Your way too early 2021 Draft Grades

[skinny21]

I’m around a B+ with this draft.  It hit a ton of needs and has the upside to really make this a complete team.  The added competition/athleticism, combined with a strong culture, could really complete the team.  As with most every draft, I/we can nitpick value, but as I said... this class gives us some really nice upside.

 

Davis and Cosmi are huge upside picks.  They may both struggle a bit in year 1/2, but I think both will be excellent players for us.  

 

Brown and Milne both give us the ability to stretch the field, move the FS deep (opening up the underneath stuff), and as they grow in terms of our route tree, they should/could offer nice upside.  I feel a lot better in terms of depth for Terry/Curtis with these two in the fold (with a bit of polish).

 

I’m not a big fan of the Bates pick (the spot he was taken more so), but he’ll be a nice asset to the team IMO much like Logan Paulsen was.  

Occasional TE leaks, picking up 5-10 yards at a time with his reliable hands and nice length, but primarily used inline to help the ground game and against the pass rush (both of which could use help).

 

St. Juste is interesting.  I don’t think he’ll be ready early on, so I don’t feel too much better about our corner depth at the moment, but once he gains experience, he could be a nice fit for us in a press man role.

 

I like Forrest a lot as competition for Reaves.  I’ll be surprised if he’s ready to start soon, but he could be a solid FS for us in time with his athleticism.  Behind this line, he could really thrive.

 

I think we’re all pretty much in the same boat regarding Cheeseman.  Selection felt too high, but if he fills the LS role capably for years to come, that’s well worth a 6th (or 5th, if you wanna count it that way).

 

The late round edge guys, I dig them as competition with Smith-Williams to take some of the available snaps at DE.  I have to say, I’m really intrigued by Toney as a situational rusher early, and maybe eventually moving to a linebacker role down the road.  He’s got the athleticism/size to move to Mike or Sam much more readily than a Ryan Anderson type.  It’s a tough position to learn, and that much harder to transition to, but the traits (size, speed, hip sink, explosion, long arms, ability to get off blocks and pass rush ability) are super intriguing.  Depending on his mental makeup, I could see him as a more athletic version of Lorenzo Alexander - a guy that gives the versatility to play on or off the line, ST, and maybe even earn snaps as a HB/FB.  I’m hoping he finds a niche.

 

Final note, I think the guys already on the roster, a strong locker room, as well as very well regarded coaches will be a huge help to these draftees.

Look forward to the growth as we get battles like Cosmi against Young/Sweat, St. Juste (and Forrest) against Terry/Curtis, Brown against Fuller/Jackson, our edges against Moses/Cosmi/Lucas/Charles, Bateman against Curl/J. Davis, and so on.  A lot of these guys are gonna grow up quickly.  Pretty darn exciting IMO.

 

[philibusters]

Which combo do people like better

1.  Jamin Davis and Samuel Cosmi
2.  Christian Darrisaw and Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah

 

There was absolutely NO way to know but, the way the draft played out with JOK falling to 52 we could have the second option.  Is it better?   Probably before the draft I would have taken option 2, but I don't feel like we lost all that much by taking option 1.

[Ball Security]

31 minutes ago, philibusters said:

Which combo do people like better

1.  Jamin Davis and Samuel Cosmi
2.  Christian Darrisaw and Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah

 

There was absolutely NO way to know but, the way the draft played out with JOK falling to 52 we could have the second option.  Is it better?   Probably before the draft I would have taken option 2, but I don't feel like we lost all that much by taking option 1.

I look at Davis being a better fit/need for this team and Cosmi more versatile along the line so I’d go with option 1.

I do think that this draft had a lot of focus and the coaches are betting on themselves especially with the first two days’ picks.

[CommanderInTheRye]

Typically most fans lack objectivity and tend to overrate their own team's draft and underrate other teams in the division. I am no exception.

 

Biased or not here's what I really believe--

 

WFT A+

Giants B+

Eagles B-

Dallas C

[Burgold]

44 minutes ago, philibusters said:

Which combo do people like better

1.  Jamin Davis and Samuel Cosmi
2.  Christian Darrisaw and Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah

 

There was absolutely NO way to know but, the way the draft played out with JOK falling to 52 we could have the second option.  Is it better?   Probably before the draft I would have taken option 2, but I don't feel like we lost all that much by taking option 1.

I think this is probably THE question and won't be answered for a season or two. If I had to choose right now I'd pick Davis and Cosmi. While Darishaw is probably the better player, he is recovering from core surgery. I take the healthy guy with the greater upside and no motivation questions. Similarly, JOK may be better in pass coverage, but I think his size makes him a liability.

 

It's really close though. When we picked Davis part of me was hoping we would pick JOK instead. Listening to the ES brain trust (or is that brain rust) turned me around on Davis because of system fit.

 

One thing I was thinking about were the red flags when we drafted Trent Williams. People were mumbling about how Williams was inconsistent and lazy. Shanny picked him because of his ceiling and his belief he could maximize Trent's play and effort. Shanny turned out to be right. We never really saw lazy Trent though we did see pothead Trent pop up a few times and at the end knucklehead Trent, but you can't really blame a guy for wanting out after almost a decade playing under a Bruce Allen built team (Part of me wonders if he saw the Redskins make the playoffs and the 49ers be bad enough to rate the second pick and had second thoughts. I doubt it. Trent said it was about health and other factors. I think it was 75% about money.)

[DWinzit]

51 minutes ago, philibusters said:

Which combo do people like better

1.  Jamin Davis and Samuel Cosmi
2.  Christian Darrisaw and Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah

 

There was absolutely NO way to know but, the way the draft played out with JOK falling to 52 we could have the second option.  Is it better?   Probably before the draft I would have taken option 2, but I don't feel like we lost all that much by taking option 1.

#1 is and was the better option for me. I liked Darrisaw more than all of these options but JOK I had little interest in, he doesn't fit WFT's needs. Cosmi and Davis both fit perfect

[Bifflog]

 

[Anselmheifer]

8 hours ago, KDawg said:

For the life of me I can’t understand why people are so hung up on Dallas getting Parsons.

 

I agree he has immense talent. But the character is a concern. If he’s still doing well with no character concerns in year 3 and Davis isn’t panning out I’d be more inclined to understand. But not now.

 

His talent is immense, but I still don't think he's a complete backer. He's just not currently a coverage guy. Maybe he will become that. He is certainly going to make our life harder running the football. And he's going to knife through on the blitz and disrupt some passing plays. But, I'm really, really relieved that they got Parsons and not Horn or Surtain.

 

I found the video I referenced before. It's an alternating mock draft between Brett Kollmann and another guy. If you skip to pick 19, they give us Parsons. And both have major reservations about him. Kollmann goes so far as to say something like, "He does none of the things you need a modern linebacker to do." That is pretty damning. 

 

 

 

Anyway, I think the thing we all saw in Parsons was the ceiling and athleticism. We figured that our culture could absorb him and our coaching staff could coach up the coverage bit, and we'd have another Devin White. Yes, the upside is incredible. I just don't see Parsons ever reaching his ceiling. 

 

In short, I think he'll give them a lot of splash plays, but Jamin Davis will contribute much more to us winning football games. IMHO, Davis will never be the blitzer that Parsons already is, but he is going to be the superior player in most other ways, and doubly so in coverage. 

[bakedtater1]

22 hours ago, TheShredder said:

In a good draft you get 3 guys who contribute as rookies.

They drafted what appears to be 1 starting LB'er and a LS. 

I'll give the specialist a .5 but this rookie class has got to be the worst draft they've had in several years. 

 Grade D

Do you truly mean this?

[Burgold]

5 minutes ago, bakedtater1 said:

Do you truly mean this?

I think people misunderstand the "In a good draft you get three starters" concept. I don't think it's "In a good draft you get three day one starters," but that you get three players who become starters.

 

I could be wrong.

[bakedtater1]

1 minute ago, Burgold said:

I think people misunderstand the "In a good draft you get three starters" concept. I don't think it's "In a good draft you get three day one starters," but that you get three players who become starters.

 

I could be wrong.

I just mean does he realy grade Washington's draft a D

Yes I agree out of the draft you should have three out of the gate starters..

[TheShredder]

1 hour ago, Burgold said:

I think people misunderstand the "In a good draft you get three starters" concept. I don't think it's "In a good draft you get three day one starters," but that you get three players who become starters.

 

I could be wrong.

Thread isn't asking about potential or the future, rather acutely post draft.  Fans like to sugar coat their teams picks, but if you go Calorie Free, the post draft grades on the WFT are not good in comparison to their rivals and the teams on this years schedule.  Sorry but it's clearly obvious.  RR & Co. drafted according to THEIR plan. For that, They did what was best for the team and personally I'm down with that.  However, the fact is, the day after the draft they've got 1 guy that is a starter.  And a LS is a ST'er. 

Mayhew and RR said they'll coach them up as the guys they drafted were mainly for need, character, and potential upside. 

Cosmi is not better than Lucas and will come in behind Charles.  He's not NFL trench ready with footwork and technical problems.  He will be, just not Day 1 2021.  Brown was a steal IMO, but he's not starting unless a better option gets hurt and he's not a slot WR putting him at best WR4 in this starting group.  That's a great situation to have and a drastic improvement from last year.  The rest of their draft picks are depth and competition.  I answered the thread question unbiased.  NY Giants had the best draft in the East, then PHI, D, with WFT was last.  Per Mayhew they 'won't know how good the draft was for a year or 2'.  I'll agree with Mayhew and trust the coaches that in the future this draft will be above avg, but right now it is what it is. 

[TheShredder]

1 hour ago, bakedtater1 said:

I just mean does he realy grade Washington's draft a D

Yes I agree out of the draft you should have three out of the gate starters..

Yes bro I do view it as below average.  They get 1 starter and potential upside as they drafted for need which is fine for next year when they can get another starter out of the group. 

[Warhead36]

3 hours ago, philibusters said:

Which combo do people like better

1.  Jamin Davis and Samuel Cosmi
2.  Christian Darrisaw and Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah

 

There was absolutely NO way to know but, the way the draft played out with JOK falling to 52 we could have the second option.  Is it better?   Probably before the draft I would have taken option 2, but I don't feel like we lost all that much by taking option 1.

Yeah that's what I've thought about as well. Obviously hindsight being 20/20(or 50/50 as Spurrier would say)I think value wise you get more out of Darrisaw/JOK, but if we really did have Davis as the #1 D player on our board than you can't really argue against that.

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

I’m gonna give it a solid B.

 

I will say that I think having good/great performances at the Senior Bowl is an underrated evaluation tool. I remember Aaron Donald absolutely dominating the Senior Bowl and he still didn’t go top ten because of his size.

 

For that reason, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that St-Juste will be the surprise darling of this draft class. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy

[Ball Security]

38 minutes ago, TheShredder said:

Thread isn't asking about potential or the future, rather acutely post draft.  Fans like to sugar coat their teams picks, but if you go Calorie Free, the post draft grades on the WFT are not good in comparison to their rivals and the teams on this years schedule.  Sorry but it's clearly obvious.  RR & Co. drafted according to THEIR plan. For that, They did what was best for the team and personally I'm down with that.  However, the fact is, the day after the draft they've got 1 guy that is a starter.  And a LS is a ST'er. 

Mayhew and RR said they'll coach them up as the guys they drafted were mainly for need, character, and potential upside. 

Cosmi is not better than Lucas and will come in behind Charles.  He's not NFL trench ready with footwork and technical problems.  He will be, just not Day 1 2021.  Brown was a steal IMO, but he's not starting unless a better option gets hurt and he's not a slot WR putting him at best WR4 in this starting group.  That's a great situation to have and a drastic improvement from last year.  The rest of their draft picks are depth and competition.  I answered the thread question unbiased.  NY Giants had the best draft in the East, then PHI, D, with WFT was last.  Per Mayhew they 'won't know how good the draft was for a year or 2'.  I'll agree with Mayhew and trust the coaches that in the future this draft will be above avg, but right now it is what it is. 

Do you give SF an F——-?  They have no day 1 starters from their draft.  And they had the number 3 overall pick.

 

The Giants wasted their first rounder on a non starter. Their Edge in the second is a good pick.  Robinson will struggle to be their third corner. Smith is a rotational piece.  I see maybe one 2021 starter in that class.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Ball Security

[bakedtater1]

1 hour ago, TheShredder said:

Yes bro I do view it as below average.  They get 1 starter and potential upside as they drafted for need which is fine for next year when they can get another starter out of the group. 

Ohhh...you wanted them trading every round..got ya..

[Burgold]

1 hour ago, TheShredder said:

Thread isn't asking about potential or the future, rather acutely post draft. 

Are you really lecturing the thread starter about what the thread is about

 

Even when doing a very early draft grade, it's all about projection. It's about guessing how the pieces will fit and who the players will become. Sometimes, you get amazing surprises like Kurl becoming not only a starter but a damn good one as a rookie. Other times, you get delayed satisfaction. Sweat looked like a bum for most of his rookie year and then in his second year came on strong. Then again, sometimes you get the opposite... a Michael Westbrook or Heath Shuler who was a day one starter but still is remembered as a bust.

 

It doesn't matter who is a day one starter. It's a stupid metric controlled by too many factors. What matters is who these draft picks become and to what degree they become contributors as their career progresses. The number of Hall of Fame players who were not Day One starters or who looked like bums their first year probably would fill 3/4s of Canton.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Burgold

[CommanderInTheRye]

12 hours ago, KDawg said:

For the life of me I can’t understand why people are so hung up on Dallas getting Parsons.

 

I agree he has immense talent. But the character is a concern. If he’s still doing well with no character concerns in year 3 and Davis isn’t panning out I’d be more inclined to understand. But not now.

 

Well said.

 

Character flaws, particularly in a charismatic leader, can bring down and cause dissension in even the most talented of teams.

[FootballZombie]

A-

 

My only big gripe about this draft is there is no way the team can tell me they went BPA w/ every pick, not when clearly focusing on gaping holes.

 

I have honestly never been to far one way or the other on the subject, I can just see the advantages of either side.

 

Filled key holes at LB, boundary WR2, OT, TE2 n LS and picked up some projects. Almost everyone fits our play style and exude high character. Not a bad couple of days

[Lovi]

The best part about this draft is due to the lack of holes none of them are going to be expected to come in day 1 and be a superstar. Makes me also really excited for what they do next year when hopefully they have even fewer holes. 

[Burgundy Yoda]

I'm pretty happy with our first four picks honestly, I thought we knocked day 1 and day 2 out of the park. Day 3 I always try to stay away from giving my opinion on because I don't know who these guys are 90% of the time. I didn't know who one guy was on day 3 that we drafted so I don't see why I should give any opinion on it. 

 

I never heard of St-Juste either but he is exactly the type of corner I figured we were going to target. I pinned us grabbing Trill Williams in the 4th. We are trying to run a defense full of versatile players who will never be put in uncomfortable situations because of their versatility, they should always have a feel for what's going on. I believe we want to run a man-heavy defense, which allows our studs more time to get home hopefully. We didn't have the length on the outside to do this in 2020. 

 

I thought Sam Cosmi and Dyami Brown were seriously good picks. Dyami is incredibly fast off the line, I think that's what impressed me the most about him. He isn't necessarily a top end burner, but he will keep CBs on skates with how quick he is off the line. 

 

This class for me gets an A-. Going off of needs, we knocked it out of the park. We didn't trade up for Fields, but if the team didn't love him, I'm glad they didn't offer the moon for a QB they didn't love. Next offseason is going to be incredibly tricky, depending on how this class ends up, I'm all for unloading a bunch of draft picks for the right QB. The roster can't get much better with how turnover works in the NFL, I know it sounds homerish but it's true, this 55 man roster is really really good. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Burgundy Yoda

[JaxJoe]

My goodness, we drafted 10 players.
 

Overall I grade this draft a solid B but a B+ in the first three rounds. The potential looks like an A if things pan out but everybody says that. We likely got two quality starters in the short term (LB Davis, LT Cosmi) and one high-quality depth player that’ll see lots of snaps (WR Brown) and three special teams guys that are locks (LS Cheeseman, CB St. Juste, S Forest). Barring injury, I don’t see how we keep the three 7th rounders. 
 

I think for this draft, labeling it as ‘need’ because we “reached” too often is a bit disingenuous because frankly, every position on this team outside of punter and D-line has some ‘need’ value either at starter or depth level. Sucks picking at 19 but I guess it’s a lot better than #20 - #30. I’d love to be picking at #31 or even better at #32 for obvious reasons!

- QB.  ‘need’ because at least we could upgrade depth or groom our future starter. We drafted none. That’s OK this year. Maybe. But there’s no way I’m giving up what Chicago gave to NY. No way. After NY, I really didn't want to trade up for Mac Jones neither. Then, Mills and Mond were gone by 3/10. After those two, I had no interest in QB except maybe Newman who obviously would've been a reach as he went undrafted. 
- LB. probably our greatest ‘need’ but also we need depth, too. We drafted one but maybe could've used two. 

- OL. Probably could’ve rolled with what we had but at a minimum we needed to improve our depth; same goes for safety. We drafted one OL but could've picked up a guard, too.  We drafted one safety in the 5th and I doubt Forest surpasses who we currently have but should make the 53 because of ST. 
- We drafted (2) smallish but very athletic DEs in the 7th which solely look like ST players as they certainly don’t fit the Chase Young nor Montez Sweat molds for DE. It’s clear our three 7th rounders were BPA and I doubt make the 53. 
 

I could go on with all the positions on offense and defense but I think you all get the picture that we ‘need’ players throughout our roster. I think what itches me the most is that in general, each pick seems to be based more on potential due to off-the-chart athleticism than proven capability or experience and that smells of a moderate to high-risk return for most of our draftees. 
 

LB Jamin Davis, a riser on most boards is probably a top 10 pick next year had he returned to UK. But only a 1-yr starter. I give it a B. What seemed to recently push his stock up was his pro-day performance, not necessarily his play in 2020.  I want to go A but that’s my homer in me talking. Athletic freak with good production that has a super high ceiling. One draftnik is listing him as his preliminary rookie DPOY. However, Most times in a 1st round player’s bio you might read “all pro” or “pro bowl potential” or “quality starter for years”. I didn’t see that kind of language when reading Davis’ bio’s. Should be a quality starter and frankly, we don’t necessarily need pro-bowl level of play to be much improved at the LB position. I definitely liked Davis’ decisiveness. Quick thinker and gets to where the ball is in a hurry. Sound tackler, too.  
 

LT Samuel Cosmi. A month ago we all would've been popping champagne corks if we thought he would last to #19 but dropped likely because of technique issues and that there’s no film when the QB is under center. A three year good to very good starter on an offense that is soley in shotgun with QB that is a runner may be a concern as he rarely has to hold his assignment for long. Has some technique flaws but overcomes them with athleticism due to his years as a wrestler. High floor LT with what I believe has the highest ceiling of this class I say is easily an A especially at #51. 
 

CB Benjamin St. Juste. I feel like this pick is beyond me to fairly judge. Like Jamin Davis, St.Juste doesn’t have that much starter experience and is another super athletic guy. Seems risky. If the WFT were going CB, St. Juste was in the running with two other players of similar quality and size still on the board: Stanford’s Paul Adebo and Syracuse’s Ifeatu Melifonwu. Both guys are +6’1”  and over 200lb like St. Juste and I think are better than him.  but St. Juste had a really good Senior Bowl which he was graded the best CB if I’m not mistaken, and can play Free Safety and is a special teams ace. I’m going to be generous and give this pick a B. He sounds like an A but I’ll stick with B based on his college play but he sounds like another high ceiling guy. 
 

WR Dyami Brown. No debate he’s an A+. 
 

TE John Bates. I want to say D but I’ll go with C for a variety of reasons. most boards had this guy way down there so I never researched him. His full game cut ups look just OK as he is a lumbering long strider and an OK blocker. Other remaining TEs looked like much better route runners yet I recall Mel Kiper and McShay liking him a lot; the later saying he has the best hands in this class besides Pitts. NFL.com however ranked him #22 out of 25 TE’s but 11 TE’s ranked higher than Bates went undrafted! So who really knows? My preference would've been the TE class’s most prolific receiver and very good blocker, Hunter Long, from Notre Dame at 3/10 then pick the CB you need for special teams ace here in the 4th where I think St. Juste would've easily lasted. Just my hunch. 
 

Rounds 5-7 I grade a B as they are are all good special teams fits with decent depth potential  but we likely got the best long snapper in the 6th round where apparently LS’s are to be picked. 

 

 

 

 

[petey hodge]

I haven't looked it up yet, but this may be the first time Washington has drafted players named Jamin and Benjamin.

 

So for that... I'm giving us a B+

[markmills67]

Overall I would give the Draft and Free Agency a B+, it would have been a A if it wasn't for giving Brandon Sherff 18m on a franchise Tag. I'm still hoping we can trade him for maybe a 2022 2nd round pick, even if we have to cough up some of the 18m to get the trade done.