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Check out the biggest surprises from Day 2 of the 2021 NFL draft
The 2021 NFL draft started off with a bang on Thursday, and Friday’s Day 2 action certainly didn’t disappoint as its successor.
With plenty of notable prospects coming off the board, a run on quarterbacks and 11 cornerbacks being selected, Rounds 2 and 3 provided for some interesting twists and turns as the picks continued to roll in.
Now that the second day of the draft has concluded, let’s take a look at some of the biggest surprises of Day 2 of the 2021 NFL draft:
The first round of the 2020 NFL Draft is in the books, and these were the biggest surprises of the night
There was a lot of unknown heading into the 2020 NFL Draft. With a virtual NFL Draft, not many knew what to expect.
Many felt that there would be chaos early on, but the waters were calm throughout the first 10 picks. But it didn’t take long for things to get crazy, with a flurry of trades, a handful of steals, and even a few puzzling reaches.
Here are our picks for the biggest surprises from Thursday’s action:
First time since 2015 that not a single team traded its draft slot in the top 10 picks.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 24, 2020
It had been five years since there was no movement in the top 10 of the NFL draft. For all the people clamoring that chaos would ensue, that came as a big surprise on day one. The talk mostly centered around Miami and or Los Angeles Chargers moving up to land their guy. Rumors circulated that the Dolphins moving up for offensive tackle. Despite that, the Fins and Chargers both stayed put and landed their franchise quarterbacks.
With K’Lavon Chaisson on the board at 16, it felt like a foregone conclusion that he would be heading to Atlanta to continue his football career. Except it didn’t happen for him, the Falcons passed and chose cornerback A.J. Terrell. A player who many felt would be available later in round one or round two. It was the first domino to fall that set the draft up for more surprises.
The Dallas Cowboys needs were fairly clear for round one, they needed either a defensive back or edge rusher. Chaisson was available when Dallas came on the clock. One name linked to them in C.J. Henderson was gone in the top 10 and Terrell gone a pick before. However, the Cowboys were left with quite the conundrum. Do they go need or best player available. Receiver was a need but this class was extremely deep. The Cowboys decided to pull the trigger on a top 10 player in CeeDee giving Dak Prescott another weapon.
Arnette was viewed as one of the top cornerbacks available. A talented player who had some red flags such as his speed and shorter arms. The league has fallen in love with tall and long defenders on the boundary. Players who lacked length typically slide down further on draft boards. The Raiders went against that logic with their selection of Arnette who projects as a day one starter for that defense.
It feels as though it has come full circle for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. In 2004 the Packers selected Rodgers as the heir apparent to Brett Favre. Fast forward to 2020, the Packers traded up to 26 to select Jordan Love. A bit of a shock considering that the Packers could have used a wide receiver. Instead they used their draft capital to fill their need for quarterback of the future.
The Seahawks are a team that values their defense, so the fact that they spent their first round pick on a linebacker should come as no surprise. The surprise lies in which linebacker they selected. Patrick Queen was viewed as one of the best linebackers available, but the Seahawks went outside the box and drafted Jordyn Brooks out of Texas Tech. Brooks was viewed in the 2nd-3rd round range and he landed in Seattle at pick 27.
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