It is officially the NFL’s simulated recruitment season. Let’s start with my preliminary projections for the first round of the 2021 draft of the NFL, starting with the Jacksonville Jaguars first.
This is going to be one of the most interesting drafts since I started covering them more than 40 years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic brought extraordinary changes to the pre-project process. There is no NFL combination. Professional days will be limited to teams. This week’s Senior Bowl is the only event where coaches, scouts and front-office executives will be able to meet potential clients – through plexiglass.
A year ago, the whole conversation was about Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow and his rise to the top. There ended up being little drama surrounding the choice of Cincinnati Bengals in the first place. This year? Well, let’s just say that the draft starts with the New York Jets at number 2. There will be a lot of drama in the next three months until the first round starts on April 29th.
Let’s make the choices. The preliminary order for choices 1-30 is set and we are using the ESPN Football Power Index to project the choices at 31 and 32. I will be on programs all day, culminating in our Special SportsCenter: Mel Kiper NFL Mock Draft 1.0 at 5 pm Eastern Time, on ESPN2 and the ESPN app.
