A look back at some 2021 Draft sleepers a year on...

[GunnerBill]

So this is a thread I like to do each year looking back at guys that I came across in my draft prep the previous year and liked but then who went undrafted and how their rookie year went. 

 

In the 2021 Draft I had assessed 134 players to the level of being comfortable giving them a draft grade. Of those only four went undrafted. 

 

Darius Stills - DT, West Virginia

My grade: 4th round

Signed with the Las Vegas Raiders as an UDFA, but suffered an injury in camp and was waived (injured) in August. Spent the 2022 rehabbing and in January was signed to a futures contract by the Kansas City Chiefs. 

 

Tariq Thompson - S, San Diego State

My grade: 5th round

Signed with the Buffalo Bills as an UDFA and made a promising start to training camp, flashing a number of times on the 3rd team defense in the first couple of weeks. However, he struggled to make an impression thereafter and was released at the end of camp. He remains a free agent. 

 

Dylan Moses - LB, Alabama

My grade: 5th round

Moses was a guy who fell because of injury and signed with the Jags as an UDFA, but then has since been on the non-football injury list. 

 

Marvin Wilson - DT, Florida State

My grade: 5th round

Signed with the Cleveland Browns as an UDFA, released at the end of camp, at which point he was picked up by the Eagles and placed on the practice squad. He appeared in one game as a single week elevation to the active roster and has signed a futures contract to remain with the Eagles this year and will compete for a roster spot. 

 

There were, in addition to that, three guys who I liked and identified as potential sleepers pre-draft but hadn't watched enough game film on to fix a grade on them and put them on my board but who I thought were draftable. 

 

Austin Watkins - WR, UAB

My grade: draftable (6th/7th round)

Signed with the San Francisco 49ers as an UDFA. He bounced on and off the 49ers practice squad during the season without appearing in a game and then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a futures contract in January. 

 

Dicaprio Bootle - CB, Nebraska

My grade: draftable (6th/7th round)

Signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an UDFA. He was cut at the end of camp but immediately brought back onto the practice squad. He used his maximum 3 weekly elevations during the regular season, appearing in 3 games and being the Chiefs leading tackler in their week 16 game vs the Steelers. Has signed a futures contract and is expected to make a very strong push for the 53 man roster in 2022.

 

Chris Brown - S, Texas 

My grade: draftable (7th/UDFA)

Went unsigned and despite workouts with the Chargers, Eagles and Cowboys can find no evidence he was ever picked up.

 

 

The immediate conclusion is that this was not a strong group and I wonder if that speaks to what I think everyone recognised in advance was a pretty shallow 2021 Draft with guys taking advantage of the extra year and staying in college. When I have done this in previous years you have had generally had more than half of the guys I looked back at making 53 man rosters and / or impact in games. This time only two of those 7 appeared in games and two more of them are out of the NFL altogether. While injuries have played a part in the case of Stills and Moses it looks like these were guys the NFL was right to pass on. 

 

The good news? The 2022 draft while weak at the very top looks considerably deeper. 

[eball]

Interesting look back.  I’d agree with the conclusion that the 2021 draft wasn’t great with regard to depth.

[Virgil]

16 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

So this is a thread I like to do each year looking back at guys that I came across in my draft prep the previous year and liked but then who went undrafted and how their rookie year went. 

 

In the 2021 Draft I had assessed 134 players to the level of being comfortable giving them a draft grade. Of those only four went undrafted. 

 

Darius Stills - DT, West Virginia

My grade: 4th round

Signed with the Las Vegas Raiders as an UDFA, but suffered an injury in camp and was waived (injured) in August. Spent the 2022 rehabbing and in January was signed to a futures contract by the Kansas City Chiefs. 

 

Tariq Thompson - S, San Diego State

My grade: 5th round

Signed with the Buffalo Bills as an UDFA and made a promising start to training camp, flashing a number of times on the 3rd team defense in the first couple of weeks. However, he struggled to make an impression thereafter and was released at the end of camp. He remains a free agent. 

 

Dylan Moses - LB, Alabama

My grade: 5th round

Moses was a guy who fell because of injury and signed with the Jags as an UDFA, but then has since been on the non-football injury list. 

 

Marvin Wilson - DT, Florida State

My grade: 5th round

Signed with the Cleveland Browns as an UDFA, released at the end of camp, at which point he was picked up by the Eagles and placed on the practice squad. He appeared in one game as a single week elevation to the active roster and has signed a futures contract to remain with the Eagles this year and will compete for a roster spot. 

 

There were, in addition to that, three guys who I liked and identified as potential sleepers pre-draft but hadn't watched enough game film on to fix a grade on them and put them on my board but who I thought were draftable. 

 

Austin Watkins - WR, UAB

My grade: draftable (6th/7th round)

Signed with the San Francisco 49ers as an UDFA. He bounced on and off the 49ers practice squad during the season without appearing in a game and then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a futures contract in January. 

 

Dicaprio Bootle - CB, Nebraska

My grade: draftable (6th/7th round)

Signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an UDFA. He was cut at the end of camp but immediately brought back onto the practice squad. He used his maximum 3 weekly elevations during the regular season, appearing in 3 games and being the Chiefs leading tackler in their week 16 game vs the Steelers. Has signed a futures contract and is expected to make a very strong push for the 53 man roster in 2022.

 

Chris Brown - S, Texas 

My grade: draftable (7th/UDFA)

Went unsigned and despite workouts with the Chargers, Eagles and Cowboys can find no evidence he was ever picked up.

 

 

The immediate conclusion is that this was not a strong group and I wonder if that speaks to what I think everyone recognised in advance was a pretty shallow 2021 Draft with guys taking advantage of the extra year and staying in college. When I have done this in previous years you have had generally had more than half of the guys I looked back at making 53 man rosters and / or impact in games. This time only two of those 7 appeared in games and two more of them are out of the NFL altogether. While injuries have played a part in the case of Stills and Moses it looks like these were guys the NFL was right to pass on. 

 

The good news? The 2022 draft while weak at the very top looks considerably deeper. 

So, basically add you to the ignore list and don’t let you in the mock drafts.  Got it. 
 

I expected better of you 😋

[GunnerBill]

16 minutes ago, Virgil said:

So, basically add you to the ignore list and don’t let you in the mock drafts.  Got it. 
 

I expected better of you 😋

 

Haha, yep. Even the sleepers I identified who did get drafted.... Benjamin St Juste was the only one who got serious playing time at corner for Washington and by the time of the draft everyone was on him and he was a riser rather than a sleeper!

[Thurman#1]

Just knowing there is a person called Dicaprio Bootle made my day.

[TheBeaneBandit]

Still a job well done Bill! With Moses (yeah big school, so bigger name), you gotta wonder what happened there. 

[uninja]

48 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

Just knowing there is a person called Dicaprio Bootle made my day.

 

That's a cameo for next year's East/West college bowl for sure.