2021 NFL Draft grades: Biggest winners and losers

Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne. (Greenville)
Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne. (Greenville) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
11 of 16
Next
Micah Parsons NFL Draft
Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Micah Parsons (Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports) /

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys deserve a lot of credit for how they handled Round 1 on Thursday night, acquiring a third-round pick from the Philadelphia Eagles, to drop back two slots to No. 12 overall, and still draft the player they likely had at or near the top of their big board.

Penn State All-American linebacker Micah Parsons is one of the more dominant and disruptive defensive players in this year’s class, with the versatility to be a difference-maker sideline-to-sideline in coverage, get downhill and make plays in the backfield, with rapid-fire instincts as a field-general.

But, as if securing Parsons wasn’t enough to bolster a defense that has weighed the Cowboys down the past several seasons, Dallas added Kentucky cornerback Kelvin Joseph in Round 2,

Continuing to try to build out a defense that proves a worthy complement to Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys left the third-round with USC defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa and Chauncy Golston, one of the more versatile edge defenders who is just as dominant against the run as he is disruptive against the pass.

The Cowboys clearly aimed to build a defense from the ground up this weekend, and are collecting some of the more valued players in each round in the process. But, it seems Dallas was out-maneuvered on the trade front on Day 2, which lowers this grade.

Grade: B-

Detroit Lions

The Lions did an excellent job solidifying the offensive line in front of new quarterback Jared Goff, taking top offensive tackle Penei Sewell in Round 1, but it might not be enough to help Detroit climb a rung up the NFC North ladder.

Waiting to address wide receiver, after losing Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones in free agency, until Round 4 was … Interesting.

Amon St. Brown is a nice piece and could be a guy who starts immediately, but if the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills, and Cleveland Browns have shown, it takes elite playmakers on offense to win in the modern NFL and the Lions let several slide past them the first two days.

Grade: B-