Tag: 2021 Mock Draft

2021 NFL mock draft: Is Trevor Lawrence already a lock at No. 1?

Is Clemson quarterback already the runaway favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft?

It’s still just July, but if early projections for the 2021 NFL Draft are any indication, next year’s No. 1 overall pick might already be locked up.

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence already appears to be the heavy favorite to be the first selection come next April, and the latest 2021 NFL mock draft from 247 Sports reinforces that assumption, sending him to the Jacksonville Jaguars in their most recent projection.

The next quarterback off the board in this mock is Ohio State’s Justin Fields, who lands with the Carolina Panthers at No. 4 overall. North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, a redshirt sophomore and one of the biggest potential wild-cards in next year’s class, is mocked to the Indianapolis Colts at No. 17 overall in this projection.

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Iowa State’s Brock Purdy is the only other quarterback to land in these top 32 picks, heading to the New Orleans Saints at No. 31 overall. Other top prospects in next year’s quarterback class, such as Georgia’s Jamie Newman and Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan, don’t make the cut.

Some of the biggest surprise picks in this mock include Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle going to the Miami Dolphins at No. 5 overall, and the Chicago Bears opting for Clemson running back Travis Etienne at No. 19 overall.

To check out the complete first-round projection at 247 Sports, including some other names to keep an eye on outside the top 32 picks, click here.

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2021 NFL mock draft: Which teams land top QB prospects?

See who lands next year’s top QB prospects in the latest 2021 NFL mock draft

It’s never too early for a mock draft, and we already have a handful of projections for next year’s event, showing off a loaded class with big names on both sides of the ball.

Top quarterback prospects like Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields are likely to battle for the No. 1 overall pick, while there are some worthy challengers at other positions, especially if that pick isn’t secured by a QB-needy team.

The latest 2021 NFL mock draft comes from Pro Football Network, and it kicks off with a no-brainer, as the Jacksonville Jaguars opt for Lawrence at No. 1 overall as their quarterback of the future. Fields lands at No. 4 overall to the Carolina Panthers, giving new head coach Matt Rhule a backup plan if Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t live up to expectations.

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A third quarterback sneaks into the top 10 in this mock, as North Dakota State’s Trey Lance heads to the Detroit Lions at No. 8 overall. Matthew Stafford still has plenty left in the tank, but for a redshirt sophomore like Lance, going to a team that could allow him to sit for a year or two would be an ideal landing spot.

Two more quarterbacks find their way into the top 32 picks in this two-round projection, as Iowa State’s Brock Purdy lands with the Indianapolis Colts at No. 19 overall, while Wake Forest-to-Georgia transfer Jamie Newman goes to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 25 overall.

The most surprising picks in this mock’s top 10? Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore at No. 7 overall to the New York Giants, and Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 9 overall. Big-name wide receivers like Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman and Alabama’s DeVonta Smith being left out of the first round was equally surprising.

To check out the full two-round projection at Pro Football Network, click here.

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Mock draft madness: Lions bolster the D in Draft Wire’s 2-round crystal ball

Mock draft madness: Lions bolster the D in Draft Wire’s 2-round crystal ball for the 2021 NFL Draft

At this time of the year, mock drafts have no real predictive value. Nobody knows what team will pick at what slot, or what the player pool will look like.

I’m reminded of the Iron Maiden classic, “Can I Play With Madness”

Can I play with madness? The prophet stared at his crystal ball
Can I play with madness? There’s no vision there at all
Can I play with madness? The prophet looked and he laughed at me

Yet they do have some value, no joke. Preseason mock drafts are all about projecting potential needs for each team and presenting ideas of college prospects who might be able to fill those needs. It’s a great time to get familiar with the prospects who will get talked about and dissected in the football media over the next year.

Our friends at Draft Wire gave Lions fans a couple of interesting names to know heading into the season in their recent two-round mock draft.

In the first round, Penn State LB Micah Parsons got the nod with the No. 6 overall pick (the order is based on current Super Bowl odds). Parsons is the choice over players like Alabama LB Dylan Moses, his Crimson Tide teammate, CB Patrick Surtain, and a vast group of offensive tackles who all show some legit promise.

With the second-round selection, the name to know is Texas safety Caden Sterns. That doesn’t seem to really fit with the bigger perceived needs, but it’s a good idea to consider that everything is on the table at this early juncture.

Can I play with madness? He said, “you’re blind, too blind to see”
“Oh, listen to me,” said the prophet

Ohio State football has six players crack updated two-round 2021 NFL Mock Draft

The Draft Wire published its updated 2020 NFL mock draft, and there are six Ohio State players through the two-rounds.

Coming off a highly successful 2020 NFL Draft in which the Buckeyes had two of the top three picks, the program will be back at it in 2021 according to Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling.

Easterling has six Buckeyes picked in the two-round mock draft. It’s a perfect split as three are projected in the first round and then three in the second round. For Ohio State, all eyes will be on Justin Fields. Where does the Heisman Finalist go?

In his projections, Fields goes second overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Quarterbacks take up the top two spots, and I bet you can guess who is No. 1 overall. Trevor Lawrence anyone?

Here’s a rundown of where all six Ohio State players are projected to go by Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling.

First … The Buckeye QB

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Chargers address trenches in Draft Wire’s very early 2021 two-round mock draft

Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling put together an early two-round mock draft for the 2021 draft.

It’s been a little over a month since the 2020 NFL Draft, but the work doesn’t stop there for our good friend, Luke Easterling over at Draft Wire. To give us a very early glimpse at what teams might do in next year’s draft, he put together a two-round mock draft.

Keep in mind, it’s just a fun exercise. The draft order works off the current Super Bowl odds, which is why Los Angeles possesses the No. 10 overall selection in this case.

Let’s take a look at the haul for the Bolts:

No. 10, OT Walker Little, Stanford

The Chargers didn’t address the left tackle position at all this offseason, which means they go into the regular season with Sam Tevi, Trey Pipkins, Trent Scott and Storm Norton as the players who will be in contention for the starting gig.

On paper, it looks a bit shaky. However, the coaching staff has high hopes for whoever may win the job. But if things don’t go to planned, they could have a blindside blocker for quarterback Justin Herbert at the top of the list, which is why Little was the pick here.

Little is entering the 2020 season coming off a knee injury that ended his 2019 campaign. While his pass protection is not necessarily a strong suit to his game, Little is an outstanding run blocker who possesses the athleticism, strength and smarts to do get the job done.

No. 42, DT LaBryan Ray, Alabama

You can never have too many dominant defensive linemen on your roster, which is what Easterling has the Chargers selecting in the second-round.

Ray has been hampered by a foot injury throughout his collegiate career, despite amassing 53 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two passes defensed, two quarterback pressures and one forced fumble in three seasons.

A versatile defender who has moved inside and outside along the Crimson Tide’s front, Ray flashes a quick first step and pure brute strength to make an impact as a pass-rusher and against the run.

2021 NFL mock draft connects Saints with Purdue sleeper WR

The Saints picked Purdue draft prospect Rondale Moore in a 2021 NFL mock draft, adding a weapon some see as a Heisman Trophy contender.

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Drew Brees appears set to ride off into the sunset (and then the NBC Sports broadcasting booth) after the 2020 season, if he so chooses, but the possibility of connecting with a high-profile draft prospect from his alma mater might be enough to keep him around for one more year. Maybe.

A recent 2021 mock draft from Luke Easterling over at Draft Wire linked the Saints with Rondale Moore, a dynamic weapon suggested by Pro Football Focus analyst Anthony Treash as a possible Heisman Trophy contender in 2020. Treash wrote of the Purdue Boilermakers phenom:

After being named a first-team All-American and winning the Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player in college football) as a true freshman in 2018, Moore came back in 2019 and looked like he would have an even bigger year. Then he suffered an injury in Week 5 that knocked him out the rest of the season.

That hamstring issue aside, Moore has a ton of momentum building behind him. He caught more passes as a true freshman (114) than the three next-best players combined (108) while averaging over 10 yards per carry on 21 rushing attempts, accounting for 29% of the touchdowns the Boilermakers scored on offense back in 2018 — again, as a true freshman.

In fact, PFF graded his performance that year as one of the best seasons ever put together by a first-year player at the college level, going back to 2014. Only uber-talented LSU Tigers cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. has rated better in that era. So, yeah: the Saints could definitely use someone with Moore’s skills. But if he’s able to live up to the hype in 2020 after an injury-shortened 2019, he might not make it to their draft slot.

An interesting (and welcome) wrinkle to 2021 mock drafts is that the Saints own each of their picks in the first two rounds for the first time since 2017. They traded their third-round choice next year to move up in the 2020 draft, but expect to recoup it as a compensatory pick after Teddy Bridgewater signed with the cross-division rival Carolina Panthers.

For the folks keeping score at home, the Saints have made selections in each of the first three rounds just three times over the last decade (2017, 2015, and 2010). An influx of young talent, maybe in the wake of Brees’ retirement, would be nice to see. In Easterling’s mock draft, he connected the Saints with Clemson Tigers pass rusher Xavier Thomas — not a bad find in the second round.

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Draft Wire sends Chiefs interior offensive line help in 2021 mock draft

Alabama OG Deonte Brown joins the Kansas City Chiefs in Draft Wire’s latest 2021 mock draft

Our friend Luke Easterling over at Draft Wire is following the bread crumbs for the Kansas City Chiefs in his latest way-too-early 2021 mock draft.

Easterling chose to send Alabama OG Deonte Brown to the Chiefs at pick No. 32 in his 2021 mock draft. Keep in mind that he’s using the latest Super Bowl odds to determine the draft order here.

Brown is a powerful blocker, who really excels pulling from the guard position. He’s known as a finisher who always plays through the whistle. For a guy listed at 6-4 and 340 pounds, he moves very well in space and does a good job on screen passes. He is also really good at selling blocks on RPO’s which makes him a valuable asset for a team that runs the most RPO’s in the NFL.

In 2020, Brown needs to show more maturity off the field (suspended six games for violating team & NCAA rules) and consistency on the field. He has shown the versatility to play both guard positions, but I’m wondering which spot he’ll start at this season. Ultimately, I feel like his athletic testing ahead of the draft is going to determine Brown’s fit with the Chiefs more than anything else.

So why does Brown make sense for Kansas City in 2021? Well, the team struggled to address the need at the position this offseason.

This week new information emerged detailing the Chiefs’ interest in interior offensive linemen in the 2020 NFL Draft. New Orleans Saints assistant GM Jeff Ireland revealed that they had “pretty strong intel” that Kansas City would draft Cesar Ruiz were he available at pick No. 32. Ruiz, of course, was drafted by New Orleans at pick No. 24. Prior to the draft, the Chiefs showed interest in OL Andrus Peat in free agency, who ended up re-signing with the Saints.

The Chiefs did draft TCU OT Lucas Niang, who will compete for a spot on the offensive interior right away according to Brett Veach. But I’m not certain that guard is his best position in the NFL. The team added some undrafted free agents following the 2020 NFL Draft, but not of those players are a sure thing to stick in Kansas City.

Combine all of this information with the fact that starting RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif’s restructured contract can and will likely void in 2021. Former starting LG Andrew Wylie is scheduled to become a free agent. The only interior offensive lineman on the roster with starting experience for the Chiefs beyond 2020 is Martinas Rankin, who was injured during the 2019 season.

Kansas City has a clear and present need at the interior offensive line position moving forward. So a player like Brown is certainly one to keep an eye on throughout the 2020 college football season.

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Alabama WR Devonta Smith is the 1st player projected to the Lions for the 2021 NFL Draft

Preseason mock drafts are valuable more as watch lists and perception of team need more than they are for their predictive value

With the body of the 2020 NFL Draft not even cold yet, the life force of the draft media has already poured forward into 2021. The first mock drafts for next April’s extravaganza are already out. One early 2021 mock offers a hint at where the Lions could be looking to fill holes next year.

The way-too-early projection from Bleacher Report and analyst Matt Miller is for the Lions to select Alabama wide receiver Devonta Smith with the No. 7 overall pick. While the draft slot is disappointingly high, the concept of taking a wide receiver in the first round is one Lions fans are going to need to get used to over the next year.

Remember, the Lions do not have a single wide receiver under contract beyond 2020 except 5th-round rookie Quintez Cephus, who has yet to sign his first deal.

Smith has already posted some very impressive game tape for the Crimson Tide. As Miller notes,

Devonta Smith exploded onto the scene for Alabama in an impressive wide receiver room this season but still managed to impress with massive performances like his five-touchdown game against Ole Miss. His production might take a hit with a new quarterback, but his traits point to Round 1, as he looks like a clone of Jerry Jeudy.

Preseason mock drafts are valuable more as watch lists and perception of team need more than they are for their predictive value. Treat them as such and they’re fun and informative.

2021 NFL Draft: Top 32 Pro Prospects First Look

2021 NFL Draft: What returning college players are the best pro prospects going into the 2020 season?

2021 NFL Draft: What returning college players are the best pro prospects going into the 2020 season?

CFN in 60: 5 Top 2021 NFL Prospects to Know
Pete Fiutak takes a quick look at five key college football players for the 2021 NFL Draft … besides the obvious.

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CFN 2020 NFL Draft Prospect Rankings
from the college perspective …
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | OG & C
DE | DT | LB | CB | Safeties
Greatest NFL Draft Picks From Each School
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
32 Greatest Draft Picks of All-Time
Full 2020 NFL Draft Order
CFN Top 106 Player Rankings (1st 3 rounds)
How Will Leagues Do in 1st Round?
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | SEC

2021 NFL Draft Top Pro Prospects: Pre-2020 NFL Draft

How hard is it to figure out the top pro players so early in the NFL Draft process?

Had the 2019 college football season never happened, Tua Tagovailoa would’ve been the easy No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and …

Joe Burrow would’ve been a late-round flier.

Sometimes, seemingly sure-thing prospects get banged up or don’t produce at the high level expected. Superstars emerge from out of the blue, and good prospects – think Chase Young and Isaiah Simmons – turn into can’t-miss killers.

CFN in 60 Video: The rising star 2021 NFL Draft prospect is …
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There’s a chance we’ll all have to fly a little bit blind if there’s no 2020 college football season, but it’s possible to figure out who most of the guys with the NFL tools are.

One note before getting going. These might be the top guys – or close to it – but that doesn’t mean they’re all projected to go in the first round. Some positions – like running back – don’t hold as much value in the real world NFL.

With that as a backdrop, 32 of the best-looking pro prospects going into the 2020 college football season – fingers-crossed really, really hard that it happens – are …

All players listed will be seniors unless otherwise noted.

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32. OT Alaric Jackson, Iowa

His stock dropped a bit after fighting through a knee injury that knocked him out for three games and limited him for most of the season, but he’s still a special talent. Tristan Wirfs turned into the big-time first round draft pick, but the 6-6, 320-pound Jackson has the size, quickness and upside to be a stronger NFL left tackle.

31. WR Justin Ross, Clemson (Jr.)

Does he have the raw wheels? He’s got the 6-4, 205-pound size, and he’s been plenty fast on the field averaging close to 22 yards per catch as a freshman and following it up with 66 grabs for 865 yards and eight scores last year. Get the ball in his zip code and he’ll go any get it, but … will he have the 40 time to boost himself up in a class of blazers?

30. CB Shaun Wade, Ohio State (Jr.)

No one will put him in the Jeff Okudah category, but he’s another very good, very athletic Ohio State defensive back – at least, he’s the one returning main man to the secondary – with the leadership and versatility to work just about anywhere. He’s a 6-1, 195-pound corner who picked off a pass, broke up eight, and made 25 tackles last year.

29. DT Jay Tufele, USC

Athletic for his size, the 6-3, 315-pounder also has the strength to hold his own as a next-level anchor against the run. In his first two seasons he made 64 tackles with 6.5 sacks and ten tackles for loss. While he might not be quite as massive as some will want, he’ll make up for it with his quickness off the ball – he doesn’t stay blocked.

28. OG Cade Mays, Tennessee (Jr.)

The 6-6, 328-pound former Georgia Bulldog returns to his hometown in what should be his final season in college. Big and athletic, he’s been able to bulk up over his three seasons after working just about everywhere at times over the UGA line. His NFL future is at guard, but he has the athleticism to be tried out at tackle.

27. WR Seth Williams, Auburn (Jr.)

Okay, QB Bo Nix … get your big star the ball. The 6-3, 224-pound Williams might not have the 4.3 wheels of some of the other stars in the 2021 draft class – assuming he comes out – but he averaged 16 yards per catch in his first two seasons with 85 grabs for 1,364 yards and 13 touchdowns. Very big and very physical, throw it somewhere near him and he’ll come up with a big play.

26. TE Pat Freiermuth, Penn State (Jr.)

From the start, Freiermuth has been an ultra-reliable target who always seems to come through with the big grab down the middle. At 6-5 and 259 pounds he’s got the bulk, the blocking ability, and the hands, catching 43 passes for 507 yards and seven scores last season.

25. DE/LB Quincy Roche, Miami

Can his game translate to the ACC level? There isn’t much concern about it, especially with pass rushing star Gregory Rousseau on the other side. The 6-4, 235-pound Rouche is a hybrid pass rusher who came up with 137 tackles with 26 sacks and 39.5 tackles for loss in three years at Temple. The motor doesn’t stop, and the quickness and burst are special on the outside.

NEXT: 2021 NFL Draft Top Prospects 17-24

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