The 2024 NFL Draft coverage here at CBS Sports has been second to none. We've got a robust NFL Draft Tracker jammed with grades for every single pick throughout the course of the entire draft. We've got tons of takeaways from every round, including winners and losers for the first round and the full draft.
Want a 2025 NFL Mock Draft? Ryan Wilson has you covered! Pete Prisco has draft grades for every single team's draft class.
And below I've got some superlatives for the 2024 NFL Draft to lighten up your day. Let's get to them.
Most Likely to Accidentally Schedule Two Dates on the Same Night at the Same Restaurant...
Terry Fontenot, Falcons GM
The Atlanta Falcons will be *fine* for this year, I'm sure ... assuming Kirk Cousins is healthy, which feels like a larger assumption than we thought following the selection of Michael Penix, Jr. on Thursday night. Cousins is working his way back from a late-season Achilles tear, and despite the Falcons dropping $100 million on him this offseason, Atlanta still dove headfirst into the quarterback deep end during the draft, grabbing Penix with their No. 8 overall pick. In a vacuum, both moves are fine. The Cousins signing was widely praised, and NFL teams were higher on Penix than the public consensus. (Plus, J.J. McCarthy going No. 10 and Bo Nix going No. 12 only proves Penix wasn't going to last a long time in the draft.) But the Falcons didn't tell Cousins they were taking Penix until they were on the clock, and now the Falcons will have Penix whipping the ball around during the offseason while Kirk does pliability exercises. It's like Fontenot was set up on a blind date, worked out a time and a place to meet, then promptly fired up Bumble and scheduled someone else to join him at the same restaurant at the same time. It's going to be awkward at some point this offseason.
Most Likely to be America's Preseason Playoff Sleeper Darling...
Chicago Bears
NFL fans are dying to make the Bears the next great NFL breakout team. It's been that way for several years now, in large part because the Bears have spent three of their past five (!) first-round picks on a quarterback. It's true: Caleb Williams (2024), Darnell Wright (2023), no pick (2022), Justin Fields (2021), no pick (2020), no pick (2019), Roquan Smith (2018), Mitchell Trubisky (2017). With that being said, this is going to be the pinnacle of that preseason hype, thanks in large part to Williams landing in the most QB-friendly spot just about anyone can ever remember for a No. 1 overall pick. Usually top picks are going to bad teams, and the Bears might not be good, but they're most certainly not bad. Think about what Bryce Young got handed last year, even as a team that was the No. 9 pick as well and traded up: nothing skill-position player wise (Adam Thielen, D.J. Chark, rookie Jonathan Mingo), a new coaching staff with multiple offensive philosophies in place, and a questionable offensive line. Williams has a vastly-improved offensive line (albeit still not an elite one), a new OC in Shane Waldron who has a lot of freedom to run his scheme, and a slew of pass-catching weapons in D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze -- not to mention D'Andre Swift out of the backfield. There will be plenty of people who pick the Bears to win this division in Williams' rookie season.
Most Likely to Bring a Lunchpail and Hard Hat to the Office...
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers probably get a little too much credit for being hard-nosed, blue-collar, etc. But I'm gonna lean into it for this season, especially with the draft class they put together. Mike Tomlin's squad picked up a bunch of lunchpail dudes in the draft. They loaded up on beef along the offensive line with Troy Fautanu (versatile, physical offensive lineman) and Zach Frazier ("wrestling background"). Then the Steelers drafted a wide receiver in Michigan's Roman Wilson, who had his run-blocking highlighted on television when he got drafted. And then there's Payton Wilson, the NC State linebacker and Butkus Award winner who fell to the third round because of injuries and age. He's as blue collar as it gets, and this fanbase is going to LOVE him. Following the draft he described Pittsburgh as "one of my favorite cities of all-time" and told reporters he plays "with my hair on fire" having seen the game taken away from him previously via injury. Their final day picks included Mason McCormick (also helps the OL reboot), defensive lineman Logan Lee ("vintage Steelers pick") and cornerback Ryan Watts -- all three of whom have really good upside if they can develop under Tomlin.
Most Likely Designed to Exorcise Demons of Offenses Past...
New England Patriots
The Joe Judge/Matt Patricia/Mac Jones/Bill O'Brien years took their toll on the Patriots. Things went so poorly in the post-Tom Brady era that the franchise fired Bill Belichick. Not totally without cause, however, as the offense was completely putrid for the last several years. Following Brady leaving, the Pats finished 27th, seventh (Mac Jones' rookie year with Josh McDaniels), 17th and 31st, respectively, in total offense. It's very clear the mandate for the new regime was to fix the offense, fix it quickly and spare no expense in the draft to do so. The Pats had eight total draft picks, and seven of them -- including the first five picks -- were all used on offense. The Pats nabbed Drake Maye as their next franchise quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick, the only real choice in that spot. They attempted to fix a disastrous wide receiver room by grabbing Ja'Lynn Polk in the second round and Javon Baker in the fourth. Polk felt like a bit of a reach, but there were already 10 receivers off the board. (The Pats tried to trade up into the back end of the first round or to the top of the second round (to no avail), so it's clear they wanted someone to pair with Maye in the second round.) The wideouts sandwiched a pair of interior offensive linemen in Caedan Wallace from Penn State and Layden Robinson out of Texas A&M. Tennessee bazooka cannon QB Joe Milton was a fun sixth-round pick and Jaheim Bell out of FSU was a worthy flier. Shoutout South Carolina cornerback Marcellas Dial, the answer to the trivia question, "Who is the only defensive player from the Pats 2024 draft class?"
Mostly Likely to Re-Ignite an Elite Offense En Route to a Three-Peat
Kansas City Chiefs
The NFL is rightfully touted as a league chockfull of parity, but the Chiefs are kind of putting a stranglehold on professional football these days, winning a second-straight Super Bowl despite sporting a questionable offense for most of the season. The rich got richer over the weekend, with the Chiefs landing Texas wideout Xavier Worthy in the first round and BYU offensive lineman Kingsley Suamataia in the second round. Worthy set the all-time combine record for fastest 40-yard dash and clearly was coveted by Brett Veach and Andy Reid, as the Chiefs traded up with the Bills to grab him in the first round. Worthy and Marquise Brown (speedy free agent addition) give the Chiefs not just insurance for a Rashee Rice suspension, but an explosive downfield component the offense lacked last year. Good luck smothering Travis Kelce with those field stretchers out there. Worth noting: they also spent a fourth-round pick on TCU tight end Jared Wiley. The Chiefs love cultivating that tight end room, so he's a name worth eying. Drafting Suamataia, along with interior offensive linemen Hunter Nourzad (fourth round, Penn State) and C.J. Hanson (seventh round, Holy Cross) makes it clear Kansas City wants to beef up the depth on the offensive line in front of Patrick Mahomes and not find itself in a situation like the 2020 Super Bowl when the line deteriorated and cost them a title.
Most Likely to Mitigate the Loss of Aaron Donald...
Los Angeles Rams
There was some talk about the Rams being a lock to use their first first-round pick since 2016 (Jared Goff!) on an offensive player given Sean McVay's background. That thought probably changed around the time first-ballot HOF Aaron Donald -- maybe the greatest defensive player of all time -- decided to hang up his cleats, leaving a massive void on the Rams defense. No one player, and maybe not two players, can replace Donald. He was a destructive force and a defensive unicorn. But credit to the Rams for trying with their first two picks. Les Snead snared Jared Verse at 19th overall, one of the best pass rushers in this class (lots of people debated Verse vs Dallas Turner vs. Chop Robinson vs. Laiatu Latu as the top guy). Then the Rams circled back in the second round and dipped into the FSU pool one more time, grabbing Braden Fiske, Verse's Seminole defensive line teammate. Fiske can rush the passer from the defensive tackle position. He cost a future second-round pick to give up with the Rams trading to this spot. But L.A. is absolutely a team to contend in 2025, especially if their defense is up to par with last year's squad. Grabbing those two, along with Clemson DL Tyler Davis, will help soften the blow of losing Donald.
