The one where Gettleman trades back - a review of the 2021 NFL Draft First Round

O me-o, O mi-o, O Cleveland, Ohio.

The host of the 2021 NFL Draft.

It was certainly no Rocky steps in Philadelphia, or Broadway in Nashville. But someone had to do it, in this strange, beginning-to-be-post-Pandemic world.

The mistake on the lake, really no longer refers as accurately to this resurgent city in general, but for this Draft it might apply to the odd decision to place the stage on the lake but in front of a parking lot. They hid it well but you could still see it if you looked hard enough.

In all the build-up this week we did see some of Cleveland’s attractions, getting a glimpse of the rock-and-roll hall of fame, resplendent with its Superbowl Halftime show homage. It even contained a tribute to that most memorable of Halftime shows, for us long time Ravens fans, Aerosmith and friends in Tampa in 2001.

I remember that Ravens team very clearly but I also remember that show because it allowed me an excuse to talk to my first ever crush at school. She was a big Britney Spears fan and her family wouldn't be watching the game so she asked me to record the show as Britney would be featuring.

I was just as obsessed with recording the show as I was with the outcome of the game. And I trotted in proudly the next morning to give her the gift of my tape recording of the half time show.

Nothing ever came of that crush, Catherine was way out of my league. Back at the start of this draft season, I thought Rashod Bateman was way out of the Ravens league too but Thursday night, they got him.

I know, ridiculously long segue.

Anyway, we don't start this review with Baltimore's new favorite son. We start, at the beginning, when Trevor Lawrence was unsurprisingly what was begot. The long-haired Quarterback was the most predictable of beginnings, in fact the most predictable of beginnings for this draft literally several years out from it occurring. It’s been glossed over a little, as everyone looked desperately for the first intrigue, but Lawrence is a generational prospect and he has far greater chance than Blaine Gabbert and Blake Bortles of turning the ailing franchise around. Spoiler alert, I did not like their second pick.

More chalk as Zach Wilson went number two before we all saw Trey Lance taken by the 49ers as the first real move of the draft. I’m a huge Trey Lance fan and he was my third Quarterback in this year’s draft, I would have had a real problem if this had been Mac Jones, it probably should have been Fields given his college resume, but I saw the same upside with Lance that the 49ers evidently did and they swung for the fences with a guy who is a scary-good fit for that offense.

Pitts to the Falcons, Chase to the Bengals, Waddle to the Dolphins followed, then came the Lions. We were treated to the war room shot of war room shots. I honestly thought there might be some affectionate kneecap nibbling, there was that much love in the room, they were ecstatic to get, it turned out, Penei Sewell.

And they should be, I didn’t get to write about it too much this draft season but Penei Sewell was my number one guy in this class. Franchise Left Tackles with his kind of feet don’t come along very often and the Lions start a massive rebuild with the Jon Ogden cornerstone. (He’s not JO, just that they’ve started the same way many of the best rebuilds do)

I then watched on with great enjoyment as the Cowboys board got decimated with both Corners going in quick succession inside the top ten, forcing Dallas into a trade-back with the arch-enemy Eagles. Philly went Wide Receiver for the second consecutive first round, grabbing my second best player in this draft, regardless of position, Devonta Smith. He looked like he had a chip on his shoulder already when he came out of the green room, I think Eagles finally got a good one at wideout.

And then came the most momentous few seconds in NFL Draft history on two fronts. I charted the tendencies of Dave Gettleman a few years ago, so I already knew the narrative. No trades back in his entire history as a GM – he simply does not ever do it. But with my jaw as much on the floor as it was when Jacoby Jones caught that ball in Denver, and with God as my witness, David Alan Gettleman of Boston Latin High School and Springfield College, lover of hogmalis and drafting at his original spot… Traded. Back.

My incredulity rose still further as it was the Bears who traded up. I settled in, got my Chicago fan forums ready, all set to watch Chicago burn as Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy, on their last legs in the city, left a parting-is-such-sweet-sorrow gift of another overdrafted Quarterback; Mac Jones.

But no, wait.

The Bears did not take Jones, they took the guy that should really have been long gone – Justin Fields. What a turnaround, and the most unexpected of plot twists to see Dave Gettleman trade back and the Chicago Bears take a competent college Quarterback. Fields, I think, will be good eventually in Chicago but I wouldn’t place the weight of the city’s dreams on him just yet.

Coming down from that high was difficult but I thought the next three picks were amongst the best of the night. Micah Parsons is an excellent selection for that Cowboys defense and one of my top five players in this class secured at 12 after adding an additional third round pick.

Rashawn Slater is the most technically gifted lineman and the Chargers getting him to lock down one spot on the line and protect Justin Herbert was the kind of boring competence I’m here for on draft night.

And then to see the New York Jets, who have their Left Tackle of the future to protect the franchise already in situ, in Mekhi Becton, added one of my favorite players in this class in Ali Vera-Tucker to man that line next to him for the next ten years. I thought Joe Douglas had another excellent night one.

Then Mac Jones strode out to take his New England Patriots jersey from the Commissioner. I don’t hate Mac Jones, and he’s a smart Quarterback that could well be successful with Belichick and McDaniels, but I got this fluttering of a feeling that it won’t be long before I say “Mac Jones, I hate that guy”.

Two picks I couldn’t really get behind next; Zaven Collins to Arizona and Alex Leatherwood to Las Vegas. Collins I suppose adds a second unicorn to that Cardinals defense next year but they criminally mis-used Isaiah Simmons last year and I can see a similar problem for a player who really needed to go to a creative defensive staff. And Alex Leatherwood just has far too many coach-up points for me to get comfortable with him in the first round.

Miami then continued the New York Jets AFC East double handed-jam pick party with Jaelan Phillips. For me, the best pure pass rusher in the draft, to add to the most explosive wide receiver I’ve ever graded in Waddle – mixing sports metaphors, the Miami Dolphins didn’t just swing for the fences, they hit a two-run homer.

Washington selecting Jamin Davis, and Kadarius Toney to the Giants preceded one of my fan favorite moments of the night and one I was on the lookout for. I’ve talked a lot about Kwity Paye this draft season, his story is special and his why is powerful – he wants to be great. It was one of the few picks my mock draft hit on, and that’s because he is such a Chris Ballard pick.

Annoyingly, the Titans were the ones who grabbed up the falling Caleb Farley before one of the most depressing images in recent drafts – Farley self-isolating as he tested positive for Covid, and so celebrating his entrance into the pro ranks on his own, in what looked like his bedroom.

The Minnesota Vikings got better by taking the inexplicably falling Christian Darrisaw, I saw a top fifteen player on tape and I’m surprised the Vikings were able to trade back and still secure him. Before another annoying pick – Najee Harris to the Steelers. On the face of it, the Steelers taking a running back in the first round is good, with all of their other glaring holes – but Najee is so good and he will be an irritant in the AFC North for some time.

The next pick was probably the strangest one of the night, not because of the player – I love Travis Etienne – and it’s a reminder that habitually undrafted over-performing players like James Robinson do not stop NFL teams from selecting premium talents the next year – but I’m very surprised the Jags used one of their precious high picks on a running back given the holes on the roster.

But maybe I shouldn’t be – Robinson does not fit Urban Meyer’s likely scheme well and Etienne can now grow in the league alongside his college Quarterback. Additional note – they did apparently refer to Etienne as their third down back, which is a strange thing to genuinely designate him as, after using the 25th pick on him.

Greg Newsome went to the Browns next and was followed quickly by a guy he will need to cover next year, as the Ravens turned into people-pleasers for one pick with fan favorite Rashod Bateman. I’m certainly not going to bash the pick, Bateman was a top 20 player in this class for me, I’m thrilled with the value and the positional need. I had become a little contrarian, hoping to see us take anyone but a WR, so I could rail against the hot takes, but it’s hard to be unhappy with a player I really like at a position of need.

I’ve written about Bateman already this draft season and perhaps I’ll do a longer review of him in a future piece but I’m not compelled to do so today. Suffice to say that Bateman is a different receiver than we’ve dipped for in the draft before. He gets open, not through speed – though he is plenty fast – but through his skills as a receiver.

He also fits this offense like a glove, an expert zone-coverage defeater, coming out of an expert zone coverage defeating offense, he gets open across the middle a lot, and is at his best on in-breaking, intermediate routes – happily, for an offense so predicated on throwing over the middle. He uses a consistent stem and savvy through his routes to consistently get open. I’m really very happy with the pick.

Moving on quickly, we saw Payton Turner, a very good defensive linemen that I’m sure many teams hoped would fall to them on day two, end up in New Orleans. Green Bay snubbed Aaron Rodgers again, with a cornerback that I thought was a shoo-in for the Steelers, in Eric Stokes. Followed by sack-artist extraordinaire, and all-around stock-rollercoaster prospect, Gregory Rousseau ending up in Buffalo.

Then, if I was convinced that the Ravens had Rousseau high on their board, they sent a pretty strong signal that I was probably wrong given our second 1st round pick, Jayson Oweh. A very un-Raven like edge-rusher pick. I do feel compelled to do an Oweh review so look out for that today, for now, suffice to say, it was highly unexpected.

The round ended with Joe Tryon heading off to the Buccaneers and the hay was in the barn for round one of the NFL Draft.

There are some intriguing players still left on the board, not least Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah, who is in my top ten rated players in this draft, but without a trade back, we have a long wait for the Ravens next pick. I think they will trade up, but don’t get too carried away Ravens fans, it won’t be a giant trade-up. The Ravens got their guys on night one, and they are happy about it.