NFL Draft Winners And Losers: SEC Edition

The SEC dominated the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, but who won and who lost on the opening day of the selection process?

It's always a fun process to look at the first round of the NFL Draft and decide who were the winners and which teams might not have done as well on day one of the league's annual selection (virtual) meeting.

Of course, none of the teams that selected SEC players could be losers, at least not before they've had the chance to take the field, right? Well, let's take a look and see what we find. 

THREE WINNERS

Miami Dolphins 

The Dolphins entered the night with the most first-round selections and used two of them to add former SEC players, taking former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at No.5. They added former Southern Cal tackle Austin Jackson with the No.18 selection to protect their new quarterback and then finished the night by trading away a pick to the Packer- more on this later- and then adding former Auburn cornerback Noah Igbinoghene with the No.30 selection to end their night.  

Not a bad evening for Brian Flores and the gang from South Beach. 

Tennessee Titans 

It wasn't a sexy pick of a blazing wide receiver or a devastating pass rusher, but what general manager Jon Robinson did was take a luxury pick at No.29, something this franchise hasn't been able to do in some time. 

How was it a luxury pick? The Titans signed Dennis Kelly to be their right tackle, so adding Wilson will be a depth move, or an upgrade if the rookie can win the job outright. 

Robinson wanted out of the first round, but as he said to media following round-one, things "fizzled out," and he had to go with the player they had highest on their board.

Don't worry though Titans fans, there are still lots of very talented corners available on days two and three, and I bet Robinson and head coach Mike Vrabel grab one or two. 

Dallas Cowboys

Jerry Jones didn't screw this one up as he made the pick from his luxury yacht when he sent in the card with the name CeeDee Lamb on it. 

The Cowboys got luck, and one of the best receivers in the draft fell into their lap-with all due respect to Alabama's Jerry Jeudy, who fell to Denver- but the Cowboys add Lamb to former SEC standout Amari Cooper for former SEC quarterback Dak Prescott to throw to. 

The Cowboys might not win the Super Bowl with this one pick, but it was a winner on day one of this draft. 

THREE LOSERS

Green Bay Packers

It's hard to call the Packers winners here when they traded up in the first round to take Utah State quarterback Justin Love, who most people had in the second-round range. Now it's entirely possible that the boys from Lambeau Field knew something I didn't, but this seemed like the most significant reach of the night.

Also, there's the Aaron Rodgers issue. Just how will he handle now having his likely replacement in the building? The 36-year-old quarterback has said that he intends to be a better mentor to his eventual replacement than Brett Farve was to him. Rodgers has also said he wants to play until he is 40, meaning that Love's rookie contract would be expiring when Rodgers is ready to walk away. 

Something's going to have to give here, right?

Los Angeles Chargers    

Phillip Rivers is gone, and the Chargers needed a quarterback. They got one in Oregon's Justin Herbert, a player who has all the physical tools, but I'm just not sold on him the way some are. 

He will step into a team that has some players, but needs more help and will be asked to be the guy from day one, though he could be held back in favor of veteran journeyman Tyrod Taylor, who is entering his ninth season in the league could keep the seat warm for a while. 

Still, I just don't see Herbert as a long term fix here, but I could be wrong. He was the next best available quarterback, so while I don't like it, the pick from that standpoint makes sense even if the player might not. 

Football fans in New York City 

The Giants and the Jets are taking a beating for their collective first-round picks here as both teams added offensive tackles. 

The Giants passed on Clemson's Isaiah Simmons and others to select Georgia's Andrew Thomas at No. 6 while the Jets took Louisville's Mechi Becton at no.11 overall. 

Both teams have needs, and having offensive tackles are not bad things, but there seemed to be other players who could have helped each team more at this time. 

The fans in New York City are letting the two teams hear about it for sure. 

Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and @SIVanderbilt or Facebook at Vanderbilt Commodores-Maven


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Greg Arias
GREG ARIAS

A 29 year veteran of radio in the Middle Tennessee area and 16 years in digital and internet media having covered the Tennessee Titans for Scout Media and TitanInsider.com before joining the Sports Illustrated family of networks.