Biggest winners, losers, steals and reaches in the 2021 NFL Draft
After an eventful 2021 NFL Draft, the 32 teams made some interesting picks in the three-day event to bolster their rosters and address specific needs.
Tangible results will only come in once these players play a season or two in the competition. Nevertheless, let us have a look at the biggest winners, losers, steals and riches in the 2021 NFL Draft.
I will break down every single division in detail on my Youtube channel two weeks from now after I talk about some of my favorite UDFA signings. Please make sure to check out all my positional rankings, big board and much more on my page.
So, without further ado, let us start with the biggest winners in the 2021 NFL Draft.
# Biggest winners in the 2021 NFL Draft
Chicago Bears
The football fans and the city of Chicago finally receive some hope by selecting a potential franchise quarterback in Justin Fields at 11th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The organization got pretty lucky to get that pick, even though they deserve credit for moving up nine spots in exchange for limited compensation with the Giants; the Bears gave up next year’s first-round selection and a fourth-rounder in this and next year’s NFL draft.
The reaction from the fans was a lot different compared to four years ago when they got fleeced by the 49ers, giving up a couple of third-rounders to swap the second and third overall picks and selecting Mitch Trubisky.
While head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace seemingly are on the hot seat, somewhat undeservingly, not finishing with a negative record in any of their three years yet could have saved their jobs.
Justin Fields is not a perfect quarterback at this point, as he has to work on his release mechanics and eye discipline, but he is a difference-maker at the position and has a gamer mentality.
As I mentioned in my breakdown of the quarterback class, I had the Ohio State signal-caller third in my list, just ahead of no. 3 overall pick Trey Lance. I don't expect him to hit the ground running, but Fields’ playmaking ability and competitiveness should stand him in good stead.
Moreover, the Chicago Bears seemed to have got good value in the 2021 NFL Draft. They snapped up a new starting right tackle in Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins (39th overall), one of my favorite running backs in Virginia Tech’s Khalil Herbert, potentially a starting nickel in Oregon’s Thomas Graham Jr. and a nice backup nose-tackle in BYU’s Khyiris Tonga.
Denver Broncos
Last year, I had Drew Lock in this list after the Broncos selected wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler with their first two picks and a starting center along with his former All-SEC tight-end from Missouri.
So one might argue Lock might qualify as a 'winner' once again, as his team passed on Justin Fields ninth overall. But as Denver already added Teddy Bridgewater a couple of days ago, Lock could have some competition for that starting gig.
Instead, I want to talk about what George Paton did in his first NFL draft as the team’s GM because I thought he absolutely knocked it out of the park. Not a single one of his picks can be termed a reach, even though one may argue they should have selected Fields when he was on the board at the bottom of the top ten.
They got the top corner, without any medical concerns, in Alabama’s Patrick Surtain. They also got North Carolina’s Javonte Williams, who was my RB3 right at 35th overall.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin-Whitewater's standout interior lineman Quinn Meinerz at 98th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft could be a day one starter. Baron Browning, as the final pick of day three (105), presents excellent value and so do safeties Caden Sterns from Texas (152) and Jamar Johnson from Indiana (164).
Auburn WR Seth Williams is the one I’m not super impressed with, though. But the Broncos did snap up a starting-level nickel in LSU’s Kary Vincent Jr. and a fine rotational edge defender in Ohio State’s Jonathon Cooper in the seventh round.
So the Broncos could have at least three new starters and at least as many guys who could be heavily involved in the rotation defensively. Moreover, I think they added a nice mix of floor-and-ceiling-type of players in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Alabama Crimson Tide
Ohio State and Clemson are really the only ones in the conversation. But no program in the country produces more NFL talent than the factory Nick Saban has built-in Tuscaloosa. For five straight years, they have now had at least nine players drafted, and three was the lowest number of first-round picks during that period.
This year, Alabama tied the record for most first-round picks by one college, with six. They had two more prospects selected within the first six picks of the second round. Moreover, Alabama could have easily had two more players in addition to the ten who heard their names called out in the 2021 NFL Draft.
If teams had better medical information on linebacker Dylan Moses, he would likely have been picked, along with tight-end Miller Forristall, who was certainly in the mix for a late pick in a weak tight-end NFL 2021 draft class. Nevertheless, making up 21% of the first 38 picks is pretty impressive.
Saban and the Crimson Tide know how to develop high school kids into NFL pros, including star players like Derrick Henry, Julio Jones and Minkah Fitzpatrick, but even more so, quality long-term starters.
While the results are obviously supported by the level of recruits that come into their program, that success of churning out high draft picks in the NFL is why they have so many four- and five-stars commit to them.
When I look at this NFL draft class, in particular, I believe if center Landon Dickerson is healthy, seven of those first eight picks could be day one starters, with quarterback Mac Jones potentially taking over for Cam Newton in New England.
The Panthers took two more starters in the sixth round. They didn’t draft a backup long-snapper and guard Deonte Brown mostly due to concerns about him being 350+ pounds and his sub-par Senior Bowl performance.
With Justin Fields being the only Ohio State player to hear his name called on Thursday, Bama only just broke the tie and are now five guys clear in terms of first-round picks since 2000 (45).
The legacy of Andrew Berry
The people of Cleveland suffered through years of disappointment since the team was re-established in the city. Outside of one playoff performance in 2002, Cleveland finally defeated their demons last season, when they were a heroic moment from Chad Henne away from going to the AFC Championship game.
While the talent in that roster was obviously the biggest reason, they made it that far, what really turned things around for them were the hirings of head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry last year. They arguably had their best draft and certainly their best season.
For this year, they have put together one of the most impressive NFL draft classes I can remember in a while across the league. While Northwestern cornerback Greg Newsome II was looked at as a first-round pick by most, grabbing a top-20 overall prospect on my board in Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in 52nd more than makes up for that.
Their third-round pick in Auburn, receiver Anthony Schwartz is the one I actually thought was too early, considering how raw a player he is at this point. Cleveland are probably banking on the track speed he brings.
Cincinnati offensive tackle James Hudson, Ohio State defensive tackle Tommy Togiai, West Virginia linebacker Tony Fields, Georgia safety Richard LeCounte and UCLA RB Demetric Felton all went about 40-50 spots later than I had envisaged them to.
Cleveland addressed by far their biggest need at linebacker and built excellent depth throughout the roster. The selection of LeCounte was a particularly shrewd move, as he clocked 4.8s on his pro day.
Injured high-caliber prospects
This year in the NFL Draft, there were more first-round or top-50 caliber prospects with injury concerns than I can remember in the last decade or so .
And in a COVID-plagued year, all the medical information we had came from the NFL’s general check-up, and teams didn’t individually get a chance to bring these young men into their facilities and have team doctors look at them.
The four names that really stuck out in the first two rounds, who either suffered major injuries recently or had concerning medical histories, heard their names called only 10-15 spots later than they probably would have in the absence of injuries.
Miami edge rusher Jaelan Phillips was forced to medically retire from UCLA due to three concussions within a year (with one of them coming from getting run into by a car while he was on a bike). But he was arguably the top prospect at the position based on last year’s tape; he got to stay in South Beach, as the Dolphins selected him 18th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
My top cornerback, Caleb Farley from Virginia Tech, sat out the 2020 season because he didn’t want to risk losing his dad to COVID after his mother had tragically passed away three years ago. He recently had a clean-up procedure on his back that had flared up again. Nevertheless, he was picked 22nd overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Titans.
Alabama center Landon Dickerson tore his ACL in the SEC title game and had all four of his college seasons cut short by injuries. But he has the chance to be the best center in the league if he can stay healthy; he was the fifth name called on day two of the 2021 NFL Draft.
And finally, Vanderbilt’s tweener defensive lineman Dayo Odeyingbo, who has a crazy combination of explosiveness and power, tore his Achilles during the NFL off-season workouts; he was the 54th overall pick by the Colts.
The guys who actually ended up falling were the ones who had some medical concerns during the NFL's pre-draft process.
Other draft classes of NFL teams I liked:
Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Chargers.