It has been four years since the 2021 NFL draft, and its players have made an impact. Its first round featured prospects like Trevor Lawrence who was considered by many to be the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck, alongside future stars in Ja’Marr Chase, who went on to set the single-game record for rookie receiving yards, Micah Parsons, who was the first unanimous Defensive rookie of the year and many others. Day two continued with talents such as Quinn Meinerz, Nico Collins, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah who’ve each been to the pro bowl during their career. However, day three is where it gets much more difficult to find not just real impact players, but also any player who can at least be a day 1 starter. Some teams find those diamonds in the rough more effectively than others, we’ll be going through each franchise’s best day three selections from the 2021 draft with the benefit of hindsight and see which teams got the best value. Today, we’ll be looking at the AFC and NFC North.
Green Bay Packers: LB Isaiah McDuffie
(Credit Mike Roemer)
Green Bay selected linebacker Isaiah McDuffie in the sixth round at pick 220. In his last season at Boston College, he was the Eagles leader in tackles with 107 (which ranked fourth in the country) and was named second team All-ACC. McDuffie has emerged as an outlier on the Packers linebacker core, standing out among top 100 picks in Quay Walker, Ty’Ron Hopper and Edgerrin Cooper. Nevertheless, the 6’1 227 pound linebacker has proven himself as a valuable piece on Jeff Hafley’s unit, where he started in all 17 games in 2025 and recorded 97 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 3 passes defensed alongside a forced fumble. Additionally, he brings value on special teams, where he played 28.8 percent of the snaps for Rich Bisaccia. McDuffie signed a 2 year 8 million dollar deal which could reach 9.5 million, and seems to be a lock to be the Packers’ third linebacker this upcoming season.
Chicago Bears: RB Khalil Herbert
(Credit Ashlee Rezin)
After selecting Justin Fields, who they assumed would be their franchise QB, the Bears used their next four picks fully on offense, with three of them being on the final day. Of those picks, the most successful one would be sixth rounder RB Khalil Herbert out of Virginia Tech, who carried the rock for 1,183 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in his last college season with the Hokies. More importantly for the Bears however was his ability to play on special teams, since their third round pick from 2019, David Montgomery, was going to be the starter. As Herbert himself said, “I take a lot of pride in special teams”, and his 16 returns for 430 yards backed up that statement. As a Bear, he entered a crowded RB room with the aforementioned Montgomery but also Tarik Cohen and Damien Williams. However, with Tarik Cohen suffering a torn ACL and MCL, Herbert had his first start against the Raiders in a week 5 game after Montgomery had injured his knee the week prior. Herbert had 18 carries for 75 yards against Las Vegas and ended the year with 433 yards. In the following two seasons with Chicago, he ran for 731 and 611 yards. Although the Bears traded him to the Bengals and he signed with the Colts this offseason, Herbert left a mark in the windy city that most sixth round picks can only dream of.
Minnesota Vikings: S Camryn Bynum
(Credit Jeremy Reper)
Originally a cornerback at Cal during his time as a Golden Bear, Cam Bynum has made a name for himself playing for Minnesota the past four seasons, totaling eight interceptions and 342 tackles. When then Minnesota GM Rick Spielman drafted him at pick 125 in the fourth round, he announced that Bynum would be switching his position to safety. After sitting on the bench behind veteran Harrison Smith and Xavier Woods, Bynum saw his first action as a starter when Smith was put on the reserve/covid-19 list prior to a matchup against Baltimore. In that game against the Ravens and the following game where he got the start, the former Golden Bear showed flashes of the star he would become, recording 13 solo tackles, an interception and a pass deflection in just two games. The next three seasons, Bynum would be the full time starter for the purple people eaters and would not look back. In his last year before testing free agency, he had career highs in interceptions (3) passes defensed (10) and allowed a passer rating of just 77.6 when targeted. The safety signed a four year deal worth up to 60 million dollars with the Colts this offseason, and will look to continue making big plays like he did in a Vikings uniform.
Detroit Lions: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
(Credit Junfu Han)
When Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes were hired in January of 2021 to lead the Lions to a new era after the failure that was the Matt Patricia experiment, they had to hit big in their first draft together in order to get the ball rolling. In 2021 they did just that, drafting future two time first team all-pro Penei Sewell, a young star in Alim McNeill and role player Levi Onwuzurike in the first three rounds. However, they didn’t stop there, in the fourth round at pick 112 the Detroit Lions would draft one of the biggest steals in the draft in USC’s Amon-Ra St. Brown. The former Trojan has matched his teammate Sewell as a first team all pro twice, and has recorded 33 touchdowns along with nearly 5000 yards during his young career. In his first year, St. Brown had the best statistical season for a Lions rookie ever, and became just the fifth rookie in NFL history to have 70 or more receiving yards for six games in a row. With the booming WR market, Detroit was quick to hand their young receiver the bag, signing him to a four year 120 million dollar contract extension before the start of the 2024 season, making sure that their fourth round gem will stay in the motor city for a long while.
Pittsburgh Steelers: LT Dan Moore
(Credit Justin Casterline)
Pittsburgh selected left tackle Dan Moore Jr. out of Texas A&M with pick 128 in the fourth round. In college, Moore was a key contributor on an Aggies offensive line which led the SEC in least sacks allowed, least tackles for loss allowed and yards per carry at 5.3. Additionally, he was named second team all-SEC in 2020 and helped the unit be a finalist for the 2020 Joe Moore award. Since coming to the league, Moore has started every game at left tackle for the Steelers when healthy. This past season, the plan was to have rookie out of Washington Troy Fautanu play at right tackle while Broderick Jones returned to his spot at left tackle, which is where he played at college. However, when Fautanu suffered a season ending injury, it derailed whatever plan Pittsburgh had, forcing them to start Moore at left tackle. Despite the fact that he allowed the most sacks in the NFL last season, the fact of the matter is that getting a starting caliber steady Eddie at a position like tackle is difficult to find on day three, and the willingness of the Titans to pay Moore over 20 million a year for four years shows how difficult it is to find a good OT in general.
Baltimore Ravens: WR Tylan Wallace
(Credit Mitch Stringer)
Wallace was an all-American in 2018, and the Ravens selected him at pick 131 in the fourth round. Receiver was a need for the Ravens, and they made sure to add to their core of ball catchers even after selecting Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman at pick 27. The Biletnikoff award runner up didn’t make much noise in his first three seasons as a receiver, racking up just 67 yards on seven receptions. He was primarily a special teams contributor and saw some action as a return man whenever all-pro Devin Duvernay was not available. The first time Wallace made himself known was in a matchup against the Rams in 2023, where he broke loose and returned a punt for 76 yards in overtime to seal the victory for Baltimore. In 2024 he was targeted the most times in his career and made those targets count, notably taking a short pass from Lamar Jackson to the house against the Bengals on Thursday Night Football, and finishing the game with 3 receptions for 115 yards. The Ravens signed the former Oklahoma State receiver to a one year deal worth 2.25 million dollars, and they hope his contributions on special teams will continue with maybe even another game or two like he had against the Bengals.
Cleveland Browns: OT James Hudson
(Credit Emilee Chinn)
Drafted in the fourth round at pick 110, James Hudson has been a decent backup for the Browns o-line throughout his career. At Cincinnati. he earned first-team all AAC honors in 2020 and started all 11 games for the Bearcats at left tackle. His status as a developmental player has not changed much since being drafted four years ago, and was described by Lance Zierlein as “Raw but athletic with big, strong hands and the potential to get substantially better with additional technique and strength training”. The most notable aspect of his game is his effectiveness and speed in run blocking, which could be part of the reason as to why the Giants handed him a 2 year 12 million dollar contract to back up Andrew Thomas, as their run game struggled when Thomas went down since no one could replicate his movement at the line of scrimmage. Hudson has also played as both right and left tackle, making him versatile on the line. Similar to the Steelers and Dan Moore, finding a decent tackle is difficult, and despite the fact that Hudson isn’t really starting caliber, it’s always important to have a capable backup ready to take the field in case of an emergency.
Cincinnati Bengals: K Evan McPherson
(Credit Kirby Lee)
The Bengals drafted Evan McPherson at pick 149 in the fifth round and have repeated the phrase “That’s why you draft a kicker” ever since. McPherson was near automatic during his tenure as a Gator, being 51 for 60 on field goals, 149 for 150 on PATs, and setting an SEC record for career field goal percentage. In Cincinnati, McPherson has came in clutch for the Bengals multiple times, with one of his more impressive moments being when he kicked a 52 yarder to defeat the number one seeded Titans in the playoffs and advance to the AFC Championship game, a game which he scored 13 of the team’s 19 points. Furthermore, he consistently hits over eighty percent of his field goals nearly every year since turning pro, and he always makes more than 90 of his extra points. While his most recent season with the Bengals was a bit of a down year, he still made nearly 98 percent of his extra point attempts, and with him putting more of a focus on his health and conditioning, the hopes are that his field goal numbers will be up once again like years prior.
If you enjoyed this article please follow us here on MSN! Thank you for reading and have a great day!
