Tag: 2021 NFL Draft prospects

2021 NFL Draft: 5 Most Underrated Prospects, From The College Perspective

2021 NFL Draft: Before this all gets going, from the college perspective  who are the five most underrated prospects?

2021 NFL Draft: Before this all gets going, from the college perspective  who are the five most underrated prospects?

I know all too well how the NFL scouting and draft world works, but I’m a college football guy. I see this thing from a slightly different angle.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% all about the freakish rare-human tools that separate the potential NFL starters from the rest of the pack, but sometimes the obvious gets overlooked. It’s as simple as this …

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Is the prospect going to be a good NFL football player and/or does he have something that could make him special? Okay, so where’s the love in the draft and scouting process?

Sometimes I get this really, really right (Lamar Jackson, Colin Kaepernick, Arian Foster, DK Metcalf), and sometimes I get this horribly, horribly wrong (DeShone Kizer, Josh Rosen, Taylor Mays, Malcolm Kelly).

Who are the five most underappreciated, underloved, and underrated prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft? These guys will go later than they should, and they’ll be wonderful gets after Day One.

CFN 2021 NFL Draft Prospect Rankings
from the college perspective …
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | OG & C
DE & Edge | DT | LB | CB | Safeties
Greatest Draft Picks For Each College
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
32 Greatest Draft Picks of All-Time
Top 105 Pro Prospects
Two Round NFL Mock Draft

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews | @PeteFiutak

5. DEs Rashard Weaver & Patrick Jones, Pitt

Projected Round: Weaver 5, Jones 4

I’m starting this with two at the same position at the same school. The 6-4, 261-pound Jones will likely drop out of the top 100 picks because he doesn’t have quite the right look, power and flash you might want as an edge rusher, but he produced at a high level for three seasons and he should be a nice mid-round pass rushing situational find.

Weaver is a 6-4, 259-pound pure pass rusher who’ll find his way to the quarterback. A knee injury derailed him along the way, and he was lumbering through drills – he only ran a 4.85 – but he’s going to be a part of your rotation because he’s going to hit the other team’s passer.

4. QB Jamie Newman, Wake Forest/Georgia

Projected Round: 5

No one seems to have suffered more in the draft process by opting out of the 2020 season – he did so because of Covid concerns.

Newman was solid at Wake Forest and he could’ve blown up as the starter for Georgia, but now he’s just a flier of a prospect who’ll go in the later rounds.

He’s 6-3, 234 pounds, has a stronger arm than most quarterbacks who’ll be taken ahead of him, and all that’s missing is a little bit of time.

He only had one season as a starting quarterback, and there’s the issue. He’s not ready right now, and in today’s NFL that’s not okay. Everything is there, though, to develop into a starter once he gets enough time to work through the growing pains.

3. DT Marvin Wilson & S Hamsah Nasirildeen, Florida State

Projected Round: Wilson 4, Nasirildeen 4

These two have something else in common other than being from Florida State – they’re among the best leaders in the 2021 NFL Draft class.

Last year at this time it seemed like Marvin Wilson was destined to be a first rounder. He’s got the 6-4, 303-pound NFL size, the anchor ability, and the type of personality to make a defense his. He has to keep his weight down, he has to get healthy, and he has to look like the 2018 and 2019 version, but he’ll be a terrific pro.

The 6-3, 215-pound Nasirildeen might be tall and lean, but he’s a terrific tackler, the right tone-setting guy for your locker room, and he erases matchup problem receivers. However, he’s dropping because of a knee injury – give him a year and he’s a stat-sheet filling starter.

2. DT Jay Tufele, USC

Projected Round: 4

I honestly don’t get this one. He’s a first round talent who’ll probably drop to the third round.

Okay, so he’s 6-2, 305 and not the ideal size for a defensive tackle, but good luck finding a quicker and more explosive prospect for the interior.

He might need to be surrounded with thumpers and run stuffers, but for the modern NFL where you need pass rushers at every spot up front, here you go. He’s suffering from opting out – the momentum for his draft stock slowed to a crawl – but he’ll get into an NFL camp and a coaching staff will fall in love.

1. CB Paulson Adebo, Stanford

Projected Round: 3

It’s a corner-rich draft and Adebo – sort of like a few guys on this list – might be suffering from NFL scouting out-of-sight-out-of-mind issues. He opted out last season, and his draft stock dropped.

6-1, 198-pound size, 4.4 speed, and a whole lot of production – 97 tackles, 8 interceptions, 27 broken up passes – there’s no real knock other than the NFL basically forgot about him.

He’s not a great tackler, but he’s good enough. He’s been banged up, and he missed a few too many makable plays for someone with his talent, but he’s going to be an NFL starter – and possibly an elite one – after the first 50 picks.

CFN 2021 NFL Draft Prospect Rankings
from the college perspective …
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | OG & C
DE & Edge | DT | LB | CB | Safeties
Greatest Draft Picks For Each College
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
32 Greatest Draft Picks of All-Time

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Georgia vs. Missouri: Potential Chargers 2021 NFL draft prospects to watch

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez lays out the prospects that Los Angeles could have their eyes on.

The college football season is winding down, with bowl season now in hindsight. That also means that scout’s traveling to watch prospects at various programs across the nation is close to coming to an end.

Here are a few prospects to watch in the matchup between Georgia and Missouri on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 10:00 a.m. PT.

The Bulldogs boast a trio of cornerbacks that could serve as a long-term option, Eric Stokes, Tyson Campbell and DJ Daniel. Stokes has the prototypical build for the position with speed, physicality and plus coverage ability. Campbell is a physically gifted and reactive athlete with great length that possesses speed, excellent closing speed and instincts. Daniel is a sub-package ace who is quick and agile with very good mirroring skills.

With Melvin Ingram slated to be a free agent after this season, finding an edge defender to compliment Joey Bosa could be something that the Chargers look to do early on. Azeez Ojulari has seen his stock increase with his strong play this season. Ojulari is an explosive and athletic player with the pass rush ability, bend and range to be a solid starter at the next level.

Linebacker Monty Rice has gone under the radar. Rice uses quickness, football intelligence and coverage ability to make impactful plays in pass defense, and his read and react and speed to make plays against the run. With Denzel Perryman set to hit free agency and Drue Tranquill coming off a serious lower body injury, the Chargers could be looking to the middle rounds to address the position.

The Chargers could be looking to upgrade the interior part of the offensive line, as Forrest Lamp and Dan Feeney are both slated to hit free agency, which is why someone like guard Ben Cleveland could draw some interest. Cleveland is a solid interior lineman with great size, strength, hands and awareness to flash dominance in the run and pass game.

While Georgia draws the majority of the attention, Missouri has a couple of defensive backs that could be on the Bolts’ radar. Joshuah Bledsoe and Tyree Gillespie, who both accepted their invites to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, have different, yet appealing skillsets that could be nice additions to the defensive side of the ball.

Bledsoe has a combination of physicality, play speed and coverage skills to serve as a back-end safety/slot defender and special teams ace while Gillespie is a big guy who could be a productive single-high due to his range, ball skills and finishing ability.

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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– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews | @PeteFiutak

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

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

2021 NFL Draft Order: What Should It Be If There’s No 2020 NFL Season?

What happens to the 2021 NFL Draft if there’s no 2020 season? How would the NFL figure out the order? Here’s a possible solution if needed.

What happens to the 2021 NFL Draft if there’s no 2020 season? How would the NFL figure out the order? Here’s a solution that’s hopefully not going to be needed.

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)

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

So I couldn’t sleep the other night, and that led to a meandering rant asking question after question about what might happen to the 2021 NFL Draft if there’s no 2020 NFL season.

Hopefully we don’t need to worry about any of this and there’s a delightful 2020 NFL campaign that will figure everything out for the 2021 NFL Draft, but it’s a far more realistic issue than any football fan wants to admit. But …

How do you possibly come up with the 2021 NFL Draft order if there’s no season?

It wouldn’t exactly be fair if Cincinnati got two straight No. 1 overall picks just because the season didn’t get going, and it wouldn’t seem kosher to punish the weaker teams that didn’t have a chance to see if they’ve improved or not.

Throw in all of the trades, all of the contracts to deal with, free agency, and on and on and on, and it could be one gigantic mess.

What would be the right solution?

CFN in 60: Why You Don’t Take A QB Early

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I wrote in the first piece that I had no clue what the correct call is, and then I received a whole lot of thoughts and ideas.

So let’s figure this out. How should the 2021 NFL Draft order go if there’s no season to base it off of? Let’s start with a few basic assumptions.

1. It’s the NFL. It’s the league the overreacted to one bad call by implementing a challenge rule for pass interference. Don’t underestimate the ability for the league to try killing a mosquito with a bazooka. It’s going to make this hard.

2. It’s the NFL, and it HATES adopting anything used by other leagues or other sports. For this to all be fair and equitable, there will have to be some sort of a random way to determine the draft order. Again, it’s the NFL – do NOT expect the word lottery to be used for any aspect.

3. There will have to be some rationale here. The bad teams are still going to be the bad teams until proven otherwise. The whole point of the draft order is to help out the weak and the sad, and that doesn’t necessarily change just because there’s no season. But …

4. Every team will want some chance at a good draft pick somewhere. The New Englands and Kansas Citys of the league aren’t going to cheerfully accept picking at the end of every round and be punished for being great.

Let’s make this as simple and as fair as possible.

The 2005 NHL Draft example – coming off a lockout with no season – was just too funky. It doesn’t seem fair that Kansas City and San Francisco should have a shot at the No. 1 overall pick, but it’s also not right that franchises that sucked over the last several years should be automatically rewarded.

Here’s the compromise.

The draft order is determined by the average of each team’s first round draft slots over the last three years. If a team traded out of that position in the first round, it gets credit for that slot.

Reverse it in the second round to throw the teams that draft late a bone, and then go back to the first round draft order the rest of the way – factoring in previous trades made for 2021 draft picks.

That way, the team that drafts last in the first round – and every round from 3 through 7 – gets two of the top 33 picks. The team that gets the No. 1 overall pick would then have to wait 62 before its next pick, but it would get three of the top 65 picks.

Basically, we’re putting massive value on the first pick in the second round. But how do we determine the first round?

Again, let’s make this easy. Take the average position of the last three draft first rounds. That means, for example, Cincinnati would get the No. 2 overall pick after picking 1st overall in 2020, 12th in 2017, and 9th and 2018. 1+12+9=22, divide that by three drafts, and its average score is 7.33.

Why might this thing actually fly? Where’s the 2021 NFL Draft supposed to be held?

Cleveland.

And with that …

2021 NFL Draft Order Idea

2021 NFL Draft First Round Might Be …

Team followed by average of last three first round draft positions. For the ties, do what the NFL does now and flip a coin.

1. Cleveland (4.00)
2. Cincinnati (7.33)
3. NY Jets (7.67)
4. NY Giants (9.67)
T5. Chicago (10.00)
T5. LA Chargers (10.00)
7. Indianapolis (10.33)
8. Washington (10.67)
9. Arizona (12.00)
10. Miami (12.67)
11. Carolina (13.00)
T12. Denver (13.33)
T12. Tampa Bay (13.33)
T14. Jacksonville (14.00)
T14. San Francisco (14.00)
16. Detroit (14.67)
17. Las Vegas (15.33)
18. Jacksonville traded from LA Rams (16.00)
19. Buffalo (17.67)
20. Miami traded from Houston (18.33)
21. Baltimore (20.00)
22. New Orleans (20.67)
23. Dallas (21.33)
24. Philadelphia (21.67)
25. Minnesota (23.00)
26. Seattle (23.67)
27. Tennessee (24.00)
T28. Atlanta (24.33)
T28. Green Bay (24.33)
30. Pittsburgh (25.33)
31. Kansas City (27.00)
32. New England (28.67)

But then … reverse it for the second round.

2021 NFL Draft Second Round Might Be …

33. New England
34. Kansas City
35. Pittsburgh
T36. Atlanta
T36. Green Bay
38. Tennessee
39. Seattle
40. Minnesota
41. Philadelphia
42. Dallas
43. New Orleans
44. Baltimore
45. Miami traded from Houston
46. Buffalo
47. LA Rams
48. Las Vegas
49. Detroit
T50. Jacksonville
T50. San Francisco
T52. Denver
T52. Tampa Bay
54. Carolina
55. Miami
56. Arizona
57. Washington
58. Indianapolis
T59. Chicago
T59. LA Chargers
61. NY Giants
62. NY Jets
63. Cincinnati
64. Cleveland

And then reverse it back to the first round order for the rest of the draft, and …

Let’s really, really hope we don’t have to use this.

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)

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What Happens To The 2021 NFL Draft If There’s No 2020 NFL Season?

How do you prepare for the 2020 NFL Draft if you don’t know if there will be a season? Even harder, what will the 2021 NFL Draft look like?

How do you prepare for the 2020 NFL Draft if you don’t know if there will even be a season? Even harder, what will the 2021 NFL Draft look like if there’s no 2020 season?

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)

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

All apologies in advance – this is one of those only-questions-no-answers things, because I have no earthly clue what the best possible solution is.

And I really, really hope this is a wasted theoretical exercise.

Work with me here.

The 2020 NFL Draft is just fine. Cincinnati takes Joe Burrow, Washington does whatever it’s going to do at the two, and we all love every moment of a sports event that actually matters.

And then …

Hypothetically, the doomsday scenario happens and there’s no 2020 NFL season.

Of course we all want football as long as it’s safe – with safe being loosely defined as everyone on the field being confirmed negative for the coronavirus – but how do you practice, train, travel, play, etc. without testing everyone daily, and on and on and on with all of the practical and logistical issues?

For now, at least consider the possibility that all of a sudden it’s July, and 345 Park Avenue doesn’t have it. After brainstorming every plan and idea, the NFL can’t find a way to make it work for 2020.

What happens to the 2021 NFL Draft?

You can’t just cancel it.

CFN in 60: Why You Don’t Take A QB Early

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Eligible college players will be ready to make the jump, NFL teams have contracts to deal with, free agency will still happen, players will get older, some will retire – you need to have a 2021 draft.

Do you keep the same draft order from 2020? Good luck selling THAT to teams picking late in the 2020 first round.

Do you come up with some sort of lottery for just the top ten picks? Again, have fun getting Kansas City, San Francisco and Green Bay to be on board, and have an even better time convincing Cincinnati, Washington and Detroit to give up their prime positions when they don’t have anything on the field to go off of.

Do you create a tiered lottery with teams without a 2020 first rounder getting their slots back for 2021? Maybe teams keep their 2020 positions with picks 1-5 all in Tier 1, teams 6-12 in Tier 2, and on from there.

What the hell do you do with conditional picks, or worse yet, traded first round picks? Miami gets Houston’s 2021 first rounder, Jacksonville has the Rams’ first, and don’t even start with all the past trades that kick in along with whatever deals come from the 2020 draft.

It would be the mess of all messes to get the 32 owners as well as the Players Association to agree on how it to do something that’s fair to everyone.

But NFL teams had better have a plan in place for every possibility.

If you’re a pragmatic NFL general manager worth your paycheck, how do you draft this weekend without having an answer to one key question?

If you were told right now that there isn’t going to be a 2020 season, would you change anything about your draft strategy?

Do you move heaven and earth now to trade up to grab a quarterback early, knowing you might have a free year to develop your guy?

Do you move heaven and earth now to trade up to grab Tua Tagovailoa, rolling the dice that you might get a full 12 months or more to let his hip get even better?

Do you plan your draft around positions that are fine for this season, but will be an issue next year once contracts expire or change? GMs do that no matter what, but maybe a player currently on a roster is more valuable to sign back up if he has a year off. Maybe he’s easier to let go because he’ll be a year older and you see strength at the position around your 2020 slot in the 2021 draft.

Try this out.

Cincinnati takes Joe Burrow with the first pick on Thursday night. There’s no 2020 NFL or college football season, and with the first pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select … Trevor Lawrence.

Welcome to the mother of all trade talk scenarios – and a dream for sports media everywhere.

Does Washington take a massive home run swing and trade Dwayne Haskins for a whole lot of prime picks/players now, thinking there might be a shot at Lawrence or Justin Fields if the same draft positions hold for a 2021 draft without a 2020 season?

Or will teams simply go full steam ahead and not even entertain the possibility of there not being a season?

Do your draft, don’t get caught up in hypotheticals, the future will take care of itself, take one game and draft pick at a time, and …

This is going to be the weirdest NFL Draft ever.

Let’s just hope it’s not topped in 2021.

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