2021 NFL Draft: 5 Teams that made the leap to contenders
Some teams entered the 2021 NFL Draft with hopes of jumpstarting a rebuild but a lucky few were able to go from quality team to contender with what they accomplished.
At the most basic of levels, the NFL Draft is about teams getting better. Teams draft college football’s best prospects in hopes that they will improve the roster. That’s the simple truth for all 32 franchises. But in the 2021 NFL Draft and every other year, the concept of improving exists on a sliding scale.
For some teams, improving means starting to pull themselves out of the cellar of the league. When you look at teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets, that’s clearly the situations they were in. Other teams, however, are trying to get over the hump — trying to go from being good to being real contenders.
These five teams fall in that latter category and accomplished exactly that in the 2021 NFL Draft as they now look like viable contenders.
5. San Francisco 49ers
Because of how tumultuous the 2020 season was for the San Francisco 49ers, it’s easy to forget just how good this team is at full strength. After all, their lackluster campaign this past year saw them dealt injuries to Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Jimmy Garoppolo and a slew of other key players.
The year prior to that, however, this was a team that made it to the Super Bowl, even with mediocre play from Garoppolo. That’s the genius of head coach Kyle Shanahan and his offensive scheme as he can thrive with almost any personnel, especially at quarterback.
But the truth of the matter is that we’ve never seen Shanahan operate with an elite talent under center. San Francisco changed that with the No. 3 overall pick as they selected Trey Lance. Now, Lance may not be ready to start for the 49ers in 2021 as he requires development — but there’s no escaping that he substantially raises the ceiling of the offense.
To be sure, much of the Niners draft after Lance left me scratching my head as to what the plan was. But at the end of the day, the 49ers upgraded the most important position on the field. And with a roster already proven it can compete, how does that not make them contenders?