Biggest winners, losers, steals and reaches in the 2021 NFL Draft

# Biggest steals of the 2021 NFL Draft:

Christian Darrisaw

Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech – 23rd overall to Minnesota

The top two offensive tackles in this class, pretty much across all rankings, were Oregon’s Penei Sewell and Northwestern’s Rashawn Slater, with most people, including me, having Sewell at number one.

I know a lot of people, who really liked Teven Jenkins after that duo, but for me Christian Darrisaw was the clear-cut number three tackle in this class, coming out of Virginia Tech. He has almost natural, effortless power to throw people around, the ability to pin edge defenders to the inside and make that outside zone run game work.

Darrisaw also has the athletic ability and grip strength to neutralize pass-rushers, even if his sets still need some work. He ended up going ten picks later than I thought, as the Chargers ended up with Slater at number 13 overall instead, and that’s also exactly where I had Darrisaw on my big board. So to trade back with the Jets, in exchange for the second pick of round three and upgrading their fourth-rounder by 57 spots, and still address their biggest position of need, with a player I thought would have been at exact value at 14 already, is just outstanding.

Azeez Ojulari, EDGE, Georgia – 50th overall to New York Giants

Now we get into a couple of defensive prospects, who reportedly had some medical concerns pop up during this pre-draft process. The first one here is my number three edge rusher in the class.

It would have been a little rich for me, but had they selected Azeez Ojulari with that 11th overall pick, I would not have hated it. He was my 20th overall prospect and if the Giants had one area they needed to upgrade in this draft, it was finding somebody to win one-on-one on the outside as a pass-rusher.

Since last season they relied heavily on defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s ability to scheme up free rushers with games up front. And people need to stop solely looking at player breakdowns (even mine) and making general statements, without watching the tape, like saying Azeez Ojulari is a sub-par run-stopper.

He plays through blocks with good extension and doesn’t shy away from throwing his body around in that regard. We’ll have to see if the knee becomes an issue at some point, but to get this guy exactly 30 picks after where I had him in my rankings is surprising.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, Notre Dame – 52nd overall to Cleveland

I thought Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah would be the first linebacker drafted. That's because I thought with the reports about Penn State’s Micah Parsons potentially dropping due to character concerns and teams maybe not knowing exactly what to do with Tulsa’s Zaven Collins. He weighed in at 270 pounds as primarily an off-ball guy, JOK had a good chance of going somewhere in the mid-teens.

I personally had him going to Denver, after trading back six spots with the Patriots, in my mock draft, and he was my 17th overall prospect, not too far off from Parsons in my linebacker rankings, even though they obviously offer different skill-sets. There was some heart issue that contributed to him dropping, but since that was ultimately cleared,

I believe it was equally about shying away from these tweener-sized prospects, after what they saw from Isaiah Simmons in Arizona last season. But that’s where NFL teams go wrong, because they want to put a million different things on the plate of young players, since they offer that versatility, instead of finding a defined role early on and adding to it, to let that talent flourish.

If the Browns use JOK as that big nickel/overhang defender, who can help funnel Lamar Jackson back to the inside, and then move him into the box on passing downs, to match tight-ends and backs or sink down the seams, he should be a major asset.

Creed Humphrey, IOL, Oklahoma – 63rd overall to Kansas City

This guy was my top interior offensive lineman, with the injury concerns Landon Dickerson presents. I had Humphrey going to Green Bay with their 28th overall pick in my mock draft. But they actually passed on him twice, with the latter pick being used on a different center in Ohio State’s Josh Myers, who I thought was fine for that range.

The former OU standout would have been worth either the Packers or the Chiefs’ original first-round pick, which they traded to Baltimore in the Orlando Brown deal. So KC got Missouri linebacker Nick Bolton, who is a fine player in a defined role, with the Ravens’ pick they got back in that trade and used their second-rounder on a player I would have liked when they would have been on the clock at the end of Thursday night.

Humphrey is an excellent zone-blocker and has a really sturdy base in pass-pro, while having three years of high-quality starting experience, including making all the calls up front, and the fact he is left-handed won’t be as much off an issue, with how much Patrick Mahomes lines up in shotgun. I think he’ll start over Austin Blythe at the pivot right away.

Ronnie Perkins, EDGE, Oklahoma – 96th overall to New England

I tried to stay away from draft picks, who primarily dropped due to injury concerns and there could be something in the background with Ronnie Perkins that isn’t accessible to the general public, but I’m not aware of any current medical or other issues with in.

He was my number four edge rusher, ahead of three guys that went in the first round and ten names at the position overall before the Patriots finally scooped him up within the final ten picks of day two. I believe Perkins simply fell due to a failed drug test before Oklahoma’s 2019 bowl game, some injuries limiting his playing time last season and the fact he was an average athletic tester.

If there’s something I don’t know about – okay, but the tape doesn’t lie. Perkins was the best at converting speed to power off the edge in this class, he can be a weapon on games up front and I already see him leading the Patriots is sacks in this of next season. Moreover, New England is the one place, where I’m not worried about him free-lancing in the run game and giving up his contain responsibilities going forward.

Elijah Molden, SAF, Washington – 100th overall to Tennessee

Unless you look at Florida State’s Asante Samuel Jr. as a slot corner, purely based on his size – which he will not play for the Chargers, who will most likely deploy as their field-side off corner, Elijah Molden was my top true nickel in this class.

I had him on my safety list, because he did play more from deep alignments last season on a limited basis and 5’9” obviously won’t play on the outside. Last year’s starting SS Kenny Vaccaro for Tennessee is still on the open market and Molden would be in the race for replacing him.

But when you look at the options at nickel that the Titans have – Kevin Johnson, Kristian Fulton and maybe Amani Hooker – he is clearly the top choice I believe, after they couldn’t re-sign Desmond King, who they traded for in the middle of last season.

I liked Fulton a lot last season, but believe he fits best on the boundary. Molden is such a scrappy player, with the recovery burst to get back into phase, if he takes any false steps initially, and he is an excellent tackler, with only 22 misses on 172 career attempts.

Jabril Cox, LB, LSU – 115th overall to Dallas

I already talked about Cox, when I discussed the Cowboys potentially moving on from their two starting linebackers next year, but let me just talk about him individually. This guy was my 40th overall prospect and my fifth off-ball linebacker. It took ten picks into day three for him to hear his name called and there were eleven(!) guys at his position selected ahead of him.

I get that there’s different types of stand-up backers, especially when you look at guys like Nick Bolton and Pete Werner being utilized more as blitzers in the pass-game.

Moreover, I actually like Ohio State’s Baron Browning a lot, as kind of hybrid outside backer, who I thought was a great value pick himself as the final name on day two, but there were a few guys, who absolutely should not have received a call before him. I really believe this guy has some special skills, in terms of the hip fluidity and range as a coverage defender, as he can mirror some slot receivers even, to go with the ability to avoid blocks in space.

Jamar Johnson, SAF, Indiana – 164th overall to Denver

I already talked about how much I liked the Broncos draft as a whole, but the one guy I want to point out here as well is Jamar Johnson. He was my fifth-ranked safety coming out of Indiana. I know his RAS score wasn’t very impressive.

But I think there almost have to be some medical concerns here for him to make it to the fifth round, when I thought he should have gone mid-day two. Johnson is super instinctive, sees the game at an advanced level and can play really any spot in the secondary other than outside corner.

He may not have the range to be a true single-high free safety, but you can rotate him there out of split-safety looks, because of his feel in coverage, and even more so, I like him closer to the line of scrimmage, where he can be one of those rare guys to be disruptive as a secondary player and you can involve him as a blitzer.

I don’t think he will unseat Kareem Jackson right away as Denver’s partner for Justin Simmons in base looks, but I would expect him to be on the field for a lot three-safety looks and as like a dime backer.

Marlon Tuipulotu, IDL, USC – 189th overall to Philadelphia

We all knew this wasn’t a great defensive tackle class in terms of the talent at the top, even though there were some guys I liked, who were projected to go in the later rounds. To go along with, the strength of this group were actually the zero- and one-technique, who if they don’t stay on the field for a large portion of third downs, simply won’t be valued very highly.

Still, I think Marlon Tuipulotu could have easily gone up to 100 spots higher. He was the 13th defensive tackle off the board. I know he doesn’t have the upside of guys like Texas A&M’s Bobby Brown at nose or his former USC teammate Jay Tufele, who is looked at as more of a penetrating three-technique.

But in terms of a run-stopping shade nose, the only guy I put ahead of Tuipulotu was NC State’s Alim McNeill, who I actually really like as well, but he went 117 picks earlier and while Marlon got to line up over guards on some third downs, his pressure per pass-rush snap ratio was twice as high as McNeill’s.

Trey Smith, IOL, Tennessee – 226th overall to Kansas City

This one is tricky, because whenever you have these serious medical concerns, like Trey Smith having blood clots in his lungs, it’s always easy to say that player should have gone earlier. I have no idea about how likely it is that these issues could recur for the former Volunteer and if a team’s doctors don’t clear him, they should not draft him.

But Smith was picked at the end of the sixth round and I can only speak on the quality of prospect he is based on the tape and information I have. He was my fifth overall interior offensive lineman, not considering these medical concerns, because he has an incredible amount of natural power to open up lanes for a power run game.

His pass-sets could improve quickly with proper coaching, since the majority of his losses come due to being too aggressive with his short-sets and he offers flexibility, to kick him out to tackle. I would not be surprised at all, if he were to start on the right side of that line, depending on where they put Kyle Long.

Kylin Hill, RB, Mississippi State – 256th overall to Green Bay

The only thing you really need to know about Hill here, is that there were 18 running backs drafted over the course of three days – he was the 17th of them to hear his name called, when I had him as my RB6 personally.

He has a pretty thin torso and doesn’t blow you away with any of his measurables or testing numbers, but he displays excellent contact balance, he can make defenders miss in open space with tough moves to read. He is an advanced pass-catcher coming out of Mississippi State and one of the most impressive backs in protection, that you will see on tape, despite not being the biggest guy.

With Jamaal Williams going to Detroit via free agency, I believe Hill has a chance to challenge last year’s second-round pick A.J. Dillon for the second-most running backs snaps, simply because that guy virtually has no experience on passing downs. And they got him with the fourth-to-last pick of the whole draft. That’s crazy to me.

Other value picks:

Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State – 11th overall to Chicago

Sam Cosmi, OT, Texas – 51st overall to Washington

Jalen Mayfield, OT/G, Michigan – 68th overall to Atlanta

Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford – 76th overall to New Orleans

Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina – 82nd overall to Washington

Baron Browning, LB, Ohio State – 105th overall to Denver

Michael Carter Jr., RB, North Carolina – 107th overall to New York Jets

Tylan Wallace, WR, Oklahoma State – 131st overall to Baltimore

Tommy Togiai, IDL, Ohio State – 132nd overall to Cleveland

Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Memphis – 150th overall to Memphis

Daviyon Nixon, IDL, Iowa – 158th overall to Carolina

Cameron McGrone, LB, Michigan – 177th overall to New England

Hamsah Nasirildeen, SAF, Florida State – 186th overall to New York Jets

Deonte Brown, IOL, Alabama – 193rd overall to Carolina

Victor Dimukeje, EDGE, Duke – 210th overall to Arizona

Demetric Felton, RB, UCLA – 211th overall to Cleveland

Quincy Roche, EDGE, Miami – 216th overall to Pittsburgh

James Wiggins, SAF, Cincinnati – 243rd overall to Arizona

Shaka Toney, EDGE, Penn State – 246th overall to Washington

Khyiris Tonga, IDL, BYU – 250th overall to Chicago.