2021 Draft Grades

[like54ninjas]

Let’s be honest, none of us really know squat about any of these players. If every draft expert and mock draft had Rashawn Slater as a Day 3 pick we would have believed it and we would all be livid that the Chargers took him in the first round.

No.
Many of us do our on prospect scouting.

[Bolt-O]

Draft grades immediately after the draft are kind of 'fun', but are just as good as the perceived value against needs of the team. I do hope that the Chargers draft turns out the way that the grades show, but I think that this might be the hardest draft to judge for a while just because of the relative lack of recent performance.

I do think that some of the 'professional' draftniks take shortcuts by looking at other mock drafts vs looking at actual tape. I like the evaluations of prior professional scouts, like Daniel Jeremiah, or savants, like Joel Bushbaum was, or Greg Cosell, to most of the yahoos out there who just have 'great hair'.

[Bearded14YourPleasure]

Let’s be honest, none of us really know squat about any of these players. If every draft expert and mock draft had Rashawn Slater as a Day 3 pick we would have believed it and we would all be livid that the Chargers took him in the first round.

You can definitely tell some people know nothing about the players by their insight on some of the picks. There are plenty of people here who know as much or more than the published talking heads out there. Quite a few posters here put more effort into evaluating talent than a lot of beat writers. It’s all a guessing game even for the teams that have all the information available to them, not just the film and measurables that we as fans get.

[PhilaBoltster]

Let’s be honest, none of us really know squat about any of these players. If every draft expert and mock draft had Rashawn Slater as a Day 3 pick we would have believed it and we would all be livid that the Chargers took him in the first round.

[NoMoreChillies]

i like that quite a few of the picks performed against NFL talent. The game is played on the field not on paper

[La Costa Boy]

I will give us a solid B+ in this draft. The third round was difficult at first because like many on here I had other guys in mind. But after seeing film on each, especially McCats Florida State tape, I have to believe that someone knows something. And afterwards I thought about it and realized that Staley had to be in the war room agreeing or even suggesting these guys. Who knows, he could have been pounding the table for them.

We always think we know better and sometimes we probably do, but that is bore out mostly through hindsight only, which is a gift the brain trust does not have when sending in the card, So in the coach and GM and scouts I trust. Bring on September!!!

You still haven't said whose scoring this is from. There was no title on the original post that you were quoting from.

Most people when grading a draft are not valuing each pick equally. More weight is given to the early rounds. Day 3 picks ( with each round dramatically dropping their chances ) have a far less expectation of making a roster and that is valid League wide. If you're weighting the picks I can totally see an A+, and that's without comparing them to other terms .

So....
Rd 1 elite Rd 2 elite Rd 3 (early) very good
Rd 3 (late) poor
Rd 4 very good
Rd 5 above avg

Rd 6 below avg
Rd 6 (late) poor
Rd 7 below avg

I really like the special teams value of our two round six and around 7 choices... This was something we really needed to focus on and gives them an opportunity to make the roster.

The grade is from PFF. You are right--the original post that I quoted did not state that it was from PFF. I recognized the descriptions from their draft tracker so I knew who it was.

To be clear, just because I did not like a few of the picks very much does not mean that I think we had a bad draft. I think we were well within the top half of the league, but there is absolutely no way to give a snap grade of an A+ when 4 of 9 picks got panned to some degree. It is not an A+ even if you weight the early rounds more heavily.

Because of the early round success, I would say that it was an A- or B+, but no worse than a B+. And when I score drafts, I am not one of those that gives everyone some variation of an A or B. I do weight more heavily to the earlier rounds.

[Panamamike]

McKitty and Rountree were rated as poor. McKitty was awful--a good 3 rounds too early. That "poor" was earned. I thought the scoring of Rountree was harsh. That could have been scored low average or below average. It was not better than average at best.

Niemann and Webb were rated below average. Again, I thought the scoring of Niemann was harsh. That pick should be scored above average--solid value with the potential of being more than that. The scoring of Webb of below average seems pretty close. Significantly better players were available, but Webb was rated as a round 7 or priority free agent player, so maybe low average to below average would be right for him as a snap grade.

Slater and Samuel were scored elite. I had no major issue with this scoring, though I could have seen very good for each as well.

Palmer and Rumph were scored very good. I disagree about Palmer. That pick is average at best. Just the wrong WR. No need to get a Williams clone. Palmer is either the #3 guy, which makes him a bad choice because he is a bad fit with Allen and Williams due to lack of top end speed or he is not, which makes him of less value that would be ideal for the #77 overall pick. I think the scoring of Rumph was spot on. Good pick with lots of potential.

Jaimes was scored above average. I had no issue with that, but I could have seen average as a legitimate score as well.

But my original point was and is that combining those marks does not result in a grade of A+. Our draft certainly had some great hits, but it was very far from perfect.

You still haven't said whose scoring this is from. There was no title on the original post that you were quoting from.

Most people when grading a draft are not valuing each pick equally. More weight is given to the early rounds. Day 3 picks ( with each round dramatically dropping their chances ) have a far less expectation of making a roster and that is valid League wide. If you're weighting the picks I can totally see an A+, and that's without comparing them to other terms .

So....
Rd 1 elite Rd 2 elite Rd 3 (early) very good
Rd 3 (late) poor
Rd 4 very good
Rd 5 above avg

Rd 6 below avg
Rd 6 (late) poor
Rd 7 below avg

I really like the special teams value of our two round six and around 7 choices... This was something we really needed to focus on and gives them an opportunity to make the roster.

Which 2 did they list as poor? Which two as below average?

McKitty and Rountree were rated as poor. McKitty was awful--a good 3 rounds too early. That "poor" was earned. I thought the scoring of Rountree was harsh. That could have been scored low average or below average. It was not better than average at best.

Niemann and Webb were rated below average. Again, I thought the scoring of Niemann was harsh. That pick should be scored above average--solid value with the potential of being more than that. The scoring of Webb of below average seems pretty close. Significantly better players were available, but Webb was rated as a round 7 or priority free agent player, so maybe low average to below average would be right for him as a snap grade.

Slater and Samuel were scored elite. I had no major issue with this scoring, though I could have seen very good for each as well.

Palmer and Rumph were scored very good. I disagree about Palmer. That pick is average at best. Just the wrong WR. No need to get a Williams clone. Palmer is either the #3 guy, which makes him a bad choice because he is a bad fit with Allen and Williams due to lack of top end speed or he is not, which makes him of less value than would be ideal for the #77 overall pick. I think the scoring of Rumph was spot on. Good pick with lots of potential.

Jaimes was scored above average. I had no issue with that, but I could have seen average as a legitimate score as well.

But my original point was and is that combining those marks does not result in a grade of A+. Our draft certainly had some great hits, but it was very far from perfect.

And it is that way with virtually every grader that grades the individual picks, but then assigns a soft grade to the overall result. The overall grade is not an actual average of the individual grades, whether weighted more heavily toward earlier picks (which I think is appropriate) or not.

[Rugger05]

McKshay favorite pick for each team

Asante Samuel Jr., CB, Florida State (Round 2, No. 47 overall)

Northwestern tackle Rashawn Slater was a significant draft choice with his talent and the big need, but Samuel is the real deal and could be a steal at No. 47. I don't care about his 5-foot-10 size. I don't care about his straight-line speed. I'm looking strictly at the way he plays the game, and I think he's a starter in the NFL for a long time.



In my opinion, Samuel could contend with any other cornerback in the class when it comes to instincts, balance and body control. He is technically sound and changes direction well. Look, I get it: He might struggle at times against bigger receivers. But he plays bigger than his size against the run, he has versatility to play inside or out, and his ball skills are solid. And it's worth noting that cornerback Chris Harris Jr. will be turning 32 years old and playing the 2021 season on an expiring contract.

[Rugger05]

Kiper

A

Top needs: OT, CB, OLB:

The Chargers' top two needs headed into this draft were clearly defined: a left tackle to protect Justin Herbert and a starting-caliber corner. General manager Tom Telesco hit both of those early, and he didn't have to reach.

Rashawn Slater (13) was a popular fit for mock drafts, and there were some teams that had a higher grade on him than Penei Sewell. He has the potential to be an All-Pro left tackle. Now, with the additions in free agency of Corey Linsley and Matt Feiler, this offensive line is suddenly one of the league's 10 best. Herbert was pressured a whopping 217 times last season. I said it on Thursday -- this pick is a dream come true for the Chargers. I thought cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. (47) would go earlier than he did, but he could play in the slot or outside as a rookie. L.A. upgraded with both of these picks.

Wideout Josh Palmer (77) averaged 21 yards per catch in 2018, and his numbers would have been better if he had consistent quarterbacks throwing to him. Tight end Tre' McKitty (97) wasn't used much as a receiver in his lone season at Georgia, but he can block a little bit. Versatile linebacker Chris Rumph II (118) was one of my top available prospects for Day 3, and I'm curious where he'll fit in Brandon Staley's defense. Larry Rountree III (198), my eighth-ranked running back, put up 3,720 career rushing yards at Missouri.

Again, Telesco didn't reach to fill two big voids, and so this class is one of the best of the year. This team absolutely got better.

[Cdn Bolt]

It has Sewell as the biggest steal of the draft when the earliest he realistically would have gone was at 5. Same with Pitt though he’s further down the list. 2 top 7 picks as the biggest steals in the draft when we knew 3 QBs were going first? Trey Smith and Ojulari fell due to medical, impossible to say at this point what their actual value was amongst teams without that detailed info. Blood clots and degenerative lower leg issues can both be career ending so some teams probably had a do-not-draft value on them. It’s not completely useless but the numbers don’t tell the whole story for some guys and overinflates value early in the draft due to the higher points associated with those draft slots.

He was still the #2 ranked player on many boards. Whether DT was a need or not for teams picking earlier than DET this year is really kind of irrelevant to the value they got.