Biggest Losers of the 2023 NFL Draft

The Athletic

Kansas City, Missouri (PSF) - With the 2023 NFL Draft now officially over, here are the biggest losers from this year’s draft.

Detroit Lions

AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

Going into the draft, it looked as if the Lions could have been one of the biggest winners. Instead, they turned out to be one of the biggest losers. They acquired the sixth overall pick in the Matthew Stafford trade with the Los Angeles Rams and traded down to number 12 with the Arizona Cardinals which was smart as they acquired more draft capital. However, with their first pick at no. 12 overall they reached on Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs who they could have gotten later in the draft. With their next pick, only six more spots down the board they took linebacker Jack Campbell out of Iowa who they also could have gotten later in an already weak linebacker class. Although Detroit did seem to make up their draft with the selections of Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch, and Hendon Hooker with their next three picks, it was still a very underwhelming draft for motor city to say the least.

Washington Commanders

AP

The Washington Commanders certainly did not command the draft, if you want to put it that way which is why they end up on this list. In the first round, they decided to select Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. While Forbes is a ball hawk and fills a need for Washington, he is also only 166 pounds which makes me question whether he will be able to hold up at the NFL level or not. On top of this, Washington also passed on the other first round caliber cornerbacks on the board in Christian Gonzalez, Deonte Banks, and Joey Porter Jr. who are all safer prospects than Forbes. While Washington made a nice value pick in the sixth round in Kentucky running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., that was in the sixth round and Washington’s backfield is already crowded as it is one of the biggest strengths of the team. Lastly, Washington did not take a late round flyer on any of the quarterback prospects with Sam Howell as their current QB1. This move should have been made in addition to the others which is why they are ultimately a loser of this year’s draft.

San Fransisco 49ers

Sporting News

The NFC has become a two-team race between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Fransisco 49ers. While the Eagles got even scarier as they had one of, if not the best draft class of the weekend, the 49ers got worse for several reasons. The first being that between the Christian Mccaffrey and Trey Lance trades, San Fransisco did not make a pick until the third round when they took safety Ji’Ayir Brown out of Penn State. In order to win in the NFL, you need to build through the draft and that’s hard to do when you don’t pick until the third round. With their second pick, also in the third round at no. 99 overall, San Fransisco selected Michigan kicker Jake Moody. Although special teams are important, there were way more impact players on the board. The NFL Draft is like playing the lottery, and when you don’t have a lot of lottery tickets, you only make it harder for yourself to cash out as San Fransisco only got farther away from Philadelphia this weekend in the NFC hierarchy.