We are officially more than halfway done with the 2014-15 NFL season, so it's high time to check-in on how all the first-round draft picks from last year's NFL draft are doing so far.
(Big thanks to ProFootballFocus.com for providing grades)
1. Jadeveon Clowney - DE (Houston Texans)
Has played 55 snaps. Decent in run and pass coverage. Has been disappointing in the pass rush thus far and hasn't played much due to an injury.
2. Greg Robinson - OT (St. Louis Rams)
Has played 311 snaps. 5 starts under his belt. Has been good in pass blocking, minus the one bad game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Was doing good in run blocking, but has struggled the past two weeks.
3. Blake Bortles - QB (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Has played 524 snaps. 7 starts under his belt. Has lots of work to do as a passer, as he has a negative rating in every single game he's played in, minus the game against Tennessee. Underrated as a runner. A big time work in progress, but there's signs that he can be good.
4. Sammy Watkins - WR (Buffalo Bills)
Has played 647 snaps. 10 starts under his belt. Has had 4 great games receiving-wise, 3 bad games, and 3 mediocre games. Been a good blocker in the run game when asked to do so. Will be a starter in the NFL for years to come.
5. Khalil Mack - LB (Oakland Raiders)
Has played 609 snaps. 9 starts under his belt. Has been very good against the run with a solid grade in every game he's played in. Has also been good in rushing the passer and pass coverage, with the exception of last week's game against the Broncos. This kid has the skills to be a dominant linebacker in the NFL for along time.
6. Jake Matthews - OT (Atlanta Falcons)
Has played 480 snaps. 8 starts under his belt. Has been very disappointing thus far after showing promise during the pre-season. Has graded out negatively in the last 4 games he's played in, with absolutely atrocious grades against the Ravens and the Giants. Is a big-time work in progress. The good news is that most rookie offensive lineman struggle early on in the NFL.
7. Mike Evans - WR (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Has played 408 snaps. 8 starts under his belt. Was pretty mediocre to start the season, but has taken off recently. Has looked really good the past two weeks in games against the Browns and the Falcons. Isn't asked to do much as a blocker, but is effective when he does.
8. Justin Gilbert - CB (Cleveland Browns)
Has played 282 snaps. 2 starts under his belt. After some early-season struggles, seems to have turned things around and looks like a solid player. Been good in pass coverage, but isn't really asked to do much more than that.
9. Anthony Barr - LB (Minnesota Vikings)
Has played 594 snaps. 9 starts under his belt. Outside of one bad game against the Packers, Barr has been absolutely great. He's been dominating in the pass rush, has played average run defense, and has had a few missteps in pass coverage, but he absolutely looks like an NFL starter for years to come. Will likely be the cornerstone of the Vikings defense for the next decade.
10. Eric Ebron - TE (Detroit Lions)
Has played 188 snaps. 1 start under his belt. I would like to see him play a little more than he does, but he's been solid in the snaps he's taken. Another big-time work in progress.
11. Taylor Lewan - OL (Tennessee Titans)
Has played 267 snaps. 4 starts under his belt. Has actually been a good player thus far in his short career. Is a very effective run blocker. Has looked decent in pass blocking, but struggled against the Ravens last week. Will be an NFL starter for years to come.
12. Odell Beckham Jr - WR (New York Giants)
Has played 308 snaps. 4 starts under his belt. After missing the first few games of the season with an injury, Beckham has taken off. Has had 3 decent games and 2 really good games. One of those really good games came against the Seattle Seahawk's vaunted secondary. Will be a stud, if he isn't already.
13. Aaron Donald - DL (St. Louis Rams)
Has played 355 snaps. 5 starts under his belt. Has been an absolute force this season. Grades out exceptionally well in run defense and looks to be what we call a "shit clogger" in the NFL. Also looks extremely good in pass rushing situations. Donald was the 13th pick in this draft, but when it's all said and done, he could be the best player in this draft. Bonafide stud.
14. Kyle Fuller - CB (Chicago Bears)
Has played 460 snaps. 7 starts under his belt. After starting the season out strong, Fuller has fallen off a little bit the past few weeks, but the whole Bears team has. Has looked good defending the run, but his pass coverage has fallen off. Been burned in both games against the Packers, which isn't a good sign considering he will see them twice a year every season. Looks the part of an NFL player and his production falling off is likely a product of the entire team's production falling off.
15. Ryan Shazier - LB (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Has played 198 snaps. 5 starts under his belt. Had a horrible first game against Cleveland, but has looked improved since. Still a very big work-in-progress, but there's a lot to like from the little we've seen of Shazier so far. Was drafted a little too high in my opinion.
16. Zack Martin - OL (Dallas Cowboys)
Has played 687 snaps. 10 starts under his belt. If offensive lineman could actually win "year-end awards", Martin would be your NFL offensive rookie of the year. This guy has been an absolute stud so far in his career and is a big reason the Cowboys are as good as they are. Minus a few big whiffs early-on in his run-blocking, Martin has been extremely effective this season. He has graded out incredibly well in his last seven games and just gets better. It could only be a matter of time before we start talking about Martin as one of the best offensive lineman in football.
17. C.J. Mosley - LB (Baltimore Ravens)
Has played 672 snaps. 10 starts under his belt. Mosley has been in "beast mode" his entire rookie season. He graded out negatively in his first two games, but ever since then, he's been a force on defense for the Ravens. He's been exceptionally effective in run defense. If there's any room for improvement, it would probably be in pass rush. While he's rushed the quarterback, he's yet to come away with a sack. The Ravens get yet another player in the draft who will likely be a starter in the NFL for years to come.
18. Calvin Pryor - S (New York Jets)
Has played 446 snaps. 7 starts under his belt. Pryor has been decent thus far in his career. He's been good on run defense and even though he's struggled at time in pass coverage, he's shown signs of improvement recently.
19. Ja'Wuan James - OT (Miami Dolphins)
Has played 702 snaps. 10 starts under his belt. Has played every offensive snap for the Dolphins and his play has been all over the place, both good and bad. Played really well against the Bills, Jaguars, and Chargers, but struggled against the Packers, Lions, and in the second meeting against the Bills. Has actually regressed the last few weeks, which could be worrisome for the future.
20. Brandin Cooks - WR (New Orleans Saints)
Has played 493 snaps. 6 starts under his belt. Cooks has been pretty average thus far in his career. Rookie WR's usually have a tendency to struggle in their rookie season, so Cooks' play thus far should be taken as a positive. Has only had two bad games so far (against the Browns and the Lions). Really ineffective as a blocker.
21. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix - S (Green Bay Packers)
Has played 502 snaps. 3 starts under his belt. Had a bad game against the Saints, but other than that he's been good. He's grading out positive in pass coverage, but has struggled at times against the run. Lots to like from Clinton-Dix so far, but he seems to be more effective when he takes fewer snaps a game.
22. Johnny Manziel - QB (Cleveland Browns)
Has played 5 snaps. No starts under his belt. Manziel has been as ineffective as a first-round pick can be for the Browns with little hope of playing time in the future. The Browns currently find themselves in the position to make the playoffs and instead of getting help from another major addition in the first-round, they have a waste of a draft pick rotting on the bench. This is why the Browns have been bad for so long people.
23. Dee Ford - LB (Kansas City Chiefs)
Has played 50 snaps. No starts under his belt. Ford hasn't been asked to do a lot on a Kansas City defense that has played good this season. When Ford's been in the game though, he's been pretty average. There's not a whole lot to judge Ford on thus far as he hasn't seen a ton of game time, although he's a Tamba Hali-injury away from likely cracking the starting rotation.
24. Darqueze Dennard - CB (Cincinnati Bengals)
Has played 34 snaps. No starts under his belt. Dennard hasn't played nearly enough to judge his on-the-field performance so far. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Depends on how you feel about the Bengals secondary.
25. Jason Verrett - CB (San Diego Chargers)
Has played 230 snaps. 4 starts under his belt. Verrett has actually looked like a solid corner thus far in his short career. He's been extremely effective at times in pass coverage, and has a knack to get to the ball carrier. The bad news is he recently suffered an injury and his season has been cut short. Pretty disappointing for a guy who has looked like a legitimate NFL starter so far.
26. Marcus Smith - LB (Philadelphia Eagles)
Has played 59 snaps. No starts under his belt. We haven't seen enough from Smith to get a grasp on how good he is yet and I don't know if we will this season. Seems like a big-time work-in-progress for Chip Kelly and company.
27. Deone Bucannon - S (Arizona Cardinals)
Has played 422 snaps. 5 starts under his belt. Bucannon's play has been all over the place so far this season. In three of his first five games, he graded out negatively and looked horrible at times in pass coverage. The good news is that he has shown some signs of improvement as the season goes on. The bad news is....he just hasn't looked like an NFL starter thus far.
28. Kelvin Benjamin - WR (Carolina Panthers)
Has played 585 snaps. 9 starts under his belt. Benjamin has been asked to do a lot as a rookie WR who doesn't have a lot to work with. That could be the main reason he's garnered talk as a "Rookie of the Year" candidate, even though he's struggled at times catching the ball. I'm sold on Benjamin as a play-maker WR, but the guy is ineffective doing anything else. Don't ask him to block, especially when the Panthers are running the ball.
29. Dominique Easley - DT (New England Patriots)
Has played 221 snaps. 2 starts under his belt. Easley has struggled so far in his NFL career. Has had problems stopping the run and rushing the passer. Had a decent game against the Broncos, but looked terrible against the Dolphins, Chiefs, and Bears. Jury is still out on this kid.
30. Jimmie Ward - S (San Francisco 49ers)
Has played 270 snaps. 1 start under his belt. Ward has been average so far. He didn't look good against the Bears and the Saints, but has been average otherwise. Was having problems in pass coverage at the start of the season, but has slowly improved since. Big time work-in-progress.
31. Bradley Roby - CB (Denver Broncos)
Has played 495 snaps. No starts under his belt. Roby has been asked to do a lot for Denver's defense in his short NFL career and his play has been wildly inconsistent. There is lots to like about Roby though. He has struggled at times in pass coverage, but most rookies do. Has the look and feel of being an NFL starter for years to come as long as he becomes more consistent in coverage.
32. Teddy Bridgewater - QB (Minnesota Vikings)
Has played 390 snaps. 5 starts under his belt. Bridgewater wasn't expecting to get that much playing time as a rookie, but due to an injury to Minnesota's starting QB, Bridgewater has been asked to jump in and his on-the-field play has been inconsistent thus far, but that's usually expected from a rookie QB. Bridgewater has struggled at times throwing the ball, but he's shown a knack for being able to make smart plays with his legs when needed. I'm a fan of Bridgewater's and I like what I'm seeing from his so far. Mistakes come with being a rookie, it's all about learning from those mistakes.
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