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

# Biggest reaches of the 2021 NFL Draft

Alex Leatherwood

Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama – 17th overall to Las Vegas

This has become an annual tradition for the Raiders to make everybody go “What the hell?” or “They did it again!” with at least one of their first-round picks, when they shocked everybody by selecting Clelin Ferrell fourth overall two years ago and then Damon Arnette 19th overall last year.

On Thursday, they went with my OT8 and 45th overall prospect, when they were on the clock with the 17th pick. So I obviosuly still like Alex Leatherwood quite a bit, but the third offensive tackle off the board? Over guys Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw and whoever else you may like?

I disagree with that already, but then even if your evaluations say that he was their top name at the position – which to me would be absolutely crazy over Oregon’s Penei Sewell in particular. In this case reportedly offensive line coach Tom Cable really wanting him, who always pounds the table for these highly athletic guys, you have to be aware of consensus draft boards to some degree.

I just don’t believe he would have been selected within the next ten picks. So if somebody wanted to trade up, they could have probably acquired a second-round in the process and still gotten Leatherwood.

Payton Turner, EDGE, Houston – 28th overall to New Orleans

Turner was just outside my top ten edge rushers and I feel like I should have probably had him a little bit higher in my overall rankings, but certainly not first-round high.

I get what the Saints see in him, in terms of the physical profile of a dense frame and long arms, being able to set the edge at the point of attack or pursue from the backside in the run game, while having the power and suddenness to win in different ways as a pass-rusher.

I’m sure he reminds them a lot of what they already have in Cam Jordan or even what they just lost to some degree in Trey Hendrickson, and I would not be shocked if he eventually developed into a Pro Bowl-level player, but he also needs to do a better job of attacking half the man and keep his frame clean.

So to invest a first-round pick in that kind of developmental prospect, when you already used two first-rounders basically on Marcus Davenport three years ago, who was a similar type of project, is rather questionable to me.

Tutu Atwell, WR, Louisville – 57th overall to Los Angeles Rams

Speed kills. I get that. When you put on the Louisville tape, there’s one guy who moves at a different gear than those other guys on the field. Tutu Atwell was a top 15 wide receiver for me purely based on my evaluations of him, but when reports came out that he weighed in at just 149 pounds at the NFL medical checks, I had to drop him down my board a little bit further.

I still like what I saw on tape, but there were already issues with playing through any type of contact and at that weight, that will be kind of scary at the next level. He already did a lot of speed sweep stuff Sean McVay loses to use and the Rams clearly wanted to add some ability to the stretch the field.

Considering the vertical prowess their new quarterback Matthew Stafford brings to the table, why they took a flyer on DeSean Jackson in free agency. So I get the idea of bringing in Tutu, but to use their first draft pick on a diminutive slot receiver, without even trading down to add some more capital doesn’t seem right to me.

Kyle Trask, QB, Florida – 64th overall to Tampa Bay

People who have followed my draft rankings already knew I wasn’t very high on Trask in general. I had him as the ninth quarterback on my board and talked about how I don’t think he don’t reach the thresholds in terms of arm talent and especially athleticism for an NFL starter.

Instead, the reigning Super Bowl champs made him the final pick of the second round and the first quarterback off the board, after the five guys, who all went within the first 15 selections. I especially didn’t expect this, because I thought Bruce Arians would much rather getting a big-armed developmental guy like Georgia’s Jamie Newman or Arkansas’s Feleipe Franke on day three – who, by the way, went undrafted.

For me, Trask wasn’t worth a top-100 selection and he wasn’t even close to Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond, who went two picks later. That guy presents a much more attractive skill-set overall and while there’s more inconsistencies that he still needs to iron out.

He also had to decipher much more complex looks than Trask, who had the luxury of often having pre-determined throws under Dan Mullen. And I don’t even think Trask is the greatest fit, because he can lay those deep balls out in front, but not really drive the ball into tighter windows.

Malcolm Koonce, EDGE, Buffalo – 79th overall to Las Vegas

This another player I don’t hate, but I just look at what was on the board and question if it was the right value. There are certainly things to like from Koonce – he plays with good extension and backside discipline in the run game and he displays some suddenness with his hands and dip maneuvers as a pass-rusher.

However, he doesn’t consistently establish that half-man relationship as an edge-setter and kind of drifts into his rushes too much. I don’t see him as an alpha pass-rusher and if new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley looks at him as that LEO for his four-down front.

I think that’s a little bit redundant, after they already signed Yannick Ngakoue this offseason. Unless they actually want to go all out with four D-ends on the field on passing downs, by moving Clelin Ferrell and Max Crosby inside, I don’t see a clear path for Koonce to log too many snaps. I had him in the early 20’s among edge rushers, and there were several guys, who went on day three, that I liked better, at much higher value.

Anthony Schwartz, WR, Auburn – 91st overall to Cleveland

So I actually expected Anthony Schwartz to go much earlier than I had him personally, simply because he ran in the mid-4.2’s, but I didn’t think he’d go in the top 100. Don’t get me wrong – there are absolutely things to get excited about with a guy who only recently got off the tracks, after running a 10.09 in the 100-meter rally.

But he is so raw as a receiver, in terms of his route-running and ball-skills. He was the 15th receiver off the board and he barely cracked my personal top 30 at the positional. Schwartz is a fun player, as a vertical and YAC threat, who Auburn got the ball to on bubble screens, speed sweeps and stuff like that.

Cleveland could probably look to use him in that type of gadget-y role, but that’s pretty rich an investment for me, considering there were a few players, who would have fit that mold, that went later and I personally would have liked better. North Texas’ Jaelon Darden comes to mind, who went to Tampa Bay 38 picks later, and South Dakota State’s Cade Johnson actually went completely undrafted. They would have both presented that speed element in the slot, with much more natural skills for the position.

Nahshon Wright, CB, Oregon State – 99th overall to Dallas

There’s one team every other year that has to kind of show me up by selecting a player on day two that I didn’t get to watch. In 2019 it was Quinnen Williams’ brother Quincy Williams out of Murray State going to Jacksonville for example.

This year it was the Cowboys picking Oregon State corner Nahshon Wright, who went one pick before we hit triple-digits. The next prospect I didn’t watch was Florida kicker Evan McPherson 50 picks later, because I don’t evaluate specialists, and the next actual offensive or defensive player I wasn’t familiar with came at 161st overall in Miami of Ohio offensive tackle Tommy Doyle going to Buffalo.

So I went back and watched Wright. I get the idea of a long press corner for this Dan Quinn defensive scheme, but other than Brandon Browner, we haven’t seen a 6’4” guy succeed at the position, and Wright’s 7.2 in the three-cone drill was the worst time I’ve seen for any drafted cornerback.

His gangly frame creates issues for him, where he can get beat up at line at times and they can’t play any extended stretch of off-coverage with him, due to the wasted steps you see coming out of his transitions. And the worst thing about it – my number nine overall CB Ifeatu Melifonwu from Syracuse, who fits that mold, even if he needs to still learn press technique, went two picks later. Scheme fit is obviously important, but he was my 27th corner available.

Ernest Jones, LB, South Carolina – 103rd overall to Los Angeles Rams

This is another name that I didn’t really see or hear once during the pre-draft process, even though I had at least watched him. Ernest Jones was the ninth linebacker off the board, at the end of day two.

I get what the Rams see in him, when you look at that reactionary explosiveness you see, being able to redirect in an impressive fashion and that will only get better when he plays with more sink in his hips in the pass-game. However, his coverage numbers last season were some of the worst for any off-ball backer and at this point he’s very undisciplined with his run fits, going around way too many blocks.

There were at least 16 linebackers, that I think should have gone ahead him Jones. Two of the three guys that heard their names called next at that position were Ohio State’s Baron Browning and Jabril Cox from LSU. The first presents more of a presence as an edge rusher. But for his dense frame, he’s much more nimble in space than you’d anticipate, while the latter has the best hip fluidity and closing burst for any backer in this class arguably, while also impressing with his ability to evade blockers.

Kene Nwangwu, RB, Iowa State – 119th overall to Minnesota

I already discussed the big gap between the top three running backs selected and the rest of the class. So this guy ended up as the sixth guy taken at the position. Had you told me that before the draft, I would have asked you if you were crazy.

My RB6, who I just discussed in the “steals” paragraph was Kylin Hill, who went 137 spots later. With Kene Nwangwu, the Vikings are pretty much purely betting on the athletic upside, which he showed at his pro day, including a 4.32 in the 40. He had only 801 scrimmage yards in four years of college. I don’t think think he is the most natural runner, failing to set up blockers accordingly, and he only had seven career catches.

Nwangwu does have plenty of experience returning kicks, where he averaged 26.8 yards per attempt, and that’s where I think he will mostly make an impact, but he didn’t return any punts either and he’s most likely RB4 on the depth chart for Minnesota. All but two of the 12 running backs (Jake Funk and Gary Brightwell) that went after him, I personally had ranked ahead of Nwangwu, and there were eight more guys at that position who came before him, that went undrafted – and a few of those presented very similar skill-sets.

Two long-snappers – 222nd overall to Carolina and 225th overall to Washington respectively

Looking at these last 20 years – there were 13 long-snappers drafted and two of them came in this year’s sixth round. So the numbers already say that two would be too many and I’m not going to act like I evaluated these guys, because I openly state that I just don’t know enough about specialists in general to make those judgements. But I have a pretty good understanding of the value of draft picks.

The guy from Alabama – Thomas Fletcher – who received the award for the top long-snapper in the country, I can still swallow, but I’m pretty sure Camaron Cheeseman (Michigan) would not have been selected by anybody else, if Washington didn’t call him.

The Football Team might just want to push up their jersey sales with a name like that, but even if they wanted him that badly, they still had three more picks in the NFL Draf seventh round. So either way, this doesn’t seem to present the best value. Just listen to the phone call between Panthers head coach and Fletcher, who couldn’t believe he was actually drafted.

Others who went too early

Alijah Vera-Tucker, IOL, USC – 14th overall to New York Jets

Gregory Rosseau, EDGE, Miami – 30th overall to Buffalo

Jayson Oweh, EDGE, Penn State – 31st overall to Baltimore

Tyson Campbell, CB, Georgia – 33rd overall to Jacksonville

Jackson Carman, OT/IOL, Clemson – 44th overall to Cincinnati

Chauncey Golston, EDGE/IDL, Iowa – 84th overall to Dallas

Brandon Stephens, CB, SMU – 104th overall to Baltimore

Camryn Bynum, SAF/CB, California – 125th overall to Minnesota

Ian Book, QB, Notre Dame – 133rd overall to New Orleans

Evan McPhearson, K, Florida – 149th overall to Cincinnati.

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