<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - AFC post-draft overreactions: Patriots might be back, Jaguars might be fun"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Welp, it's about that time ... when I reluctantly break out the red pencil – not pen – to assign reactionary grades to the just-completed <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/nfl/draft/2021/04/29/nfl-draft-tracker-2021-first-round-live-picks-analysis/7390629002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">NFL draft</a>.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Of course, as we know, it's an annual exercise in futility, any draft needing roughly three years to be fairly evaluated. Heck, <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/nfl/draft/2018/04/28/nfl-draft-grades-teams-2018-giants-patriots-cowboys-jets/562265002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">it was only 2018</a> when the Cardinals seemed to be sitting pretty with their new Josh Rosen-to-Christian Kirk connection ... or the Jets lucked into <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/nfl/jets/2021/04/05/new-york-jets-trade-sam-darnold-carolina-panthers-pick-package/7097077002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Sam Darnold</a> as their latest savior.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Alas. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">But first impressions are what they are – we'll call them grades if we must – and who am I to not give the people what they want? (However, let's strive to pull back for a big-picture look at each club's draft rather than judging them in a vacuum that doesn't include trades and other considerations that more accurately frame each haul.)</p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">So, with that, here are your ridiculously premature 2021 NFL draft grades, with team classes ranked from best to worst:</p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2">Jacksonville Jaguars</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Hard not to roll the eyes when you hear new coach Urban Meyer bloviate about all the research they invested in <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/nfl/jaguars/2021/04/29/trevor-lawrence-jacksonville-jaguars-nfl-draft-top-pick/4881092001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence</a> ... but sure, cross your T's and dot your I's, coach. End of the day, even if the only prerequisite to obtain Lawrence was going 1-15, getting a generational prospect like the Clemson star pretty much makes this a near-perfect draft with the subsequent picks serving as gravy – even if the gravy here is scrumptious. As for Lawrence? He seems uniquely suited to elevate this franchise in the win...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/nate-davis/2021/05/01/nfl-draft-grades-teams-bears-giants-jets-cowboys-raiders/4904079001/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
