From Bleacher Report:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10041734-grading-every-nfl-teams-2018-draft-haul
Grade: B+
2018 Draft Class: Alabama DB Minkah Fitzpatrick (No. 11 overall), Penn State TE Mike Gesicki (No. 42 overall), Ohio State LB Jerome Baker (No. 73 overall), Notre Dame TE Durham Smythe (No. 123 overall), Arizona State RB Kalen Ballage (No. 131 overall), Southern Miss DB Cornell Armstrong (No. 209 overall), Ohio LB Quentin Poling (No. 227 overall), New Mexico K Jason Sanders (No. 229 overall)
One of the more baffling developments from the 2018 draft class was the Miami Dolphins' handling of star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Although Fitzpatrick emerged as a clear steal at No. 11 overall, Miami traded him only two games into his second season. The Pittsburgh Steelers traded their 2020 first-round pick for him, and he quickly earned two first-team All-Pro nods in his first two years with them.
The Dolphins still get credit for drafting Fitzpatrick in this class. They were also able to hit on their Day 2 picks, with tight end Mike Gesicki and linebacker Jerome Baker becoming exciting young playmakers at their respective positions. Gesicki is playing on the franchise tag in 2022, while Baker signed a three-year, $37.5 million extension last offseason.
Gesicki has already caught 199 passes for 2,225 yards and 13 scores despite the Dolphins lacking a consistent play-caller or established quarterback throughout his career. He's more of a big slot receiver than tight end due to his alignments. How he transitions to new head coach Mike McDaniel could determine whether he stays in Miami for the coming years or hits the open market next spring.
The Dolphins were able to find a few contributors on Day 3 as well. Kicker Jason Sanders signed a five-year, $22 million extension after his 2020 All-Pro season, while second-string tight end Durham Smythe re-signed on a two-year, $7 million deal in March.
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Last edited: Jul 14, 2022resnor likes this.
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For the Bills:
2018 Draft Class: Wyoming QB Josh Allen (No. 7 overall), Virginia Tech LB Tremaine Edmunds (No. 16 overall), Stanford DT Harrison Phillips (No. 96 overall), Weber State DB Taron Johnson (No. 121 overall), Jacksonville State DB Siran Neal (No. 154 overall), Virginia Tech OG Wyatt Teller (No. 166 overall), Clemson WR Ray-Ray McCloud (No. 187 overall), North Carolina WR Austin Proehl (No. 255 overall)
The Buffalo Bills took the ultimate gamble on Josh Allen and have been rewarded handsomely for their patience.
Allen has flourished into one of the most devastatingly effective offensive weapons of this era with his elite athleticism and incredible arm talent. It took time for Allen to hone his craft, but the Bills' strong infrastructure helped him take a massive leap in 2020.
What makes this draft close to perfect for Buffalo was its continued ability to unearth quality talent into Day 3. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is a productive and versatile linebacker who has totaled at least 108 tackles in each of his four seasons. He already has two Pro Bowls under his belt and is only 24 years old.
Defensive backs Taron Johnson and Siran Neal are underrated in their roles as well. Johnson is a premier slot defender who emerged in 2019 when given the opportunity to play more. Neal has helped on special teams more than on defense and re-signed on a three-year deal this offseason.
It's also notable that Buffalo picked guard Wyatt Teller in the fifth round. Teller lasted only one season in Buffalo before being traded to Cleveland and blossoming into a Pro Bowler. Although the Bills whiffed on their decision to trade Teller, they correctly evaluated him as a future starter.
Grade: A+
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For the Patriots:
2018 Draft Class: Georgia OT Isaiah Wynn (No. 23 overall), Georgia RB Sony Michel (No. 31 overall), Florida CB Duke Dawson (No. 56 overall), Purdue LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (No. 143 overall), Arizona State LB Christian Sam (No. 178 overall), Miami WR Braxton Berrios (No. 210 overall), LSU QB Danny Etling (No. 219 overall), Western Carolina DB Keion Crossen (No. 243 overall), Florida State TE Ryan Izzo (No. 250 overall)
Under head coach Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots typically prefer accumulating more picks by trading down. They like having more chances to find contributors than to sit tight and take the best player available when they're on the clock.
Instead of moving around, Belichick chose to augment the Patriots' offense in 2018 with two first-round picks. He somewhat hit on both tackle Isaiah Wynn and running back Sony Michel, but it's hard to overlook who he passed up. Even if Belichick didn't want Lamar Jackson, he passed on Nick Chubb for Michel.
Wynn has been a solid starter when healthy. Michel was a fine rotational back but lacked explosiveness, and the Patriots eventually traded him to the Rams in 2021.
The Patriots' only other notable selection was receiver Braxton Berrios. Everyone else from this class did nothing of note. In fact, the Patriots traded Duke Dawson to Denver before he ever played a regular-season game.
Berrios also never suited up for the Patriots. He's shown some potential as a slot receiver over the last two years with the New York Jets, though. He re-signed with the Jets on a two-year, $12 million deal in March.
Grade: D+
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For the Jets:
2018 Draft Class: USC QB Sam Darnold (No. 3 overall), Fort Hays State DT Nathan Shepherd (No. 72 overall), Miami TE Christopher Herndon (No. 107 overall), Tulane CB Parry Nickerson (No. 179 overall), Connecticut DT Foley Fatukasi (No. 180 overall), Virginia State RB Trenton Cannon (No. 204 overall)
Blowing a top-three pick on a quarterback makes it difficult for a team to earn any positive marks on its draft class.
The Jets actually traded up from the sixth overall pick to the third overall pick, surrendering two second-round picks in 2018 and another in 2019 to the Colts. This was an epic fail of a move considering they took the wrong quarterback.
Sam Darnold has not shown consistent NFL talent since entering the league. His struggles with consistent and decision-making plagued his tenure in New York. Any hope that the Jets were to blame for his issues was dashed as he flamed out in a much better situation in Carolina last year.
The only positive that came from the Jets' 2018 class was sixth-round defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi. The giant 6'4", 318-pound nose tackle is a force to be reckoned with in the run game. He was a true gem who has flourished over the last two years, but he left the Jets to sign a three-year, $30 million contract with the Jaguars this offseason.
Grade: F
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What did they grade Miami's draft as? Didn't see it in the post.
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I don't agree with the grade. Minkah was not a good fit for us so should be counted as a bust as far as we are concerned. Gesicki is not much more than a body and not a true tight end. He has not been anything special for us so far and we passed on Mark Andrews that year who would have been a much better tight end pick. Baker has been an ok starter, but again nothing special. Sanders was phenomenal for a year and then turned into a mediocre kicker once he got paid. Overall no real stars or impact players came from that draft, so I would give it a C+ or B- at best.
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When Minkah plays at HoF level (consecutive All-pros) as soon as he leaves the Dolphins that indicates that the problem is not the player. What Pittsburgh did was let him sit at one position and master that before moving him around and asking him to be a Swiss army knife. The Dolphins FO definitely should get credit for drafting him and the coaching staff a black eye for preventing him from performing at his natural level.
Gesicki is in the mold of modern TEs who are much more receivers than blockers. He’s been a little Devante Parker-ish in that he’s flashed more ability than he’s consistently shown. The fact that the organization has tagged him shows that the regime consider him to be more than JAG.
Baker I think has been really good as a coverage LB who can handle his own in run stops and blitzing. His stats aren’t fantastic because he isn’t being asked to do the things that show up on stat sheets.
In the first 4 picks we got a an All-pro/potential HoF safety, a starting TE, a starting LB and a quality back up TE. The rest of the draft wasn’t anything valuable, some guys who contributed a little here and there snd a kicker. That’s a minimum of a B+ from a hard marker.Phin McCool, dolphin25, resnor and 2 others like this. -
Remember that Minkah wanted out. And honestly, there would have been a lot of good reasons why. We traded away Tunsil and Tannehill, plus countless other starters. We brought in a new coach who probably wasn't very happy about the gutted roster. I mean, why would Minkah want to stay? Why would anyone with talent want to stay when the front office says we're going 0-16 for Tua?
Minkah in this defense would have been electric, but unfortunately it just wasn't meant to be. I still root for him though. -
It's so crazy, like I've basically completely memory-holed Minkah Fitzpatrick. It's like, "Oh yeah! We DID draft that guy."
KeyFin likes this. -
I think our difference rests mainly on the evaluation of the Minkah pick. Yes Minkah, is a great player for Pittsburgh now, but he was not a a great player for us. Part of drafting is making sure the player fits your system, culture and coaching staff. Minkah was a bad pick for us, and there were better players available with that pick. As for Gesicki, again, he has not shown anything special. He is a terrible blocker and just an ok reciever, not a game changer in any way. Again, overall no stars or real impact players came out of that draft, except for Minkah who was not with us for long and made his impact with another team.
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I disagree- I think Minkah fits any system since you can use him at corner, safety, or even LB/DE on passing downs. His cover skills are off the charts and if we kept him, then we probably never bring in Jones to start opposite X. Or maybe we do anyway and use Minkah at safety. Either way, we'd be better off today with him on the roster.
For Gisecki, he's been our sole healthy WR for three years now. Maybe that's not special in general, but in Miami its incredibly special. The other benefit is pretending he's a TE and paying him TE money, even though everyone knows he's a slot or boundary receiver.Phin McCool and dolphin25 like this. -
I never said we would not be better off with Minkah on the Roster. The issue is he is not on the the roster and never worked out for us, so as far as we are concerned, it was a bad pick.
Regarding Gesicki, if the best thing you can say about him is he hasn't gotten hurt, that is nothing to write home about. Fact is he has never been a game changer or difference maker so again not a great pick. -
It’s crazy to think what would have happened had Minkah stayed in Miami. Now you don’t take Austin Jackson. Then maybe you don’t take Holland at the top of the 2nd in 2021 and end up with Creed Humphrey. Obviously nothing wrong with Holland as he’s a stud but what does this team look like with the best S in the nfl and one of the best C’s?