Your way too early 2021 Draft Grades

[Anselmheifer]

3 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

They still have Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith under contract too right?  That's a log jam at the LBer position.  Probably why they want to try some kind of tweener role for Parsons.

The declined the 5th year option on LVE. Don’t think he’s a part of the long term plan. 

[Forehead]

Interesting, because Parsons was a DE in high school.  He converted to LB while at Penn State because he fit better there size wise, and they needed the LB help.

[Koolblue13]

Dallas had great LBer play for 20+ years. I've been extremely jealous. 

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

3 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

They still have Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith under contract too right?  That's a log jam at the LBer position.  Probably why they want to try some kind of tweener role for Parsons.

 

They didn't pick up Vander Esch's 5th year option.  Apparently his injury issues are bad and not likely to go away.

[skinny21]

18 hours ago, Alcoholic Zebra said:

 

They didn't pick up Vander Esch's 5th year option.  Apparently his injury issues are bad and not likely to go away.

Sounds like edge this year for Parsons and then he might move to LB next year (depending on personnel).

[veteranskinsfan]

Cowboys came out a day or so ago and said they are keeping Vander Esch and want to sign him to a 3-4 year contract.

[zCommander]

From NFL.com. They gave us B and I said solid B+ earlier in this thread. I was pretty close to this review. 

 

Rank

16

 

Washington Football Team

Grade: B | Total picks: 10

Round 1: (No. 19) Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky

Round 2: (51) Sam Cosmi, OT, Texas

Round 3: (74) Benjamin St-Juste, CB, Minnesota

                  (82) Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina

Round 4: (124) John Bates, TE, Boise State

Round 5: (163) Darrick Forrest, S, Cincinnati

Round 6: (225) Camaron Cheeseman, LS, Michigan

Round 7: (240) Will Bradley-King, DE, Baylor

                 (246) Shaka Toney, DE, Penn State

                 (258) Dax Milne, WR, BYU

 

FILICE: Are you the type of draft connoisseur who prefers unique athletes? Well, you've come to the right place! The Football Team's first three picks are three of the rarest physical specimens at their respective positions in this draft class. Davis posted some eye-popping numbers at the Kentucky pro day, including a 4.47 40-yard dash, a 42-inch vertical(!) and an 11-foot broad jump. This is the kind of explosiveness that plays in today's game, in which linebackers are routinely met with nightmare assignments. There's room for growth in pass coverage, but Davis has the kind of freaky athleticism that can't be taught. The biggest question on Washington's first-round pick: With these physical gifts at his disposal, why did it take until his breakout redshirt junior season to become a starter at Kentucky? Cosmi, on the other hand, started 34 games in his three non-redshirt seasons at Texas, and his 9.99 score in RAS (Kent Lee Platte's "Relative Athletic Score") ranks No. 2 among the 1,119 offensive tackles in his database that goes back to 1987. Simply put, the guy's quite an athlete at nearly 6-6 and 314 pounds. But like Davis, his technique needs some refinement. In Round 3, Washington landed a cornerback with an exceptional mix of size (6-3 1/2) and agility (6.63 three-cone drill). That's a whole lot of uncommon athleticism packed into three different body types. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Brown, who averaged 20 yards per catch and scored 20 touchdowns over his final two seasons at North Carolina. He'll drop a ball here and there, but the big plays just keep coming.

[TootsieRollGreen28]

Instead of a grade for each pick, I'll give an opinion on each player they took and then do a full comprehensive grade at the end.

1st Round (19th overall): Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky - Davis isn't someone I had on my radar early, but come the last two or three weeks before the draft, I learned about him and thought they should be strongly considering him. He brings a skill set the team needs and should be an excellent fit behind an outstanding defensive line. So yes, I'm a fan of the pick. My only slight gripe is Christian Darrisaw was still available, which I wasn't expecting, and I'd have been really happy with him as well.

2nd Round (51st overall): Sam Cosmi, OT, Texas - Definitely fits another big need and there's a bit of value with this pick to me as I thought Cosmi could have gone 10 or so picks earlier. I do wonder if he's a swing tackle, guard or starter at tackle in 2021 now that they brought Charles Leno in as a free agent. Nice pick.

3rd Round (74th overall): Benjamin St-Juste, CB, Minnesota - This pick really confused me at first. I still think I'd have preferred Paulson Adebo if they wanted a corner, but it's grown on me some after reading about his Senior Bowl performance. St-Juste has size and length that really intrigues me.

 

3rd Round (82nd overall): Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina - I felt this was a bit of a steal. Brown I had in the late Round 2/early Round 3 range, so I love the value. Big play threat, and there won't be major pressure on him right away given the other weapons (Scary Terry, Samuel, Gibson, Thomas) already on the roster.

4th Round (124th overall): John Bates, TE, Boise State - Still not my favorite pick two weeks later, but Chris Cooley is a fan of it, so I'll roll with it. He should bring toughness as a blocker and a big red zone target if nothing else. Not a bad pairing at tight end along with Logan Thomas.

 

5th Round (163rd overall): Darrick Forrest, S, Cincinnati - I like the athletic traits, production in college and the fact that he comes from a coaching staff at a program at Cincinnati that's been doing a great job of building up a program and developing players. Could provide nice depth/special teams help early. I can't dislike this pick.

 

6th Round (225th overall): Camaron Cheeseman, LS, Michigan - Drafting a long snapper is something I'm personally not a big fan of, especially since they gave up a 5th round pick in next year's draft to take one. But I will say I like his name, and that if I don't hear about him during games for poor long snaps, he's doing his job well.

7th Round (240th overall): William Bradley-King, DE, Baylor - No issue with trying to add some pass rushing depth this late in a draft. He's got some nice athletic traits to work with.

7th Round (246th overall): Shaka Toney, DE, Penn State - Take what I said about Bradley-King and apply it here.

7th Round (258th overall): Dax Milne, WR, BYU - Didn't test out well athletically, but he had a big 2020 in helping Zach Wilson become the #2 overall selection.

Overall Grade: B+ - I'm kind of on the fringe between a B+ and an A-, but I think because they gave up a 5th round pick next year for the purpose of drafting a long snapper, I'm docking it into the lower range. Now I do like the draft, and while a 5th rounder next year isn't exactly the end of the world, I'm not the biggest fan of giving up that resource for a long snapper. Just my two cents.

[TheShredder]

On 5/11/2021 at 5:51 AM, zskins said:

From NFL.com. They gave us B and I said solid B+ earlier in this thread. I was pretty close to this review. 

Nobody knows how well they drafted until these kids get into it at NFL speed for awhile.  Some positions can't be truly graded for a couple of years (like CB & QB). Then there's the other side of the eval where clearly a guy is a steal as he hits the ground running, making plays and the guys who can't get on the field. 

Hopefully they get more than just Jamin Davis able to impact the first year and find a gem or more to make this draft look amazing before having to pick at or near the bottom in 2022.

[zCommander]

5 minutes ago, TheShredder said:

Nobody knows how well they drafted until these kids get into it at NFL speed for awhile.  Some positions can't be truly graded for a couple of years (like CB & QB). Then there's the other side of the eval where clearly a guy is a steal as he hits the ground running, making plays and the guys who can't get on the field. 

Hopefully they get more than just Jamin Davis able to impact the first year and find a gem or more to make this draft look amazing before having to pick at or near the bottom in 2022.

 

 

Well yeah. No doubt but on paper it is still a solid B+ for me. Also NFL has a video with 5 teams that improved in the off-season this year and WFT was one of them. 

[mudhog]

2 hours ago, TootsieRollGreen28 said:

Instead of a grade for each pick, I'll give an opinion on each player they took and then do a full comprehensive grade at the end.

1st Round (19th overall): Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky - Davis isn't someone I had on my radar early, but come the last two or three weeks before the draft, I learned about him and thought they should be strongly considering him. He brings a skill set the team needs and should be an excellent fit behind an outstanding defensive line. So yes, I'm a fan of the pick. My only slight gripe is Christian Darrisaw was still available, which I wasn't expecting, and I'd have been really happy with him as well.

2nd Round (51st overall): Sam Cosmi, OT, Texas - Definitely fits another big need and there's a bit of value with this pick to me as I thought Cosmi could have gone 10 or so picks earlier. I do wonder if he's a swing tackle, guard or starter at tackle in 2021 now that they brought Charles Leno in as a free agent. Nice pick.

3rd Round (74th overall): Benjamin St-Juste, CB, Minnesota - This pick really confused me at first. I still think I'd have preferred Paulson Adebo if they wanted a corner, but it's grown on me some after reading about his Senior Bowl performance. St-Juste has size and length that really intrigues me.

 

3rd Round (82nd overall): Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina - I felt this was a bit of a steal. Brown I had in the late Round 2/early Round 3 range, so I love the value. Big play threat, and there won't be major pressure on him right away given the other weapons (Scary Terry, Samuel, Gibson, Thomas) already on the roster.

4th Round (124th overall): John Bates, TE, Boise State - Still not my favorite pick two weeks later, but Chris Cooley is a fan of it, so I'll roll with it. He should bring toughness as a blocker and a big red zone target if nothing else. Not a bad pairing at tight end along with Logan Thomas.

 

5th Round (163rd overall): Darrick Forrest, S, Cincinnati - I like the athletic traits, production in college and the fact that he comes from a coaching staff at a program at Cincinnati that's been doing a great job of building up a program and developing players. Could provide nice depth/special teams help early. I can't dislike this pick.

 

6th Round (225th overall): Camaron Cheeseman, LS, Michigan - Drafting a long snapper is something I'm personally not a big fan of, especially since they gave up a 5th round pick in next year's draft to take one. But I will say I like his name, and that if I don't hear about him during games for poor long snaps, he's doing his job well.

7th Round (240th overall): William Bradley-King, DE, Baylor - No issue with trying to add some pass rushing depth this late in a draft. He's got some nice athletic traits to work with.

7th Round (246th overall): Shaka Toney, DE, Penn State - Take what I said about Bradley-King and apply it here.

7th Round (258th overall): Dax Milne, WR, BYU - Didn't test out well athletically, but he had a big 2020 in helping Zach Wilson become the #2 overall selection.

Overall Grade: B+ - I'm kind of on the fringe between a B+ and an A-, but I think because they gave up a 5th round pick next year for the purpose of drafting a long snapper, I'm docking it into the lower range. Now I do like the draft, and while a 5th rounder next year isn't exactly the end of the world, I'm not the biggest fan of giving up that resource for a long snapper. Just my two cents.

Nicely written, I agree. Welcome to ES. Love the avatar name. Always remember the tootsie-rolls in the socks, lol.

[TootsieRollGreen28]

2 hours ago, mudhog said:

Nicely written, I agree. Welcome to ES. Love the avatar name. Always remember the tootsie-rolls in the socks, lol.

 

Aside from being such a great player despite being tiny in size for a corner, the tootsie rolls in the socks always drew me to Darrell Green. I was kind of surprised nobody decided to use this reference as a forum name already (or maybe they have but worded the name differently than me), I went with it 😁

[TootsieRollGreen28]

Even though I don't really like handing out "grades" per se and am more into thoughts on the players selected unless I think a draft is just that big a success or that big of a failure, I did decide to give an overall grade for the fun of it and will now do a pick-by-pick grade also for the fun of it.

Jamin Davis: The value isn't tremendous at 19, but I did come to really like him as a prospect as I learned about him and thought he was a tremendous fit given the needs of the team and the outstanding defensive line in front of him. My first initial reaction was a B+, but due to the fit and my feelings about the player, I jumped up to an A-

 

Sam Cosmi: Strong value here, and as I stated above, it definitely filled a need. This is right on the A-/B+ border. I don't dislike Cosmi as a prospect, but he certainly wasn't a draft crush of mine or anything, and I think I'll be more generous than perhaps I should be with later picks, so I'll go with a B+ on this pick

Benjamin St-Juste: I still don't love the value two weeks later, but the front office seems to feel like he would have been gone had they not picked him at 74. Like I said, the pick has really grown on me after my first initial reaction of being extremely underwhelmed. The size/length, strong showing at the Senior Bowl, the mindset of getting "your guy" and trust in the coaches to develop him has me going with a B-, which is quite a jump from the C-/C I initially thought a couple weeks back.

Dyami Brown: Love getting another big playmaker, thought the value was terrific and he can iron out the wrinkles given the wealth of playmakers already on the roster. Easy A grade for me

John Bates: I don't mind rolling with it since Chris Cooley's a fan, and I'm sure he'll do a solid job in his role of blocking and catching the passes that are thrown his way, but I did feel they could have done better with this pick, so I have to go with a C on this one

Darrick Forrest: Can't say this pick wowed me, but I did approve of it. Value seemed about right and I do like adding some needed depth at safety and help on special teams. All in all, that adds up to a B grade selection for me.

Camaron Cheeseman: Nothing against Mr. Cheese, but he is a long snapper and they traded a 5th round pick for him. Just a bad use of a resource, IMO. The only reasons I won't fail the pick are because of his name and the fact that, in theory, he should do his job well. Sorry to say it, but I've gotta go with a D- here. Maybe a D on a day when I feel more generous lol

William Bradley-King and Shaka Toney: Because they're similar in that they had solid if not eye-popping production in college, have nice athletic traits to work with and I'm always good with trying to add pass rushing depth, I'll lump WBK and Toney together. They can both have an A- grade, as well

Dax Milne: I'm not super high on him due to his lack of athletic traits, but it's tough to argue the 2020 production and his assistance to helping Zach Wilson rise big time up draft boards. With the second to last pick of the draft, it's fine. I'll go with a B
 

[gooseneck]

I am more interested in the way, way, too early 2022 draft grades

[Malapropismic Depository]

It's not too early for Draft Grades.

Anyone who saw those still shots of our rookies in shorts, stretching in Rookie Mini-Camp, can easily see they are all destined for greatness.