The 2021 NFL Draft is over. At least, for the Giants.
The Giants entered with six draft picks and left with six players drafted, though a lot happened in between.
Most importantly: The birth of “Trader Dave.”
For the first time in his career as a general manager, Dave Gettleman traded back in the NFL Draft. And he did it twice: In the first and second rounds, before trading up in the third round to get a player the Giants had rated highly on their board.
It was a thrilling three days for the Giants. But how did they do?
Here are our grades for each pick — and trade — that Gettleman made this year, largely taking value, talent and need into consideration:
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Trade No. 1
Deal: Traded first-round pick (No. 11) to Chicago Bears for first-round pick (No. 20), fifth-round pick, 2022 first-round pick and 2022 fourth-round pick.
Analysis: Gettleman’s first-ever trade-back was an absolute home run. Once the Eagles jumped ahead of the Giants to pick Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith at No. 10, this became an easy decision. It might’ve been worth doing even if Smith were still there. At that point, there were no other prospects on the board the Giants felt like they needed to draft. Northwestern offensive lineman Rashawn Slater made some sense, but the Giants didn’t feel the same way and apparently are confident in their current group of offensive linemen.
Gettleman and the Giants smartly made it a point to add picks in 2022, and they wouldn’t have done this deal with the Bears — who picked QB Justin Fields — without that return. Draft picks in 2022 are considered valuable, because the draft process is expected to get back to normal (in-person visits, namely) after the strange nature of this year’s draft. This is one of the smallest pool of players available in NFL history — many players opted out of the 2020 season due to the pandemic and teams generally had less information available to them.
That shouldn’t be the case in 2022.
Plus, the Bears by no means are a lock to be a great team in 2021, which will make the pick even more valuable. They’ll start a rookie quarterback (Fields) or Andy Dalton, their offensive line is a major question, and the coaching has left something to be desired in recent years.
Grade: A+.
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Round 1 (20th overall): WR Kadarius Toney, Florida.
Analysis: The Giants made wide receiver a priority even if it necessarily wasn’t their biggest need. It makes some sense why Toney was their target on a trade-back, too. He’s a gadget player that can line up all over the field — and is especially dynamic in the slot and out of the backfield — with tantalizing after-the-catch ability. He’s a threat to score any time he touches the ball, and can help in the return game.
But he’s far from a perfect prospect. Toney still needs some development in route running and there are some non-football questions. Toney battled injuries throughout college and had some off-field issues that the Giants said they were comfortable overlooking after digging into his background. Also: He really had only one season of production, making 50 catches for 606 yards and three touchdowns combined in his first three seasons, before racking up 70 catches for 984 yards and 11 total touchdowns.
The talent is significant, but there is some risk involved.
Grade: B. (The grade is independent of the trade-back. If the two are combined, it looks more like an A-minus.)
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Trade No. 2
Deal: Traded second-round pick (No. 42) to Miami Dolphins for second-round pick (No. 50) and 2022 third-round pick.
Analysis: Another stellar trade from Gettleman, especially considering the player they were able to draft at No. 50 (which we’ll get to momentarily.) The Dolphins desperately wanted to move up to get Tua Tagovailoa better offensive line protection, and they picked Notre Dame’s Liam Eichenberg.
The Giants added another quality pick for next year. They now have two first-round picks, two seconds and two fourths in 2022, in addition to all of their own selections in the other rounds.
Grade: A+.
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Second round (No. 50): EDGE Azeez Ojulari, Georgia.
Analysis: In terms of value, this is a home run. At one point, the Giants felt Ojulari was a candidate at No. 11. After they traded back, many thought Ojulari was a potential target at No. 20. Then, he kept falling after some teams flagged his knee as a concern.
“You just turn around and people are missing it for whatever reason and it didn’t scare us, that’s for darn sure,” Gettleman said. “We’re thrilled to get him.”
The Giants dug into their Georgia resources — head coach Joe Judge is close with Georgia coach Kirby Smart, among many other connections — to make sure the knee was OK, and they were comfortable with what they found.
So, the Giants snagged a player at No. 50 — after trading back — that would’ve been defensible as a first-round pick. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had him graded as the best edge rusher in the class.
He should be able to step in right away as an impactful pass rusher at a position of need (outside linebacker) and, the Giants hope, produce like he did last year when he led the SEC in sacks, tackles for loss and forced fumbles.
The only risk involved is if the Giants are wrong about his knee, but hard to argue with the pick in any fashion.
Grade: A-minus.
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Trade No. 3
Deal: Giants traded third-round pick (75th overall) and fifth-round pick (acquired from Bears) to Denver Broncos for third-round pick (71st overall).
Analysis: The Giants had their eyes on a player graded highly on their board, so they went up to get him, using only a pick they’d just acquired the night before, a fifth-round pick from the Bears. It was a smart, low-risk maneuver.
Grade: B+.
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Third round (71st overall): CB Aaron Robinson, Central Florida.
Analysis: Cornerback wasn’t an obvious need, but it’s been clear since the pre-draft process that they were making the position a priority — even after signing Adoree’ Jackson and James Bradberry the past two years and drafting Darnay Holmes in 2020. If Patrick Surtain or Jaycee Horn had fallen to No. 11, the Giants might’ve grabbed one of them.
They also had Robinson graded as a second-round prospect and considered him at No. 50 before Ojulari fell to that pick. In terms of value, it’s another solid selection for a player who was a standout at the Senior Bowl.
Robinson will come in immediately and at least push Holmes to become the Giants’ primary nickel cornerback and help on special teams. All of a sudden, the Giants cornerback room is loaded.
There is an argument to be made that the Giants should’ve picked an offensive lineman here, but they chose to go with the best player available on their draft board, which is a sound strategy.
Grade: B+.
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Fourth round (116th overall): EDGE Elerson Smith, Northern Iowa.
Analysis: Another value pick. The Giants have a real need at edge rusher and it’s hard to argue with them grabbing two in this draft, especially since Smith has some intriguing potential to become an impact pass rusher.
He’s a project, but will be worth developing, especially since the Giants got Ojulari earlier in the draft. The FCS product was dominant at Northern Iowa, getting 14 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss in 2019, along with an 89.9 pass-rushing grade via Pro Football Focus. There was no FCS season in 2020.
Smith is an intriguing player for his combination of size/length (6-6, 252 pounds) and athleticism. At his Pro Day, Smith ran a 7-second three-cone drill, which puts him in the 82nd percentile among edge rushers. He also had a ridiculous 42-inch vertical (99th percentile) and 127-inch broad jump (94th percentile) with a solid 26 bench press reps for good measure.
The best way to operate with edge rushers is to take multiple swings and hope one hits. Smith was worth the swing.
Grade: B+.
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Sixth round (196th overall): RB Gary Brightwell, Arizona.
Analysis: This pick might’ve raised some eyebrows late in the draft because not many experts had Brightwell pegged as a draftable player. Like Smith, he’s a project, which is the right sort of player to target late in the draft. If he pans out, the Giants have a quality running back on the cheap for four years.
If he doesn’t, it’s not a huge deal.
Brightwell had only 245 rushing attempts in his college career, though he did average 5.3 yards per carry and scored 10 touchdowns. He converted to wide receiver as a freshman before returning to running back, and he has some potential as a pass-catcher. Ball security is an issue — he had five fumbles in five games in 2020 — but Brightwell should be able to help right away on special teams, which likely appealed to Judge.
Grade: C+
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Sixth round (201st overall): CB Rodarius Williams, Oklahoma State.
Analysis: Williams was a good value. PFF had him pegged as a fifth-round pick, and the Giants got him late in the sixth round. Interestingly, Williams is a bit old for a prospect — he’ll turn 25 in September. Williams is actually the older brother of Cleveland Browns cornerback Greedy Williams, who played 12 games in 2019, then spent 2020 on injured reserve.
In the last three years, per PFF, Rodarius Williams allowed only three completions more than 20 yards down the field and forced seven incompletions. He’s primarily an outside corner and his strength is in press coverage.
He’s not much of a special teams player, but it’s worth taking fliers on talented cornerbacks, even if Williams is a bit on the older side.
Strangely, the Giants didn’t draft a single offensive or defensive lineman this year.
Grade: C.
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