Jackson Free Press

When the Denver Broncos selected former University of Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly, the draft officially came to an end. However, the work wasn’t done yet for the teams, and players who went undrafted still can live their pro-football dreams.

NFL history is full of players who went undrafted that went on to long careers, such as Kurt Warner, Wes Welker, Tony Romo and Jackson State University’s Coy Bacon among others. Most of the players hope to prove teams wrong for not drafting them.

Things change a little with undrafted rookie free agents. The players can pick their team, if more than one team is vying over their services. That means a player can pick the team offering the most money or the team that will be the best fit.

Undrafted rookies that can do several things, such as playing multiple positions and special teams, have a better chance of making a team. If an offensive lineman can play tackle and guard or center and guard, that player will be tougher for teams to cut later.

I spent the last two days scouring the Internet and watching Twitter to see which players from universities in our state signed with NFL teams. This list is broken down by NFL team with thoughts on some of their signings.

Arizona Cardinals

Javancy Jones, linebacker, Jackson State University

Arizona drafted a linebacker in the first round and signed another rookie free agent. The Cardinals have a solid defense, so it will be tough for most rookies to make the team.

Atlanta Falcons

Will Freeman, offensive line, University of Southern Mississippi

The Falcons are the defending NFC Champions but did have guard Chris Chester retire. That opens a spot, even if the team drafted a guard in the fourth-round and signed four other undrafted rookies.

Baltimore Ravens

Quincy Adebayo, wide receiver, University of Mississippi

Xavian Bingham, cornerback, Jackson State University

Baltimore didn’t draft a wide receiver but did sign three other undrafted rookies. The Ravens drafted a cornerback in the first round and signed an undrafted safety.

Carolina Panthers

Fred Ross, wide receiver, Mississippi State University

Carolina drafted a wide receiver in the second round and signed one undrafted rookie wide receiver, but this team needs receiving help so there is a chance to make the team.

Detroit Lions

Nick James, defensive tackle, University of Mississippi

The Lions only signed one other undrafted rookie but did draft a couple of defensive ends and signed an undrafted rookie defensive end. There is a chance to make this roster as a defensive tackle.

Green Bay Packers

Johnathan Calvin, linebacker, Mississippi State University

Green Bay took a linebacker in the fourth round and just one undrafted rookie. This is a good team, so it will be tough for rookies to make the roster.

Houston Texans

Daniel Ross, defensive tackle, …

Every NFL team walks away from the NFL Draft telling its fans that the team got better with every pick. That can’t be the case, of course, since some teams are going to clearly be bad next season, and some picks are not going to make it out of training camp.

It is hard not to be optimistic during and after the draft, though. All the picks have the potential to make an NFL roster and help their teams win. Unless a team does something crazy in the draft, it really is hard to be cynical because none of the picks have even had an NFL practice.

But the optimism doesn’t mean the team made the right selections or that the drafted players will help the team in the next season or the years to come.

Now that it is over, let’s take a look at how the New Orleans Saints did in this year’s draft. If you have questions about your favorite team, jump on Twitter and send a tweet to @JFPSports.

Overall, I like what the Saints did in the draft. First-round pick and 11th overall Marshon Lattimore could start at cornerback for New Orleans if he can develop quickly and has left his hamstring problems behind him. He was a one-year starter at Ohio State University due to injuries, but he shined this season when he was finally healthy. Lattimore should make an instant impact.

New Orleans’ other first-round pick, Ryan Ramczky, might have been the best offensive lineman in the draft. Offensive linemen aren’t sexy selections, but ask a team with a bad offensive line how important drafting that position is. Ramczky, who played for the University of Wisconsin, could start this season somewhere on the line. I’m not sure if he can play guard, but he could take over for right tackle Zach Strief, who might move inside.

The Saints continued to work on the defense in the second round with safety Marcus Williams from the University of Utah. A pass rusher in one of three first picks would have been nice, but throwing on New Orleans got a lot harder with this draft. Williams should become a role player right away and is good at forcing turnover, with 10 interceptions over the last three seasons.

Third-round pick Alvin Kamara out of the University of Tennessee is by far my biggest complaint against New Orleans in this draft. Running backs Mark Ingram and recently signed Adrian Peterson will eat up most of the carries next season, and Kamara is a first- or second-round talent in the third round, but was he needed? Plus, the Saints gave up a second-round pick in next year’s draft to select Kamara.

Again, the Saints could have found a pass rusher with this pick instead. Kamara can catch the ball out of the backfield, but will he do well in pass blocking? New Orleans wants to use him in the mold of Reggie Bush or Darren …

Many people like to be a critic, and many people like to make a snap judgment on any number of topics. Many may see a preview for a new movie and instantly know if it will be great or not just from the short clip.

You could apply that same principle to the NFL Draft. We see what a team does and instantly love it or hate it. In reality it could take anywhere from two to five years to see if a team made the right move.

But that isn’t going to stop me from making a snap judgment on the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. These are my three winners and three losers from April 27’s first round.

Let's get critical.

Loser: Teams that traded up for a quarterback

One thing nearly all the analysts agreed on is that this draft featured a weak quarterback class. That didn’t stop the Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans from jumping up in the draft to take one.

Chicago signed Mike Glennon in free agency and traded with the San Francisco 49ers to move up a spot so they could grab Mitchell Trubisky. The Bears gave up two third-round picks (one in 2018) and a fourth-round pick in this draft to move up.

Quick note: First- and second-round picks should end up being starters in year one; third-round ones should contribute significantly early their first year; fourth-round ones should help out at some point in their rookie season, and fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round ones need to develop while playing special teams.

That means the Bears gave up two players who should help a team that has holes all in the roster. Chicago gave up a lot of picks for a guy who made just 13 starts in his college career.

Kansas City traded its third-round pick this year and the first-round pick in the 2018 draft to move up from the 21st pick to the Buffalo Bills’ 10th pick. The Chiefs gave up a starter and a player that should help right away in Patrick Mahomes, who will sit behind Alex Smith.

Fans will wonder why Kansas City moved up if Mahomes isn’t a star. For a playoff team like the Chiefs, the team could have used the picks to make a run at the Super Bowl.

Houston ended up giving up a 2018 first-round pick, moving from 25th to the Cleveland Browns’ 12th spot. This is least of the bad moves from teams who moved up since the Texans were able to draft Deshaun Watson.

The Texans’ defense could make the transition easier, but they did give up a starter in next year’s draft. If Watson doesn’t pay off quickly, it will be another in a recent line of quarterbacks who didn’t work in Houston.

Winner: the Cleveland Browns

Say what you want about the Browns not getting a quarterback, but in …