Frank Ammirante and Anthony Cervino identify 2021 NFL Draft Winners & Losers for the first two days of picks to see which teams dominated and disappointed across Rounds 1-3. Catch up on the full NFL Draft picks order and all 2021 NFL Draft team selections with our 2021 NFL Draft tracker.
2021 NFL Draft Winners & Losers From Day 1 & Day 2
2021 NFL Draft Winners From Days 1 & 2
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens don’t have many needs but addressed the most blatant ones with their two picks in the back of the first round. Rashod Bateman fell into their laps after the Giants passed on him to take Kadarius Toney, and Baltimore nabbed Odafe Oweh, one of the best EDGE rushers in the 2021 NFL Draft a few spots later.
The Ravens knew that they had to vastly upgrade their wide receiver room while finding a way to replace the vacancies of both Matthew Judon and Yannick Ngakoue, who signed with the Patriots and Raiders, respectively, in free agency. They addressed both needs on Day 1 alone.
While the Ravens did not have a second-round pick, they added OG Ben Cleveland in the third round as a depth piece. —Anthony Cervino
Washington Football Team
Washington addressed needs at linebacker, cornerback, wide receiver, and offensive tackle. After landing LB Jamin Davis at Pick 19 overall, OT Samuel Cosmi and WR Dyami Brown were two Day 2 steals who went later than expected.
The Football Team let the draft come to them rather than squandering future assets to move up — and still came away with a stacked early class. —Frank Ammirante
2021 NFL Draft Losers From Days 1 & 2
Seattle Seahawks
Seattle had one pick (56th overall) on the first two days of the draft and took a raw wide receiver in D’Wayne Eskridge even though wide receiver is not a need. The Seahawks used limited draft capital on a player who will likely be a return specialist as a rookie. They might miss the playoffs in 2021. —Frank Ammirante
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders don’t have a clue. Although they filled needs, they reached for Alabama OT Alex Leatherwood with the 17th overall pick. He was the third offensive lineman off the board and could have been had in the second round.
While I do love the value of the Trevon Moehrig pick in the second round — Moehrig was a projected first-round pick in most mocks — Las Vegas had greater defensive needs than safety in that spot.
In the third, they finally got their EDGE rusher in Malcolm Koonce but then took ANOTHER safety with the very next pick at selections 79 and 80 respectively.
The Raiders are playing checkers while the rest of the league is playing chess. —Anthony Cervino
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