2021 Post-NFL Draft Grades NFC South/East & AFC South/North

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The NFL draft has concluded and now we must wait and see what happens with every prospect that we loved or hated. There is no more debate for which QB should go where and what you think your team has done. Their boards and selections are complete. How do you feel your team did compared to the rest of the league? Let’s jump into some post-draft grades and see how we see them.

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys:

Going into the draft it seemed like the Cowboys were going to have their pick of either Patrick Surtain II or Jaycee Horn. Well, by the time the number 10 pick came around the Cowboys didn’t have either option on the table. So, they moved back at 12 and they got a great pick in Micah Parsons that will fill in right away and replace Sean Lee.

A lot of the other Cowboys picks I was not a fan of. The only other picks that I liked were Jabril Cox in the fourth round to continue to build that LB position and Simi Fehoko from Stanford in round five as a good pick. However, I wasn’t a big fan of their day 2 picks of Kelvin Joseph and Chauncey Golston when I thought there were better players on the board.

Overall, filling the LB position was something that needed to happen when Sean Lee retires, and they decline the option of Leighton Vander Esch. I thought the Cowboys had to get help in the secondary during this draft. Maybe not even just one guy in Surtain or Horn but another to go along with it and they ended up with Kelvin Joseph in the second and are going to be relying on that development.

Grade: C+

New York Giants:

I thought the Giants had a great draft this year in terms of who they picked and the trades they facilitated in the draft. Devonta Smith seemed like the guy they wanted at 11 and when the Eagles leaped them, they knew they could move down. While moving down they acquired a first-round pick next year and I like how Kadarius Toney projects for them at the WR position that will help Daniel Jones and that offense.

I had Azeez Ojulari as a round-one talent and the Giants were able to get him 18 picks into the second round. Able to add to the EDGE position after missing out on that position in free agency. They continued to add to an already solid defensive unit with Ojulari, Aaron Robinson, and Elerson Smith.

The trades that the Giants made after Gettleman hasn’t traded back ever, he made some solid trade backs and I like what they added on that side of the ball. Adding Toney was key for their offense, but I would have liked to see them add one more offensive lineman that could develop into a starter or even depth. Feels like they are relying a little too much on last year’s draft for the offensive line, but we will see how that pans out.

Grade: B+

Philadelphia Eagles:

The Eagles needed to get the WR position right in this draft. Missing on Justin Jefferson and going with Reagor was a big mistake. I think the Eagles got it right this time and they made sure they got one of the top 3 guys at that position. Post-draft we learned that the Giants were in on Devonta Smith, the Eagles leaped them and grabbed Smith right before them. I also think the Landon Dickerson pick was solid if he recovers well from injury. Both picks should help Jalen Hurts develop.

I did think there were better options at DL instead of undersized Milton Williams and there weren’t a whole lot of picks I loved in the middle of their draft. I liked Jacoby Stevens late as well as Patrick Johnson in the seventh round. They needed to hit this draft after last year seemed like a lost draft year.

Grade: B-

Washington Football Team:

How you view Jamin Davis is how you will look at this draft class overall. I for one, LOVE Jamin Davis, and I believe Washington got this pick just right. Great tackler, an off-ball linebacker with outstanding range, and an explosive burst. As he continues to develop his recognition skills, I think he will grow into an all-around great LB in Washington.

I was a fan of Dyami Brown in the third as well as Dax Milne in the seventh who I had as one of my sleepers in this draft at that position. I did a great job of addressing all their team needs and this could be a great draft if OT Samuel Cosmi works out. The only issue is you sign a veteran in Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tyler Heinicke backs him up. Washington didn’t take a QB at all in this draft. I never thought that Washington was going to draft one in the first round, but I did think that they would take a Kellen Mond or Kyle Trask sometime in the second or third round.

Grade: B+

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons:

If the Falcons didn’t have a good enough trade down at the 4 spot, then Kyle Pitts was the right choice. Pitts is arguably the best talent in this draft, and I know they need to replace Matt Ryan eventually, but Pitts is just another weapon to add to that offense. You could argue that Justin Fields could have gone there and developed, and I do believe if Lance didn’t go three that he could easily have gone to Atlanta, but that’s not how things worked out.

The next two picks after Pitts are great picks by the Falcons, we found out that Moehrig had a back injury in the offseason and that is why he was slipping. That is why Richie Grant was a great pick at the spot they got him. Initially, I thought that Moehrig should have been the guy, but the Falcons can’t afford to bet on that on defense. I am also a fan of the Jalen Mayfield pick to help improve the offensive line as well as Ogundeji in the fifth and Darby in the sixth. Not acquiring a QB or an LB in this draft to help improve those positions in the future could hurt them down the road and therefore they will take a bit of a hit. Especially if Atlanta is better next year like most expect it could be hard for them to be in a top 5 position again to address QB.

Grade: A-

Carolina Panthers:

The Panthers had a high volume of picks this year and everyone was curious what they would do at number eight. Well, they surprised most and went with CB and took Jaycee Horn. Meaning, they are putting their future in the hands of Sam Darnold. Horn will be a great corner in the NFL and was a great pick for the Panthers at eight who had a lot of options out there. I also liked the pick of Terrace Marshall in the second to get another weapon for Darnold.

Brady Christensen and Tommy Tremble are questionable picks but then they followed it up with Chuba Hubbard and they took a chance on Daviyon Nixon who was falling in the draft. I question the long snapper in the sixth round especially with a seventh-round pick still out there. They tried to address most needs with the surplus of picks, but the QB position is now all Sam Darnold after a team who stated in the offseason that they could have won closer games with a different QB. We will see how Sam Darnold plays out, and I truly do believe in Sam Darnold and his talent.

Grade: B

New Orleans Saints:

There isn’t a lot for me to say about the Saints draft, they didn’t have a lot of picks and I didn’t think they used those picks well. I don’t mind Payton Turner, but I don’t think you needed to use a first on him. If Winston or Hill is your guy at QB in the future, then I’m not sure why you take Ian Book because I don’t think he develops too much or is in NO that long. Paulson Adebo might be the one pick that I thought they did an okay job with.

Grade: D+

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The Bucs didn’t have a ton of picks and had the last one in the first round. Joe Tryon was a great value pick in the first-round. I had him as a first round talent and in a draft class that doesn’t have a ton of EDGE talent, the Bucs went and got one. They had the luxury of going just about anywhere with their first pick and throughout the entire draft.

I liked the picks of Chris Wilcox and Jaelon Darden. These were some great value picks and players who I had that could be starters in the NFL one day. Especially when you are talking about the value that the Bucs drafted with some of these guys makes it all that much better. We will have to see how Kyle Trask plays out in the NFL and if he can develop into a QB after Tom Brady if he ever decides to retire.

Grade: B+

AFC South

Houston Texans:

There isn’t a ton to comment on with the Texans. Previous management has set them on a dark path and made things difficult for the new GM. I thought they did the best they could with what they had. I was a big fan of the Brevin Jordan pick, but they also seemed to concede on Deshaun Watson with the drafting of Davis Mills with their first pick in the third round. Tough go around for the Texans here and they have a lot to do before they are competitive again. Some could say 76ers type rebuild.

Grade: D+

Indianapolis Colts:

The first two picks of the draft for the Colts were great picks and the fact that they didn’t have to move to take Kwity Paye was great for them. They addressed their pass rush needs right away in the draft. I am a fan of Paye and his upside potential as well as Odeyingbo. They secured the defensive line in the draft.

However, the later picks I didn’t enjoy as much. They missed out on a third-round pick and the rest of the picks in the draft don’t stand out to me. The one that did was Sam Ehlinger in the sixth round. Ehlinger could long term be a backup QB, but it also might not have been a bad pick if they think he could project as a different position player and finds a career that way.

Grade: C

Jacksonville Jaguars:

Urban Meyer is going to head into his first year with the Jaguars with Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne. Hopefully, Meyer doesn’t stay true to his word and use Etienne as a third-down back only. Jags couldn’t get the number one overall pick wrong. Whoever had it for the past 5 years known it would be Trevor Lawrence this year.

The rest of the picks for the Jags were hit or miss. I think there were better players at the secondary position when they drafted Tyson Campbell to start day two. I think the Walker Little pick could turn out to be an above-average pick and I also liked the taking of Andre Cisco in the third round. The rest didn’t make much of a difference to me and their draft might depend on how much you value the RB in the late first round.

Grade: B

Tennessee Titans:

Caleb Farley in the first round is a huge high-risk, high-reward draft pick. Farley could be regarded as a top 5 talent in this year’s class if he can be healthy. However, Farley has never been able to get healthy or stay healthy over the past couple of years. That makes this hard to judge because if he is as good as we think he can be, then the draft looks great. If he can find the field and stays injured, then it’s a swing and a miss.

Radunz is an interesting pick in the second round, I did like Radunz coming into the draft and look forward to what he can become. Elijah Molden was a good pick in the third round as well as Rashad Weaver in the fourth round. Titans after the first round are okay, but everything plays off that first-round draft pick.

Grade: B-

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens:

This draft class was intriguing to me. I loved the first pick in Rashod Bateman, and I think he will help Lamar Jackson a ton in Batemans first year. On the second pick of the first round though, Oweh can scare me. He has all the physical tools you can look for, but eventually, I need to see a little production to go along with that. Hopefully, the Baltimore Ravens can develop Oweh and get him to find that production in the NFL.

Shaun Wade is an interesting pick to me because he happened to be there for them in the fifth round. Wade was a top projected corner for this draft class before last year started. Then he didn’t look good this past season and saw his draft stock plummet. The Ravens drafted him in the middle of the fifth and will now try to see if they can get him back to what he has been before. On the flip side of the ball, the Ben Mason draft pick is weird. Feels like most people wouldn’t value that FB position as much as the Ravens, however, they decided to use that last draft pick on one.

Grade: C+

Cincinnati Bengals:

In a broad outlook of the Bengals draft picks, I like who they took and the places they got in this year’s draft. Ja’Marr Chase is an incredible playmaker that claims he will break every record possible in Cincinnati. They had other good picks like Joseph Ossai and Cameron Sample. The Bengals went out and got some guys that will help them improve as a football team. However, there is still one major glaring hole.

The Bengals just didn’t do enough for me to prove they will protect Joe Burrow any more than they did last year. Burrow is coming off ACL surgery that looked like injury was coming his way with an awful offensive line. Sewell was there for the taking at number five, there were better lineman available at their first pick in the second round and then they just decided to not address it other than Carman for the rest of the draft.

Grade: B-

Cleveland Browns:

It feels so nice for the Browns that they don’t have to get everything perfect throughout the entirety of the draft. They could sit back in the 20s and draft the guy that they see fit. Instead of worrying about which QB can change their organization. Instead, the Browns grabbed Greg Newsome and added to an already talented defensive unit and they had the freedom to just take a guy they could believe in and not get critiqued as heavily.

Newsome was a great pick and will be good in Cleveland after being great at Northwestern. We found out later that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah fell because of a heart condition that scared a lot of teams away. If he can get healthy and nothing is impacting his health in the long term, then this will be the steal of the draft. I was high on Owusu-Koramoah heading into the draft but didn’t know about the health problems. Richard LeCounte is also a sleeper pick to keep an eye on and how he might develop in their system.

Grade: A

Pittsburgh Steelers:

Najee Harris was the guy you had to take here. I think I could have justified Teven Jenkins just because of the need on the offensive line but they didn’t go that route. Najee Harris will help Big Ben in what should be his last year and could help cover up some of the offensive line holes that they had. The first-round pick wasn’t the issue I had with this draft.

Pat Freiermuth in the second round was a head-scratcher and I am not sure if that was a great route to go. They didn’t address life after Big Ben as that seems to be approaching closer and closer as the years go on. I am a huge fan of Kendrick Green and that will pan out to be a great pick for the Steelers, but the rest of the draft might not look like that.

Grade: C