Page 22 - Blue View Draft Grading News Today

Could Wattenberg emerge as a diamond in the rough?

Kirkland could be a sleeper for the right team

2021 NFL Draft prospect profile: Gary Brightwell, RB, Arizona What are the Giants getting in the running back out of Arizona? Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The belief surrounding running backs and the NFL Draft is that runners are a “dime a dozen,” and that teams can find effective runners later in the draft. The New York Giants had already added a running back in free agency, but circled back to the position in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. There they selec...

2021 NFL Draft prospect profile: Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State Could Parsons be the linebacker Giants’ fans have been waiting for? Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images Penn State once had a proud tradition of putting excellent linebackers into the NFL. That has fallen off of late, with Sean Lee and NaVorro Bowman being the last great linebackers from Penn State to make their mark in the NFL, drafted all the way back in 2010. The 2021 NFL Draft could see that tradition restored as Micah Parson...

2021 NFL Draft prospect profile - Kyle Pitts, TE/WR, Florida Could Pitts be the game changer at the NFL level that some think he will be? Photo by Tim Casey/Collegiate Images/Getty Images Every draft class has players who capture the imagination of evaluators around the NFL and the media alike. Some of these players define their positional archetypes and project to be great as soon as they stop on an NFL field. Other times, however, the League is faced with players who defy convention and offer...

2021 NFL Draft prospect profile - DeVonta Smith, WR, Albama Can Smith play bigger than his size and still be a number one receiver in the NFL? Is size a skill? Some variation of that question faces NFL teams every year when it comes to the draft. Over the years teams have established measurable thresholds for every position. And while those thresholds vary by team and position, they can serve as a valuable cut-off and check against evaluators’ personal biases. But what happens when a highly ...

Could Rousseau still be the first EDGE off the board?

2021 NFL Draft prospect profile: Paris Ford, S, Pittsburgh What is Paris Ford’s role in the NFL? Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images It can be very difficult for safeties to raise their stock in the NFL draft process. Despite the myriad things that NFL defenses ask of their safeties, teams don’t seem to place that much value on them in the draft itself. A few elite safeties are occasionally drafted highly, but even good safeties can find themselves falling down boa...

2021 NFL Draft prospect profile: Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota Could Bateman be a steal at wide receiver? Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports By this point in the draft process, the top of the wide receiver class is pretty well established. But despite the constant parsing and comparison of the top pass catchers, one name has largely been left out of the conversation. However, Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman made an undeniable impact on the field, particularly during their fantastic 2019 season. That...

2021 NFL Draft prospect profile: Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford Could Adebo be a good value pick for the right team? Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports The 2021 NFL Draft has a deep and talented class of cornerbacks. Not only is there a potentially elite trio (or perhaps quartet) of corners who will likely be selected in the first half of the first round, but there is solid depth throughout the position group. Teams will likely be able to find good values late into the second day of the draft, with pote...