Draft weekend is over. It’s sad times in the lair. I guess it’s back to binging super hero movies until fantasy season picks up for us keyboard warriors. But before we go open Disney+, here’s some grades. Remember, I did an analysis of each pick of the first round already, and be sure to check out the earlier editions of the review series.
Arizona Cardinals – C+
I don’t get the Zaven Collins pick. I like him as much as the next person but after passing on CeeDee Lamb for Isaiah Simmons last year at eight Arizona once again drafts a freak athlete linebacker/Swiss army knife. The Cardinals need more impact from more important positions. At least trade down first.
Getting Rondale Moore in the second is one of my favorite picks in the draft, and I actually had it in my final mock. *Takes victory lap* I knew Kliff would not be able to resist this toy and Moore has so much more juice for all the wide receiver screens that have gone to Larry Fitzgerald, and subsequently no where, that we’ve seen the last two years.
Without a third rounder Arizona wasn’t up again until the fourth. They moved down from #136 to #160 and picked up Baltimore’s 2022 4th for their troubles. They then picked Marco Wilson who has all the talent in the world but never progressed after an impressive Freshman season. Wilson may actually start for this team in 2021.
The team later doubled up at corner in the 6th when they grabbed Tay Gowan who is a fantastic value so late. Gowan also has a real chance to start for this team, which shows how dire their corner situation is.
Los Angeles Rams – C
With no first rounder, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and Van Jefferson already in town, and plenty of issues along the offensive line, the Rams obviously spent their first selection on a 150lb gadget receiver in Tutu Atwell. And of course they followed that up in the third with linebacker Ernest Jones.
They took two interesting players in Bobby Brown and Robert Rochell in the 4th round and I bet one of these two ends up being the best player from the class. Brown should be able to stick at least as a run stuffer and Rochell has some really intriguing physical tools.
I will say this about the Rams; they were light on draft capital due to the Stafford trade and they spent Day 3 trading down in an effort to accumulate more picks. They did just that as they ended up drafting 9 times despite being down a first rounder. This is what you should do when you don’t have your first, I just can’t wrap my head around who they took on Day 2 and ignoring the offensive line completely.
I’m bumping this up from a D+ to a C to account for acquiring Stafford.
San Francisco 49ers – C-
In the end the 49ers made the right pick between Trey Lance and Mac Jones from a binary perspective. However, none of this ever had to happen. San Francisco sold the farm to fly up the board in order to secure Lance, only to watch both Fields and Jones fall on draft day. It appears the 9ers badly misread the room, and I don’t agree with taking Lance over Fields, let alone spending two future firsts and a future third in order to do so.
San Francisco then spent Day 2 reaching badly on Aaron Brooks and wasting a third rounder on Trey Sermon. The 9ers running back room is already crowded so there is just absolutely no reason to spend a third on Sermon. At least San Francisco made a good trade with Vegas before reaching on Brooks, I guess.
!!! New #NFLDraft Trade: LV-SF !!! pic.twitter.com/UAb5IzhsVZ
— Lee Sharpe, ⛓️ @ 🏠 (@LeeSharpeNFL) April 30, 2021
With their second third rounder the 9ers took Ambry Thomas to add to their corner stable. On Day 3 the team added two interesting names in the secondary with Deommodore Lenoir and Talanoa Hufanga.
I really wanted to give this a D because I hate the trade up to #3, don’t think Lance is worthy of the third pick, and strongly dislike taking Banks and Sermon where they did. I’m going to bump it up a little because at the end of the day I do commend them for shooting their shot on a quarterback, especially given all the recent developments league wide.
Seattle Seahawks – F
The Seahawks didn’t spend any time drafting so I don’t really want to spend any time writing about them. D’Wayne Eskridge can absolutely fly but has a catching problem and why didn’t Seattle trade down or select a corner or an offensive lineman? The Seahawks entered the draft with three picks. Three! I would have bet my life they’d trade down in the second round to acquire more capital. They do it every year under the Carroll/Schneider regime but for some reason, nope, not this year.
Both of their Day 3 picks were interesting with Tre Brown and Stone Forsythe. Brown really bucks the trend of what the team looks for in a corner as he’s quite small but this team just needs talent in the secondary. I thought Forsythe was going to go much earlier so to get him in the 6th is good value, though waiting until the 6th to take an offensive lineman when Russell Wilson wants out of town due to lack of protection makes no sense.
And no, Seattle doesn’t get a bump for acquiring Jamal Adams like the Rams and Chiefs did for Stafford and Orlando Brown. Why? Because that trade was god awful.
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