafted WR’s at picks 53, 176 and 236.  This trio received ratings of 10 (Adams), 16 (Abbrederis) and 14 (Janis).  If you trade WR’s with the Packers, draft one more OL and select better CB’s then this draft works for me in a big way. 

Oakland Riaders: WR and DB were my top needs, but certainly the Raiders had multiple holes, including DL, OL and finding a long term solution at QB.  Every year it seems Oakland is trading for a QB, adding one in free agency, and drafting a QB.  When does the madness stop?  Mack is obviously a great choice, while CB McGill and OG Jackson have talent.  Still, just because Sammy Watkins is gone it should not mean that WR needs go completely unfilled.  Oakland needed to double up at WR as well as find a quality offensive tackle.   

Pittsburgh Steelers: Is Pittsburgh any better of a team as a result of this draft?  If all goes well LB Shazier and DL Tuitt start by 2015, while RB and slash player Archer adds situational value even though he was drafted a full round too high.  WR Bryant has some growing up to do but may well represent the big target Big Ben has been crying for.  I don’t see any unrated players on their board but I fear all they got was some role and/or situational players after Bryant.  Pittsburgh gets dinged because they ignored CB needs and could have drafted better for their offensive line.  I’d have taken CB Dennard at pick 15 and taken a higher rated offensive lineman at 97, waiting on Archer. 

San Diego Chargers: San Diego made six selections in this draft, trading up in the 2nd round to get pass rush help with the athletic but not necessarily instinctive Attaochu.  I would not have made this move.  I could get a quality WR or OL at 57 plus save a pick.  The other option was to hope Attaochu is there at 57 but if he’s not I don’t see any difference if I select Kony Ealy or the very smart Scott Crichton instead.  CB Verrett was a solid choice and OG Watt was an acceptable choice.  The final three picks were as good as any team could have.  Ryan Carrethers is my top DL sleeper.  Grice has tremendous 3rd down value.  Tevin Reese is tiny, but adds much needed speed to the roster and is well-versed in finding holes in zones.  

Tennessee Titans: I do not have OT as a Titan need.  Certainly Taylor Lewan has top ten talent but I would have addressed a far more glaring need (LB or cover CB) with the pick at 11.  For me it seemed like a no-brainer that they could have found a trading partner to either move up to get Donald (Chicago, Dallas) or to get Lewan (Miami).  I suspect that would have given Tennessee two extra picks and they still could have had LB Mosley or a top tier CB early, using the extra picks to double up at LB and maybe take Nix before Houston did at 83.  Sankey is a great fit in a clear need area.  Tennessee misfired at CB however as well as at LB.  Taking Zach Mettenberger in the 6th round is an extremely low risk proposition.  He’s come to the right place and right coaching staff, so if he matures off the field and gets time to learn on the field this could turn out to be better than advertised.