Your winners and losers

It takes at least three years to determine winners and losers from an NFL draft.

But, hey, who's got that kind of time?

So here are some knee-jerk declarations, in no particular order, on winners and losers from Round 1 Thursday night:

Winner: Eagles. They traded up from No. 24 to No. 13, got a top pass rusher -- Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham -- and didn't have to surrender their two second-round picks to do so. While trading Donovan McNabb to the Redskins this offseason wasn't a wise move, Graham will give the Eagles a fine young pass rusher to get after McNabb twice a year.

Loser: Another puzzling first-round pick by the Jaguars during the Jack Del Rio era (what's left of it). It's hard to give the Jags the benefit of the doubt in reaching for Cal defensive tackle Tyson Alualu at No. 10 when some of their first-round picks since 2003 have included the likes of Reggie Williams, Matt Jones and Derrick Harvey.

Winner: 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. The current bust as No. 1 overall pick from the 2005 draft got a resounding affirmation that he's still the QB in San Francisco. The 49ers traded up from No. 13 to No. 11 and took right tackle Anthony Davis of Rutgers. Then, at No. 17, they took the best guard, Idaho's Mike Iupati, passing on Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen for the second time in seven picks. Throw in veteran left tackle Joe Staley, and Smith now has three recent No. 1 picks protecting him.

Loser: Mel Kiper Jr. telling us the vertical jumps of offensive tackles.

Winner: San Diego moving up from No. 28 to No. 12 to fill their most glaring hole -- workhorse running back -- with Fresno State's Ryan Mathews. It took a bold move to replace future Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson. The Chargers made one, and it was worth giving up their second-round pick (No. 40) to do so.

Loser: ESPN analyst Steve Young saying "the Raiders are not that far away" after Oakland surprisingly took Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain instead of a top offensive tackle to protect former No. 1 overall bust JaMarcus Russell.

Winner: It's always risky to say the Lions are heading in the right direction. But they got the best player in the draft in Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh second overall. Then they traded with the Vikings to get back into the first round (No. 30) and take Cal running back Jahvid Best, who can replace the seriously injured Kevin Smith (knee). It was a rare win-win trade between division rivals because the Vikings got fair value -- a seventh-round pick and moving up 28 spots in the fourth round -- to move from No. 30 to No. 34 and most likely still get the player they wanted all along.

Loser: A certain full-page Star Tribune mock draft that went 6-for-32.

Winner: The Packers getting Chad Clifton's heir apparent in Iowa left tackle Brian Bulaga, a potential top-five value, without having to trade up from No. 23. Bulaga is athletic enough to play guard and replace Clifton in 2011.

Loser: Notre Dame quarterbacks during the 25th pick. Denver, the most active team in the first round by far, traded up with the Ravens to take a huge risk in Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Broncos coach Josh McDaniels reached for Tebow despite having traded for former Irish QB Brady Quinn and having another former Irish QB, Clausen, still on the board. The feeling here and in a lot of other places is Tebow won't be a successful quarterback.

Winner: Congrats to Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner who has been kicking himself the past 12 years for passing on Randy Moss, a receiver with character issues coming out in 1998. Jones traded with the Broncos to move from No. 27 to No. 24 and take Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant. Bryant is a top-10 talent who would have been the top receiver taken if not for talking to Deion Sanders and lying about it. This could be one of the best picks of the first round.

To be determined: Of the seven first-round trades, the Broncos made four of them. Two up and two down. The team that got rid of Brandon Marshall traded up to get Georgia Tech receiver DeMaryius Thomas at No. 22. Two spots later, the Cowboys took Bryant with the pick the Broncos used to move up to take Thomas. We'll let you know in a few years how that turns out.

Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com