The Bengals trading the 10th overall pick to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence was the big weekend story. It gives the Bengals a three-time Pro Bowler, and New York multiple first-round picks. So who won?
Seems like pretty even online debate. There's the view that it's nice to have a sure thing rather than an unknown draft pick, which the Bengals now have. On the other hand, Lawrence is 28 years old, so Cincinnati is giving up a lot of years to have that quality player.
Draft day is going to be fun for New York, since they now have two picks in the top 10 of the draft. They're actually one of six teams with a pair of first-rounders this year, with four of the others also being teams who traded away strong players: Dallas, Kansas City, Miami, and the Jets (Cleveland is the fifth, getting Jacksonville's first-rounder from last year's trade involving the Travis Hunter pick).
Just looking at the last five years, I see 22 other teams who had multiple first-round picks. Unscientifically, it looks to me like 12 of the 22 hit on both players -- either multiple Pro Bowlers, or seem to be headed that way. In the table, I put those players in bold. (Could be 13, but hard to click "bold" on the Falcons last year.) Four others pulled at least one really good player out of those picks. Very few teams missed on both players; just a couple of instances of that happening.
| TEAMS WITH MULTIPLE FIRST-ROUND PICKS, 2021-2025 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pks | Team | Players | Result |
| 2021 | 6, 18 | Mia. | Jaylen Waddle, Jaelan Phillips | Mostly good |
| 2021 | 1, 25 | Jac. | Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne | Hits |
| 2021 | 2, 14 | NYJ | Zach Wilson, Alijah Vera-Tucker | No |
| 2021 | 27, 31 | Bal. | Rashod Bateman, Odafe Oweh | Eh |
| 2022 | 21, 30 | K.C. | Trent McDuffie, George Karlaftis | Hits |
| 2022 | 5, 7 | NYG | Kayvon Thibodeaux, Evan Neal | Still on team but |
| 2022 | 1, 27 | Jac. | Travon Walker, Devin Lloyd | Hits |
| 2022 | 4, 10, 26 | NYJ | Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson | Hits (team sucks anyway) |
| 2022 | 2, 12 | Det. | Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams | Hits |
| 2022 | 22, 28 | G.B. | Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt | Starters |
| 2022 | 14, 25 | Bal. | Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Lindebaum | Multiple Pro Bowls |
| 2022 | 11, 19 | N.O. | Chris Olave, Trevor Penning | Yes and no |
| 2022 | 3, 15 | Hou. | Derek Stingley, Kenyon Green | Yes and no |
| 2023 | 9, 30 | Phi. | Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith | Yes and maybe |
| 2023 | 12, 18 | Det. | Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell | Multiple Pro Bowls |
| 2023 | 5, 20 | Sea. | Devon Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Multiple Pro Bowls |
| 2023 | 2, 3 | Hou. | C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson | Hits, though Stroud still a ? |
| 2024 | 1, 9 | Chi. | Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze | Hits |
| 2024 | 4, 27 | Ari. | Marvin Harrison, Darius Robinson | Eh |
| 2024 | 10, 17 | Min. | J.J. McCarthy, Dallas Turner | Turner 8 sacks last year |
| 2025 | 15, 26 | Atl. | Jalon Walker, James Pearce | On-field good, Pearce facing felony charges |
| 2025 | 3, 25 | NYG | Abdul Carter, Jaxson Dart | So far, so good |
In general, I'm a fan of unknown picks. Dexter Lawrence is really good, but he's got a lot fewer years left, and is more expensive. Really good player, and Cincinnati's defense needs a lot of help, so maybe it works out.
But a fun week to be a Giants fan. As long as they hit on their picks, anyway.
--Andy Richardson
