2016 NFL Draft Grades: Team-by-Team Letter Marks After Rounds 1-3 Results

Day 2 of the 2016 NFL draft featured plenty of big names not yet called, but that would change on Friday in Chicago. Much like Thursday, there were bound to be some surprises

Scroll down to check out how the draft has played out and who’s left on the big board.

Three rounds down, four to go. Here are some grades and teams that made the biggest storylines after Day 2.

Top Storylines Let’s Talk About Jaylon Smith

Here’s your feelgood story of the NFL draft: The Dallas Cowboys drafted Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith early in the second round.

Smith, once projected to be a top-10 pick, tore his ACL and LCL in the Fiesta Bowl back in January and wasn’t expected to go until the third or fourth round. That didn’t matter to the Cowboys, who took Smith with the 34th overall pick.

This is a terrific story, and you could tell as much by the emotion on Smith’s face when he got the call from Jerry Jones. Even he must have had a feeling he would drop, but it says a lot about his potential and upside for a team to take a chance on him this early. He’s a terrific player and will be great for the Cowboys when healthy.

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Now the elephant in the room: This is beyond risky. The New England Patriots would’ve taken Smith had the Cowboys not, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. But the Cowboys already passed up on Jalen Ramsey to take Ezekiel Elliott in the first round and then used their second-round pick on a player who may not be available in 2016.

But if you talk to Jones and Smith, they feel it’s possible, per David Helman of the Cowboys’ official site:

Jerry Jones says he doesn’t want to speak for the doctors, but he wouldn’t completely rule out Jaylon Smith’s availability for 2016.

— David Helman (@HelmanDC) April 30, 2016

“Absolutely,” Smith said when asked if there’s a chance he’d play this year, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “Never doubt God.”

One thing for certain, though, is there’s a lot of support for Smith to do well with the Cowboys:

#Cowboys DC Rod Marinelli said year from now @thejaylonsmith will prove 1 of best players in draft. “Inner strength of this man is special.”

— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) April 30, 2016

Love that Jaylon Smith went this high. Amazing amazing kid and competitor and type of guy They should build around

— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) April 29, 2016

This is …

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