Fully assessing the 2018 NFL draft will require years. Who has time for that?
Some selections already appear more promising than others. With that in mind, I asked league insiders to identify one "steal" within each round, and to provide their reasoning. Each league insider was responsible for a single round, with one insider doubling up.
The insiders included general managers, former GMs and prominent evaluators who have interviewed for GM jobs, plus evaluators with experience in other areas. They served up two potential steals in the first round, plus one in each of the other rounds.
First round
17. Derwin James, S, Los Angeles Chargers
The thinking holds that James was the lowest-drafted first-round selection who could realistically become the best player in the NFL at his position.
"If you polled a bunch of people, I think the majority would say Derwin James was the biggest first-round steal," one of the insiders assigned to the first round said. "You could make the case that he was one of the five best players in the draft, with only Saquon Barkley, Bradley Chubb and Quenton Nelson clearly ahead of him. The fit with Gus Bradley is perfect. There is a little bust potential, but a lot of boom potential."
