5 winners and 3 losers from Round 1 of the NFL Draft

Who attracted most of our attention during the first round of the 2024 draft?

Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft is in the books — and it was a record-breaker in Detroit. Thursday night was all about offense. That’s how the first 14 picks were used — a total of 23 on the draft’s opening night. While there weren’t many trades, there were plenty of surprises — including the Kansas City Chiefs trading up with one of their biggest rivals.

Typically, we only talk about the Chiefs in this space. But this night warranted some commentary about some other NFL teams. Here are the winners and losers from Round 1 in Motown.

Winners

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Wide receiver Xavier Worthy: On the first night of the draft, the Chiefs identified a difference maker — and made one of the cheapest trade-ups in the history of the draft’s first round to land the speedy Texas wideout. So now, the NFL Combine’s fastest player gets to join the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, catching passes all over the field from quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He’ll be coached by the guy who helped the 5-foot-10, 175-pound DeSean Jackson thrive in the NFL. If there’s a team in the league that knows how to maximize his talent, it’s Kansas City.

Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the rest of the Chiefs’ offense: Bringing Worthy aboard opens up many possibilities for the team, which struggled to connect on deep passes last season. Defenses were swarming on the short passes, devoting extra attention to Kelce. So the Chiefs allowed Marquez Valdes-Scantling to walk — and then added Hollywood Brown and Worthy. With the return of the Legion of Zoom, defenses will once again have to respect Kansas City’s long game. But Worthy is far from just a “track guy.” He can run crisp routes and track deep passes; he’ll be a difference-maker early and often. Finally, his presence will also be a hedge against the potential suspension of Rashee Rice and the future departure of Brown, who is on a one-year deal.

Offensive tackles Wanya Morris and Donovan Smith: Much of the pre-draft buzz around Kansas City was around the offensive tackle position; general manager Brett Veach all but announced he intended to get a left tackle in the first round. But there was an early run at the position, leaving the Chiefs without an option they loved. Kansas City will probably still take a tackle on Day 2, but the chance that player could be a Day 1 starter will be much lower. Morris should feel better about his chance of retaining the job on the blind side — unless (or until) the team re-signs Donovan Smith.

General manager Brett Veach: While everyone thought he might want to trade up in the first round, they also believed other teams wouldn’t cooperate with the back-to-back champions. But somehow, Veach convinced the Buffalo Bills (of all teams!) to clear the path for acquiring Worthy — and did it without losing a draft pick! After two pick swaps, Kansas City has retained the opportunity to move around on Day 2 and address other positions.

The Chicago Bears: There are probably 25 fan bases who think their team crushed Round 1. But one of them actually saw its perfect scenario play out. When the Bears “earned” the No. 1 pick in 2023, they acquired a haul of draft picks from the Carolina Panthers, who wanted to move up to get quarterback Bryce Young. Part of that haul was 2024’s No. 1 pick — and Chicago used it to get the top quarterback prospect: USC’s Caleb Williams. Then with its own No. 9 pick, the team landed one of the three elite wide receiver prospects: Rome Odunze. On the way out on Thursday night, Chicago fans were chanting, “We won the draft!” We’ll have to see if it translates to actual success — but it was an impressive night for the Bears’ front office.

Losers

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Wide receiver Kadarius Toney: Veach recently mentioned he still has faith in Toney, calling him the team’s “most talented” receiver. Now that the team has acquired Worthy, neither may still be true. The Chiefs landed a young, explosive wideout who can run every route and potentially return kicks. Toney was a healthy scratch down the stretch in 2023. Thursday night was a reminder: we should trust a team’s actions more than its words.

The Chiefs’ offensive line: Everyone knew that Kansas City wanted to upgrade at offensive tackle and at wide receiver, but they had only one pick to do it — and it was the last pick of the night. The team chose to add a wideout, adding a legitimate weapon for Mahomes rather than protecting his blind side. Yes… the team can get the line back to what it was last season. But now, it’s less likely that the team will be able to add blue chip left tackle. In 2024, we should again expect to see Mahomes compensate for his offensive line.

The Buffalo Bills: It’s not just that they once again let the Chiefs get the player that could transform their offense. It’s not just that they traded down twice and didn’t make a pick on the first night. What really made it a rough night is that Buffalo didn’t gain a single draft selection; it traded down twice, but both were pick swaps. You have to think that Bills fans are breaking tables — but not in a fun way. Sure… they could bounce back on Friday with a trade for a veteran receiver — or draft Adonai Mitchell, Ladd McConkey or Keon Coleman. But on Thursday, the Bills fans I saw in Detroit were mad.