2021 Nfl Draft Grading All 32 First Round Selections

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 17, 2025, 3:53 PM

2021 nfl draft grading all 32 first round selections

The first round of the 2021 NFL Draft lived up to the hype. We finally found out the San Francisco 49ers’ guy was Trey Lance, we witnessed multiple top 10 trades and a historic move by the Chicago Bears to go up and grab quarterback Justin Fields. Over at PFF's Live Draft Tracker that is also broadcasting our draft show (tune in a 6:00 p.m. EST tonight), we analyzed every single pick in real time and gave a grade for each selection. Here is a quick recap of all those instant reaction thoughts for all 32 first-round picks in the 2021 NFL Draft: R1 (1) JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: QB TREVOR LAWRENCE, CLEMSON

The Jaguars kick things off with the no-brainer decision to take Trevor Lawrence with the first pick of the 2021 NFL Draft — a selection roughly five years in the making. The 21-year-old produced three 90.0-plus season grades at Clemson, starting with a breakout true freshman campaign in which he led the Tigers to a national championship. R1 (2) NEW YORK JETS: QB ZACH WILSON, BYU The first round of the 2021 NFL Draft is in the books and we saw a ton of interesting selections on Thursday night. Who improved the most? Who struggled to make the most out of their picks?

Find out as we put a letter grade on all 32 picks in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Trevor Lawrence was the obvious pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 1 and they did not screw it up. This was an easy decision but they do deserve some credit for not overthinking it. Make no mistake about it, Trevor Lawrence will immediately take this franchise to the next level. Do not be surprised to see this completely turn it around right away.

One pick after the Jags landed Lawrence, the New York Jets found themselves a franchise quarterback of their own. Zach Wilson is an exciting quarterback prospect who improvises extremely well and undoubtedly has massive upside at the next level. He is not quite as clean of a prospect as Lawrence, but Wilson is undoubtedly an extremely talented player who will likely help the Jets get on track. I would have rather seen Justin Fields here, but at least the San Francisco 49ers did not trade away a ton of capital to reach for Mac Jones. Trey Lance was a strong pick for the 49ers at No. 3.

His combination of arm talent and athleticism at the quarterback position is consistently impressive and the 49ers will put him in a great position to shine. Fields may not start over Jimmy Garoppolo right away, but he undoubtedly raises the ceiling of this franchise. In Kyle Pitts, the Atlanta Falcons were able to snag arguably the best prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft class not named Trevor Lawrence. Pitts is a dynamic playmaker at the tight end position who is going to be a consistent matchup nightmare at the next level. Adding Pitts to the offensive attack with Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley makes this passing game incredibly dangerous at all times. Want to know what I think of every pick made Thursday in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft?

You can find it all below. You can also follow along throughout the rest of the draft on Days 2 and 3 for more grades and more analysis. Be sure to refresh this page throughout the weekend to get the latest grades. If you want to do all that plus track the best available prospects and get access to every pick in the draft on one page, you can in our draft tracker. Grades: Round 1 • Round 2 • Round 3 • Round 4 • Round 5 • Round 6 • Round 7 Lawrence will change the dynamic of this franchise for the next decade.

They will win a Super Bowl. I like him as a player, but I would have taken Justin Fields in this spot. Fields will be a better quarterback. Welcome to our pick-by-pick first-round grades of the 2021 NFL Draft. From Trevor Lawrence to Kyle Pitts to DeVonta Smith, we analyzed all 32 selections as the action unfolded Thursday night. For those of you who think we should wait a few years before grading the picks, we disagree.

NFL teams have to make decisions under uncertainty. So we should evaluate them based on what we know at the time of the pick. The grades below will reflect not only the quality of the prospects but also the process — in other words, whether it's a wise use of resources given the state of the franchise. Having said that, feel free to report me to Old Takes Exposed in a couple years when these look foolish. Now let's get to it. There’s no guarantee that Lawrence will be the best quarterback in this class.

But he has every physical trait — size, arm, athleticism — that a team could ask for. The ceiling for Lawrence is a top-five quarterback who consistently has Jacksonville in the playoffs. The Jaguars, though, need to prove they have the organizational framework in place to help Lawrence succeed. Having finished above .500 just once in the last 13 years, Jacksonville’s fortunes now rest on Urban Meyer finding a way to maximize Lawrence’s potential. Grade: A Reaction: Andy Staples' analysis The best version of Wilson is a quarterback who breaks the will of opposing defenses with his improvisational skills and ability to make plays outside of structure.

He was not a top-50 prospect entering the fall but turned in an impressive 2020 campaign, completing 73.5 percent of his passes with 33 touchdowns and three interceptions. The upside is obvious, but the Jets are taking a gamble on someone who did not face any Power 5 competition last season. There are legitimate questions about whether Wilson’s playing style will translate against NFL athletes. Jets GM Joe Douglas has been patient thus far. This pick will define his tenure in New York one way or another. Grade: B- Reaction: Connor Hughes' analysis

He’s legitimately one of the most difficult quarterback evaluations of all-time. Lance (6-foot-4, 224) has the size and athleticism teams covet. During his one full season as a starter, he threw 28 touchdowns and no interceptions while also rushing for 1,100 yards and 14 scores as a 19-year-old. But level of competition was obviously a factor, and Lance played just one game last year. If you’re a 49ers fan, you have to be excited about this pick after weeks of Mac Jones rumors. There are no guarantees.

Only 42 percent of first-round quarterbacks over the past 10 years have made it to a second contract with the team that picked them. But Lance has smarts and athleticism and offers a huge upside. The 49ers’ goal now immediately becomes to maximize their chances of competing for a Super Bowl while Lance is on a rookie contract. Grade: B+ Reaction: Matt Barrows' analysis Historically, NFL teams have not scouted the tight end position well. Among the 22 tight ends that have been selected in the first round over the last 20 years, only two have been All-Pro selections.

Having said that, there’s reason to believe Pitts can be an exception. At 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, he ran a 4.4 40. Forget safeties and linebackers. He was beating SEC corners one-on-one. Pitts has a high bar to clear to justify being picked so high, but his realistic best-case scenario is a blend of Darren Waller, Jimmy Graham and Travis Kelce. Given that he’s only 20 years old, it’s reasonable to think Pitts has plenty of room to grow.

We’ll find out whether the Falcons had opportunities to trade back. If they did, that’s something they should have strongly considered. But if there weren’t attractive offers, taking Pitts is justifiable. With Arthur Smith calling plays and Matt Ryan returning, the Falcons are positioned to field a top-five offense in 2020. Grade: B Reaction: Tori McElhaney's analysis The mock drafts are shelved.

The speculation is over. We now know every pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft, and there are 32 new additions to the NFL family. Which teams pulled off the biggest steals, and which teams might want to re-think their choices? It’s always specious at best to grade draft picks right as they happen, but as a card-carrying member of the Draft Industrial Complex, I am obliged to do just that. Here’s how the top 32 picks in the 2021 NFL draft look, at least in one analyst’s eyes, with grades from me, and analysis from myself and Touchdown Wire colleague Mark Schofield. 1.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson (A+) (David Platt/Handout Photo via USA TODAY Sports) With the first pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select Trevor Lawrence, quarterback, Clemson. Analysis: A number of different comparisons have been thrown around for Lawrence. Some have gone as far as comparing him to Andrew Luck, given the expectations. Others have made the Deshaun Watson comparison.

The more I watched Lawrence over the past few months, the more I saw another quarterback: Justin Herbert. That might sound crazy, but if you look at Lawrence’s athleticism, arm talent and ability to attack leverage in the secondary, it looks somewhat similar to the peaks of Herbert during his time at... If you had said during this time last season that Lawrence and Herbert were comparable, someone would have said you were crazy. But now? Teams would take a rookie season from Lawrence similar to what Herbert did in a heartbeat. Grade: A+.

2021 Nfl Draft Grading All 32 First Round Selections

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