2021 NFL Draft: Biggest Winners and Losers from Day 2

After an eventful day, one of the NFL draft rounds two and three were completed on day two and was almost as eventful. Most of the NFL comes from day two with many teams loading up on mid-round picks to bolster their roster. Let us look at who made the correct moves and for those who had some head-scratching choices.

Winners

Cleveland Browns

After selecting Greg Newsome with their first-round pick, the Cleveland Browns followed that up by taking a steal in the second-round in Jeremiah Owusu-Koromaoah at the 52nd pick. Many viewed him as a first-round draft choice, including the Browns, but for some reason fell into the second round. Linebacker is a tremendous need for Cleveland and Koromoa will fit in nicely on their defense. Cleveland also drafted Anthony Schwartz, a speedy receiver out of Auburn, with their third-round pick.

New England Patriots

It was not glamorous, but the New England Patriots followed up a successful day one with an even better day two of the NFL draft. New England took DT Christian Barmore with their second-round pick and DE Ronnie Perkins with their third-round pick, bolstering their defense with depth at key positions. Barmore, who was a fringe first-rounder, was one of the highest-graded defensive tackles in the draft while Perkins, an Oklahoma alum, has great value to his name for going in the third round. Look for New England to add some offensive pieces on day three to fill out their roster for the 2021 season.

Kansas City Chiefs

They said the offensive line was a problem, so they addressed it immediately. Just a week after trading for LT Orlando Brown, the Chiefs kicked off their draft with two second-round picks, one including Oklahoma OL Creed Humphrey at number 63. Just five picks before that, Kansas City took LB Nick Bolton, who is one of the more underrated players in this draft and will fit in nicely surrounded by veterans in the linebacking room. Kansas City did not follow any fancy big boards, but rather picked guys that will fit their scheme and culture and just be another piece to the puzzle. I expect both players to start right away and make big impacts right away as well.

Losers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The big talk of the draft for the Steelers was to get a running back to sure up the running game. They did that when they drafted RB Najee Harris in the first round. With that. Every good running game needs a good offensive line, which was a huge need for the Steelers. Instead, the Steelers used their second-round pick on a tight end with OL Josh Myers and Creed Humphrey sitting right there. Pittsburgh finally picked an offensive lineman in the third round by the name of Kendrick Green. Green is a good guard, but the Steelers see him as a center with little experience. It is a bit of a head-scratcher, but if it pans out it can work well. Regardless, the Steelers might have missed out on an opportunity to bolster their line in total on day two.

Seattle Seahawks

After not having a first-round draft choice because of the Jamal Adams trade, the Seahawks had just one pick on day two, a second-round pick. The big talk this offseason was to get QB Russell Wilson protection on his offensive line, with the draft being a great spot for that. Instead, Seattle decided to take D’Wayne Eskridge, a wide receiver out of Western Michigan, with their day two pick. Eskridge profiles as an explosive player, which Seattle already has in WR DK Metcalf. As bad as the offensive line was last year, it is a very questionable move to feed a strength and leave the need starving until day three, where it is tough to find diamonds in the rough year in and year out.

Miami Dolphins

Like the other two losers of day two, the Miami Dolphins are two days into the draft and still have not drafted an offensive lineman to protect Tua Tagovailoa. WR Jaylen Waddle was a given yesterday, and you can even argue DE Jaelen Phillips was a solid pick as well, but there was no need to follow that up with a second-round pick of S Jevon Holland followed by TE Hunter Long. If Miami wants to win, they must get better in the trenches on the offensive side of the ball and will need to do that in day three, or else Tua is going to be running for his life.

Draft details from cbssports.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas