2024 NFL Draft Round 1 Winners, Losers – NBC 6 South Florida

The opening round of the 2024 NFL Draft is in the books.

It was a round dominated by quarterback discourse, especially within the first 12 picks.

Six signal callers have been picked since Caleb Williams in that span Chicago Bears Bo Knicks to Denver Broncos No. First overall pick out of 12.

But not all choices are well received, especially one in the top 10.

Let's take a look at the Round 1 winners and losers of the 2024 NFL Draft:

Winner: Quarterbacks

It's a good time to be a quarterback. Since the quality of the position isn't very high across the league, you can see the logic in some needy teams hoping to land a gem early on. The signal callers who went in the first round were:

• Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (No. 1 overall)
• Jayden Daniels, Washington generals (Total No. 2)
• Drake Maye, New England Patriots (Total No. 3)
• Michael Benix Jr., Atlanta Falcons (No. 8 overall)
• JJ McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings (10th overall)
• Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (12th overall)

Will they all leave? Probably not. But teams can't win the Super Bowl without a star quarterback, so the onus shifts to their respective owners to properly develop their rookies.

Loser: Atlanta Falcons

But there are also instances of drafting a player early — especially a quarterback if a team deals a lucrative contract in free agency.

Such was the case with the Falcons, who selected Washington's Benix Jr. at No. 8 overall. The Falcons under newly hired head coach Raheem Morris have many holes to fill on defense, but instead they chose a 24-year-old quarterback who should sit behind the soon-to-be 36-year-old Kirk Cousins.

Cousins, who is coming off an ACL tear, signed a four-year, $180 million deal with Atlanta in free agency. Bennix Jr. drafted message is reported Relatives were “slightly stunned.” So he didn't like it?

Winner: Chicago Bears

The Bears let two of their first-round picks fall into their lap, but at least they didn't mess it up. Williams was the obvious choice at No. 1 overall since the trade of Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by Washington wideout Rome Odunze at No. 9 overall.

The field has to be somewhere that Williams enters in a better situation than him, especially with star wideout TJ Moore already on the roster.

It may take some time for Williams to lead Chicago into title contention (or, at the very least, away from mediocrity), but there's no doubt the groundwork has been laid for its next era.

Loser: Guardians

Although the attacking players dominated the early stages, the defenders had to feel neglected. It took half of the first round for a defender to get off the board.

UCLA edge Laitu Latu bucked the trend by going 15th overall to the Indianapolis Colts. Set the record for most offensive linemen drafted at the start of the wait. The 2024 draft was set to seven players in 2021 before doubling that.

Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell is the starting defensive tackle Philadelphia Eagles Drafted him at No. 22 overall.

Defense wins championships, but stockpiling top talent isn't the thought process this time around.

Winner: Kansas City Chiefs

All that has been talked about throughout the 2023 season is not getting talent beyond Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce. The criticism was right, as Patrick Mahomes and the offense struggled more often than not in the regular season, but the emergence of then-rookie Rushee Rice opened things up.

Then, somehow, the Chiefs turned their struggles into the Vince Lombardi Trophy, their third in five years. Now they have a young, talented wideout to give Mahomes extra help: Texas'Xavier Worthy.

Worthy posted the fastest 40-yard dash time ever at the combine at 4.21, so he'll provide Tyreek Hill-esque dynamism to Andy Reid's offense. The principals had just given a scare.

Honorable mention:

Las Vegas Raiders: Sometimes draft picks are straightforward, sometimes they aren't. The Raiders have a history of making confusing choices that ultimately didn't pan out, but the new era with Antonio Pierce is off to an intriguing start. The Raiders selected Georgie tight end Brock Bowers at No. 13, the best player at his position. He was essentially the best pick, so the Raiders came out of Round 1 as winners.