RS12
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 31,957
- Reaction score
- 27,888
Final 2021 NFL draft grades
Eric Edholm
Sun, May 2, 2021, 5:27 PM·61 min read
Picks: 1-12: Penn State LB Micah Parsons; 2-44: Kentucky CB Kelvin Joseph; 3-75: UCLA DT Osa Odighizuwa; 3-84: Iowa EDGE Chauncey Golston; 3-99: Oregon State CB Nahshon Wright; 4-115: LSU LB Jabril Cox; 4-138: Marshall OT Josh Ball; 5-179: Stanford WR Simi Fehoko; 6-192: Kentucky DT Quinton Bohanna; 6-227: South Carolina CB Israel Mukuamu; 7-238: Nebraska OG Matt Farniok
Favorite pick: Cox
Our favorite by a country mile. Every other pick seemed to be close to where we thought they would land or lower. Cox slipping to Round 4 was a shock, as his coverage ability separated him from many other linebackers (including Parsons) in this year’s class. LSU coaches raved about Cox’s leadership. He’s a perfect complement to Parsons and could be part of a good duo that supplants Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith in time.
Least-favorite pick: Joseph
There’s an interesting talent here, as Joseph has decent length, great catch-up speed and some burgeoning ball skills. On talent alone, he was well worth his draft slot. But Joseph alienated himself with two different coaching staffs (LSU and Kentucky) and likely is in need of some maturing. Sources have said he can be headstrong and self-interested, and his commitment at both schools was questioned. If he can put it all together and adopt a team mindset, there’s a very good player. Joseph is a big risk for a Cowboys staff that is trying to rebuild the culture after a brutal 2020 season. They missed out on the top two corners, Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II, and were unable to trade up in Round 2 for Tyson Campbell. Any of the three would have offered more stability.
Overall: The Cowboys’ patterned approach of taking character risks gives this class a frightening quality. Parsons was allegedly involved in a hazing scandal at PSU and had his maturity scrutinized during the process by multiple teams. We mentioned Joseph above. And Ball was not allowed to return to Florida State amid dating violence allegations before moving to Marshall. On top of that, things didn’t seem to line up extremely well for Dallas throughout the draft, and it adopted a carpet-bombing approach to aiding a weak defense. The Cowboys feasted on long corners such as Joseph, Wright and Mukuama, which makes sense for Dan Quinn’s defense, but the last two are major projects. Odighizuwa and Golston were not beloved by many scouts and felt overdrafted by a round apiece. We’ll say that Dallas’ scouting staff is considered one of the best talent-evaluating groups in the NFL, but we’re not sure this was their finest effort.
Grade: C-
Grade in 2020: A
Grade in 2019: C+
https://sports.yahoo.com/final-2021-nfl-draft-grades-002740584.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink