Tag: 2021 NFL draft

Giants select Kyle Pitts in 2021 NFL re-draft

In The Athletic’s 2021 NFL re-draft, everything changes and the New York Giants end up selecting tight end Kyle Pitts.

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The New York Giants got outmaneuvered by two division rivals in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft when the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys traded with one another to keep the Giants from selecting Alabama wideout DeVonta Smith with the 11th overall pick.

The Cowboys traded the 10th pick to the Eagles for the 12th pick, allowing Philadelphia to select Smith. The Giants then traded the 11th pick to Chicago, who drafted Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.

Dallas, at No. 12, selected Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons.

The Giants, at No. 20, took Florida wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who they eventually would trade away the next season.

In The Athletic’s re-draft of the 2021 NFL draft, none of the above transpires. Dallas stays at No. 10 and takes Virginia Tech offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw since Parsons is long gone, taken second overall by the Jets.

With Smith also gone — to Miami at No. 6 — Philadelphia selects Georgia cornerback Tyson Campbell at No. 12.

The Giants stay at No. 11 since there are no takers now that Fields is also off the board, taken third by San Francisco. They select Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, who is high on their board. In reality, Pitts was selected fourth overall by Atlanta.

In terms of pure athletic ability, Pitts is still a top-five prospect in this class.

The Falcons drafted him at the absolute start of the Arthur Smith-Terry Fontenot era with a long-term plan in mind. Pitts’ numbers haven’t been overwhelming through two years, but the situation around him is still developing. Right now, much of his path seems tied to an unproven QB in Desmond Ridder.

The Giants-Pitts connection makes a load of sense. It would have happened had Pitts fallen to them back in 2021. One huge question that many Giant fans are still asking is why they traded the 11th pick instead of taking Parsons for themselves. Instead, they find themselves lining up against him twice a season for the foreseeable future.

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All-time Notre Dame players drafted by Jacksonville Jaguars

Can you name the five Notre Dame players to be drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have only been playing football since 1995 but have had a handful of Notre Dame players who they’ve called the name of during the 26 NFL drafts they have participated in.

Only one such player was selected in the first round and it’d be difficult to ever call any of the five stars, but here are the five Notre Dame players to ever be selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL draft:

1997 Renaldo Wynn, DE, 1st round, 21st overall
2001 Anthony Denman, LB, 7th round, 213th overall
2007 Derek Landri, DT, 5th round, 166th overall
2015 Ben Koyack, TE, 7th round, 229th overall
2016 Sheldon Day, DT, 4th round, 103rd overall

Related:

All of Notre Dame’s first round NFL draft picks since 1975

Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame draft classes: 2011

Only one Notre Dame player was selected in the 2011 NFL draft.

This week leading up to the NFL draft we will look back on each of the 10 classes of prospects that have played for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame and gone on to be drafted.

Some years are deeper than others.  In fact, there are a couple of draft classes that literally saw only one Notre Dame player selected in them during this decade-long window.

Here is the first NFL draft class for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, 2011:

Tight end Kyle Rudolph was the only Notre Dame player selected in the 2011 NFL draft, going 43rd overall to the Minnesota Vikings.

Rudolph went on to play 10 years for the Vikings before becoming a salary cap casualty this past off-season.  He has since signed a deal with the New York Giants after experiencing NFL free agency for the first time in his career.

 

Notre Dame’s five No. 1 overall NFL draft picks

Who are the five?

It has been since 1972 that a Notre Dame player had their name called first in the NFL draft, but it has happened five times in the history of the draft.  No school has more first overall draft picks than Notre Dame while both Oklahoma and USC share the total with five.

So if it hasn’t happened in 51 years after Bryce Young became the first former Alabama football player to have his name called first overall in the 2023 NFL draft.  Will it happen again sometime for Notre Dame?  As much as we like Sam Hartman we’re fairly certain that’s not a possibility.

Or is it…hmm…

Anyway, here are the five in chronological order:

Panthers pick different CB in 2021 NFL draft do-over

In his do-over of the 2021 NFL draft, Adam Rank goes in a slightly different direction for the Panthers.

As soon as the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos went back-to-back with cornerbacks in the 2021 NFL draft, we knew the selections would be forever linked—especially since those selections were both sons of former big-name pros. So, did the team who jumped first make the right decision?

NFL.com writer Adam Rank doesn’t think so, as detailed in his do-over of the event. When posed with the same choice, Rank opted for Patrick Surtain II over Jayce Horn for the Panthers and the eighth overall pick.

If the Panthers still have their hearts set on a cornerback, then they should take Surtain, who has outplayed Horn thus far, earning an All-Pro nod last season (though, to be fair to Horn, injuries have gotten in his way). For what it’s worth, I thought Carolina should’ve drafted Fields back in 2021. But he’s not available in this redraft, so Surtain it is.

Surtain has since gone on to make the Denver Broncos, and presumably his father, proud. The University of Alabama product, as Rank noted, earned his first All-Pro selection this past season and finished with Pro Football Focus’ second-highest coverage grade amongst all corners (86.7).

Joe’s kid ain’t too shabby either. Horn, who goes 16th to the Arizona Cardinals in this redo, has allowed just 29 receptions on 56 targets and a 48.4 passer rating against over his 16-game career.

So maybe, when it’s all said and done, Horn doesn’t end up being the absolute best choice the Panthers could’ve made. But he certainly wasn’t a wrong one.

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All of Notre Dame’s first round NFL draft picks since 1975

Which had the best NFL career?

Notre Dame has had a long history of winning a lot of football games and putting a bunch of talent in the pros.  You know plenty of the names that turned into NFL stars and plenty would didn’t have as great of professional careers, either.

This past NFL draft, [autotag]Kyle Hamilton[/autotag] became the latest former Notre Dame player to become a first-round NFL draft pick.  He joins a long list of Fighting Irish greats that have had their names called in the first round.

Will Michael Mayer become the latest former Fighting Irish star to hear his name called in the first round of the draft?  We’ll find out the evening of April 27.

[autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag], [autotag]Tim Brown[/autotag], and [autotag]Bryant Young[/autotag] are just a few of the greats who have been first-round picks.  Below is the entire list of first-round NFL draft picks that Notre Dame has produced since 1975.

 

27 Days, 27 Picks: EDGE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka

In this new series, Bucs Wire will take an in-depth look at the last 27 first-round picks for Tampa Bay for every day remaining until the NFL draft.

First up in our series is the Bucs’ most recent first-rounder: Edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.

There are officially 27 days until the first round of the NFL draft.

In this new series, Bucs Wire will analyze the last 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks, one for each day leading up to the 2023 NFL draft. We’ll take a look at the player’s college stats, their pre-draft numbers (either via the NFL Combine or their Pro Day), their NFL stats, some player footage and analysis at the end on whether the pick itself was a good one.

Our first entry skips over 2022, since the Bucs didn’t have a first-round pick. Thus, we’re looking to 2021 to analyze Tampa Bay’s most recent first-round selection: [autotag]Joe Tryon-Shoyinka[/autotag].

Re-grading the Colts’ 2021 draft class

Here’s a look at re-grading the Colts’ 2021 draft class.

Players are typically evaluated on how well they have adjusted to the NFL by the start of their third season. The same goes for the Indianapolis Colts.

By then, they hope to have matured in their play and become meaningful team additions while holding roles that have an impact in some phase of the game on Sundays.

The Colts drafted seven players in the 2021 draft who have now hit an evaluation period as they enter their third season. We’ll be taking a look at these seven picks and comparing their initial grades to where they stand now.

Here’s how we re-graded the 2021 draft class:

Trevor Lawrence beats the rest of the 2021 QB class to a playoff win

The No. 1 overall pick in a loaded QB class two years ago, Trevor Lawrence is already delivering on the hype

In what was considered to be one of the most stacked quarterback classes in recent history, the 2021 NFL draft’s group of passers is showing how special it is early on.

That goes especially the first overall pick, Jacksonville Jaguars signal-caller Trevor Lawrence.

He was considered the top of the class and a generational talent at the position, and that has shown on the field as he has developed throughout his second year.

While Justin Fields and Trey Lance have shown a ton of upside in their own right (while Zach Wilson very much has not), Lawrence has eclipsed both of them, at the same time has distinguishing himself by becoming the first quarterback from that class to win a playoff game after his brilliant comeback win against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Lawrence did not make it easy on himself in the first half of his first playoff game, of course, tossing four interceptions in the first half. The Chargers took full advantage, turning the takeaways and gifted field position into a 27-0 first-half lead.

In the second half, however, Lawrence showed us all the tools that made him that first overall pick. He was constantly making elite-level passes, including four consecutive drives where he threw for a touchdown. The game ultimately ended thanks to a 68-yard game winning drive by Lawrence, capped by a 36-yard field goal as the clock hit zero.

Lawrence finished the game with 28 completions on 47 attempts for 288 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. His second half stats tell the story, though, as Lawrence threw for 211 yards and three touchdowns and had a passer rating of 144.5 after the halftime mark.

It will be interesting to see if Lawrence can carry that second-half performance into Saturday’s road tilt against Patrick Mahomes and the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs, and perhaps be the first of his class to make it to a conference title game, as well.

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Cowboys liked Texans QB Davis Mills during 2021 NFL draft process

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy says the team was keen on QB Davis Mills, who went to the Houston Texans in the 2021 NFL draft.

Davis Mills’ 1-8-1 record as the Houston Texans’ starter in 2022, along with his 3-17-1 record for his career, has buried how well thought of the Stanford product was when he entered the 2021 NFL draft.

Some of the opinions on Mills were that he would have been a first-round pick had he stayed one more season with the Cardinal under coach David Shaw.

On Dec. 7 during his presser, Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy brought back some of the pre-draft positivity that surrounded Mills.

“He’s obviously someone we really liked coming out of Stanford,” McCarthy said. “He’s got good tape. There’s a lot of good things.”

At the time, the Cowboys were evaluating franchise quarterback Dak Prescott’s leg as he recovered from a season-ending fracture. Their quarterback room was crowded with Cooper Rush, Garrett Gilbert, and Ben DiNucci, who the Cowboys drafted in the seventh round in 2020. Nevertheless they did their homework on Mills.

The Texans drafted Mills with the No. 67 overall pick in Round 3, the first selection of the Nick Caserio era. Dallas went with defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa at No. 76.

Houston takes on Dallas Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time from AT&T Stadium in Arlington.