Yes, this is at the start of the 2021 NFL draft process. The focus has shifted elsewhere as the sport returns to playing amid the coronavirus pandemic and the college football scene for 2020 is still at its best. cloudy. And while I have spent a good part of the summer watching movies and preparing for this class, there is still a lot of work to be done. So the following is a very premature projection of the 32 first picks for the draft next April.
This 2021 group is talented with high impact potential. I have three top-ranked quarterbacks coming off the board, and the best is probably the best QB prospect I’ve seen in a while. And if you’re still not tired of qualified receivers after the 2020 Draft, you’re in luck – this class has plenty of them too. A few SEC pass catchers, in particular, stand out as promising future NFLs.
The names of Day 1 will of course change over the next eight months, but this exercise is usually a good starting point for the class. My Too Early Class 2020 mockup featured 10 prospects who ultimately ended up making the first round. There are a lot of unknowns at this point. But even as we wait for more news on the college football season (the Big Ten and Pac-12 have already canceled their fall seasons and plan to look at spring options), let’s predict the top 32 picks in the draft. of the 2021 NFL. We’re starting with the lowest rated team in the Football Power Index for the coming season.
Note: The projection of the draft order is done via ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI). Subclasses are marked with an asterisk.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson *
OK, let’s start with the obvious. Lawrence is a once-per-decade type quarterback who currently has our highest rating at Scouts Inc. on a QB since Andrew Luck in 2012 (99). Jacksonville treated Nick Foles in the offseason, leaving only Gardner Minshew II and Mike Glennon, and Lawrence would replace the Jaguars as an immediate starter. With a big arm, great mobility for his 6ft 6in frame, excellent balance under pressure and extraordinary intangibles, he would soon be among the best in the game.
Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama *
Washington has come out and got Kendall Fuller in free agency, but with Fabian Moreau and Ronald Darby set to be free agents next spring, this CB group needs a punch. And Surtain – the son of former Pro Bowl corner Patrick Surtain – is a real closed corner. I love his instinct, his ball skills and his ability to wrap up and tackle, but what stands out is how he diagnoses routes and gets receivers where he wants them to go. He could well become the best defensive player in the entire class of 2021, and with Chase Young, the second overall pick of 2020, he would help revamp a Washington defense that was 27th in yards allowed per game in 2019 (although ‘It would be difficult for Washington to leave a guy like LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase on the board with his problems at receiver).
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