The NFL Draft is a meeting for the NFL that NFL teams get to pick college football players to play for their team. The team with the worst record the season prior gets to pick first overall, and the defending Super Bowl champions gets to pick the last pick overall, or the “Mr. Irrelevant”.
The 2021 NFL Draft will take place on April 29th-May 1st, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio.
But before I do my predictions, I want to remind you that this is my opinion of what will happen. This isn’t what is going to happen. This is only the 1st round predictions for picks 1-16, too.
1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, Quarterback from Clemson. This shouldn’t be shocking at all. Lawrence has done so much at the college level that Jacksonville can’t pass up on him.
2. New York Jets: Zach Wilson, Quarterback from BYU. After trading Sam Darnold to the Panthers, the Jets are in need of a quarterback, and again, this shouldn’t be surprising.
3. San Francisco 49ers (from Miami via Houston): Justin Fields, Quarterback from Ohio State. This could be shocking to some, but this is why the Niners traded up to 3. They need a quarterback, and Justin Fields seems like a reasonable pick.
4. Atlanta Falcons: Kyle Pitts, Tight End from Florida. Maybe the Falcons also need a quarterback, as Matt Ryan may be retiring soon, but Pitts has great talent and they’ve gone through a crazy tight end carousel.
5. Cincinnati Bengals: Penei Sewell: Offensive Tackle from Oregon. The Bengals’ offensive line was atrocious last year, letting last year’s 1st-overall pick Joe Burrow get sacked too many times and he suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 11. Sewell will probably fix all their problems.
6. Miami Dolphins (from Philadelphia): Ja’Marr Chase, Wide Receiver from LSU. Miami went from No. 3 to No. 12 to No. 6, and they need to provide help for Tua Tagovailoa. Chase is fast and can catch, so the ‘Fins can’t miss here.
7. Detroit Lions: Trey Lance, Quarterback from North Dakota State. Jared Goff is probably not the way to go for Detroit. If Lance falls this far, the Lions should take him.
8. Carolina Panthers: Rashawn Slater, Offensive Tackle from Northwestern. The Panthers need to give help to Sam Darnold because the Jets O-Line was so bad that Darnold said he was “seeing ghosts” because he was getting sacked repeatedly.
9. Denver Broncos: Jaylen Waddle, Receiver from Alabama. The Broncos have no amazing wide receivers. Maybe Waddle will change that.
10. Dallas Cowboys: Devonta Smith, Wide Receiver from Alabama. The Cowboys will probably do what they did last year and steal another big receiver from the Eagles. The Heisman winner for most outstanding is the fastest receiver in the draft.
11. New York Giants: Kwity Paye, Edge from Michigan Paye is incredible. He hunts down QBs and the Giants need some help on defense.
12. Philadelphia Eagles (from Miami): Patrick Surtain, Cornerback from Alabama. As an Eagles fan, I think this is the best spot that they can get. Surtain is the definition of ball-hawk.
13. Los Angeles Chargers: Alijah Vera-Tucker, Offensive Lineman out of USC. The Chargers also need a lineman. Vera-Tucker has good protection, he will probably block for Justin Herbert.
14. Minnesota Vikings: Jaelan Phillips, Edge Rusher from Miami (FL). Phillips has the most talent out of any edge in the draft. He doesn’t have the greatest durability, though.
15. New England Patriots: Micah Parsons, Inside Linebacker out of Penn State Bill Belichick has been very bold during the offseason, so the Pats could trade up and get a quarterback. But Parsons could help them beat the Bills this year.
16. Arizona Cardinals: Jaycee Horn, Cornerback from South Carolina. This would be an absolute steal by the Cardinals if they can get Horn. He can pick off lots of balls that come his way.
Source: NFL.com
