• Cowboys may look to replace Zeke Elliott on Day 2: UCLA's Zach Charbonnet profiles as a top replacement for Elliott next to Tony Pollard.
• Pittsburgh's safety room could include two Alabama stars: Brian Branch and Minkah Fitzpatrick would form a versatile duo.
• An even freakier Dolphins WR room with Tank Dell: The Houston product was the FBS leader in yards (1,399) and touchdowns (17) last year.
Estimated Reading Time: 9 mins
The first round of the 2023 NFL Draft has come and gone, and that leaves us with a slew of highly rated prospects still available for Day 2.
Here are some ideal team-player fits for those prospects in the second and third rounds.
JUMP TO A TEAM:
ARZ | ATL | BLT | BUF | CAR | CIN | CHI | CLE | DEN | DAL | DET | GB | HOU | IND | JAX | KC | LVR | LAC | LAR | MIA | MIN | NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF | SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
Arizona Cardinals: CB DJ Turner, Michigan
Turner would give the Cardinals one freakishly athletic cornerback duo. The Michigan product ran a 4.26-second 40-yard dash with a 38.5-inch vertical and a 10-foot-11 broad jump at the combine. He also allowed only 45.4% of his targets to be completed in his college career. He could replace Byron Murphy Jr.’s role in the defense.
Atlanta Falcons: G Cody Mauch, North Dakota State
The most athletic interior offensive lineman in the class makes too much sense for an offensive line that gets on the move more in the run game than any other in the league. Mauch would be incredible at hawking linebackers at left guard, and well worth the No. 44 pick.
Baltimore Ravens: CB Garrett Williams, Syracuse
The Ravens are no stranger to injury-risk picks, doing so last year with Michigan edge David Ojabo. Williams is coming off an ACL tear this past fall, but when he was healthy he had elite foot quicks and versatile coverage prowess.
Buffalo Bills: S Jammie Robinson, Florida State
Robinson is an instinctive, physical safety. He’s a tremendous tackler, with 23 misses on 313 career attempts across four seasons as a starter. That’s the kind of player Sean McDermott has gravitated toward at safety.
Carolina Panthers: RB Devon Achane, Texas A&M
Achane has burners, quickness and contact balance — a rare combination. He broke 53 tackles on 196 attempts for an 89.8 rushing grade last fall.
Chicago Bears: DT Keeanu Benton, Wisconsin
The Bears need talent anywhere they can find it along the defensive line. Benton is a versatile interior defender who can get after opposing quarterbacks with quicks and power. He earned an 83.5 pass-rushing grade last season.
Cincinnati Bengals: TE Tucker Kraft, South Dakota State
Kraft gives the Bengals another legit separator who can win against man coverage. He’s a fluid receiver who excels after the catch, tallying 25 broken tackles on 92 receptions in the past two seasons.
Cleveland Browns: DT Siaki Ika, Baylor
The Browns just need a space eater in the middle of their defense. They brought in Dalvin Tomlinson to help with that, but considering the state of their run defense in 2022, they could add another. Ika is a 6-foot-3, 335-pounder with a little twitch to his game.
Dallas Cowboys: RB Zach Charbonnet, UCLA
If the Cowboys want a bell-cow type outside of Round 1 who can replace what Ezekiel Elliott brought to the table the past few years, Charbonnet is the man to do it.
Denver Broncos: CB Cam Smith, South Carolina
Smith could very easily be a Kareem Jackson-esque player for Denver with outside, inside and safety versatility. His ball skills would pair well across from Patrick Surtain II, as Smith broke up 15 passes and picked off four more on 70 targets across the past two seasons.
Detroit Lions: QB Will Levis, Kentucky
Levis fought to keep his head above water week in and week out against SEC competition. He'll be battle-tested for the NFL.
He played through turf toe for much of the 2022 season but earned a 90.6 overall grade when healthy under former Rams offensive coordinator Liam Coen in 2021. The Lions have had a wild draft already, so this fits.
Green Bay Packers: TE Sam LaPorta, Iowa
The Packers get the ball to tight ends in space often with the play-action game, and LaPorta led the draft class with 20 broken tackles on 58 receptions last season. That’s something Green Bay hasn’t had at tight end in a long time.
Houston Texans: S Anthony Johnson Jr., Iowa State
The Texans had issues on defense last year, and they fill a need with Johnson. Aggressive in stopping the run, Johnson also has the coverage skills and instincts after switching from cornerback and provides Houston with a versatile playmaker on the back end.
Indianapolis Colts: EDGE Nick Herbig, Wisconsin
Herbig is one of the best undersized pass rushers in this class. The 6-foot-2, 240-pounder earned pass-rushing grades of 91.1 and 91.4 the past two seasons.
Jacksonville Jaguars: S Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M
The Jaguars don’t have many starting roles available on the roster, but a safety with slot versatility like Johnson would fill one of them. Johnson played exactly that for Texas A&M the past two seasons, earning overall grades of 81.6 and 87.4.
Kansas City Chiefs: OT Wanya Morris, Oklahoma
The Chiefs have developed offensive linemen very well under Andy Reid, and there aren’t any Day 2 tackles with better developmental traits than Morris. He’s a nimble athlete with elite length for the position.
Las Vegas Raiders: OG O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida
The missing link on the Raiders' offensive line comes at right guard. That position is where Torrence earned himself a cool 88.0 overall grade and allowed only eight hurries this past season.
Los Angeles Chargers: CB Clark Phillips III, Utah
Phillips is precisely what the Chargers could use in the slot for Brandon Staley’s defense. He’s an instinctive player who recorded six picks and four pass breakups last season. Phillips is just on the small end to stay outside, measuring 5-foot-9 and 184 pounds, which will cause him to fall.
Los Angeles Rams: EDGE Derick Hall, Auburn
In the middle of a rebuild, the Rams can afford to take a swing on some projects at valuable positions. Hall qualifies as just that; he’s a high-end athlete with hot and cold tape.
Miami Dolphins: WR Tank Dell, Houston
The Dolphins already have the most dynamic receiving duo in NFL history. Now make it a trio with the FBS leader in yards (1,399) and touchdowns (17) last year, and defenses' heads will be spinning. You simply wouldn't be able to play man coverage against Miami.
Minnesota Vikings: DT Moro Ojomo, Texas
Maybe this is an off-the-radar name here, but Ojomo is an ascending defensive tackle who could sneak into the top 100. He broke out with a 90.6 overall grade this past fall in his fifth year with the Longhorns. Even after five seasons, however, Ojomo is still 21 years old. He has the length to be a versatile run defender the Vikings need on the interior.
New England Patriots: CB Cory Trice, Purdue
The Patriots' cornerback group is one of the smallest in the NFL, which may explain why they weren’t quite as man heavy as in years past. Well, the 6-foot-3, 206-pound Trice would change that. He’s one of the best press cornerbacks in the class and also one of the best tacklers, with only four misses on 126 career attempts. High-end tacklers have been a staple in Bill Belichick’s draft history.
New Orleans Saints: EDGE Isaiah Foskey, Notre Dame
The Saints love long edge setters, but there may not be value in that mold at the end of the first round. Foskey has the kind of length and explosiveness that New Orleans covets, but as the 62nd player on the PFF draft board, he makes far more sense at either Pick Nos. 40 or 71.
New York Giants: LB Drew Sanders, Arkansas
Sanders won the class superlative for the best blitzing linebacker in the 2023 class. The Giants blitzed more than any team in the NFL last season. You see where I’m going with this.
New York Jets: C John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota
The highest-graded center in college football goes to a team in desperate need of an NFL-ready center. It makes too much sense if the Jets hold onto one of their second-rounders.
Philadelphia Eagles: G Chandler Zavala, N.C. State
Zavala is a top-three guard on the PFF draft board. He likely would have been even higher if we saw more than one full FBS season from him in his career. Zavala is a high-end athlete who can plug in on Day 1 at right guard for the Eagles — one of the few open starting spots on the roster.
Pittsburgh Steelers: S Brian Branch, Alabama
Branch played the role in Alabama’s defense once filled at a high level by Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. And he played it at nearly an identical level, too, with an 89.5 overall grade last fall. Having two safeties who are that versatile would open up a lot of creative opportunities for Mike Tomlin’s defense.
San Francisco 49ers: OT Blake Freeland, BYU
Freeland is one of the most athletic tackles of all time, and he even set the combine record for offensive linemen with a 37-inch vertical. That athleticism played in a zone scheme at BYU, where he earned an 87.9 run-blocking grade. He’s still a project in pass protection with serious play strength concerns, but that may cause him to fall right into the 49ers' lap at the end of the third round.
Seattle Seahawks: CB Julius Brents, Kansas State
Whether it’s Tariq Woolen (6-foot-4 1/8), Brandon Browner (6-foot-4) or Richard Sherman (6-foot-3), the Seahawks' type at cornerback looks like a wing guard in the NBA. No cornerback in this class fits that mold better than the nearly 6-foot-3 Brents. His 6-foot-10 wingspan is the longest of any cornerback since that measurement first started getting reported at the combine in 2018. That wingspan translated to four picks and three pass breakups last season in a career year at Kansas State. That would give the Seahawks one freaky duo on the outside.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: CB Tyrique Stevenson, Miami (FL)
The Bucs simply need to target valuable positions to kick off their reload. Stevenson has slot versatility dating back to his time at Georgia and is one of the best press cornerbacks in the class. That’s precisely what Tampa Bay needs to replace Sean Murphy-Bunting.
Tennessee Titans: WR Cedric Tillman, Tennessee
The Titans' play-action-heavy offense is built to feature receivers with large catch radii over the middle of the field. No one fits that bill in the draft class better than Tillman. The 6-foot-3, 213-pounder is very reliable, went 19-of-32 in contested situations the past two seasons and has a 4.4% drop rate for his career.
Washington Commanders: OT Matthew Bergeron, Syracuse
The Commanders add another tackle with guard versatility. Bergeron could also be a plus pass protector at guard early on after allowing only 23 pressures on 770 pass-blocking snaps at left tackle across the past two seasons.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.