2021 Post-Draft Thoughts: Round 3

This is a continuation of my draft notes. These notes provide context for the 2021 NFL draft picks - who was a reach, who was a value, and the scenarios that various teams had when they were making these picks. Hopefully it will provide a handy reference point in future years. Here are the notes for Round 3:

65. Jacksonville Jaguars - Andre Cisco, S, Syracuse. The term gets thrown around too often, but Cisco was an absolute ballhawk his first two years of college. As a freshman, he posted 18 passes defensed and 7 INTs. As a sophomore, he had 10 and 5. He was hurt as a junior and only played in 2 games due to a knee injury, yet still managed another pick. The knee injury is concerning because we do not have a forty time on him, nor information on the tests that measure change of direction ability, so we just don’t know how that knee is holding up. But this was a good bet on past production. He’s a young player (21 years old) and has good height (6’0) and weight (216) for the position.

66. Minnesota Vikings - Kellen Mond, QB, Texas A&M. Mond has drawn some Colin Kaepernick comparisons in terms of his arm talent and rushing ability. He lands in a good situation in Minnesota where he can learn behind an established veteran while continuing to hone his passing skills.

67. Houston Texans - Davis Mills, QB, Stanford. With allegations of sexual impropriety surrounding Deshaun Watson, Houston uses its first draft pick on his potential successor. This may have been a reach for a guy who didn’t start very many games in college and had injury issues. However, he was a five star recruit coming out of high school and the talent is undeniable.

68. Atlanta Falcons - Jalen Mayfield, OT, Michigan. Early on in the process, Mayfield got some love as a potential first round pick. He was battle-tested in the Big Ten and went up against several edge rushers who went on to be drafted into the NFL. However, he is still a work in progress, and his arm length had many scouts wondering whether he would be a better fit at guard in the NFL.

69. Cincinnati Bengals - Joseph Ossai, DE, Texas. Nailed it. This guy has a motor that won’t quit, and will be a welcome addition to a very thin Bengals’ defensive end group. He should play early and often in his rookie season, as only Sam Hubbard and free agent-signee Trey Hendrickson are above him on the depth chart.

70. Carolina Panthers - Brady Christensen, OT, BYU. Christensen posted eye popping numbers during his pro day workout, but his T-Rex arms had many teams insisting that he move inside to guard. That’s probably his best position in the NFL, but he should wind up being a good offensive lineman regardless of where he winds up.

71. New York Giants - Aaron Robinson, CB, UCF. Robinson was seen as one of the top slot corners in this draft class. I wasn’t terribly enthused by his measurables, but I don’t know enough about him to have a strong opinion one way or the other.

72. Detroit Lions - Alim McNeil, DT, NC State. McNeil will be the nose tackle for the Lions. It was clear that their focus in this draft was to hammer the offensive and defensive lines, as their first three picks were LT Penei Sewell, DT Levi Onwuzurike, and McNeil. It’s a good strategy for a rebuilding team.

73. Philadelphia Eagles - Milton Williams, DT, Louisiana Tech. Williams was one of the most popular names in the draft. He’s a bit light for a defensive tackle (weighing in around 270), but he might end up transitioning to defensive end. With his freaky athleticism, he could wind up being a really good player. He’s got high bust potential as well, though, given his level of competition and the fact that he’s a bit of a ‘tweener that might have to play out of position at the next level.

74. Washington Football Team - Benjamin St.-Juste, CB, Minnesota. St.-Juste has great size for a corner at 6’3, but his injury history is certainly concerning. I liked this player a good bit, but this was about a round too early for me.

75. Dallas Cowboys - Osa Odighizuwa, DT, UCLA. Odighizuwa is talented, but 280 pound defensive tackles don’t last in the NFL.

76. New Orleans Saints - Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford. Adebo has great size and production and should have an opportunity to start for the Saints, who presently list ten-year veteran Patrick Robinson as a starting corner.

77. Los Angeles Chargers - Josh Palmer, WR, Tennessee. Palmer did not have great production, but his defenders always offered an excuse that it was due to poor quarterback play. That seems weak to me. Tutu Atwell also had poor QB play and was tremendously productive. I’ll need to see more from Palmer before I’m a believer.

78. Minnesota Vikings - Chazz Surratt, LB, North Carolina. Surratt was one of the bigger linebacker names in the draft but I never really understood the appeal with him. He seems like your run-of-the-mill third round linebacker type, the sort of guy who will play out his rookie contract and maybe even start some games, but then move on.

79. Las Vegas Raiders - Malcolm Koonce, DE, Buffalo. I can’t defend Vegas’ draft picks. I had a late day 3 grade on Koonce. Mel Kiper was really high on him though, and had him with a Day 2 grade.

80. Las Vegas Raiders - Divine Deablo, S, Virginia Tech. Coolest name in the draft. There were some concerns that he may have to move to linebacker, and that may very well be the Raiders’ intention after spending three draft picks on safeties.

81. Miami Dolphins - Hunter Long, TE, Boston College. Miami gets another pass-catching tight end to back up Mike Gesicki. Good depth addition in a draft that was fairly light on tight ends.

82. Washington Football Team - Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina. One of my favorite receivers in this draft class. For the past two seasons at UNC, Brown averaged over 20 yards per catch. He can really take the top off a defense and makes the WFT offense incredibly explosive. Good luck keeping up with Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, and Brown. This is going to be a fun offense to watch. Hopefully Ryan Fitzpatrick is just chucking up YOLO balls to his heart’s content.

83. Carolina Panthers - Tommy Tremble, TE, Notre Dame. Homer alert! I love Tommy Tremble, and firmly believe his ability exceeds his college production. In college, he originally played behind Cole Kmet, the first tight end drafted in the 2019 NFL draft. In 2020, when it should have been his time to shine, he played behind uber-talented freshman (and five star recruit) Michael Mayer. In short, he had to split time with two guys who are both likely to be top NFL draft picks. He’s not on their talent level, but he’s not too shabby in his own right, and he’s certainly better than Ian Thomas, his competition in Carolina.

84. Dallas Cowboys - Chauncey Golston, DE, Iowa. Golston was one of my preferred late-round targets at defensive end. Does that mean that I really like the guy, or that he was overdrafted as a 3? Probably a little bit of both. He projects as a solid rotational piece for Dallas’ defensive line.

85. Green Bay Packers - Amari Rodgers, WR, Clemson. Amari Rodgers, while undersized, is STOUT. This is a really thick guy for his height. He’s built more like a running back. He was Trevor Lawrence’s preferred target his final year at Clemson, and enters the NFL having played in a lot of big games. Aaron Rodgers is likely relieved that the Packers finally got him another weapon. It wasn’t that long ago that he turned another slot receiver (Randall Cobb) into a star.

86. Minnesota Vikings - Wyatt Davis, LG, Ohio State. I had a second round grade on Davis, so obviously I think this is a great get for the Vikings, who lacked a second round pick due to the ill-advised Yannick Ngakoue trade last year. The two biggest holes for the Vikings heading into the draft were left tackle and left guard, and they obtained able replacements with their picks of Christian Darrisaw and Davis.

87. Pittsburgh Steelers - Kendrick Green, G, Illinois. Finally, the Steelers take an offensive lineman. I had Green graded as a center, but it is yet unclear where the Steelers plan to deploy him. It would seem that their guard spots are set with Kevin Dotson and David DeCastro, whereas center is a huge hole with the retirement of Maurkice Pouncey.

88. San Francisco 49ers - Trey Sermon, RB, Ohio State. Fantasy owners, take note! This is the highest the 49ers have drafted a running back in the John Lynch-Kyle Shanahan era. And like his father Mike, Kyle Shanahan can make any ol’ running back into a 1,000-yard rusher. If he spends a high draft pick on a guy, what does that tell you? Sermon has a bright, bright future as San Fran’s lead back, although it may not come until 2022 as they phase Raheem Mostert out of the offense.

89. Houston Texans - Nico Collins, WR, Michigan. Houston needs help everywhere, so you really can’t fault any pick they made. Collins had underwhelming production at Michigan, but he has the size and speed traits NFL teams covet.

90. Minnesota Vikings - Patrick Jones II, DE, Pittsburgh. This is a CLASSIC Mike Zimmer pick. You grab the guy who has good size and was productive in college but doesn’t have great athletic testing. Zim is going to get the most out of this guy. If the Vikes’ biggest two needs were LT and LG, the third biggest need was a defensive end. Jones should have an opportunity to start for the Purple People Eaters.

91. Cleveland Browns - Anthony Schwartz, WR, Auburn. Schwartz is fast, but that’s about it. He had tremendously disappointing production in college for his speed, is slight of build, and didn’t return kicks. Hopefully a creative NFL coach like Kevin Stefanski can get the most out of him.

92. Tennessee Titans - Monty Rice, LB, Georgia. Rice came from a program known for putting good defensive players in the NFL, but this was too early for me (which I can say about a lot of the Vikings picks this year). I had a 4th/5th round grade on him.

93. Buffalo Bills - Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa. Brown was one of the hotter names following the Senior Bowl, as he has great size (6’8) and arm length (34”) for the position. Player comps for him on NFL.com and Playerprofiler.com are Jared Veldheer and Samuel Cosmi. This is a nice developmental pick for the Bills who should be their swing tackle behind Dion Dawkins and Darryl Williams.

94. Baltimore Ravens - Ben Cleveland, RG, Georgia. I absolutely hated this pick - because I despise the Ravens and I love the player. Cleveland is a powerful moose and should be that Marshal Yanda replacement Baltimore has been searching for. He’s a plug-and-play right guard from day one.

95. Tampa Bay - Robert Hainsey, RG/RT, Notre Dame. Solid depth selection by the Bucs. Hainsey was an experienced right tackle for the Irish but will likely have to kick inside to guard at the NFL level. He can likely man right tackle in a pinch if something happens to Tristan Wirfs. Among the picks they made on the first two days of the draft, this is the one I like best for the defending champs.

96. New England Patriots - Ronnie Perkins, EDGE, Oklahoma. Bill Belichick can never have enough edge rushers, and he can never have enough versatile pieces. Perkins can play upright in a 3-4 alignment or in a 3-point stance in a 4-3.

97. Los Angeles Chargers - Tre’ McKitty, TE, Georgia. Reeeeeaaaach! Needing a Hunter Henry replacement (I think Jared Cook is toast, folks), the Bolts reach for McKitty in a weak tight end class. I had McKitty with a 6th round grade. He’ll have to battle with Donald Parham to be the pass-catching option on this team.

98. Denver Broncos - Quinn Meinerz, C, Wisconsin-Whitewater. One of the most popular names in the draft following Senior Bowl week, when he played with his belly hanging out and got attention for manhandling guys at center despite playing his college career at guard. The jump in competition from Division III to the NFL is going to be significant, though. Is Meinerz a one-week wonder, or does he have the chops to go up against the hog mollies of the NFL’s defensive lines?

99. Dallas Cowboys - Nahshon Wright, CB, Oregon State. Never heard of this player before the draft. I try to research 6-7 rounds deep, but every year there are guys I miss. This was one of them.

100. Tennessee Titans - Elijah Molden, CB, Washington. Tyrann Mathieu 2.0. Molden is undersized, but is a hard-hitting slot corner/nickel safety. This was probably the pick from Tennessee that I liked best. He should replace Adoree’ Jackson in the slot.

101. Detroit Lions - Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB, Syracuse. Detroit really did a nice job in this draft grabbing falling players, from Penei Sewell in the first to Levi Onwuzurike in the second to Melifonwu here in the third (and then again with Amon-Ra St. Brown in the fourth). They did a great job letting players fall to them and just drafting the best player available. Melifonwu has a great shot to start for them, if not in 2021 then at least by 2022. Hopefully he’s got more NFL staying power than his older brother Obi.

102. San Francisco 49ers - Ambry Thomas, CB, Michigan. Thomas draws comparisons to Jeff Gladney and Kendall Fuller. He projects as a slot corner in the NFL, although he’s just big enough (5’11”) to play outside if he has to, and he has decent arm length for a corner at 32.25”.

103. Los Angeles Rams - Ernest Jones, LB, South Carolina. See note on Nahshon Wright.

104. Baltimore Ravens - Brandon Stephens, CB, SMU. Stephens started out at UCLA as a running back and then transitioned to cornerback and spent his final two years at SMU. This is an intriguing developmental prospect.

105. Denver Broncos - Baron Browning, LB, Ohio State. I liked Browning better than his Ohio State Pete Werner, who went an entire round earlier. I tend to overemphasize player comparisons in my evaluations. According to PlayerProfiler and NFL.com, Werner compares favorably to Sae Tautu (who?) and the Bengals Jordan Evans (who is objectively terrible), whereas Browning compares favorably to Ryan Shazier and Oren Burks. I’ll take the guy who profiles similarly to Ryan Shazier and Oren Burks, thankyouverymuch.