What The Hell Is This? Drafts From The 2021 NFL Draft

The draft is now complete and as always some teams objectively won the draft and others lost. As you could probably tell from the title of this article this will be about the losers. The teams who it seems like everyone in their draft process were completely wasted while making the decisions. This year’s class of prospects was quite good so having a draft in the “what the hell is this” territory seems like it would be something a team was trying to do.

 

 

Jacksonville Jaguars- 1^st overall pick and 9 total selections

 

 

 

The Draft Class And Round Selected: QB Clemson- Trevor Lawrence (1^st), RB Clemson- Travis Etienne (1^st), CB Georgia- Tyson Campbell (2^nd), OT Stanford- Walker Little (2^nd), S Syracuse- Andre Cisco (3^rd), DL USC- Jay Tufele (4^th), DE UAB- Jordan Smith (4^th), TE Ohio State- Luke Farrell (5^th), WR Georgia Tech- Jalen Camp (6^th)

 

 

Urban Meyer and this new Jags regime’s highly important task of nailing their first draft was unsuccessful despite having two first round selections including the first overall. Yes, they added Trevor Lawrence but after that, I can’t say this draft class makes them much better. Travis Etienne at the end of the first round made no sense for this team. They already have James Robinson on their roster and spending a first round pick on a running back is a bad choice for a team in a rebuild.

 

 

The offensive line could’ve used more attention. Pro Football Focus graded their offensive line 19^th at pass blocking and 25^th at run blocking. They only spent one pick on the OL and they took a risky one in Walker Little who hasn’t played since the first game of the 2019 season, where in the fourth quarter of that game he suffered a season ending knee injury. He hasn’t played since and Jags had the ability to take a less risky player like Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins. In general, they needed to do more for this line since their number one pick doesn’t perform well under pressure and this defense is still likely to be bad, meaning they’ll be losing a lot and meaning they’ll have to throw.

 

 

The Jags also didn’t get Lawrence a difference maker at wide receiver which would’ve been wise. A couple of these other guys like Campbell, Little, and Etienne could end up offering value as time goes on but this draft on paper looks terrible. The offensive line and defense will likely be just as bad and the receiver group could’ve used a high end talent.

 

 

Denver Broncos- 9^th overall pick and 10 picks total

 

 

 

The Draft Class And Round Selected: CB Alabama- Patrick Surtain ll (1^st), RB North Carolina- Javonte Williams (2^nd), OL UWWW- Quinn Meinerz (3^rd), LB Ohio State- Baron Browning (3^rd), S Texas- Caden Sterns (5^th), S Indiana- Jamar Johnson (5^th), WR Auburn- Seth Williams (6^th), CB LSU- Kary Vincent Jr. (7^th), DE Ohio State- Jonathan Cooper (7^th), DL Mississippi State Marquiss Spencer (7^th)

 

 

The Broncos’ mistakes started on night one when they chose to take a cornerback over an elite QB prospect in Justin Fields. The Broncos are choosing Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater instead. Yikes. John Elway and the Broncos make another bad QB choice, so what else is new. This team had six losses by seven or fewer points last season. A better QB would’ve made a big difference now and long term. Perhaps their defense gets a few quality players from this draft and Meinerz hits but ultimately this draft fails simply because the team ignored the most important position on the field even when they had a great option in front of them. This is a team that’s very riskily betting on Drew Lock and that’s not a smart bet.

 

 

Las Vegas Raiders- 17^th overall and 7 picks total

 

 

 

The Draft Class And Round Selected: OT Alabama- Alex Leatherwood (1^st), S TCU- Trevon Moehrig (2^nd), DE Buffalo- Malcolm Koonce (3^rd), S Virginia Tech- Divine Deablo (3^rd), S Missouri- Tyree Gillespie (4^th), CB Illinois- Nate Hobbs (5^th), OL Pittsburgh- Jimmy Morrissey (7^th)

 

 

Will the Raiders finally realize Mike Mayock can’t draft to save his life? Outside of Trevon Moehrig, this is a bad draft, plain and simple. Leatherwood at 17 was a reach. They should’ve traded down for more picks or taken a tackle actually worth the 17^th overall pick. I’m for shoring up a bad position group but three safeties is overkill. The offensive line would’ve been a better place to stock up on with multiple picks. Trent Brown, Rodney Hudson, and Gabe Jackson will be wearing new uniforms this season. With a draft filled with talented offensive line prospects, you would think that would be the position to stock up on and have those players be cheap. The Raiders need Leatherwood, Moehrig, and Koonce to be hits from this draft and ideally quickly considering they share a division with the Chiefs and a potentially on the rise Chargers team. A new General Manager is the number one thing they still need.

 

 

New York Giants- 20^th overall and 6 picks total

 

 

 

The Draft Class And Round Selected: WR Florida- Kadarius Toney (1^st), DE Georgia- Azeez Ojulari (2^nd), CB UCF- Aaron Robinson (3^rd), DE UNI- Elerson Smith (4^th), RB Arizona- Gary Brightwell (6^th), CB Oklahoma State- Rodarious Williams (6^th)

 

 

Another General Manager that just has no damn idea what they’re doing. Dave Gettleman failed to take a single offensive lineman from a talented draft at the position and seems interested in screwing over another young quarterback in that area. Pro Football Focus rated their pass blocking dead last and their run blocking 23rd. Wide receiver shouldn’t have been looked at until later if at all. I can’t overlook not trying to protect a young quarterback. It really doesn’t make sense how a General Manager can be so foolish. Whether or not they keep their job is largely dependent on how that player does. Why would you not help them out? Ojulari should be nice and maybe Robinson but this draft failed to address the team’s greatest need.

 

 

Green Bay Packers- 29^th overall and 9 picks total

 

 

 

The Draft Class And Round Selected: CB Georgia- Eric Stokes (1^st), OL Ohio State- Josh Myers (2^nd), WR Clemson- Amari Rodgers (3^rd), OL Mississippi- Royce Newman (4^th), DL Florida- Tedarrell Slaton (5^th), CB Appalachian State- Shemar Jean- Charles (5^th), OT Wisconsin- Cole Van Lanen (6^th), LB Boston College- Isaiah McDuffie (6^th), RB Mississippi State- Kylin Hill (7^th)

 

 

There’s no way that Aaron Rodgers didn’t throw his remote through his TV on night one of the draft when he saw they didn’t take a receiver. It’s been publicly known that Rodgers wants weapons for quite some time but General Manager Brian Gutekunst doesn’t seem interested. He should be however because in today’s game you need to give a defense as many weapons as possible to defend. The Packers should’ve taken Elijah Moore from Ole Miss or Terrace Marshall from LSU and Amari Rodgers in the third like they did. This is a team trying to win a super bowl and their front office hasn’t gotten the memo. It was good they offset the loss of starting center Corey Linsley by selecting Josh Myers in the second. Green Bay fans will be disappointed once more at the end of this season.