Hopefully, everyone has been able to catch a little sleep and is up and ready to go for day two of the 2023 NFL draft. Now that we’ve had a few hours to rest our brains and think about the madness of the first round, here are our four biggest surprises from Thursday night.
How 'bout those running backs?
I was shocked when the Atlanta Falcon selected Texas running back Bijan Robinson No. 8 overall and I was even more shocked when the Detroit Lions followed that up with Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 overall. There is no more replaceable position in the NFL than running back and no elite team builds from running back first so these picks made no sense.
What happened to Will Levis?
The image of Kentucky quarterback Will Levis sitting in the green room at the end of the first round on Thursday night is making the rounds on social media today. I think most pundits assumed he would be long gone by now but here we sit, ready to being day two. Levis will come off the board quickly in the second round, maybe as early as the first pick but the fact no team felt the necessity to trade back into the round for him is surprising.
The Houston Texans came to win (The draft)
It is hard to say if what happened on Thursday night will make the Houston Texans playoff contenders but if there was a trophy for winning the first round of the draft, they might be the champs. Securing the No. 2 and No. 3 picks so they could get the top defensive player in Alabama edge Will Anderson Jr. and Ohio State cornerback CJ Stroud sets them up on both sides of the football.
The Packers drafting a backup at No. 13
Iowa defensive end Lukas Van Ness has been among the most overrated prospects of this entire draft process and the Packers believed the hype. His draft stock is almost 100 percent speculation and you don’t spend the No. 13 pick on a guy like that.
