NFL DRAFT WINNERS & LOSERS 2024: COMMANDERS, STEELERS IMPRESS ON DAY 2, JETS, COWBOYS LEAVE QUESTIONS
Which teams stayed engaged on Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft?
The second round featured an early run on receivers and cornerbacks. Buffalo started the receiver run by selecting Florida State's Keon Coleman at No. 33. That was one night after the Bills traded their first-round pick to Kansas City, who used that pick to take Texas' Xavier Worthy. Expect Coleman and Worthy to have their careers linked as a result.
The cornerback run started with Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean, a projected first-round pick who slipped to the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 40. DeJean was a potential value pick given the spot and will join first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell in reshaping the Eagles' secondary.
Which teams took advantage of the Day 2 value? Which teams struggled to stay on script?
A look at the winners and losers from Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft.
SN's NFL DRAFT HQ
2024 NFL Draft Day 2 winners
Washington Commanders
First-year Washington general manager Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn put together a nice three-pick second round to go with No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels in the first round.
Defensive tackle Johnny Newton was a first-round value who produced consistently for Illinois the past two seasons with 13 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss. Mike Sainristil was a do-everything defensive back at Michigan who should start as a nickel back, and Kansas State tight end Ben Sinnott had 49 catches for 676 yards and six TDs last season. It was a no-nonsense round that can accelerate a rebuild.
Washington added TCU tackle Brandon Coleman – a Reese's Senior Bowl standout – with the No. 67 pick in the third round.
The Commanders closed Day 2 with a splash pick. Rice slot receiver Luke McCaffrey, brother of Christian McCaffrey, had 992 receiving yards and 13 TDs last season. He should settle into a versatile role in the Washington offense and replace the departed Curtis Samuel.
MORE NFL DRAFT: Day 1 winners and losers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers addressed their offensive line in this draft, which had been an area of need last season. Washington tackle Troy Fautanu was their first-round pick, and the Steelers built on that with a strong second-round pick.
West Virginia center Zach Frazier, a four-time high school wrestling champion who made 46 starts for the Mountaineers, provides an element of toughness in the middle. The Steelers added to that haul with Michigan receiver Roman Wilson in the third round. Wilson showed out at the Senior Bowl and NFL Scouting Combine, where he ran a 4.39 in the 40-yard dash.
The Day 1 and Day 2 picks are welcome additions for new quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Pittsburgh capped that strong day with NC State linebacker Payton Wilson, a first-round talent who won the Butkus Award in 2023 but slipped because of injury concerns.
Los Angeles Rams
Aaron Donald retired this offseason after a 10-year career that produced 111 sacks from the interior. Los Angeles used its first two picks on a pair of Florida State interior defenders to fill that void.
Jared Verse was one of the safest picks on Day 1 at 19th overall, and the Rams followed that up with another Seminoles defensive tackle at No. 39 in Braden Fiske, a 6-3, 300-pounder who had 7.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in Florida State's last three games.
In the third round, Los Angeles added Michigan running back Blake Corum, who slipped a little further than expected down the board. Corum (5-8, 205) averaged 5.5 yards per carry with 58 rushing TDs in a prolific career. He will be a tandem running back with Kyren Wiliams.
Los Angeles closed a strong day with Miami safety Kamren Kinchens with the No. 99 pick. Kinchens had 11 interceptions over his final two seasons with the Hurricanes.
Cooper DeJean
DeJean kick-started a cornerback run that included Kool-Aid McKinstry to New Orleans, Kamari Lassiter to Houston, and Max Melton to Arizona with the next three picks. Is DeJean the best of that bunch?
In a sense, DeJean was a first-round slide who could be a Day 2 winner given he will be paired with first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell in a re-tooled secondary with Philadelphia.
DeJean limited receivers to a 43.5-percent catch percentage when targeted last season, and he totaled seven interceptions for the Hawkeyes the past two years.
DeJean is drawing comparisons to Jason Sehorn because both are white cornerbacks, and it did not take long for that question to come up.
Sehorn had 19 interceptions in a nine-year career. Let DeJean stand out on his own merit. He will have a chance in Philadelphia to showcase his skills.
2024 NFL Draft Day 2 losers
New York Jets
Are the Jets in win-now mode with veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers? A quiet Day 2 will lead to some questions. New York did add Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu with the No. 11 pick in the first round, but the Jets did not pick in the second round and waited until Round 3 to get a receiver.
For Rodgers, this sounds like a familiar theme dating back to his time in Green Bay. New York took Western Kentucky receiver Malachi Corley with the first pick of the third round. According to Pro Football Focus, Corley had 115 targets last season, but 87 of those targets were 10 yards or less. Given the depth at receiver, it is a questionable wait-and-see pick for New York.
Dallas Cowboys
Edge rusher Micah Parsons was "utterly disgusted" that the division rival Eagles landed Quinyon Mitchell in the first round. Dallas, who's entering a pivotal year with Dak Prescott, did not address running back in the second round either.
The Cowboys drafted Marshawn Kneeland, a Western Michigan edge rusher who had six sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss over the past two seasons. If Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy are trying to make a splash in the first two rounds after an embarrassing 48-32 loss to Green Bay in the NFC playoffs last season, this is not exactly the way.
Dallas did add two-time Sporting News All-American guard Cooper Beebe with the No. 73 overall pick in the third round, which was a solid addition to the offensive line. Notre Dame linebacker Marist Liufau was their other third-round pick.
When will the Cowboys address running back? That is the question heading into Day 3, and with Dallas not scheduled to pick again until the fifth round, Cowboys fans could be waiting a while for an answer.
Adonai Mitchell and Troy Franklin
Texas' Adonai Mitchell and Oregon's Troy Franklin were first-round-caliber receivers who fell later than expected.
Seven receivers were taken in the first round and three more early in the second round: Buffalo took Coleman, the Chargers took Georgia's Ladd McConkey (No. 34), and the Patriots grabbed Washington's Ja'Lynn Polk (No. 37).
Mitchell fell to the No. 52 pick with Indianapolis. He compiled 55 catches for 845 yards and 11 TDs last season at Texas and tested well at the NFL Scouting Combine, so the slide was puzzling given the play-making skill set. On the ABC telecast, Alabama coach Nick Saban said Mitchell must show more consistency. Mitchell voiced his displeasure with the draft-day slide.
Franklin, who posted 1,383 yards and 14 TDs last season for Oregon, was a first-round pick in some mock drafts, making his slide to Day 3 a real shocker.
Day 2 quarterbacks
Six quarterbacks were selected in the first round, and that early rush did not treat the remaining quarterbacks well on Day 2.
South Carolina's Spencer Rattler, Tulane's Michael Pratt, Tennessee's Joe Milton III, and Florida State's Jordan Travis were among the quarterbacks who were passed on in Rounds 2-3.
Rattler's slide was a little surprising given the strong Senior Bowl performance. He had 77 TDs and 32 interceptions between stops at Oklahoma and South Carolina in his college career. Pratt, Milton, and Travis were more predictable Day 3 picks. Pratt had 90 TDs and 26 interceptions over the past four seasons, Milton threw for 2,813 yards and 20 TDs last year — both career highs — and Travis might have been a higher pick if not for a season-ending leg injury last season.
Aidan O'Connell was the ultimate value fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He started in 10 games for the Raiders last season and had 12 TDs and seven interceptions. Will one of these quarterbacks find a similar home?
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