49ers score well, Seahawks fall short in NFC West draft grades
By Peter Panacy
The NFC West didn’t get any easier following the 2021 NFL Draft, yet the 49ers still managed to keep pace or exceed division rivals like the Seahawks.
We’re a San Francisco 49ers site, so naturally, it’s going to be fun and look at the Seattle Seahawks‘ efforts in the 2021 NFL Draft and laugh a little bit.
Particularly with Seattle awfully short on draft picks.
The general consensus around the league is the NFC West remains one of, if not the toughest division in all of football. While the AFC North might want to argue that point a bit, there’s a real chance all four teams within the Niners’ own division could be making a serious run into the playoffs this upcoming season.
San Francisco fans naturally think their team is the favorite, and that’s fine. From top to bottom, the 49ers do have an awfully strong roster, and as former perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib said of the Niners’ 2021 draft class, “the rich get richer.”
Seattle, meanwhile, walked away with only three rookie prospects via the draft, thanks to general manager John Schneider trading away many of his team’s assets. Those ultimately affect draft grades. The same will eventually be said of San Francisco’s trade-up from No. 12 to No. 3 overall, which cost the team two future first-round picks in order to land a hopeful franchise quarterback of the future, North Dakota State’s Trey Lance.
But let’s go beyond the contrasts and comparisons between the 49ers and Seahawks draft classes and instead assign grades and analysis to each of the teams within the NFC West, giving a backdrop on what the Niners may face within the division this upcoming season.