The Biggest Steals of the 2021 NFL Draft Entering 2025 Training Camp

As time passes, hindsight sets in, and previously drafted players are deemed hits or busts. We do not discuss the steals from draft classes enough—players selected in positions that do not heap pressure or high expectations on them.

The 2021 NFL draft class had plenty of success stories outside of the first and second rounds. Here, we've compiled the biggest steals from that draft class entering 2025 training camp.

Deommodore Lenoir, CB, San Francisco 49ers

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The San Francisco 49ers took Deommodore Lenoir with a fifth-round pick. NFL teams typically draft prospects on Day 3 to fill specific roles, to develop and/or to play special teams.

Most of the time, teams do not expect a fifth-round pick to become a starter. Fast-forward four seasons, and Lenoir has become exactly that for the Niners defense.

Lenoir started two games in his rookie season and has started in 45 of his 49 games since. His versatility allows the Niners defense to match up well against different offensive personnel groupings. 

Lenoir has improved every season since becoming a starter. His passer rating allowed continues to drop despite maintaining at worst a 17 percent target rate, per NFL Pro. He is coming off his best year, having allowed 470 yards on 48 receptions with one touchdown and two interceptions. He added nine pass breakups as well.

Lenoir has developed into a quality slot cornerback who can align on the outside sparingly when necessary. Since 2023, he has had more interceptions than touchdowns allowed in coverage.

The 49ers drafted and developed a diamond in the rough with Lenoir. 

Paulson Adebo, CB, New York Giants

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Since entering the league, Paulson Adebo has been a disruptive and feisty cornerback. The New Orleans Saints selected him in the third round and have watched his growth over the past four years. 

Adebo started slowly, allowing more than 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns in coverage from 2021 to 2022. However, the last two years were better for him. He allowed only two touchdowns but reeled in seven interceptions during that span. 

Before he was placed on IR after seven games this past season, Adebo was targeted a league-high 55 times, but he allowed the fewest target EPA (-23.6) among outside cornerbacks, according to NFL Pro. He allowed a passer rating of 62.4, which was far below the current average of 88-94. 

This offseason, the New York Giants signed Adebo to a three-year, $54 million contract in free agency. His ball skills and playmaking ability should fit in well with the Giants’ secondary and young cornerback Deonte Banks. 

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers

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Chuba Hubbard’s football career took a turn after he decided to return to Oklahoma State after rushing for 2,000 yards in 2019. He missed a few games the following year, which caused him to fall from an early-round pick to a fourth-rounder.

In his first two NFL seasons, Hubbard ran for less than 1,100 total yards with seven touchdowns. Since then, he has carved out a legitimate role for the Panthers as the engine to their offense.

In 2023, Hubbard ran for 902 yards and five touchdowns without a viable passing offense to take some weight off his shoulders. This past season, he showed why he’s their MVP. He set the tone all season before a late-year injury.

Hubbard ran for 1,195 yards, reeled in 43 receptions and scored 11 total touchdowns. His effectiveness as a between-the-tackles hammer—he averaged nearly five years per carry—gave second-year quarterback Bryce Young a run threat for teams to worry about.

Hubbard did not receive enough touches early in his career to prove himself as a difference maker, but he stayed the course. After surviving different coaching staffs, offensive line combinations and quarterbacks, Hubbard signed a four-year, $33.2 million extension with the Panthers this past November.

Camryn Bynum, S, Minnesota Vikings

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The Minnesota Vikings selected Camryn Bynum with a fourth-round pick in 2021. Over the past four years, he has developed into one of the NFL's better safeties.

Bynum has started every game since 2022. He is an instinctive and versatile defender who can play coverage from multiple alignments. He isn’t only a free safety; Bynum walks down into the slot and will play man coverage against tight ends. 

Bynum allowed seven passing touchdowns during his first year as a starter, but that number has decreased every year since. His passer rating allowed has improved each season, and 2024 was his best year to date. Bynum allowed a passer rating of 62.5 and one touchdown as the nearest defender in coverage, per NFL Pro, in addition to reeling in three interceptions and breaking up five passes. 

The Indianapolis Colts were intrigued enough by Bynum's defensive playmaking prowess to sign him to a four-year, $60 million contract in free agency. His presence can change quarterbacks' approach to testing the deep waters in coverage, forcing them to take short, quick passes instead.

Bynum has earned his new contract and respect with his stellar play. 

Milton Williams, IDL, New England Patriots

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Milton Williams became one of the NFL's most disruptive interior pass-rushers in 2024.

The third-round pick served as a rotational pass-rusher with the Philadelphia Eagles to begin his NFL career. Williams started two games as a rookie and zero games the following season. He didn’t become a consistent presence until 2023, when he went from playing 36 percent of the snaps the prior season to 46 percent.

Although Williams began to start more games and saw an uptick in playing time, his role was clear: get after the quarterback.

During his time with the Eagles, Williams played 726 run-defense snaps to 1,034 pass-rush snaps. In 2024, he generated pressure on 12.5 percent of his pass rushes, the second-highest rate among defensive tackles, per NFL Pro. 

Williams became a catalyst for the Eagles' merciless pass rush. He accounted for 59 total pressures and 5.5 sacks over the last two seasons, culminating in a convincing defeat of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

Williams' career year came at the perfect time, as the New England Patriots wound up signing him to a massive four-year, $104 million contract in free agency. He is expected to help transform the Patriots' pass rush and elevate their defensive impact.

Trey Smith, IOL, Kansas City Chiefs

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A few months after the Kansas City Chiefs watched Patrick Mahomes run for his life in an embarrassing Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they went full bore to repair their offensive line in the 2021 draft. They selected Creed Humphrey at the end of Day 2 and Trey Smith in the sixth round. 

Smith brought his physical style of play from the Saturday wars in the SEC. He helped revitalize the interior offensive line protection for Mahomes and added a punch to the Chiefs' rushing attack.

Finding quality role players and depth pieces for your roster in the sixth round is one thing, but adding a bona fide starting guard is a different story. 

Smith’s value is clear, as the Chiefs want to retain him moving forward. They used a non-exclusive franchise tag worth $23.4 million dollars in 2025 as they attempt to work on the parameters of a long-term extension.

Smith is an important piece of the Chiefs' offensive line, and they’ll need him to make it out of the AFC again this season. 

Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans

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Houston Texans star wide receiver Nico Collins got off to an inauspicious start to his NFL career. He had only 70 receptions for 927 yards and three touchdowns across his first two years combined.

Collins was a victim of porous quarterback play and coaching. But after the Texans selected quarterback CJ Stroud with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Collins turned his career around. His target share went up, and the quality of his targets substantially improved.

Since Stroud took over two years ago, Collins has caught 148 passes for 2,303 yards and 15 touchdowns on 208 targets. He's one of the best explosive playmakers in the league and routinely takes the top off opposing defenses.

Thanks to Stroud, Collins overcame the slow start to his career and became a star over the past two seasons.

Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions

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Over the years, plenty of newly drafted prospects make bold statements about teams paying for passing them up or remembering the players drafted before them. Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the few to live up to the hype.

St. Brown fell to the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft, which did not sit well with him. He can still name all 16 wideouts who were drafted before him, which he said he'll never forget.

St. Brown is one of the best pound-for-pound wide receivers in the league. He has outplayed his draft position and brought immediate reliability and consistency to the Lions' passing attack. 

St. Brown started nine games as a rookie and nearly cracked 1,000 receiving yards. Since then, he’s surpassed that milestone in three consecutive seasons. He is a consistent separator and space creator, averaging over three yards of separation per target since stepping on the field as a rookie, per NFL Pro. 

The Lions’ passing attack would be less efficient and effective without St. Brown’s high-end production. He is the engine for their offense and is a top-10 wide receiver in the league.

St. Brown’s career has been outstanding, and he isn’t slowing down anytime soon.