• The Lions feature heavily: Three Detroit players, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell and Alim McNeill, feature as the best in class at their positions.

• Unsurprising leaders on defense: The Cowboys‘ Micah Parsons and the Broncos‘ Pat Surtain II top their respective positions.

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Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

We’re less than two weeks off the 2025 NFL Draft, and as the excitement and tension surrounding the spectacle continue to reach a boiling point, we look forward to when the players take the field in earnest.

For now, we’re looking back at the 2021 NFL Draft and examining the highest-graded player at every position.

QB: Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (78.4)

Lawrence was long touted as a generational quarterback prospect and the near-guaranteed first-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft before he was even draft-eligible. The praise was high, and the expectations were even higher. Lawrence hasn’t set the league alight in ways predicted, but he’s earned at least a 76.8 PFF overall grade in each of the past three seasons and has shown flashes of brilliance for the Jaguars.

Lawrence is still only 25 years old. The Jaguars gave him a five-year, $275 million extension last offseason, and he’ll need to take the obvious step of proving to the new front office that he should be the face of the franchise. The Prince who was Promised has a big task ahead.

RB: Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots (85.3)

The 2021 running back class features four players who have eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in a season, with Chuba Hubbard, Najee Harris, Travis Etienne and Stevenson hitting the mark. Stevenson stands out above the rest, though, having earned the highest PFF overall grade among running backs in the class.

Stevenson posted back-to-back 81.0-plus PFF overall grades in his first two NFL seasons but earned a 69.6 mark in 2024 while rushing for 801 yards and seven touchdowns on 207 carries. Fumbles have been a consistent issue for Stevenson in his four seasons, and he fumbled the ball a career-high seven times in 2024. He is a wholly productive running back when locked in, but he has to better protect the football.

The 2021 NFL Draft will go down as an all-timer for producing wide receiver talent. Five receivers, including Ja’Marr Chase, Devonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Nico Collins, have all earned career PFF overall grades above 85.0, and all four will routinely be named in the cluster of top receivers in the NFL. But Amon-Ra St. Brown owns the highest PFF overall grade of all receivers drafted in 2021 (92.3).

St. Brown has caught 430 passes for 4,851 yards and 33 touchdowns in 66 career games for the Lions, and he has been an ever-present weapon on one of the best offenses in the NFL. He is a safety blanket in the slot for Jared Goff, dropping just 13 passes in four seasons, and only Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson have more first-down receptions than St. Brown since 2021. Despite being a fourth-round pick, St. Brown has earned his place as one of the best receivers in the league.

TE: Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons (74.6)

The story of Kyle Pitts’ NFL tenure, so far, has been one of frustration. The Falcons drafted Pitts with the fourth overall pick, and the Florida alumnus was touted as a generational prospect, capable of ascending to the top of the tight-end food chain. But through four seasons, Pitts is starting to feel like a “what if” prospect. Yet, he is still the highest-graded tight end in the 2021 class.

Pitts has yet to reach the heights of his rookie season, when he caught 68 passes for 1,026 yards and a touchdown while earning an 80.3 PFF overall grade. Since then, his grade has dropped every season, bottoming out at 59.6 in 2024, which ranks him 44th out of 77 tight ends. Pitts has all the physical tools to succeed in the NFL; it just hasn’t quite clicked yet.

Sewell was the highest-drafted tackle in a class that featured Rashawn Slater, Christian Darrisaw and Spencer Brown. Sewell’s career 91.7 PFF overall grade is the highest among tackles in the class, but it’s also third among all tackles in the past four years, behind only Trent Williams and Jordan Mailata.

Over the past two seasons, Sewell has deservedly garnered back-to-back first-team All-Pro selections. His presence along the Lions’ offensive line has helped turn the unit into a collective force multiplier, and he’s not even 25 years old yet.

G: Quinn Meinerz, Denver Broncos (87.0)

Meinerz earned his first first-team All-Pro selection at right guard in 2024, and his 87.0 PFF overall grade since 2021 is the highest in the draft class. He recorded PFF run-blocking grades above 85.0 in each of the past two seasons and earned his first PFF pass-blocking grade above 80.0 in 2024. His progression has been impressive, and he is now one of the best guards in the NFL.

In the past four seasons, the Broncos guard has allowed the lowest pressure rate among guards (3.2%), and he surrendered just 12 pressures and one sack in 2024. 

From the moment he stepped on an NFL field, Humphrey earned his place as one of the best centers in the league. With Jason Kelce retired, it’s difficult to deny Humphrey his rightful place as the best center in the league, and his 94.7 PFF overall grade does well to reflect that fact. Naturally, Humphrey is the highest-graded center in the 2021 class.

The Oklahoma product has posted PFF overall grades above 90.0 or higher in two of his four seasons and has never produced a mark lower than 81.0. In 2024, he allowed a career-low seven pressures and went the entire regular season without surrendering a sack — the second time he’s done so in the NFL. Humphrey is one of one.

DI: Alim McNeill, Detroit Lions (80.7)

McNeill is the third Lion to feature on this list, and his presence serves as a reminder of how the team’s 2021 draft class has helped transform the franchise. Detroit is built to win in the trenches, and McNeill has been a force at defensive tackle, earning an 80.7 PFF overall grade in his first four seasons in the NFL.

McNeill missed the final three games of the 2024 regular season and the postseason after suffering a torn ACL, but he notched a career-high 45 quarterback pressures — the second most on the team. 

EDGE: Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys (93.7)

Parsons hit the ground running in the NFL and hasn’t looked back. The former No. 12 pick won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award handily in 2021 and has been one of the league’s best players since. Only five edge defenders have tallied more pressures than Parsons since he was drafted, and that’s after he spent half of his rookie season at linebacker. His 19.8% pressure rate over that span leads all edge defenders.

Despite being a two-time first-team All-Pro selection, Parsons has yet to win a Defensive Player of the Year award. If he keeps playing at his current level, that honor might not be too far away. 

LB: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Cleveland Browns (80.8)

Micah Parsons technically leads the 2021 linebacker draft class with a 90.0 PFF overall grade, despite playing just 907 snaps at the position, but he’s already earned his flowers as an edge defender, so Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah takes the crown.

Injuries have slowed Owusu-Koramoah in the NFL, and he played in only eight games in 2024 after suffering a neck injury against the Ravens, but he was a Pro Bowler in 2023 and earned a career-high 80.6 PFF overall grade in 2024.

CB: Pat Surtain II, Denver Broncos (88.0)

Surtain was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 and has been one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL since he was drafted in 2021. At a position that faces much volatility year over year, Surtain’s consistency and dominance are doubly impressive. He has earned an 83.0-plus PFF overall grade in two of his four NFL seasons and was a first-team All-Pro cornerback in 2022 and 2024. There isn’t a better cornerback in the NFL right now.

Surtain’s numbers in 2024 were elite across the board: 316 yards allowed on 37 catches at 8.6 yards per reception. He also has 11 interceptions in four seasons, highlighting his ability as a playmaker.

S: Jevon Holland, New York Giants (85.4)

Holland recorded a career-low 63.0 PFF overall grade in 2024, but he’s still the highest-graded safety in the 2021 class, edging out the likes of Tre’von Moehrig, Talanoa Hufanga and Camryn Bynum. He earned a 90.4 grade in 2023 and an 84.7 grade in his rookie season. Holland has shown that he’s capable of playing in the box, in the slot or as a free safety, and his versatility earned him a three-year, $45.3 million contract with the Giants in free agency.

The Giants will hope that they get the version of Holland closer to 2023 than this last season with the Dolphins, but he’s a Swiss Army knife of a safety and should comfortably find a role in New York’s defense.