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Winners and losers from Round 1 of the NFL draft

Action Images / theScore

With the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft in the books, it's time to assess which teams and individuals were the biggest beneficiaries - and which took the hardest lumps.

Winners

49ers and John Lynch

When the 49ers made former NFL safety John Lynch their general manager earlier this offseason despite his complete lack of front-office experience, many questioned the move. Lynch answered those questions Thursday by absolutely nailing his first draft.

First, Lynch coaxed the Bears into trading up from the No. 3 pick to No. 2 overall, getting a third-round pick (67th overall), fourth-round pick (111th overall), and a 2018 third-round pick in return. After the trade, Lynch selected fellow Stanford alum Solomon Thomas, the player he probably would have taken if he stayed at No. 2.

Lynch wasn't done there, swinging a deal to move up from 34th overall back into the first round at No. 31 (and giving up only a fourth-round pick to do it) to end the fall of Reuben Foster. If Foster is healthy, and his dilute sample at the combine was an aberration, he could be the steal of the draft.

Running backs

Remember when running backs weren't considered worthy of being first-round draft picks?

We just watched two of them, Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey, get selected in the first eight picks of the draft - a year after a rookie Ezekiel Elliott led the league in rushing.

Running backs are back.

Patrick Mahomes

It has to feel good to be wanted.

The Chiefs made a big move up in the draft, trading all the way from 27th overall to 10th to get their quarterback of the future in Mahomes.

It cost the Chiefs a third-round pick and a 2018 first-rounder to make the jump, but it will be worth it if Mahomes lives up to his immense athletic potential. By all appearances, he's in the perfect situation to do it, with Alex Smith likely to serve as a mentor this season.

Texans and Deshaun Watson

The Osweiler nightmare is over.

It cost the Texans both their second-round pick in 2018 (traded to the Browns to get them to take Osweiler's contract) and their first-round pick in 2018, which the Texans sent to the Browns on Thursday to move up to draft quarterback Deshaun Watson.

The Texans have a Super Bowl-caliber defense. Now, a year after their season was tanked by Osweiler's subpar play, they believe they have a franchise quarterback in Watson.

Watson's a big winner here, too. After leading Clemson to a National Championship, Watson gets to join a team with serious title aspirations.

The city of Philadelphia

A reported 70,000 Philadelphians turned up to take in the draft, besting the number who attended in Chicago last year by a wide margin.

And the Philly fans were loud and rowdy in the best way. Should we have expected anything less?

Browns

The Browns started the night with picks 1 and 12 and finished with three premiere talents: Myles Garrett at No. 1, Jabrill Peppers at No. 25, and David Njoku after trading up to No. 29.

Oh, and they got a 2018 first-round pick from the Texans, too.

Many analysts mocked the Browns when they made Sashi Brown their GM despite his lack of football experience. Brown is doing work - and the Browns are undoubtedly much better for it.

Sure, they still need a quarterback. But they have a boatload of picks to use as ammunition to make it happen. Jimmy Garoppolo, maybe?

Losers

Mike Glennon

Glennon probably figured he was out from behind Jameis Winston's shadow and in to a starting quarterback job when the Bears gave him a three-year, $45-million contract in free agency.

Then he watched the Bears trade up to select Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall pick Thursday.

Glennon's deal has starter money in Year 1, but not beyond. It's likely the Bears view him as nothing more than a stopgap to their future starter Trubisky.

Roger Goodell

We expected the commissioner to get booed loudly by the huge crowd in Philadelphia, but we didn't expect him to bumble through the evening, botching the names of numerous prospects - and even some teams ("the New Orleans select ... ").

Bengals

If John Ross plays on Sundays with the record-shattering speed he showed at the scouting combine, the Bengals will be winners.

But it's hard not to see his selection at No. 9 overall as a bit of a reach, especially given concerns about Ross's health (he's suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in the past, plus got injured running the 40-yard dash at the combine).

The Bengals need to add weapons for Andy Dalton, but they might have been able to trade down and still land Ross.

Offensive linemen

For the first time in the modern era, no offensive linemen were selected in the first 15 picks.

In fact, none were selected until the Broncos grabbed offensive tackle Garett Bolles with the 20th pick.

Much has been made of how the college football ranks aren't producing high-end offensive line talent like they used to. That's bad news for NFL quarterbacks, who rely on quality linemen to stay upright and healthy.

Mock drafters

A night filled with surprises made for thrilling entertainment, but it shredded the best-laid plans of mock drafters.

Almost from the outset, mock drafts were blown apart by unexpected trades up and down the board and surprising picks.

Better luck next year, draftniks.

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