The Buccaneers’ dominant victory in the Super Bowl on Sunday ended the 2020 NFL season and opened the door to what promises to be a busy and unusual off-season – which, of course, includes the 2021 NFL draft. The Tampa Bay defense showed what a smart draft can do for a team, with recent choices by Devin White and Antoine Winfield Jr., each pulling an interception. Which team will make smart moves in this year’s draft to take the next step? We will predict how all 32 teams from the first round will be played on April 29.
Despite the lack of a traditional harvester this year, there is still plenty of time for handling draft boards. Interviews, doctors, professional training and much more combing the game’s tape are ahead. Likewise, a lot has changed in just a month since my last simulation after an exciting College Football Playoff national title game and the annual Senior Bowl week. There are still more than two months to go and we have a lot to learn about this talented class – including how the defenders and game makers do.
But with the draft order blocked after game 269 of the season and a lot of talent in this year’s class to cheer up, here’s my post-Super Bowl projection of the first 32 choices of the 2021 NFL draft, starting with a no-brainer in No. 1. And surprise – we have two operations simulated in this issue.
See more: Ratings
Jump into a negotiation: No. 3 | No. 12
Note: For more information, check out our SportsCenter Special at 5 pm ET on Wednesday (ESPN2), where I will discuss each team’s choices.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
Another simulated sketch, another projection from Lawrence to Jacksonville. You won’t see much else, and for good reason. The 1.80m big-arm quarterback has all the features you want in a franchise guy, and he would be the focal point of what new coach Urban Meyer hopes to build. Only Washington has had a lower total CBR in the past three seasons than 41.6 for the Jaguars, but Lawrence finished in the top 10 among all FBS quarterbacks in that category in all seasons of his college career. He will play for scouts on the Friday before surgery on his non-throwing shoulder this spring, but consider it a block to the main pick at this point.