NFL Draft 2018: Best draft class award goes to…

NFL Draft grades vary profusely, yet the very best stand out. Which team wins the award for best draft class of the 2018 NFL Draft?

The 2018 NFL Draft  is complete. Some teams had good drafts; other did not. We won’t know which teams fit in which category until years down the line. Grading a draft after the fact is not as much about pinpointing which team grabbed the best future pros (because we don’t know). It is, instead, about targeting who best utilized the draft process.

Because what criteria you are grading on matters, draft grades differ mightily depending on the source. Some sites specifically judge based on which players a team came away with. Others determine what draft capital a team had to work with and judge off of that starting point. The best way is to use a combination of both. We at NFL Spin Zone are not concerned with the nuances. We simply want to answer the question of which team wins the award for Best Draft Class in the NFL Draft 2018.

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the NFL Draft 2018 in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

No one is going to say the Houston Texans had the worst draft simply because they didn’t acquire any of the top 50 players. They didn’t have a pick until the third round. That would be nonsensical. Saying Tennessee had the best or the worst would also not make sense. The Titans only made four selections, so knock them for lack of talent acquired. But, to me, two of those picks — Harold Landry and Luke Falk — were excellent selections, so where does the scale lean? Of course, default awarding the best draft to the team that had the most high picks is similarly silly. Why and how did they get those high picks matters too.

With that said, the grades for team drafts are all over the place! Some folks think New England had an A+ draft, while others think it’s average at best. I fall further toward the latter. Miami, Los Angeles, and others have ranges of grades from great to poor.

While people disagree, there are some teams that seem to have been judged consistently as having a successful draft. Our job is to find the best, though. And right off the bat, I am eliminating one of those consistently well-renowned drafts: that of the New York Giants.

New York did everything it wanted to do in the draft. It grabbed arguably the best player, a road-grading lineman, pass rush depth, and a potential quarterback of the future. But the best draft cannot include a running back second overall. It isn’t sound logic, regardless of how good Saquon Barkley is in year one. The turnover at the position is impossible to ignore. The value of drafting a RB high is also nonexistent from a salary cap standpoint. No one values RBs in free agency, meaning drafting them highly is placing rookie backs on the same plane as the best of the best at the position monetarily.

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To me, the best draft class comes down to either the Denver Broncos or Miami Dolphins.

Denver drafted arguably the best defender in the class in Bradley Chubb. It loaded up on skill players on offense, which was a key point of emphasis. I have to give the edge to Miami though. The Dolphins also have a case for drafting the best defender in the class, only they took him 11th overall. They also added two premiere offensive skill players and did so more efficiently than Denver.

Mike Gesicki, out of the tight end position, could be Miami’s best receiver within two years. Kalen Ballage in the fourth round could feasibly end up being the best non-Barkley back in this class if things fall right. With the fluidity of the position, that same statement could be made about a number of players, but Miami’s value on the pick could be tremendous.

Some folks thought the Dolphins needed to draft a quarterback, but I’m not one of them. Give Ryan Tannehill a chance to compete this year with a full roster and healthy legs and reboot things in 2019 if necessary.

Dan Salem:

I always find it fascinating when experts disagree so completely on a team’s NFL Draft Grade. Its not like the rookie grades differ that much, so one would think that team grades remain consistent as well. We agree that the New York Giants do not deserve the bevy of praise they are receiving, yet they did select the “best” player in the NFL Draft 2018. The experts’ analysis is understandable. As for the Broncos and Dolphins, I feel good about both teams’ draft hauls. Yet neither had the best draft in my opinion. That comes down to my New York Jets and the Baltimore Ravens.

While I’d love to give the Jets the highest honor, I can not. They once again were lucky to have the player they coveted and the best rated quarterback fall to them at the top of round one. New York also filled holes exceptionally well on the defensive line, while grabbing a tight end and running back. All were positions of need, yet many of the players they drafted are from small schools. This ups the ‘bust’ potential slightly, but not a ton. Their GM has done a great job drafting over his tenure. The Jets are second in my book this year.

Ozzie Newsome‘s final draft with the Baltimore Ravens ranks as one of his best, and the best of the NFL Draft 2018. He maneuvered seven trades into 12 draft picks. The Ravens’ seven trades were only one shy of the leader in New England. No surprise there. Baltimore could have gone quarterback early in round one, but instead came away with an excellent tight end and a player who immediately helps Joe Flacco and the offense.

Hayden Hurst will do wonders for this unit. Then they snatched up Lamar Jackson at the very end of Round 1, a player we both projected as high as pick No. 11 or 12. He was a steal for the Ravens and would not have lasted very far into Round 2 if they didn’t trade up to pick the Louisville quarterback.

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I believed Baltimore needed to draft Flacco’s successor and they did. Jackson won’t be rushed onto the field, but will likely play by 2019 at the latest. He is very talented and joins an already strong football team. Baltimore went on to select three offensive lineman, two wide receivers and multiple defenders to replenish their depleted roster. For a team that should have made the playoffs last year, the Ravens just injected themselves with a major boost of youth. Can their division rivals say the same? I love how Baltimore dominated the draft and is rebuilding in a manner that does not tear down the success they previously constructed.