2021 NFL Draft grades: Biggest winners and losers
New England Patriots
Does Bill Belichick finally have his Tom Brady heir apparent?
Mac Jones, who some projected to be the No. 3 overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers, slid all the way to the New England Patriots, where Belichick was happy to scoop him up without needing to trade an asset to go get him.
Jones’ evaluation was among the more polarizing of the quarterbacks in this year’s class, but he has plenty of accuracy to play at a high-level in the NFL as illustrated by 85 percent of his passes being on target and 91 percent of this throws being catchable, according to Sports Info Solutions. The Alabama alum might be exactly the kind of system quarterback to thrive in Belichick’s scheme, post-Brady.
Meanwhile, Belichick and the Patriots didn’t forget the defense, beefing up the front with Alabama defensive tackle Christian Barmore and five-tool defensive end Ronnie Perkins, out of Oklahoma. Barmore is a first-round talent, and Perkins has the versatility to line up as a 4-3 defensive end or 3-4 pass-rushing outside linebacker after he generated 79 pressures in 33 collegiate appearances.
This has been an efficient, Belichickian draft for the Patriots, which is exactly what New England needed after last season’s step backwards following Brady’s departure.
Grade: B+
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals dropping Joe Burrow’s former teammate at LSU, Ja’Marr Chase to round out a wide receiving corps that includes Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd rounds out an explosive collection of weapons around one of the game’s most promising young quarterbacks.
But, the most impactful selection the Bengals made to help Burrow, was plucking Clemson offensive tackle Jackson Carman in Round 2, who can play multiple positions up front.
The ticket to the Super Bowl, or even the postseason in the AFC, for that matter, is pressuring the quarterback, and Cincinnati got better there with Texas edge rusher Joseph Ossai and Cameron Sample.
This might be an “A” class, had it not been for the Bengals taking a kicker in Round 5…