The 8 best moments from the first round of the NFL Draft

It is pretty easy to find a starting point for something like this, especially when something so shocking kicks off the draft.

The Browns stunned everyone by selecting Baker Mayfield with the top pick

I think for better or worse that will be the most memorable pick of this draft. I can’t remember the last time everyone had the first overall pick so wrong. It seemed like everyone had an endless debate over whether Sam Darnold or Josh Allen would be the first overall pick, but kudos to John Dorsey, who kept the pick till the very last moment.

Opinions vary on the top four guys. Depending on who your favorite is probably says how you reacted to this pick. Still, the Browns must have really seen something in Mayfield to draft him despite the overwhelmingly obvious comparison to Johnny Manziel.

However, Manziel and Mayfield are different football players. Sure, they are both undersized, mobile quarterbacks, but Mayfield possesses an accuracy and anticipation that Manziel just didn’t. Of course if everything goes to plan we won’t be seeing Mayfield until 2019 as the Brown plan to start Tyrod Taylor.

Four quarterbacks go in the top 10 for the first time ever

It is honestly more shocking that this never happened before last night. The most important position in football had an absolutely loaded class this season, and it showed with two going in the top three picks, and the other two failing to escape the top 10.

Three teams made sure to trade up to get their guy including the cardinals getting Josh Rosen, the Bills opting for Allen and the Jets having Darnold fall into their laps. Of course the Jets traded with the Colts prior to the draft.

It will be interesting to see if these quarterbacks were worth the price tag to trade up. The Bills and Jets easily gave up the most draft capital to get their guys. The Jets gave up the sixth, 37th and 49th overall picks this year and a second round pick next year.

The Bills parted ways with the 12th, 53rd and 55th pick in this years draft to the Bucs. They also gave up the 21st overall pick and Cordy Glenn to the Bengals in order to get to the 12th pick while swapping some mid round selections.

Will these quarterbacks be worth their price tag?

Cleveland passes on pass rusher Bradley Chubb

In another stunning turn of events the Browns passed up the opportunity to pair Chubb with Myles Garrett and wreak havoc on NFL quarterbacks. Instead they opted for the Ohio State corner Denzel Ward. Nothing against Ward, he is a talented player, but Chubb was easily the best defensive player in this draft, and I don’t think the rest of the AFC West will be able to forgive Cleveland for allowing the Broncos to pair Von Miller and Chubb together.

Surprising landing spot for the top offensive tackle

This entire draft cycle I don’t think anyone expected any of these tackles to go in the top 10. There wasn’t a guy who you could feel confidently about taking and playing at left tackle right away. Still it says a lot about the current state of NFL offensive lines that the 49ers drafted Mike McGlinchey ninth overall. He is easily the safest of the offensive tackles in this class though. At worst he will be a starting right tackle for years to come.

Raiders focus on offense despite awful defense

Jon Gruden took a bold stance in his first draft with the Raiders. First, they traded back and ended up taking Kolton Miller, who many have serious questions about how well he will transition to the NFL. They took Miller despite Derwin James still being on the board.

Even more shocking was the Raiders giving the Steelers a third round pick for the receiver Martavis Bryant. He has been a constant headache for the Steelers who opted to draft his replacement in JuJu Smith-Schuster last season.

The timing of the trade is weird since it happened fairly soon after the Raiders selection. It seems like Gruden is more concerned about building around Derek Carr than stopping any opposing offense that lines up against them.

Do the Saints know what they are doing?

One of the more baffling decisions from last night was the Saints paying a huge price to trade up and select defensive end Marcus Davenport. They moved up 13 spots by mainly giving away their first-round pick for next season. The pick was shocking, because you would think for that cost they’d take Lamar Jackson as the future behind Drew Brees. The Saints just pushed all their chips in, and we will have to see how that works.

Reaches upon reaches upon reaches

There is always a few teams who say “screw your value” and take the player they absolutely love. Some could even say the Bengals did that when they picked Billy Price to fill their center need.

However, several teams after the Bengals made that pick look like a work of art, starting with the Ravens, who moved back to 25 to select tight end Hayden Hurst. The 25-year-old tight end was viewed as a second day pick and the second overall tight end by many.

Obviously, the Ravens needed to give Joe Flacco more weapons. Receiver D.J. Moore was selected by the Panthers right before them, so there is a chance he was their target.

At 27, the Seahawks provided an unexpected “whaaaaaaaat” moment when they made San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny the second running back off the board. He had a productive college career, but there are major concerns about how well that will transition to the NFL.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks have outstanding needs elsewhere at positions where there were still talented players left like safety, corner or even offensive line. The Seahawks have been known to go against conventional wisdom, but this is a head scratcher even for them.

Not to be out done, the very next pick saw the Steelers select Terrell Edmunds. No, I did not say Tremaine Edmunds, the star linebacker. I said Terrell Edmunds, as in his brother who was a safety at Virginia Tech. He wasn’t even really projected to go until Day 3 by most people. The absurdity of the pick was softened by the sight of Ryan Shazier walking to the podium to deliver the pick, which I think we can all agree is tremendous to see.

Back to the pick though. It was such a surprise that even Edmunds wasn’t prepared for it.

Lamar Jackson joins the AFC North

The fall of Jackson was pretty surprising, but then again most quarterback needy teams took their guy early. This left Jackson waiting for a team with either a struggling or aging starting quarterback to take him and wait in the wings. He fell past teams like Saints, Patriots, Bengals, Steelers and even the Ravens.

It was Baltimore, though, who decided that he was worth moving back up to the final pick of the first round to take. He will now be sitting behind Flacco for a season or two. The best part of this pick is it ends the question of if Flacco is elite or not.

What was your favorite moment from the first round?