Biggest steals from the 2024 NFL Draft
The 2024 NFL Draft is in the books and it’s time to recap all the action. Thursday started off pretty chalky until the Atlanta Falcons sent shockwaves across the internet when they selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall.
We didn’t see a defensive player selected until pick number 15. Late in the first round leading into day two, we saw a big run on wide receivers, with 35 total names coming off the board.
I strongly believe in team-building through the draft, understanding where you can acquire value, how to maneuver around the board and how this piece fits into the puzzle.
That said, let’s get into the top steals from this year's draft.
Biggest steals from the 2024 NFL Draft
Steals:
Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo – 22nd overall to the Eagles
There are obviously draft picks who went several spots later than where they were projected to come off the board and present better net-plus in terms of value. But when we can all agree that Quinyon was a steal in the first round even, we have to outline him here. This was the number one corner and 10th overall prospect, while sitting two spots lower on the consensus board.
If you take into account the medical history of UCLA edge defender Laiatu Latu (15th to the Colts), a strong case can be made that Mitchell was the top defensive player on the board. Yet with the rest of the league going offense only until the middle of the round and then focusing on the defensive front, he somehow makes it down to Philly.
Some people actually had GM Howie Roseman trading up by around 10 spots in order to get him. They really needed to inject some youth into that corner room – as I already went over earlier – yet they stay patient and address their biggest need at great value without having to invest additional resources.
He’s a perfect fit for Vic Fangio with his ability to click-and-close on routes from off-alignment and I think he has All-Pro potential.
Jer’Zhan Newton, IDL, Illinois – 36th overall to the Commanders
The name I was shocked to see falling throughout this process is Johnny Newton. This guy was in the conversation for the top defensive player in this draft when we started to put together 2024 lists a calendar year ago. And all he did since then was win Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year on an Illinois team with very little help around him.
I understand that Newton couldn’t do anything during this pre-draft process as he was dealing with a foot injury, but his tape speaks for itself. He was right up there with Texas’ Byron Murphy II – who went 16th overall to the Seahawks – as my top-ranked interior D-lineman and 13th overall prospect.
He routinely disrupts plays with his ability to knife through gaps or back-door blockers, he’s pretty advanced with his hand combats, and he’s the best interior defender at cornering his rushes.
This was not an immediate need for Washington, but he can add some juice to the rotation right away and then be your long-term replacement for Jonathan Allen, who has a $23 million cap hit in the final year of his contract in 2025.
Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas – 52nd overall to the Colts
I will refer to Colts general manager Chris Ballard’s rant on Mitchell’s reported “character concerns” thrown out there by unnamed sources here. This paired well with people complaining about him “taking plays off” which I think oversimplifying things and an underwhelming statistical profile.
If there are no legitimate issues that I’m not aware of, I think the NFL really messed up here. While I did think there was a definitive gap between the “big three” and the rest of the class, Mitchell was next up as my fourth-ranked receiver and was 20th on my big board.
None of the other seven WRs selected between pick ten and Adonai provide his kind of route-running expertise. His ability to alter tempo, adjust on the fly to the technique of DBs, attack their blind-spots and be friendly to his quarterback is excellent. He may not have been a massive YAC threat – in part due to his high average depth of target – he snatches the ball in traffic and only dropped one of 65 catchable targets over the past two seasons combined.
I already mentioned third-year Indy receiver Alec Pierce as a “loser” coming out of the weekend because of the talent this team brought in and I actually thought Mitchell had the potential to develop into a number one.
Christian Haynes, IOL, UConn – 81st overall to the Seahawks
I was lukewarm at best on Seattle’s first selections after Haynes to start off day three, which is why I didn’t outline them as “winners” at the top, but I really like their first two picks. New head coach Mike Macdonald wanted to send a message by becoming bigger, more physical in the trenches with Texas interior D-lineman Byron Murphy (16th overall) and then Haynes in the third round, similarly to where the University of Michigan and the Ravens were built as his prior stops.
I had Haynes and another interior O-lineman in Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe back-to-back in my rankings as numbers 44 and 43 on the big board. My player comp for him was Blastoise from Pokemon as a compactly build bundle of power. To me he was the best zone-blocking guard in this draft, with his ability to create initial momentum and stay latched with defenders.
He’s quick to land and re-fit his hands in pass-pro, with the agility to mirror a variety of moves, if he can just eliminate some of the obvious “take-downs” that drew penalties in college. I think they got a quality starter at right guard from day one in the middle of the third round.
Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas – 101st overall to the Panthers
I heard some things on Sanders and how he may be falling a little bit, based on previously unreported “character concerns” similarly to his former Longhorn teammate Adonai Mitchell. Without any clarity on that situation, I will continue to call this guy a steal. Based on tape alone, he was my clear TE2 between Georgia’s Brock Bowers and Kansas State’s Ben Sinnott, as my 42nd overall prospect.
As a pass-catcher, he offers a dimension this Panthers offense didn’t have yet, as someone who can stretch defenses vertically up the seams. He also has strong hands to deal with contact at the catch-point and then he’s a dynamic mover with the ball in his hands, capable of working around defenders or drag them along as they try to hold onto him.
As a blocker, his hand-placement could definitely use some work, but as a defensive lineman in high school, the explosiveness out of a three-point stance and the effort are certainly there. So while I don’t expect him to be a traditional, they already have Ian Thomas under contract, allowing Sanders to operate as a big slot, run leak routes off play-action and other things.
T.J. Tampa, CB, Iowa State – 130th overall to the Ravens
I have yet to hear anything on why Tampa fell this far apart from not participating in the college all-star circuit running in the 4.5s at his pro day, when his agility numbers were actually solid. I had him all the up at number 45 on my big board, as the eighth-ranked corner.
Yet, even though some of them will primarily line up in the slot and of course scheme fits and designed qualities teams are looking for have to be taken into account, but there were 15(!) other corners selected ahead of him. Now, I do believe there is some validity to him having just average long speed and with his bigger frame (6’1”, 195 pounds), he’s not quite as fluid as the guys near the top of the class maybe, but if you accentuate his strengths, he can become a quality starter in this league.
Tampa brings heavy hands to disrupt receivers at the line in press-technique, either covering guys in bump-and-run or bailing out. So while I projected him to fit best into a more single-high centric defensive structure, with the rolodex of coverage Baltimore likes to run, you can put him on the side of the field with two-deep principles and let him beat up the outside receiver, when you bring heat, he can throw off the timing of routes with a shorter play-clock, and he may also be a matchup piece against big slots.
This guy at one point was looked at as a potential surprise first-round selection and they got him at the end of the fourth.
Spencer Rattler, QB, South Carolina – 150th overall to the Saints
Day three of the draft is really fun for me. I get to sit back and watch guys come off the board that the majority of humanity has never even heard of and I’m getting excited on my couch, thinking about how some hybrid safety might fit into the sub-package of a certain defense.
So when something disrupts that like Ian Rapoport reporting “teams can’t the image out of their head […] of how Rattler came off during his reality show” QB1: Beyond the Lights. Now, I never actually watched it myself and can’t definitely say it wouldn’t have affected my opinion, but for NFL operations this sounds like they doomed a 17-year-old and didn’t actually do their homework properly.
Because even though the path here was pretty long for Rattler, he showed humility and maturity going from a former number one overall recruit to getting benched at Oklahoma and battling through adversity on a weak South Carolina team. And he still has a lot of the qualities that people were in awe of coming out of high school, in terms of the arm talent and plays he makes out of structure, even if there’s some lack of consistency in decision-making and accuracy.
For me, the gap between Rattler (75th overall) and my QB6 J.J. McCarthy from Michigan (64th) was actually smaller than McCarthy to the next-highest signal-caller Michael Penix from Washington (48th).
Jeremiah Trotter Jr., LB, Clemson – 155th overall to the Eagles
Another name that you saw in some early first-round mock drafts once the 2023 draft was wrapped up was the son of former Pro Bowl linebacker Jeremiah Trotter (Sr.). Junior and fellow Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter – who ended up going back for his senior years – were generally regarded as the top two linebackers heading into this past season.
However, as some other names emerged and people really started diving into Trotter in regards to his NFL future, he started gradually dropping down boards. However, I don’t think many people didn’t have him inside their top-100 lists. I know I was a little higher on Trotter than consensus, but the third-ranked linebacker on my big board was selected nearly 100(!) spots later than where he finished (59th overall).
I understand that there are some range limitations in terms being able to run down plays outside the hashes and he only has 31.5-inch arms, but in today’s game, being instinctive, quickly IDing and triggering on plays has become such an underrated skill-set for the position.
We see so many of these great athletes at linebacker fail because of how long an adjustment period they have to the pros. I think Trotter presents value because he can immediately contribute and potentially even start for the Philly, and while he’s not a matchup player in coverage, he’s alert as a zone defender and can win in different ways as a blitzer.
Kitan Oladapo, SAF, Oregon State – 169th overall to the Packers
This was one of my big calls and earned a spot on the “my guys” last as my number four safety and 66th overall prospect. Based on consensus boards, this was still nearly a round late for Oladapo, but I simply don’t understand and/or falsely label him.
I know you can easily look at him as a box safety at 6’2”, nearly 220 pounds, but if you actually watch the tape and contextualize what he was asked to do, he fits what modern NFL defenses are moving towards very well. With the Beavers, the majority of snaps he was operating from split-field looks, where his ability to match routes from depth really stood out, whether he had to cut off crossers or open to run with guys vertically.
He can certainly run the alley or match up with tight-ends from detached alignments, but this guy doesn’t have to play near the line of scrimmage at all, even if he can be deployed that way. He may not have the range to be opened one way, redirect and still make plays, but he sees the full picture pretty well and then he excels at attacking the ball at its highest point if you test him down the field.
Of the three DBs Green Bay selected, I believe Javon Bullard (Georgia) goes back to the slot, while Oladapo and another underrated name I like in Oregon’s Evan Williams (111th overall) will battle for the second starting safety job.
Johnny Wilson, WR, Florida State – 185th overall to the Eagles
Similarly to Oladapo, Wilson is somebody else who go labelled a certain way due to his large frame at 6’6” and 230 pounds, as a jump-ball merchant and even as a transition candidate to tight-end by some. Therefore, he was another player who was selected more than 100 picks later than where he ranked for me personally (77th overall).
And he can certainly make plays for you when you throw the ball up to him, he boxes out his defender and snatches it off the top shelf with that condor-like 84.5-inch wingspan.
However, he did run a 4.52, tested well across the board otherwise and whether you watch him run routes at the combine between guys who weigh 50 pounds less than him or even directly comparing him to former FSU teammate Keon Coleman – who was the first pick of day two – Johnny was the one who created separation more consistently.
His ability to reduce that height and come out of breaks cleanly is something I noted on several occasions. The one big gripe I had with him were too many body-catches, but he’s fearless going over the middle, he bounces off hits or just fights through extra yards constantly and he can overwhelm smaller DBs as a blocker.
Mekhi Wingo, IDL, LSU – 189th overall to the Lions
This is the second interior D-lineman I’ve now discussed as part of this segment, which is kind of funny since we did only see one get selected in round one, but then day two started with four guys coming off the board within the first seven picks and we had four more across that evening.
In fact, Wingo was the 14th interior D-lineman to hear his name called, when I had him as IDL8 and he cracked my personal top-100. In fact, he was the third(!) guy from that position group drafted coming out of LSU. I understand the concerns with an undersized player like that at six foot, 285 pounds with only 32-inch arms.
However, this comes off the ball with some pop and he plays so low, that he was able to either crash through the reach of an SEC guard or knock that guy a couple of yards into the backfield at times vs. the run. And his real value could be as a pass-rusher, where he displays an impressive ability to disconnect his upper and lower half as he tries to squeeze past blockers, but can also win with the bull-rush or push-pull off that.
He’s not going to start over the duo of Alim McNeill and D.J. Reader of course, but they may automatically sub in for the latter on third downs and produce early.
Michael Pratt, QB, Tulane – 245th overall to the Packers
It’s really funny how cyclical the NFL has become, to a point where we saw them overreact to what they saw from year to year. Nothing encapsulates that better than then appetite for mid-round quarterbacks they’ve displayed. Two years ago, we saw the 49ers hit the jackpot with Iowa State’s Brock Purdy going from Mr. Irrelevant to a quality starter and even MVP candidate this past season.
In the 2023 draft, eight quarterbacks had their names called between the third and fifth round, trying to recreate that type of profile, with a quality backup who has some starter traits. And generally, I’m very much for taking some shots at the position late.
However, then we get to this year and we didn’t see one come off the board between picks 12 and 150, with just one more at the end of the fifth round and just three others the rest of the way. What’s funny to me about this is that I preferred this crop of passers and the only guys I would have taken above my QB8 in Michael Pratt (let’s forget Spencer Rattler for now), were Hendon Hooker (Lion) and Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Browns).
So since none of those guys from a year ago “hit”, the league pivoted immediately again, to where the Raiders for example completely punted on the position once they missed out on the top six. I don’t want Pratt to completely get lost here however, who may not be a big-bodied gunslinger, but processes information at a high level, delivers the ball with accuracy, is a sneaky good athlete and incredibly tough. He should be an excellent backup to Jordan Love earning peanuts over the next four years.
Other value picks:
Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama – 41st overall to the Saints
Jackson Powers-Johnson, IOL, Oregon – 44th overall to the Raiders
Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB, Missouri – 61st overall to the Lions
Trey Benson, RB, Florida State – 66th overall to the Cardinals
Roman Wilson, WR, Michigan – 84th overall to the Steelers
Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon – 102nd overall to the Broncos
Khyree Jackson, CB, Oregon – 108th overall to the Vikings
Javon Baker, WR, UCF – 110th overall to the Patriots
Jaden Hicks, SAF, Washington State – 133rd overall to the Chiefs
Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, IOL, Georgia – 141st overall to the Bills
Tommy Eichenberg, LB, Ohio State – 148th overall to the Raiders
Mohamed Kamara, EDGE, Colorado State – 158th overall to the Dolphins
Christian Jones, OT, Texas – 162nd overall to the Cardinals
Tyrone Tracy, RB, Purdue – 166th overall to the Giants
Walter Rouse, OT, Oklahoma – 177th overall to the Vikings
Malik Washington, WR, Virginia – 184th overall to the Dolphins
D.J. James, CB, Auburn – 192nd overall to the Seahawks
Tanner McLachlan, TE, Arizona – 194th overall to the Bengals
Khristian Boyd, IDL, Northern Iowa – 199th overall to the Saints
Nathaniel Watson, LB, Mississippi State – 206th overall to the Browns