NFL Draft 2023 Round 1 reaction (2024)

Follow the NFL Draft rounds 4-7 live.

The 2023 NFL Draft kicked off Thursday with 31 players being selected in the first round. The seven-round event continues Friday at 7 p.m. ET with rounds 2-3 followed by rounds 4-7 on Saturday, beginning at noon ET. Check in with The Athletic for all the latest draft news, updates and analysis.

Here are the first-round results.

Helpful links

• The Athletic Football Show Round 1 takeaways
• Beginner's guide to the NFL draft
• "The Beast" NFL draft guide
• NFL draft trade tracker
• Round 1 winners and losers

(Photo of Bryce Young: David Eulitt / Getty Images)

Every general manager no doubt will declare Day 1 of the draft a success. However, it’ll take some time to learn how smart these selections really are.

At first glance, there are some seemingly obvious winners and losers after one round of action. Here’s a rundown of who fared the best or worst Thursday night.

Read more here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

The Bengals didn’t see this scenario playing out, but they gladly accepted. Cincinnati put the selection of Clemson edge rusher Myles Murphy in to inject life into a pass rush that struggled for long portions of 2022.

Murphy fits perfectly into the mold of defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s edge rushers at 6-5, 268 pounds and a reputation for high-effort disruption. The Bengals have built their entire defense on the philosophy.

Read the full breakdown here.

TEMPE, Ariz. — In 1999, the Arizona Cardinals drafted in the fifth round a safety from the University of Miami, Ohio. His name was Paris Johnson.

Johnson overcame a difficult childhood to sign a multiyear contract worth about $840,000 that came with a signing bonus of $90,000. He was expected to compete for a backup spot and help on special teams, but Johnson never got much of a chance. A knee injury ended his first season.

In his second year, Johnson was listed behind Pat Tillman on the depth chart, but he spent most of preseason practice on injury reports. For one, Johnson’s ailment simply was listed as knees (plural). On Aug. 27, 2000, the Cardinals waived Johnson. In later years, he switched to linebacker and tried out for the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys but injuries always got in the way. Johnson never appeared in an NFL game.

His son wants to make it a right.

The Cardinals on Thursday drafted Paris Johnson Jr., with the No. 6 overall pick of the NFL Draft. Much bigger than his dad, Johnson is an offensive lineman, standing 6-foot-6 and 313 pounds. He was a consensus All-American at Ohio State and during a pre-draft visit with the Cardinals, Johnson Jr. told GM Monti Ossenfort that he wanted to be in Arizona so he could finish what his dad had started.

“That really hit me,” Ossenfort said.

Read more here.

There are 228 picks to go in the 2023 NFL Draft. Entering Friday's second round, here are the top five players available:

• Kentucky QB Will Levis (No. 14 overall)
• Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr. (No. 16 overall)
• Alabama S Brian Branch (No. 17 overall)
• Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer (No. 19 overall)
• Arkansas LB Drew Sanders (No. 28 overall)

See the full list of best available here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

The Athletic's Scott Dochterman offered live grades for all 31 picks Thursday night, from Bryce Young to Felix Anudike-Uzomah.

Six picks received the coveted "A" grade, including the Texans' choice of Will Anderson Jr. at No. 3.

See all the grades here.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — For months and months, everyone speculated on what the Lions had up their sleeves for the NFL Draft. Would they take a quarterback? Would they go defensive lineman? Cornerback? Offensive line?

Turns out, everyone was wrong. They went with a running back. Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs, to be precise.

Detroit on Thursday traded the No. 6 pick in the first and No. 81 in the third to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for No. 12, No. 34 in the second and No. 168 in the fifth. And in one of the biggest stunners of the evening, the Lions used the No. 12 pick on Gibbs — widely viewed as the second-best running back in the draft. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, on the surface.

Running back is not a major position of value, and the consensus top RB in the draft — Bijan Robinson — went eighth overall to the Falcons. Coming into the draft, most mocks had the Lions targeting a cornerback or edge early on. Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez and Iowa’s Lukas Van Ness were both available. But Detroit passed, scooping up Gibbs at No. 12 instead — a move that’s sure to create headlines.

Read more here.

Robert Mays and Nate Tice are joined by Dane Brugler on The Athletic Football Show's NFL Draft Live Special.

After Round 1, what are the things we're going to remember from the early picks years into the future? Will C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson remake the Texans? Will the Eagles' strategy of drafting Georgia defensive players pay dividends?

Watch the full conversation here.

Darnell Wright didn’t know what to say after the Bears made him the 10th pick in the NFL Draft.

“My head is racing 1,000 miles per hour,” he said over a video conference call.

But when it slowed down, it became clear that the Bears became enamored with him during the pre-draft process — from general manager Ryan Poles to offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to offensive line coach Chris Morgan — and that he connected with the team, too.

The Bears traded back one selection to the 10th pick with the Eagles, who clearly wanted defensive tackle Jalen Carter. The Bears did not.

In moving back, the Bears gained an extra fourth-round pick for next year, an early reminder that Poles still views this as a multiyear rebuild.

Read more here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

If you told Howie Roseman at the end of the season that the Eagles would draft Jalen Carter, my guess is he would have asked how many future first-round picks he needed to include in the deal. That’s the type of talent Carter is — he might be the best player in the entire draft and was in discussions for the No. 1 pick at one point. To land him at No. 9 is a boon. He’s that talented, plays a priority position and fits a short- and long-term need. On paper, there’s so much to like about this move.

The off-field concerns cannot be ignored. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges of racing and reckless driving following a fatal car crash in January 2023. There are also whispers of maturity concerns. Clearly, for a player this talented to be available at No. 9, there’s a reason. I’m not dismissing those reasons, but I acknowledge those are baked into the price. Otherwise, he would have gone in the top five.

The Eagles must trust the infrastructure they have in place to support Carter. Risk tolerance is often directly proportional to talent, so this is a good bet to make when the player is that good. They likely think having former Georgia teammates Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean in the building could be helpful. So will the presence of veterans on defense such as Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham. (And Jalen Hurts is the leader of the team.)

Read more here.

Want to know how much the NFL game has changed in the last quarter-century? Twenty-four years ago, the New Orleans Saints traded picks No. 12, 71, 107, 144, 179, 218 in the 1999 draft and picks No. 2 and 64 in the 2000 draft for the right to take Texas running back Ricky Williams with the No. 5 pick.

Now the Falcons are going to be questioned for using a top-10 pick on another Longhorns running back. The selection tells us two things about Atlanta. No. 1, coach Arthur Smith doesn’t care much about the opinions of others. And, No. 2, the Falcons believe they are in win-now mode after an offseason spending spree that included handing out $179.8 million in guaranteed money.

Bijan Robinson will make a difference right away.

Read more here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

The top three quarterbacks were off the board by the time Seattle was on the clock. Unwilling to take a swing on Will Levis, Seattle went with arguably the second-best defensive player available. Jalen Carter would have filled an urgent position of need, but there are valid concerns about his decision-making and work ethic. He would have been a risk — and an expensive one, considering the fifth pick is due for a fully guaranteed, four-year contract worth $34 million with a $21 million signing bonus.

Devon Witherspoon is a safer pick, and perhaps a better one than Tyree Wilson, who was selected No. 7 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders. He was an All-American in college and the best defensive back in the Big Ten. Witherspoon was productive on the ball — 26 passes defensed over the last two years — and is a legitimate two-way player in that he can cover down the field and is a plus defender against the run. He knows how to anticipate routes and combines that high football IQ with 4.43 speed. Witherspoon is the complete package at cornerback, and it’s easy to see why Pete Carroll and John Schneider fell in love with him in the draft.

Read more here.

It’s a risk; undoubtedly, it’s a risk, a giant risk, the kind that gets a general manager extended or asked to clean out his office.

Colts’ first-round draft pick Anthony Richardson started just 13 games for the University of Florida — 13! He completed 53.8 percent of his passes — 53.8! He’s raw and he’s uniquely gifted and he has a chance to be a star, to be a cross between Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson, the two quarterbacks he holds in the highest regard. (He called himself “Cam Jackson” at the NFL combine, where he wowed scouts with his unmatched athletic traits).

He also has a chance to be a bust.

Capitalize that: BUST.

Can’t you say that about every quarterback selected in every draft since the dawn of time? Of course you can. That’s especially true this season; there are serious questions about all three quarterbacks — Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Richardson — chosen at the top of the first round.

But there doesn’t feel like there’s any in-between here. Yes, as head coach Shane Steichen said Thursday night, the floor is a bit higher simply because Richardson has astounding running ability, but as a passer, again, it’s a giant mystery, and at the end of the day, quarterbacks have to be accurate. He could grow into something special … or be remembered as the giant gamble who crapped out.

Read more here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Nick Caserio and the Texans had a gaggle of draft picks, a unique situation that featured almost too many picks over the next two cycles. Houston just made the best possible use of those picks by going back-to-back with C.J. Stroud and arguably the top defender on the board in Alabama edge Will Anderson Jr. Arizona gets a massive haul by acquiring No. 12 and No. 33 this year, along with a first and a third next year.

A long, explosive, rangy edge who can rush inside — or stand up and play linebacker — Anderson is a modern-day defensive weapon who is almost positionless in the front seven. Not unlike Dallas youngster Micah Parsons in so many ways, we haven’t seen everything Anderson can do on a football field yet. The Texans are not messing around. You love to see it.

Read more here.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bryce Young says “super” a lot.

He said it 11 times in an eight-minute span Thursday night after the Panthers drafted the Alabama quarterback No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft.

Super grateful. Super excited. Super, super happy.

Panthers owner David Tepper used the word Thursday night, too, telling a soggy crowd at a Bank of America Stadium draft party what the moment meant for an organization that’s been in the NFL abyss for most of the five years Tepper has owned it.

“What I want to say,” Tepper said, “(is) Super Bowls.”

Read more here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Here's the order for Friday's second round:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Arizona
3. Detroit
4. Indianapolis
5. L.A. Rams
6. Seattle
7. Las Vegas
8. Carolina
9. New Orleans
10. Tennessee
11. Green Bay
12. NY Jets
13. Atlanta
14. Green Bay
15. New England
16. Washington
17. Detroit
18. Pittsburgh
19. Tampa Bay
20. Miami
21. Seattle
22. Chicago
23. L.A. Chargers
24. Detroit
25. Jacksonville
26. NY Giants
27. Dallas
28. Buffalo
29. Cincinnati
30. Chicago
31. Philadelphia
32. Kansas City

Looking ahead to the first pick of the second round on Friday, The Athletic's NFL Draft Projection Model has Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr. – son of former Pittsburgh All-Pro LB Joey Porter -- the player most likely to be selected by the Steelers with the No. 32 pick.

The model projects the odds using a combination of expert mock drafts, prospect big boards and the latest gambling markets.

At long last, the NFL Draft is underway. The first round kicked off with the Carolina Panthers making Bryce Young the first Alabama quarterback to go No. 1 overall, and from there, things fell into place as teams began snatching up key building blocks.

Every general manager no doubt will declare Day 1 of the draft a success. However, it’ll take some time to learn how smart these selections really are.

At first glance, there are some seemingly obvious winners and losers after one round of action. Here’s a rundown of who fared the best or worst Thursday night.

From quarterbacks Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud to defensive linemen Jalen Carter and Lukas Van Ness, we broke down every selection as the drama grew throughout Thursday’s pomp and circ*mstance.

Many prefer to wait until three or four years from now to grade these selections. And it’s true, in 2027 we’ll get a better idea of each player’s successes and failures but an instant reaction is warranted for each pick. We analyzed each choice based not only on the prospect but also on the methodology and value. That goes for draft picks to the trades. Did a team give up too much or take a prospect too high? Or, did a team navigate its need with value to perfection? That’s what goes into our grades.

Just like perhaps half of the teams in their selections, we will miss the mark on some grades. We can take some good-natured ribbing.

Read more here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

The Athletic has more on Russell Wilson and Sean Payton, whose partnership must work out to justify the Broncos giving up three first round picks across two years.

Read more here.