The 2017 NFL Draft is over and meaningful football is still more than four months away. That’s a long time to wait for games, so let’s just unveil some Winners and Losers now.

Winner: Houston Texans

Like every quarterback prospect in football history, there’s no way to know for sure if Deshaun Watson will be good at the professional level. But for the first time in the 16-year history of the franchise, the Texans have a player at the sport’s most important position who promises some hope and excitement.

David Carr was quickly consumed by expansion-quality team-mates and no blocking. Matt Schaub was, at best, a game manager (and towards the end, he wasn’t event that). And the three years since the Schaub era ended have been even more depressing with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, Case Keenum, Brian Hoyer, TJ Yates, Brandon Weeden, Brock Osweiler and Tom Savage all getting starts. But Watson has very real upside and is fortunate enough to land on a quality team that has only been missing a quarterback. Houston took six other players over the weekend, but Watson is really the only one that matters.

Winner: the draft itself

Hand it to Roger Goodell – well, first boo him, THEN hand it to him – the first NFL-Draft-as-festival was a big hit. It helped that the event was held in Philadelphia, where the citizenry will happily fill any venue for the opportunity to boo something while enjoying an adult beverage. But the NFL now has a real event on its hands to cart around to different NFL cities each April. Sure, they’ll ruin it soon enough by over-commercializing it. But let’s enjoy the fun while we can.

Loser: Cincinnati Bengals

There were many teams that said they wouldn’t draft Joe Mixon, but there was only one team that couldn’t draft Joe Mixon: the Cincinnati Bengals. Of all teams, the Bengals surely wouldn’t give the finger to their community yet again. Even the Bengals couldn’t be that tone deaf and crass.

But wouldn’t you know it, not only did Cincinnati take Mixon, they picked him midway through the second round. To be sure, the Bengals aren’t the only team in the NFL to employ poor citizens. But they seem to be the only one that goes out of their way to bring them in. And what a successful strategy it’s been, with the Bengals almost nearly winning that wildcard playoff game that one time. Chances are the Bengals will be back near the top of the draft again next year, which means the biggest winner of all is some 2018 draft prospect with a rap sheet longer than his broad jump.

Loser (or winner): Chicago Bears

Remember how I said there’s no way to know for sure if a quarterback prospect will be good in the NFL? Same goes for Mitchell Trubisky. The Bears seem to think he’ll be a franchise QB, and they mortgaged their future – and then also took out a home equity line of credit and then did one of those reverse mortgages, as well – to land him. If Trubisky is not an NFL star, as most scouts believe, the Bears will have set their franchise back years. But if he turns into one of the league’s best QBs, the trade will look brilliant. I guess just keep this column open in your browser for five years, then refresh and find out the answer.

Winner: Cleveland Browns

The Browns’ class of 2017 looks like a promising one. Photograph: Ken Blaze/USA Today Sports

The Browns did it. They had the No1 overall pick and instead of going for any quarterback on the board like they have for all of modern history, they fought the temptation and took defensive end Myles Garrett. Then, with two more picks in round one, they selected safety Jabrill Peppers and tight end David Njoku. By the time they were up again in the second at No52, Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer was still there. Not a reach, but a value pick. Maybe Kizer pans out, maybe he doesn’t. If he doesn’t, it won’t sink the franchise like missing on Trubisky at No1 would. The new Browns management might not yet be building a winner, but they’re building the foundation of a team that can at least compete. In Cleveland, that’s winning.

Loser: The Bills’ draft picks

Buffalo fulfilled the dreams of six young men during the draft weekend and then, while the players were riding that high, team owner Terry Pegula canned GM Doug Whaley early Sunday morning. So while the team’s draft picks have to be happy to be in the NFL, Whaley’s replacement may have no use for them. That’s tough. Usually the reality of being a Bills player doesn’t smack their draft picks square in the face until September.

Winner: Cam Newton

By taking running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver Curtis Samuel and offensive tackle Taylor Morton with their three picks, the Panthers gave Newton some much-needed help on offense. Newton may have many opportunities to celebrate again in 2017, so gird yourself for some outraged letters to the editor.

Loser: Joe Flacco

Quick. Name one Ravens offensive skill position player. No, Steve Smith is retired and Ray Rice hasn’t been on the roster for a few seasons now (and miraculously hasn’t been signed by the Bengals). So that leaves ... Dennis Pitta? Mike Wallace? A few other guys whose names you won’t even hear in a 16-team fantasy draft? Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome went heavy on defense in the 2017 Draft, and landed some legit talent in the process. But it’s impossible to win games 0-0 (in fairness, they have a good kicker so 3-0 is there to aim for). The Ravens must truly believe Joe Flacco is so supremely elite that he can score points all by himself.

Winner: running backs

It was just two years ago that running backs were supposedly moneyballed out of the first round forever. The new conventional wisdom went that it wasn’t worth using an early pick on guys with short shelf-lives whose success hinges on offensive linemen opening holes for them. But last year the Cowboys swung and connected on Ezekiel Elliott at No4 overall and then Thursday night we saw Leonard Fournette and McCaffrey go in the first eight picks of the draft. It seems NFL teams don’t think it’s worth using a first-round pick on a running back ... unless there’s a running back they really want available to them in the first round.

Loser: Seattle’s Super Bowl window

The Seahawks are running out of time to win another Super Bowl before their Legion of Boom secondary starts getting ripped apart by receivers half their age. But Seattle got very little in this year’s draft to help them win now. After trading out of the first-round they picked defensive tackle Malik McDowell, then used their second pick on a center and then went with a project cornerback in Shaquill Griffin. Seattle should still contend this year, but it will have little to do with any of the players they added in the draft.

Winner: Pittsburgh retailers

The Steelers did well to land a draft full of players with significant upside (and also a long snapper), but the big winner in Pittsburgh are all the stores that sell Steelers apparel. Every first-round pick in Steelers history moves merchandise and linebacker TJ Watt will be no different. But as the Watt jersey orders were still rolling in, Pittsburgh took local hero and cancer survivor James Conner on Friday night in round three. There won’t be a man, woman or child in the city without a Conner jersey by the weekend and, if there is, it’s because the manufacturer can’t keep up with demand.

Loser: Alex Smith

After being told for years by Andy Reid that his short passes and game-managing style is exactly what he wanted, Alex Smith saw the Chiefs trade up to take rifle-armed QB Patrick Mahomes in the first round. It’s like catching your significant other on a date with your polar opposite. Smith would throw a drink Reid’s face, but then the coach would just have Mahomes throw a drink twice as hard.

Winner: John Lynch

Would the former safety and broadcaster be in over his head in his first draft as the man running the 49ers? Yes, but only because he was nearly drowned by draft picks that the Bears gave him to trade up to take Trubisky. Lynch ended up with 10 picks in the 2017 draft, a great way to begin rebuilding what’s left of the 49ers franchise.

Loser: John Elway

A year after handing the reigning Super Bowl champions from Peyton Manning to Trevor Siemian (but only after offering Brock Osweiler $16m a year first), Elway’s best draft pick is a fifth-round tight end coming off a torn ACL: Jake Butt. Denver spent their first-round pick on Utah offensive lineman Garrett Boles, who turns 25 this month and therefore has little chance of improving beyond his current state. And then the Broncos closed their draft by selecting Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly, who has had a ton of off-the-field issues during his career. But don’t worry, Elway did his due diligence. He called Kelly’s uncle. Uncles: always the greatest source of accurate information.

#Broncos Elway on drafting Chad Kelly. "I called his uncle and said he was a good kid.... We are full of confidence understands situation." — Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) April 29, 2017



