2021 NFL Draft - 1st Round Grades

 

First round grades with some commentary because I was watching with friend and was travelling all day today.

1)     Jacksonville Jaguars – Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson – Grade: A+

The right pick, the pick we expected. Let’s move on.

2)     New York Jets – Zach Wilson, QB, BYU – Grade: C-

I have Wilson as my 5^th QB in this draft. I don’t see it as a laugher, but I think this should have been Lance or Fields.

3)     San Francisco 49ers from Miami – Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State – Grade: B+

Lance was my QB3 after Fields and Lawrence but he’s a really interesting QB and going to a great offensive situation with Kyle Shanahan.

4)     Atlanta Falcons – Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida – Grade: A-

Maybe the most athletically gifted player in the draft and an outlier at his position both in the draft and once he’s in the league. He’s an adequate blocker but will make this Falcons defense incredibly difficult to defend.

5)     Cincinnati Bengals – Je’Marr Chase, WR, LSU – Grade: A+

Best receiver in the draft, not sure he’s generational like many think but he’s still a great player. Now, they just have to keep Burrow upright.

6)     Miami Dolphins from Philadelphia – Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama – Grade: A

7)     Detroit Lions – Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon – Grade: B+

8)     Carolina Panthers – Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina – Grade: A-

9)     Denver Broncos – Patirck Surtain II, CB, Alabama – Grade: A

Trade: Eagles get 10, Cowboys 12 & 84 - Grades: PHI (C-) & DAL (A)

10)  Philadelphia Eagles from Dallas – Devonta Smith, WR, Alabama – Grade: A

Trade: Bears get 11, Giants gets 20, 164, ’22 1^st, & ’22 4^th – Grade: CHI () & NYG ()

11)  Chicago Bears from New York (N)– Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State – Grade: A+

12)  Dallas Cowboys from Philadelphia from San Francisco from Miami – Micah Parsons, OBLB, Penn State – Grade: C+

13)  Los Angeles Chargers – Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern – Grade: A-

Trade: New York Jets gets 14 & 143, Minnesota gets 23, 66, & 86 – Grade: NYJ () & MIN ()

14)  New York Jets from Minnesota – Alijha Vera-Tucker, OL, USC – Grade: A

15)  New England Patriots – Mac Jones, QB, Alabama – Grade: A+

16)  Arizona Cardinals – Zaven Collins, OBLB, Tulsa – Grade: A+

17)  Las Vegas Raiders – Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama – Grade: C

18)  Miami Dolphins – Jaelan Phillips, Edge, Miami (FL) – Grade: A

19)  Washington Football Team – Jamin Davis, OBLB, Kentucky – Grade: C- 

20)  New York Giants from Chicago – Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida – Grade: D+

21)  Indianapolis Colts - Kwity Paye, Edge, Michigan – Grade: C-

22)  Tennessee Titans – Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech – Grade: B+

23)  Minnesota Vikings – Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech – Grade: A

24)  Pittsburgh Steelers – Najee Harris, RB, Alabama – Grade: B+

25)  Jacksonville Jaguars from Los Angeles (A) – Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson – Grade: B+

26)  Cleveland Browns – Greg Newsome II, CB, Northwestern – Grade: A+

27)  Baltimore Ravens – Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota – Grade: A+

28)  New Orleans Saints - Payton Turner, Edge, Houston – Grade: F

29)  Green Bay Packers – Eric Stokes, CB, Georgia – Grade: D+

30)  Buffalo Bills – Gregory Rousseau, Edge, Miami (FL) – Grade: C

31)  Baltimore Ravens from Kansas City – Jayson Oweh, Edge, Penn State – Grade: B+

32)  Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Joe Tryon, Edge, Washington – Grade: F

2021 NFL Draft - 1st Round Mock

 Here we are a first round mock draft that is sure to be incredibly wrong and make almost no one happy. Left column is what I think will happen and the right column is what I would do based on my rankings and decisions.

Pick	Team	Mock Draft Pick	What I'd Do Pick
1	JAX	Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson	Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
Nothing to see here we’ve been set on this since the Jaguars were awarded the pick
2	NYJ	Zach Wilson, QB, BYU	Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
This pick is going to be Wilson, should be QB, and should be Fields.
3	SF f/HOU f/MIA	Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State	Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State
Lance is a really nice prospect, big, athletic, and intelligent. He needs some refining, but he should be right at home in Shanahan’s scheme.
4	ATL	Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida	Ja'Marr Chase, WR, LSU
I’m not sure I love either of these picks but for what I’d do I don’t see a better player than Chase and Pitts is such a freak and a near consensus in Atlanta.
5	CIN	Je'Marr Chase, WR, LSU	Rashawn Slater, OT, NW
I think Cincinnati goes Chase but they should go tackle, and Slater just edges out Sewell for me.
6	MIA f/PHI	Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon	DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
Sewell is a great prospect and a starter quality prospect. Smith gives Tua another weapon and someone who creates great early separation.
7	DET	Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State	Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama
Fields would be a no-brainer for Detroit and definitely shouldn’t go too much later than this. Waddle gives them an elite professional receiver to pair with the riff raff in their receiving corps.
8	CAR	Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern	Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon
Take a tackle support Darnold and move on.
9	DEN	Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama	Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama
Denver takes the best corner in the draft.
10	DAL	Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina	Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida
Dallas locks down one half of their cornerback tandem. Pitts gives them one more weapon and you dare teams to outscore them.
11	NYG	Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama	Zaven Collins, OBLB, Tulsa
The Giants get what might end up being the best WR in the draft and a great technician. Collins is one of my favorites in this draft and is comfortable against the run, rushing the QB, and in coverage at just shy of 260 pounds.
12	PHI f/SF f/MIA	DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama	Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina
PHI helps Hurts out or Horn helps shore up what used to be a team strength.
13	LAC	Christian Darrisaw, OT, Va Tech	Alijah Vera-Tucker, OL, USC
Charges help protect the franchise future one way or another.
14	MIN	Alijah Vera-Tucker, OL, USC	Jaelan Phillips, Edge, Miami (FL)
Minnesota has needed offensive line help for a long time and Edge help for much shorter but both project to be future needs if not addressed.
15	NE	Micah Parsons, OBLB, Penn State	Mac Jones, QB, Alabama
NE gets one of two eye roll inducing picks in which we all cuss about Belichek doing it again.
16	ARI	Caleb Farley, CB, Va Tech	Landon Dickerson, C, Alabama
Arizona is undeterred by injuries with this pair in the mocks. Both are elite options at their positions but both have major injury concerns.
17	LVR	Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, OBLB, ND	Christian Darrisaw, OT, Va Tech
Raiders shore up their front seven or bookend their newly minted young tackle with Darrisaw on the right side.
18	MIA	Jaelan Phillips, Edge, Miami (FL)	Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota
Miami gets the best edge rusher in the class (with baggage) or a really nice receiver who creates separation and should work well on timing throws with Tua.
19	WAS	Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State	Micah Parsons, OBLB, Penn State
Washington has a number of needs but adding a body to the line or finding a way to attack behind a killer front seven seem like good places to address day one of the NFL draft.
20	CHI	Mac Jones, QB, Alabama	Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
Chicago gets a QB! No way this goes wrong.
21	IND	Greg Newsome II, CB, Northwestern	Greg Newsome II, CB, Northwestern
Indy gets better at corner one of the few major weak spots on their roster.
22	TEN	Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota	Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State
Tennessee helps protect Tannehill or replaces Corey Davis. Could also see them going best possible CB here but didn’t think they had a good option on either of those fronts.
23	NYJ f/SEA	Kwity Paye, Edge, Michigan	Najee Harris, RB, Alabama
Kwity seems to be the most popular Edge option in this part of the draft and the Jets get a traits-y if semi-raw player to play on the edge.
24	PIT	Najee Harris, RB, Alabama	Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson
Pittsburgh has been linked to Harris and even though that probably means they trade out of here RB seems the likeliest spot at this point in the draft.
25	JAC f/LAR	Trevon Moehrig, S, TCU	Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame
Moehrig is the top safety on the board and Eichenberg is a solid if unsexy pick on the offensive line to protect Lawrence.
26	CLE	Christian Barmore, INT, Alabama	Christian Barmore, INT, Alabama
Barmore is the only interior defensive lineman that should come close to the 1st round and Cleveland shores up what should be a strength for a long time.
27	BAL	Azeez Ojulari, Edge, Georgia	Kendrick Green, OL, Illinois
Baltimore takes what some think is the most polished Edge rusher in the draft. I went with what I think is an incredibly athletically gifted interior lineman who can play center or guard.
28	NO	Jayson Oweh, Edge, Penn State	Jevon Holland, S, Oregon
I love Oweh, he’s raw but athletic and he’s still early in his football playing career.
29	GB	Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida	Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, OBLB, ND
WR, OBLB, Interior DL, and CB are the biggest needs. Draft BPA and move on.
30	BUF	Gregory Rousseau, Edge, Miami (FL)	Caleb Farley, CB, Va Tech
Rousseau and Farley both have red flags but they also both have immense upside late in the first round.
31	BAL f/KC	Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss	Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss
Baltimore gets an incredibly quick and explosive wide receiver who creates space and yardage every time he touches the ball.
32	TB	Asante Samuel Jr, CB, Florida State	Jayson Oweh, Edge, Penn State
The rich gets athletically richer in a spot where the Super Bowl champs can take whatever they want without too much doubt.