Who were the winners and losers of the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft? Let’s take a look at who stood out.

Winners

 

Los Angeles Chargers

Landing Rashawn Slater without having to trade up is amazing. They get the second best offensive lineman in the class and get to keep all their draft capital. It was thought that the Chargers would be going offensive tackle in order to protect franchise quarterback Justin Herbert for a long time. Slater is a talented athlete and played at a high level at Northwestern. He should have been a top 10 pick, great job Chargers.

Minnesota Vikings

Just like the Chargers, the Vikings needed an offensive tackle and had a talented one fall into their lap. The Vikings were actually able to gain three draft picks this year and take a guy that I would have been happy to see them take at 14. They didn’t get the second round pick they were after, but they do have five 3rd round picks. Don’t be surprised if they trade into the second tomorrow. 

Chicago Bears

They gave up a lot, but they got a stud quarterback. Fields should have been the second or third overall pick and the Bears got him at 11. Now the Bears still have a lot of holes on their team, but a star quarterback is a good start. The Bears need to surround him with some weapons and improve their offensive line, but at least Fields is an incredible athlete. The Bears organization is on the right track and that’s good news for their fans.

Detroit Lions

It’s an NFC North lovefest going on here. Tackle wasn’t Detroit’s biggest need, but Sewell is way too good to be going at number seven. He’s actually a value pick at seven, as Sewell is the best football player in this draft. Their offensive line should actually be a strength for them, and I’m probably in the minority here, but I want to see Goff play behind a strong offensive line. He’s going to be a real sleeper this year and I’m excited to see what he does.

Losers

Green Bay Packers

Did someone mention the NFC North? It’s not their draft pick that makes them losers on the day, but what they likely lost. I’ve heard from reliable sources Aaron Rodgers is gone and the fact that they took a cornerback in the first round certainly doesn’t change my mind. We were big on Eric Stokes when he was a projected third or fourth rounder, so we love the player picked here. However, losing the reigning MVP has got to hurt like crazy. Maybe I’m wrong about Rodgers, but I don’t think so. If I am, then the Packers had a fine day.

Cincinnati Bengals

Ja’Marr Chase is a stud, let’s get that out of the way quickly. The Bengals desperately needed offensive line help, their franchise quarterback is recovering from major surgery. The Bengals are also strong at wide receiver, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd are excellent young receivers. Joe Burrow would be much better having an extra two seconds of time to find Boyd and Higgins then having an extra dangerous weapon.

New York Giants

I’m a big fan of trading back when the guy you want is going to be available much later. I’m not a fan of the Giants taking any receiver here, and they took a wide receiver I had ranked below three other available receivers. The Giants are super deep at receiver. I doubt Toney sees much of the field as a wide receiver. New York just used it’s first round pick on a returner.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Najee Harris is a great running back, he’ll probably have a great season for the Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger might be dead though, as the Steelers offensive line is hot garbage. They’ve got David DeCastro and a bunch of guys who have barely played, haven’t played well, or both. Honestly the Steelers could use four starting offensive lineman and they went with a luxury pick of a running back. Bad job.

Oakland Raiders

Alex Leatherwood isn’t bad, I had him as a late first rounder. However, he’s a reach here especially with Christian Darrisaw, the clear third offensive tackle, staring them right in the face. Mike Mayock has a history of taking lower ranked guys and it’s not working out for him so far, isn’t that right Clelin Ferrell? Leatherwood is huge, but he’s raw and I don’t think Gruden and Mayock have much time to develop players. Finally, if they liked Leatherwood this much they could have traded down 5-10 spots and still got him.