I still have some fun post-draft nuggets to mine this afternoon, so let’s dive in …
• I’ve seen some of the response to my MMQB column on the Lions centering on Detroit’s decision not to trade down—and while I appreciate the analytics that lead people to believe that trading down is always the right thing, I think the makeup of this year’s draft class has to be considered as vital context on why things went the way they did. And over dozens and dozens of calls in the weeks leading up to the draft, and a lot more after it, I feel like the league consensus held that the nonquarterbacks in the ground broke down this way …
Consensus Tier 1: LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase, Florida TE Kyle Pitts
Tier 1/2 Split: Oregon OT Penei Sewell
Consensus Tier 2: South Carolina CB Jaycee Horn, Alabama WR DeVonta Smith, Northwestern OL Rashawn Slater, Alabama CB Patrick Surtain II, USC OL Alijah Vera-Tucker, Alabama WR Jaylen Waddle
Tier 1 was gone inside the top five.