After day one of the NFL draft, there will always be head-scratchers, sleeper picks made, and slam dunk. 2021 was no different, as the draft returned to in-person hosted by Cleveland, Ohio, the home of the Browns. Let us take a look at three teams that won the first round and three teams that could have done better.

Winners

San Francisco 49ers

It was well documented that the San Francisco 49ers were going to take a quarterback with the third pick, but it was just a matter of who. San Fran took North Dakota State product Trey Lance to be their quarterback of the future. When you look at his body of work, Lance has a small sample size after losing his last season in college to COVID-19. Despite this, Lance has all the tools and will be able to ease in with a friendly offense like the 49ers. There is even a good chance he is not the starter Week 1 with Jimmy Garoppolo still there. Despite this, Lance will eventually get his shot and will shine doing so.

Chicago Bears

We are now a couple of years removed from the Bears trading up for QB Mitch Trubisky, which did not work well for the Bears. In 2021, the Bears traded up again for a quarterback by the name of Justin Fields, who had his stock fall to no fault of his own. Fields ended his strong college career with a national championship appearance after outdueling QB Trevor Lawrence in the semi-finals. Like Lance, Fields probably will not play right away but has a huge upside on a team that is in the crossroads of being legit or rebuilding. Fields can change this narrative if he plays well.

New York Jets

Don’t look now, but the New York Jets are starting to build a strong nucleus under Robert Saleh. After taking the obvious choice at number two overall with QB Zach Wilson, the Jets used some of the draft capital they had and took OT Alijah Vera-Tucker out of USC. Every good team is strong in the trenches and the Jets are starting to build that through the draft with Mekhi Becton last year and Vera-Tucker this year. If the quarterback is as good as advertised, the Jets might be a really good football team in just a few seasons.

Losers

Cincinnati Bengals

Yes, Ja’Marr Chase is a special talent and deserved to go high in this draft, but the Bengals made the sexy pick rather than picking what they truly needed, an offensive lineman. OL Penei Sewell was still on the board when the Bengals were up to pick, but they decided to take a wide receiver instead, which was not even close to a need and might have not even been the best player available. Cincinnati needs to bolster the offensive line in the second or third round, or else QB Joe Burrow is going to be running for his life.

New York Giants

The Giants were poised to take WR Devonta Smith until their division rival stepped in front of them to take him. Rather than taking LB Micah Parsons, they traded back and reached on WR Kadarius Toney, who was projected to be a fringe first-round draft choice. This would have been a position to take the best player available and not reach for a position that was not a massive need for the Giants. The one positive is that the Giants got an extra first-round draft pick out of it next year, but it will mean nothing in the Giants cannot hit on their picks this year.

Washington Football Team

A lot of teams go by the strategy of taking the best player available and not chase needs. For Washington, they needed to chase needs because their offense needs help, not their defense. Washington reached on LB Jamin Davis, who is a good player but does not fit Washington and their defensive scheme. Washington could have taken a receiver at this pick or if they really liked Davis, traded back, and gotten picks while still getting their guy. It was a head-scratcher for me because he could have been taken in the 20-32 range, but Washington stayed put and took their guy early instead.

Info from cbssports.com

-By: Richie Dordas

2021 NFL Draft: Biggest Winners and Losers from First Round