This is the pick they will still be bragging about in July: Cam Skattebo, the No. 105 name on the board, stolen at the 216th overall pick.
So much rides on Shedeur Sanders that the rest of the class almost grades on a curve behind him. They are betting Thornton Jr. proves the room right and everyone else wrong.
The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
A competent weekend that does not make headlines and does not need to.
Pick-by-Pick
R1.6
· Pick 6
· Shedeur Sanders
· QB
· rank 6
In the Round 1 slot they get their guy under center for the next decade at fair value.
R2.18
· Pick 50
· Jalon Walker
· LB
· rank 20
Jalon Walker at Round 2, Pick 18 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
R3.4
· Pick 68
· TreVeyon Henderson
· RB
· rank 55
TreVeyon Henderson at No. 68 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. A need, and now a little less of one.
R3.9
· Pick 73
· Omarion Hampton
· RB
· rank 30
A running back of that caliber at pick No. 73 is the definition of value, full stop. The roster fit checks out.
R3.18
· Pick 82
· Alfred Collins
· DT
· rank 56
Steal is underselling it; Alfred Collins at slot 82 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
R4.5
· Pick 106
· Savion Williams
· WR
· rank 98
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Savion Williams at pick 106 is the proof. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
R4.35
· Pick 136
· Dont'e Thornton Jr.
· WR
· rank 184
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the 136th overall pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
R5.5
· Pick 142
· Danny Stutsman
· LB
· rank 90
They robbed the room for Danny Stutsman here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
R6.3
· Pick 178
· Smael Mondon Jr.
· LB
· rank 110
You do not let a linebacker like Smael Mondon Jr. reach the Round 6 slot and blink. They did not. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
R6.35
· Pick 210
· Oronde Gadsden II
· TE
· rank 142
Oronde Gadsden II at Round 6, Pick 35 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
R6.37
· Pick 212
· Shilo Sanders
· S
· rank 258
Shilo Sanders at the Round 6 slot is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A minor itch, scratched.
R6.41
· Pick 216
· Cam Skattebo
· RB
· rank 105
Cam Skattebo in the 216th pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
R7.6
· Pick 222
· Luke Lachey
· TE
· rank 195
The board fumbled Luke Lachey all the way to pick No. 222, and they scooped it up. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.