Draft takeaways after Day 1: Travis Hunter’s position, Browns big haul & Falcons move up

Sports

add

Inside: Let’s join Michael Silver inside the Jaguars war room, look at winners and losers from round one and quickly cover the best players available. We’ll start with the biggest move.

This article is from Scoop City, The Athletic’s NFL newsletter. Sign up here to receive it directly in your inbox.

Jacksonville’s blockbuster move

It finally happened. Real picks, trades and plenty of surprises.

Nothing was bigger than the trade between the Jaguars and Browns, which saw Jacksonville ship four picks (including 2025 and 2026 firsts) to move up three spots for Travis Hunter.

The Jags consider it a two-for-one, with Hunter being this year’s best receiver and cornerback prospect. “In our mind, we got two second overall picks this year,” said executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli.

They will take advantage of Hunter’s dual-threat ability, with The Athletic’s Michael Silver, who was inside the team’s draft room, sharing the scoop on their approach:

“The plan is to use him as a wide receiver as he eases into his pro career while creating a package of plays featuring him as a cornerback. Eventually, if all goes well, his defensive load could be increased.”

Per Silver, the deal was worked out 17 days earlier by 34-year-old GM James Gladstone, then became official after the Browns saw Cam Ward picked No. 1. Owner Shad Khan made the final call: “Let’s make history.” Hunter was surprised, too. Mike has every juicy detail here.

Could this trade come back to haunt the Browns? Very possible, especially if Hunter lives up to his generational potential. But the haul of picks — Nos. 5, 36 (second round), 126 (fourth) and a 2026 first — offers plenty of cushion. Beat reporter Zac Jackson called it a wise move for Cleveland, who used their first pick to place Michigan DT Mason Graham beside Myles Garrett.

For now, both teams won this trade. Yes, the word “won” is always a dangerous one to use for the Jaguars (58-122 since 2014) or Browns (64-115-1), but I like this deal:

• Jacksonville might have slightly overpaid in their desperation for star power alongside Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas Jr. — but this looks cheap if Hunter becomes a two-way All-Pro.
• It was smart by the Browns, as they needed more than a WR/CB and can now reinforce their roster with young, highly drafted prospects and (ideally) a quarterback.

Who else won the first round? We’ll look at the winners and losers next, plus the best players available — a list that still includes Shedeur Sanders.

First-round winners & losers

Those grades are explained here. There was no better pick than the Falcons drafting Georgia edge Jalon Walker at 15; they addressed their biggest need by taking Dane Brugler’s fifth-ranked prospect. Great start.

The problem? Atlanta later traded a package of picks worth 1,491 points on the classic Jimmy Johnson trade value chart (including their 2026 first and this year’s second) to the Rams for Nos. 26 and 101 (totaling only 796). Yikes. Josh Kendall explained it all in his breakdown of Atlanta’s first round.

“To be able to get a future (No.) 1 is a big deal,” said Sean McVay, “to just move back 20 spots.” Yup, the Rams won that by a landslide.

Other winners & losers:

📈 Giants: Leaving Day 1 with Abdul Carter and their potential QB of the future in Jaxson Dart was the best-case scenario. If they’re right about Dart, whom they got by trading two thirds and a second to Houston, this is a major coup.

🤷 Tampa Bay receivers: The Buccaneers were handed the first-round’s lowest grade (C-) after drafting Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka, a reliable, polished route runner who thrives in the slot. Why? It was a luxury pick for a team already fielding three strong receivers, with needs elsewhere and a recent three-year, $66 million commitment to Chris Godwin. For the counterpoint, Ted Nguyen explains why it actually makes sense for Tampa Bay’s scheme.

📈 Super Bowl teams: Both the Eagles and Chiefs walked away from last night with top-10 talents. Somehow. GM Howie Roseman traded up for pick No. 31 and took Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell (Campbell was a “top-10 player” on their draft board, Roseman said after). One pick later, the Chiefs stole Ohio State LT Josh Simmons, who had a top-10 projection before falling due to medical concerns. Kansas City isn’t worried.

📈 Colts: The consensus No. 5 prospect, TE Tyler Warren, fell to 14th. The perfect alignment of talent and need made him an easy decision for Indy. “Last time I felt that good about putting in a pick … was Quenton (Nelson),” GM Chris Ballard said. Warren might live up to the lofty comparison.

📉 Shedeur Sanders. Frequently projected as a potential No. 2, Sanders joins fellow QBs Jalen Milroe and Tyler Shough as Day 2 considerations. As Jeff Howe explains, many NFL executives and coaches predicted this would happen: “Most polled by The Athletic were more concerned with Sanders’ talent than anything off the field.” More on him to come.

📈 Drake Maye and Justin Fields: Fields will play behind the best line of his NFL career, with his Jets adding Armand Membou to one of the league’s best groups, while the Patriots added the draft’s top lineman in OT Will Campbell.

For more, Zak Keefer has a full list of winners and losers. Next, we try to stay positive here, but we need to talk about Sanders.

Shedeur Sanders: ‘This shouldn’t have happened’

How did the Colorado quarterback respond to not getting picked in the first round? Sanders spoke to his draft party after a long night of waiting, saying “We all didn’t expect this … we all know this shouldn’t have happened … this is fuel to the fire.” Watch his full speech here.

Will Levis endured a similar fall in 2023 before the Titans traded up to No. 33. QB-desperate Cleveland is picking from that slot tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Here are their other options:

That list includes two edge rushers with first-round grades in The Beast (Green and Ezeiruaku), Dane’s highest-ranking safety (Emmanwori), two receiving options with round-one grades (Burden III and Taylor), and the polarizing Sanders, Dane’s QB2 and No. 34 overall prospect.

Plenty of intrigue left in this draft. Nick Baumgardner predicted every pick of round 2 and 3, with the Browns taking Sanders before Shough heads to the Saints at 40 and Milroe is picked by the Jets at 42.

Let’s end with the best round 1 prediction sent in by a Scoop City reader:

To keep up with tonights action, set a reminder for The Athletic Football Show live stream. It gets underway at 7 p.m. ET.

We’ll be back Monday to recap it all. Until then, keep the following open:

📫 Enjoyed this read? Sign up here to receive The Athletic’s free daily NFL newsletter in your inbox. 

Also, check out our other newsletters.

(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Eubank warns Benn at final face-off: ‘Weight has no relevance’

News Story

Next

trending_flat

2025 PGA Championship picks, odds, field: Surprising predictions from the golf model that called 14 majors

Sports