NFL Draft Day 2 Winners and Losers: Philadelphia Eagles, Spencer Rattler, Cooper DeJean and More

With two days down in the 2024 NFL Draft and just one more to go, most of the fireworks have already gone off. Unlike an actual fireworks show, the main event of the draft takes place in the first 10 picks or so rather than at the end. Good players are available through all seven rounds, but all the big “KA-BOOMS” have likely been shot.

Let’s run through some winners and losers from Day 2 of the draft. This won’t necessarily be the teams who made the best value picks, as those articles exist throughout the internet. Instead, this is more about individuals, teams and groups who had clear wins or suffered clear losses in some fashion on Friday evening.

Winners: Quarterbacks looking for safe spaces

After nine offensive linemen were drafted in the first round, 16 more went on Day 2. Not all of them will work out, but teams are taking special care to add bodies to protect their passers.

Part of it is the fact that this is a deep offensive line class, but guys were cleaning up in free agency also. Left tackle was always a premium position, and right tackle started becoming nearly as important; teams are now paying more money to guards than ever before.

In a pass-happy league, franchises are acting to protect their most valuable assets.

Winners: The roster depth in Arizona and Washington

The Cardinals and Commanders tied for the league lead by drafting five players on Day 2. There aren’t many rosters that could use a big influx of talent more than these franchises. They chose second and fourth in the draft for a reason; these teams need both depth and top-level talent.

A good way to find either (or both) of those things on the cheap is through the draft. The draft is a lot like the lottery: The more tickets you have, the better your chance of hitting the jackpot. By drafting players in bulk, both Arizona and Washington have likely upgraded multiple spots while increasing their chances of finding a true star.

Losers: The one-pick wonders

On the opposite side of the coin are the Bears, Broncos, Lions, Chiefs, Dolphins, Saints, Jets, Seahawks and Titans, who each made just one draft pick on Friday. The Vikings didn’t take any players in the second or third rounds.

Successful trades and player acquisitions can lead to a dearth of draft picks, which is fine when it works, but teams who regularly are missing high picks (like the Broncos recently) are generally setting themselves up for failure.

Winners: Defensive players who felt left out on Day 1

After a record 23 offensive players were drafted in the first round, 20 defensive players went in Round 2. The third round was split more evenly, but a lot of good defensive guys went later than they would have in a normal year.

With six quarterbacks going in the first round and the historic classes of wide receivers and offensive linemen, the best players on defense didn’t start hearing their names until the second half of Round 1. I have a feeling that we will look back in several years and laugh at all the teams who passed on defensive starters for quarterbacks who never found success.

Loser: Spencer Rattler, South Carolina quarterback

After the over-reaching at the quarterback position on Thursday, I predicted that Rattler would get the same treatment in the second round. A half-dozen teams or more could conceivably draft a quarterback early on Day 3, and I thought one of them would make a jump for Rattler.

Rattler was a five-star recruit out of high school, and some scouts think he can recapture that magic in the pros. The odds are against him, especially after falling out of the third round, and it will be an uphill battle from being a Day 3 pick to a starting quarterback, let alone a franchise passer.

No team making a small move up or even bothering to draft him in the top 100 means no one sees Rattler as a guy poised to break out. If a franchise saw something special, they would have snatched him up by now.

Losers: Draftniks

I love the draft in every sport, but especially the NFL Draft. It’s literally a year-long exercise to prepare for the next draft; there will be “way too early” mock drafts for 2025 out as soon as Saturday or Sunday. The description speaks for itself.

All the excitement for the next class of players will surely wane, though, until the college and/or pros start up games again. In the meantime, we will be sitting, waiting, and seething for notes on the newest set of prospects.

The best part of the 2024 draft is over, but don’t worry. There will be post-draft analysis, rookie mini-camps and training camp starting before we know it, and the new crop of players will make us forget all about the guys we clamored for this offseason.

Winners: Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions

Many of my winners and losers over the past two days have been groups and/or individuals more than teams, but Philly and Detroit made moves not many people can have qualms with.

Despite adding Quinyon Mitchell from Toledo (Eagles) and Terrion Arnold of Alabama (Lions) on Day 1, both teams realized there was still value on the board and they needed more than one player to help remake their defensive backfields after disastrous results against the pass in 2023.

Philly grabbed Iowa’s Cooper DeJean after a trade up to #40. DeJean was seen as a first-round talent by many, but he suffered an injury last year that may have contributed to his fall. Detroit got Missouri’s Ennis Rakestraw Jr at #61, another guy who received some first-round buzz. Rakestraw’s ceiling appeared to lower when he had a rough showing at the combine.

Surrounded by talent and good coaching, all these guys should have a good chance to develop. Both franchises (which have had recent success) made smart moves at areas of need while others seemed to reach and make desperate moves over the first two days.