The NFL Draft’s first round is in the books, and there were a lot of wild decisions made by teams. We saw a few trades, a LinkedIn ad for Fernando Mendoza, and a handful of pass rushers fly off the board.
The bad decisions seemed to spawn early, when the Chiefs surrendered multiple draft picks to get a player they could have gotten at their original slot. Add in some reaches and questionable usage of resources, and there were plenty of candidates for the worst picks of the first round. We narrowed it down to five selections, however. Let’s start with Mansoor Delane.
CB Mansoor Delane, Kansas City Chiefs: No. 6 pick
This is not a knock on the player here, as Delane fills a big need for Kansas City. The only reason the Chiefs had two first-round picks was because they had to trade Trent McDuffie to the Rams when they couldn’t afford to extend him, so spending one on a corner made sense.
What didn’t, however, was giving up two draft picks to move up three spots to land a player they likely could have landed by staying put. Most assumed that the move up was designed to land either Sonny Styles or Caleb Downs, two higher-rated prospects that also could fill areas of need on the Chiefs’ defense. Delane is still regarded by many as the top corner on the board, but the value of giving up two extra picks to land him makes this a bad selection.
QB Ty Simpson, Los Angeles Rams: No. 13 pick
On paper, the idea of the Rams trying to find a successor for Matthew Stafford makes sense. Doing it in this class with the 13th overall pick on a player who only made 15 career college starts is a tremendous misuse of resources with a team trying to secure a second Super Bowl title with the reigning MVP.
Sean McVay at least had the courtesy to tell Stafford they were taking Simpson, which is better than the Falcons did with Kirk Cousins a few years ago when they selected Michael Penix. There were clear needs for the Rams to address now that they bypassed to take a player who won’t contribute this year if everything goes right.
DT Caleb Banks, Minnesota Vikings: No. 18 pick
This is another case of a team trying to fill a need by reaching for a player. Despite receiving second-round grades from some publications, the Vikings plucked Caleb Banks to fill a hole on their defensive line. There is a lot to like with Banks, who is an athletic marvel on the defensive interior at 6-foot-6 and 327 pounds, but a foot injury caused him to miss most of the 2025 college season.
That injury also prevented Banks from doing much during the pre-draft process, making it a risky call for a player who doesn’t have a long track record of production as a collegian. Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald, who may not have as much athletic freak potential as Banks, was still on the board as a much safer alternative for Minnesota.
OG Keylan Rutledge, Houston Texans: No. 26 pick
It feels like offensive line is a perennial need for Houston, which has been shuffling its line looking for long-term answers for the past few years. Rutledge is a step in that direction and is an intriguing prospect, but this pick grades as a reach considering most experts had him with a second-round grade.
Houston also invested in its interior line in the offseason, signing Wyatt Teller as a free agent and extending Ed Ingram on the right side, so it is hard to see an immediate path to playing time for Rutledge unless he slides inside to center. For a team hoping to contend for a division title this season, spending a pick on a player who may not contribute right away isn’t great strategy.
CB Chris Johnson, Miami Dolphins: No 27 pick
The Dolphins really need a bit of everything as they are entering a massive rebuild, and Johnson will certainly be a help. Adding a fast corner is a good idea in the AFC East, especially with all of the pass-catching weaponry Buffalo, New England and New York are looking to assemble.
The problem here, however, is that the Dolphins handed a huge contract to Malik Willis in free agency and stripped away all of his weapons, cutting Tyreek Hill in a salary cap move while trading Jaylen Waddle to Denver to land this pick. Bypassing Omar Cooper, who went to the Jets a few picks later, seems like a poor use of resources if they want to give Willis a chance to succeed.
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