The fallacy of grading drafts right after they happen is inevitable, formidable, and impossible to avoid. Those in the know will tell you that you need at least two full seasons before designating a draft class a success or failure based on results, and that does resonate with a lot of truth.
So, why do we all engage in this exercise?
Beyond the obvious reason (clicks!), there is something to draft grades right after the fact, but these grades tend to be more of a forecast than a statement. What we’re doing here is anticipating how well teams will do with their new players, based on scheme fit, need, and overall talent. The point here is not to praise players before they ever hit an NFL field or doom this or that personnel executive to the doghouse because they didn’t pick the players we wanted them to. Instead, it’s about projecting how things will work.
So, with that open-ended caveat in mind, here are Touchdown Wire’s grades for every team in the 2021 NFL draft.
