Trevor Lawrence might not be the only Clemson player the Jags select as they could address another need by adding OT Jackson Carman, too.
The 2021 NFL Draft is just over two weeks away and anticipation for the annual event couldn’t be higher. While fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars are pretty certain of what will happen with the first overall selection, figuring out what the Jags could do with their other nine selections has been stressful, yet fun.
With our last mock being posted three weeks ago, we took another crack at putting together a mock that would set the Jags up well heading into camp using Pro Football Focus’ simulator. Here are the results we came away with in a seven-round scenario:
The Los Angeles Chargers will be looking to address the safety position in this year’s draft.
The Chargers will be looking to fill a safety void left by Rayshawn Jenkins, who signed with the Jaguars last month.
One way that Los Angeles could do so is by using one of its draft picks on former Oregon safety Jevon Holland, who confirmed that he met with Los Angeles and Derwin James.
A consensus four-star recruit out of Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, Calif., Holland made an immediate impact in his freshman year by making 44 tackles, defending 11 passes, and finishing second in the Pac-12 with five interceptions.
In 2019, Holland was an All-Pac-12 second-team defender after recording 66 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, eight passes defended, and four interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
Head coach Brandon Staley covets position versatility and Holland displayed that for the Ducks, having lined up in the box, the slot and from a two-high safety spot, as well. He was asked to man up tight ends and receivers in the slot.
Overall, Holland is an athletic defensive back who can make plays against the pass and run with high effort and instincts, projecting as a top-60 selection.
Thomas Graham and Jevon Holland are of definite interest for the Browns
The Oregon Ducks pro day is Friday and the Cleveland Browns are confirmed to have a spot in the crowd of scouts and coaches making the trip to Eugene. The featured performer is offensive tackle Penei Sewell, but he’ll be long gone before the Browns pick at No. 26.
Cleveland’s focus will be on the defensive backfield, where the Ducks have a pair of prospects who would look good in the orange, brown and white–one of the few color combinations Oregon doesn’t wear. Safety Jevon Holland and versatile CB Thomas Graham are both the better focus for the Browns at the Ducks workout.
Holland is a playmaking safety with length, range, ball skills and a “my ball” mentality. He opted out of the 2020 season. He’s lighter than ideal, so one of the things to watch is his weight and how well he moves. Lighter safeties need to have better explosive metrics (vertical, broad jump, 3-cone).
Graham can line up at outside corner, slot corner or even free safety. While 40-yard dash times are overhyped, his is important; Graham’s biggest question is speed, both in the short area (10-yard split) and the long speed to turn and run with faster receivers. He’s got everything else, from instincts to quickness to playing strength.
In our two-round Baltimore Ravens mock draft, the team picks up two great young defenders that should make an immediate impact.
The offseason is upon us which means it’s really mock draft season. While there are so many things to cover throughout the offseason, the NFL draft remains the highlight. With the Baltimore Ravens’ season over and the major team needs outlined, it’s time to do our very first mock draft of the offseason, focusing on the first two rounds of the 2021 NFL draft.
For this two-round mock draft, I used The Draft Network’s mock draft simulator and their predictive board. I chose the best player available that fit one of the team’s biggest needs. While there were some exciting prospects at other positions who were higher rated on the board, I went after the players who I thought best fit what Baltimore is looking to do and its “play like a Raven” mentality.
While I believe the Ravens desperately need help at wide receiver and interior offensive line, there were no good values on the board at either of Baltimore’s two picks. But in typical Ravens fashion, I was able to find some pretty exciting defensive talent available at both of Baltimore’s picks.
The Jags were slotted Justin Fields in another mock but were also given some help in the secondary, too.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are currently on their bye week, making it a perfect time to look at another mock draft as we typically do on weekends anyway. With a 1-6 record and a hardest part of their schedule coming up, it looks like the Jags could accumulate a top-2 pick, which would be their highest selection since 2013 when they took offensive tackle Luke Joeckel.
With such a high selection potentially coming in the future, mock drafts have gotten interesting for the Jags. Most of them have the Jags going with a quarterback like the recent one by CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards, who slotted the Jags Ohio State’s Justin Fields, who has been a popular name for Jags fans, with the No. 3 selection.
Afterward, the Jags got some help on the defensive side by adding safety Jevon Holland of Oregon.
3. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State – looked fantastic in the Buckeyes’ opener. Gardner Minshew is not a bad quarterback but there is a ceiling on the team’s capabilities with him under center.
25. S Jevon Holland, Oregon – Jacksonville knocked over the Jenga tower and is left picking up the pieces. One of those pieces is safety Jevon Holland.
Fields has routinely been mocked to the Jags, so we won’t beat a dead drum. However, Holland is a player who we haven’t mentioned yet.
At 6-foot-1, 196-pounds, Holland would offer the Jags a good athlete in their secondary, which has been a victim of lackluster play in general and at safety for a while. He’s spent a great deal of time covering in the slot, too, which has intrigued a lot of scouts. Holland would also give the Jags an alpha dog in the group as he often makes audibles and puts his teammates where they need to be on film.
With a new regime potentially coming baring drastic changes, the selection of Fields would make a ton of sense while the Jags immediate need at safety is proof the Jags could use Holland. Still, we’d like hear from you all at home about this mock. Are both players two who would look good in black and teal? Let us know on social media.
Ranking the 10 football players we will miss watching the most from the Big 10 and Pac-12: No. 4 Oregon S Jevon Holland.
The Big Ten announced its decision Tuesday to postpone fall sports. Minutes after, the Pac-12 made the decision to postpone its season as well.
With two of the Power Five conferences not playing, the entire college football season is now up in the air. The SEC, ACC and Big 12 still have plans to have their conference-only seasons, but there are a number of players, coaches and teams that college football fans will miss watching dearly.
The No. 4 player we will miss watching most this year from the Big Ten and Pac-12 is Oregon junior safety Jevon Holland.
Holland is a very versatile safety for Oregon. He splits time between defense and special teams, where he was the Ducks’ usual punt and kick returner.
Holland has range and great cover skills for the safety position. He has done an excellent job adjusting and covering slot receivers and tight ends when needed. Holland also has good size and speed for a safety, standing at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds.
Holland was the anchor to the Oregon secondary, racking up 108 total tackles (71 solo), 9 interceptions and a touchdown in just two seasons with the Ducks. He was one of three returning FBS players with four or more interceptions in each of the last two years. Holland is also tied for third among active FBS players with nine career interceptions. Holland was a Jim Thorpe Award finalist in 2019 as a sophomore and was projected to be a second round NFL Draft selection following the 2020 season.
Eagles select Caleb Farley in Todd McShay’s 2021 NFL mock draft
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With the Big Ten and Pac 12 conferences officially canceling their 2020 college football seasons, several big-time names in the world of college football will now look towards taking their skills to the NFL.
ESPN and Todd McShay decided to get a jump on the mock draft season, dropping his way too early 2021 NFL Draft projection.
Even after a long playoff run by the Birds, the Eagles land one of the NFL draft’s most coveted players in Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley.
27. Philadelphia Eagles
Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech*
He was the first player to opt-out of the college football season, but regardless, Farley registers as my third-ranked cornerback for the 2021 class (behind Surtain and Wade). He has the frame and speed to be a problem for opposing receivers, and he closes in a flash. A former wide receiver, Farley also has the ball skills and instincts to make plays, evidenced by his 12 passes broken up and four interceptions last season. Four Eagles cornerbacks, including Sidney Jones and Nickell Robey-Coleman, could hit the open market next spring. Trading for Darius Slay gives Philadelphia a top-tier CB, but the team still has to address the spot opposite him.
Farley originally intended to play wide receiver upon his arrival to Virginia Tech in 2017 but missed his freshman season due to a knee injury.
As a redshirt freshman, Farley was converted to cornerback, where He finished the season with 36 tackles, two interceptions, and a sack. Farley had a breakout campaign as a sophomore in 2019, earning first-team All-ACC honors after recording 20 tackles, four interceptions, and one touchdown.
A preseason All-American in 2020, Farley returned to Virginia Tech for his redshirt junior season but he then became the first high-profile player to skip the 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic, announcing that he would instead focus on preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Landing with the Eagles, Farley could learn from a crafty veteran, while preparing to take over when Darius Slay is ready to move on.
Do you think the Vikings will draft a safety in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft?
Minnesota safety Anthony Harris was given the franchise tag this offseason and the deadline has passed to work out a long-term deal this year.
With Harris’ future up in the air, Todd McShay of ESPN predicted that Minnesota will fill that position in the first round of the 2021 Draft.
McShay tabbed the Vikings to take Oregon safety Jevon Holland with the No. 21 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Here’s what he said about Holland and the Vikings:
“Defensive tackle is a bigger need — though 2020 opt-out Michael Pierce will be back next season — so Shelvin or USC’s Jay Tufele could be the choice for Minnesota. But Holland, who I mentioned as a reach earlier in this mock, now becomes a great value at No. 21 overall. And he fills a hole, with Anthony Harris on an expiring contract and Harrison Smith turning 32 in February. Holland, the top safety on the board, has nine interceptions over the past two seasons, displays strong open-field tackling ability and shows some pop in the punt return game. He high-points the ball and attacks it, a skill set that would help keep the Vikings among the elites in interceptions (tied for third in 2019 with 17).”
If Holland’s ball-hawking ability translates to the NFL, he could be a solid pick. Minnesota might struggle to pay both of its safeties. If that’s the case, it could be beneficial to sign a promising player on a rookie contract.
With a star-packed class of prospects now free to decide if they’ll take their talents to the NFL, here are 11 Pac-12 prospects that the Eagles should do their due diligence on and target in the 2021 NFL Draft.
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1. AMON-RA ST. BROWN, WR, USC
Coming from a family of stud football players, St. Brown attended famed Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California.
A five-star recruit, St. Brown committed to the University of Southern California (USC) to play college football with former high school teammate JT Daniels.
The junior wide receiver started 12 of the 13 games last season, catching 77 passes for 1,042 yards and six touchdowns. He was expected to be one of the top wideouts in college football next season.
St. Brown is smooth in pretty much everything he does. He’s a crafty route-runner who’s also sneaky good after the catch. He broke 18 tackles last season.
Amon-Ra St. Brown has some eye-popping flashes on tape, but he just hasn't faced a ton of single coverage/press playing in the slot so much over the past two seasons.
Two good pass defenders and two WRs make up the projected haul
Our good friends at Draft Wire have released their latest projections for the first three rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft. Who will the Browns land when they step to the podium in Public Square in downtown Cleveland next spring?
In the first round, the Browns tab Oregon safety Jevon Holland with the No. 16 overall pick. Holland is a nifty coverage safety who also doubles as the Ducks’ primary return man. He’s at his best marking TEs and RBs in the passing game, an area of concern for the Browns right now.
Chazz Surratt, a do-it-all type of linebacker from North Carolina, comes to Cleveland in the second round. He started his UNC career as a quarterback (he was their initial replacement for Mitchell Trubisky) before finding his rightful home at linebacker.
Another Tar Heel, wideout Dazz Newsome, is the projection in the third round. Newsome brings an explosive element to the slot receiver position. It’s Michigan WR Nico Collins as the Browns’ second pick in the third round, acquired from the Saints.
