5 teams that totally won the first round

The first round of the 2023 NFL Draft was a flurry of trades and picks but these five teams managed to stand out from the chaos.

The NFL Draft kicked off on Thursday night with the first round from Kansas City, Mo.

Normally, there’d be 32 picks on Day 1 of the draft but sanctions against the Miami Dolphins made it 31 picks for 2023. Those 31 picks were chaotic enough to make up for missing one.

There were trades galore and the usual mix of surprising reaches. There was the annual green room agony as Will Levis waited for a call that never came. And there were definite winners and losers.

So let’s take a look at the five teams who got the most out of their first round…

No. 5 team that won the first round of the NFL Draft: Carolina Panthers

The Panthers did all the hard work before the draft even began, working out a trade to take the No. 1 overall pick off the Chicago Bears.

From there, they got the chance to evaluate all the quarterbacks and come to a decision on the right one for them. They went with Bryce Young, whose cerebral ability outweighed concerns over his diminutive stature.

We won’t be able to tell for certain that Carolina made the right decision with their quarterback pick, but they got to make it on their terms, so they’re winners in that sense.