As far as the picks, I feel pretty good about them, but a grade? I don't get the concept of immediate grades. Now is the time to grade the 2016 draft... not the 2019 draft.
I loved Rashan Gary on tape, and his athleticism is obviously another plus. I cooled on him when I heard about the sports agency stuff-- it rubbed me wrong. But am I really going to try to impugn his football character? What do I know about that, really? You have to trust the take of the FO that actually evaluated him on that front. I also mostly ignored edge players after the Smith boys were signed. However, they clearly weren't done adding to the position.
My cluster of preferred options were all gone: Ed Oliver, Jonah Williams, T.J. Hockenson, and Devin Bush. So once that happened, I was pretty open minded. Taking a premium athlete at a premium position whose traits are loud on tape is fine with me.
As to the 2nd pick, I had begun to wonder about Savage over the last week. I was pretty vocal that safety was the biggest need on the roster. And I was hearing consistent buzz that the NFL liked Savage a lot more than the media. I did not want them to trade up, but they kept their day 2 picks, so that's cool. Bottom line, it was a big need and Savage was clearly the top player on their board. If he fills that spot as a rookie and performs, it will vindicate the move.
I was more in favor of staying put and taking one of Thornhill, Savage, Gardner-Johnson, or Adderley. But they had one guy above the rest. Only time will tell if that was correct. I don't really spend a lot of time on defensive backs because they're annoying to try to watch on broadcast tape.
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