The 2023 NFL Draft was expected to be a bit chaotic, but I’m not sure anyone really had an idea of just how awesome and fun the first round would be overall. Starting near the top of the draft with the Houston Texans shocking everyone by taking CJ Stroud second overall and then moving up to take Will Anderson Jr. right behind him the first round was loaded with shocking picks.
But even the most experienced mock draft artists out there couldn’t have predicted some of this chaos. What picks were the most unexpected of round one? Let’s take a look at the top five.
5 most unexpected first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft
1. CJ Stroud, QB, Houston Texans (2nd overall)
Well, that was a shocker, wasn’t it? The theatrics of this selection were pretty amazing, quite frankly. Everyone knew that Bryce Young was going to go first overall to the Carolina Panthers, but no one really knew what Houston was going to do. Most mock drafts had pivoted in recent weeks off of CJ Stroud and onto Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama, or even Tyree Wilson of Texas Tech.
The Texans clearly pulled the wool over all our eyes (well, not everyone, of course) and managed to not only land Will Anderson Jr. in a trade up right after the second overall pick, but they landed a bona fide franchise QB in CJ Stroud. At this point, nobody cares about the “S2” scores or whatever they’re calling this new Wonderlic thing. It’s all about football and we know CJ Stroud is good at it.
He gets to join the DeMeco Ryans operation in Houston with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, running back Dameon Pierce, and a very interesting group of receivers/tight ends led by the likes of Robert Woods, Nico Collins, John Metchie, and Dalton Schultz.
2. Anthony Richardson, QB, Indianapolis Colts (4th overall)
When the Indianapolis Colts hired Shane Steichen to be their next head coach, the writing was on the wall that this team was taking a quarterback. But who? Well, we saw Anthony Richardson really cement his stock as one of the top players in this class with an absolutely bananas workout at the 2023 Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Perhaps the Colts decided then and there that Richardson would look great in their stadium over the long haul.
Richardson becomes the latest ball of clay to be molded by Shane Steichen, who has worked with two of the best athletes at the position at his last two stops. Most recently, Steichen worked with Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, helping orchestrate one of the most feared offenses in the game. Before that, Steichen was tasked with getting Justin Herbert up to speed despite a pandemic causing so many hurdles for NFL teams in terms of young player development.
I’d say those worked out well. What can Steichen and Richardson do together with the Colts?
3. Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions (12th overall)
The Detroit Lions traded down from the 6th overall spot into the 12th overall slot, signaling they had missed out on their guy at pick no. 6, which was almost undoubtedly Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon (who went 5th to the Seahawks). After missing out on Witherspoon, the Lions traded back and got “creative”. They selected Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the 12th overall pick, a selection that floored pretty much everyone.
Not that Gibbs is a bad player, by any means. As of now, the Lions do still have D’Andre Swift and 2023 free agent pickup David Montgomery as well. Gibbs has been compared to Alvin Kamara, and although comparisons are unfair to incoming players, he does offer a lot in the passing game and can be a dynamic weapon for Detroit. Still, the shock factor of this pick was among the highest of round one.
4. Will McDonald IV, EDGE, New York Jets (15th overall)
The New York Jets obviously just recently (finally) pulled off the trade to acquire quarterback Aaron Rodgers. After watching the Green Bay Packers stay on-brand with the 13th overall pick, selecting Lukas Van Ness, the Jets were obviously thinking about offensive line or wide receiver with that 15th pick, right?
Surely, Aaron Rodgers would be in the draft room with Joe Douglas an Robert Saleh, campaigning for the team to take the top receiver off the board. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was just sitting there. He could even join his former Ohio State teammate Garrett Wilson in the wide receiver room!
The Jets didn’t care about any of that, and took Will McDonald IV. This was arguably the biggest shock factor of round one in terms of everyone expecting the Jets to go offense with this pick, and then not only did they go defense, but they went with a really unique guy in Will McDonald. There were a lot of other EDGE guys out there, so this pick will be fascinating to watch develop.
5. Jack Campbell, LB, Detroit Lions (18th overall)
Rounding out our top five most shocking 2023 NFL Draft picks is another pick by the Detroit Lions, who used the 18th overall selection on Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell. Now, there’s no relation here to Dan Campbell, although Campbell is sure to call his new first-round linebacker “brother” plenty of times.
Jack Campbell was absolutely outstanding at Iowa. He was the leader of that stellar defense and he plays fast. He’s big, he’s explosive, he can attack the line of scrimmage, and he can play out in coverage. I’ve been impressed by Campbell since watching him drop into the nickel alignment at times in Phil Parker’s defense early on in his time with the Hawkeyes.
There’s no doubt this guy can play. But based on the “mock draft simulators” and pre-draft rankings, Campbell went about 25-40 spots ahead of when most people thought he would. Which ultimately means nothing because the consensus doesn’t decide who will be successful in the NFL, but it does mean that this pick was shocking to just about everyone.