Worst first-round NFL Draft picks in each division

Some teams drafted for need, while others stuck to the best-player-available approach during the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday.

Here are the worst picks first-round picks in each division from Thursday.

NFC North | Jordan Morgan, offensive tackle, Green Bay Packers

Rasheed Walker allowed six sacks and 36 pressures last season as Green Bay’s starting left tackle, and adding Morgan, a 6-foot-5, 311-pound mauler, could be a good way to create some competition at the position. 

But with more pressing needs like cornerback, safety and linebacker, and top prospects still on the board like cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Kool-Aid McKinstry, safeties Javon Bullard and Jaden Hicks, and linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Payton Wilson, the Packers missed a golden opportunity to improve their defense.

NFC South | Michael Penix Jr., quarterback, Atlanta Falcons

General manager Terry Fontenot has some explaining to do after signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract last month and then drafting his successor eighth overall weeks later. Sure, having a succession plan at QB is a smart play given Atlanta’s recent track record at the position, but it’s been six seasons since the Falcons had a credible pass-rushing threat, and they missed out on the chance to add some premier players at the position like Alabama’s Dallas Turner or Florida State’s Jared Verse.

NFC East | Tyler Guyton, offensive tackle, Cowboys

The Cowboys need to replace Tyron Smith, and potentially moving Guyton from right to left tackle may be a gamble given the bulk of his experience at Oklahoma came on the right side and he has a little under 1,100 total offensive snaps in four seasons. 

If Dallas wanted a true right tackle, Washington’s Roger Rosengarten would have made more sense (he allowed zero sacks on 1,937 offensive snaps in two seasons) or if it wanted a potential left tackle, BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia has experience at the position and he was considered a fringe first-rounder.

NFC West | Ricky Pearsall, wide receiver, San Francisco 49ers

Perhaps a trade for Brandon Aiyuk is in the works on Day 2, and that’s why the 49ers went wide receiver in Round 1. Or perhaps general manager John Lynch knows he can’t afford to extend Aiyuk beyond 2024, so he’s looking to break in his potential replacement this season. 

That’s all fine and well, but considering the WR talent still on the board at 31st overall — South Carolina’s Xavier Legette, Texas’ Adonai Mitchell, Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, Florida State’s Keon Coleman — it’s hard to see Pearsall as anything more than a reach. Legette has been compared to A.J. Brown, while Mitchell is a burner with 4.3 speed with some of the best hands in the draft. Both would have made much more sense than Pearsall, who never topped 1,000 yards or scored more than five touchdowns in any season in college.

AFC North | Amarius Mims, offensive tackle, Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati had more pressing needs it should have addressed like defensive tackle, cornerback and wide receiver, but it chose Mims because of his massive potential. At 6-foot-8 and 340 pounds, Mims looks the part of a future Pro Bowl right tackle. 

But he missed most of the 2023 season with an ankle injury, and he tweaked his hamstring while running the 40-yard dash at the combine. Add in the fact that he’s never played more than 383 offensive snaps in any of his three seasons at Georgia, and his injury history is way concerning if he’s going to be relied on to protect Joe Burrow.

AFC South | Laiatu Latu, edge-rusher, Indianapolis Colts

The Titans (offensive tackle JC Latham) and Jaguars (receiver Brian Thomas Jr.) both filled areas of need, while the Colts gambled on upside. Indy needed to add a starting-caliber cornerback or safety (the team ranked 16th in pass defense last season), but it curiously went edge-rusher despite ranking fifth in the NFL in sacks in 2023.

AFC East | Chop Robinson, edge-rusher, Miami Dolphins

It’s not that Robinson is a bad pick, but between himself, Drake Maye (New England) and Olu Fashanu (New York Jets), he’s clearly the least of the three. Robinson had 74 pressures and 17.5 sacks over the last two seasons, per Pro Football Focus, which makes the Dolphins defense more formidable, but they had bigger needs at offensive line and defensive tackle.

AFC West | Bo Nix, quarterback, Denver Broncos

If not for the Falcons, the Broncos would have had the biggest reach of the first round. There’s a lot to like about Nix — he’s accurate, he’s got a compact release, he can extend plays and he’s good at avoiding pressure. But he’s also arguably the most raw of the six QBs who went in Round 1, and he likely went as high as he did because Denver doesn’t pick again until the third round.