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Publishing a 2021 NFL mock draft has become more and more difficult due to the changing landscape being carved out by the coronavirus pandemic. Several college conferences have already announced they will play shortened seasons, cancelling out-of-conference games and stick to playing teams in their own conference.
That means college scouts will have less film and less opportunity to evaluate the upcoming draft class. The other variable is the NFL season. With the virus still having its way with 75 percent of the country and camps due to open in two weeks, all plans are tentative. Less games could be played and many key players could contract the virus and be sidelined. That could lead to a bizarre season where your normal contenders drop in the standing and some have-nots creep into the playoff picture.
That will naturally effect the draft order, but mock draftniks are not taking any of that into account as they don’t know how things will shake out. Brett Sobleski of Bleacher Report released his latest 2021 mock draft this week based on a normal season and schedule.
The New York Giants aren’t expected to ‘surprise’ according to Sobleski, earning the fifth overall selection and using it to take Miami’s freakish edge rusher Gregory Rousseau.
The New York Giants have used three straight top-10 picks on offensive prospects. It’s time to spend a high-end asset on the other side of the ball. In this scenario, the organization is positioned to take the first defensive player off the board.
As a redshirt freshman, Miami’s Gregory Rousseau finished second at the FBS level with 15.5 sacks (one behind Chase Young) and tied for seventh with 19.5 tackles for loss.
The 6-foot-7, 253-pound Rousseau is raw, having just one college season under his belt, albeit a very productive one. With the college football season expected to be a truncated one, Rousseau won’t get a lot of reps in 2020 to hone his skills.
If the Giants make this pick, they could be flying blind. That’s not ideal when selecting fifth overall. The pick is at a need position right now but, again, things can change. Who knows, the Giants’ pass rush could be resurrected this season and they could go with a more stable pick in the the first round next year.
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