2021 Comprehensive Draft Thread

[KillBill26]

Man you guys are relentless.  But especially during a national lockdown, there's nothing else to do, so might as well.

[zCommander]

48 minutes ago, KillBill26 said:

Man you guys are relentless.  But especially during a national lockdown, there's nothing else to do, so might as well.

 

I think the word you are looking for is rested... lol

[Berggy9598]

Key & Peele could have done another 100 football player name skits and they'd still never come up with a better one than Dicaprio Bootle

[Malapropismic Depository]

Trey vs Trev ?

That is the question

[Kingkylr1008]

Longtime Fan and longtime lurker on this board finally gave in and joined not sure what took so long.

my way too early 2021 draft ranking

1. Trevor Lawrence - the best QB prospect since Peyton Manning. I hate to see us lose but if we are going to we might as well go full tank and get a true franchise QB. Size, arm, athleticism, accuracy and hair he has it all

2. Penei Sewell - in a loaded 2020 Tackle class he would’ve easily been the best tackle. 2021s tackle class appears even better and he’s the best of the bunch. As good of a tackle as I’ve seen in the run game and great in the Pass game as well 

3. Ja’Marr Chase - complete physical receiver. As a Clemson fan he is still giving me nightmares from the national championship game. AJ Terrell had a very good career for us and rarely looked bad. Chase abused him the whole night. 2020 was the deepest WR class I’ve seen but 2021 has just as much if not more high end WR talent

4. Walker Little - looks like the perfect LT. Has all the talent just has to stay healthy 

5. Justin Fields - I doubted him going into last season and he proved me wrong. He is much more accurate of a passer than I thought and a good athlete. He has thrived under Ryan Day. 
6. Micah Parsons - complete linebacker. Great coverage skills, really good in the run game and can rush the passer. 
7. Gregory Rousseau - will be a draft eligible sophomore. Elite pass rusher that has to add weight. 
8. Patrick Surtain II - great size for a corner and has the coverage skills to match 

9. Alex Leatherwood - another franchise LT with great size 

10. Shaun Wade - I might be higher on him than others now, but a versatile DB from Ohio State that can cover but is physical as well.

 

I really like this draft class. WR and Tackle are loaded again. QB, TE, CB all look to be really strong as well. 
As a Clemson fan I’ll give you a breakdown of our players that could be first or high round selections 

Justyn Ross - big physical receiver that was dominate especially late in his freshman year. He was banged up at times and struggled compared to expectations last season. With Tee Higgins gone he needs to take over and prove he’s the man we thought he was after the 2018 playoffs 

Travis Etienne - Great running back. Is very quick at hitting the hole and has a great burst of acceleration. Good breakaway speed. Has gotten so much stronger as a runner over the years. Pass blocking still needs to improve. As a freshman and sophomore he caught the ball like he didn’t have thumbs. Last year he improved a lot in that area 

Jackson Carmen - Huge LT that is the first guy off the bus. Has cut a lot of weight and impressed in his first year as a starter. Clemson did a good job of keeping Chase Young in check, but the two times Young was match up one on one without help on Carmen it didn’t go well for Carmen. Has some great highlights of him abusing undersized defenders but has to improve consistency. If the tackle class wasn’t so loaded he would probably be a first round lock.

Xavier Thomas - 5 star top 5 talent coming into college. The explosion off the ball is 1st round worthy. The production so far has been 4th or 5th round worthy. Had some highlights as a freshman backing up 3 nfl 1st rounders and a 4th rounder on that starting Dline. Last year when he was supposed to take over it didn’t go well. He was inconsistent and we used a lot of 3 man fronts to mask our lack of depth along the Dline. This is a big year for him. 
Derion Kendrick - would have to have a great year to be a first rounder but this is a favorite player of mine. He was a big time WR prospect coming into college after playing mainly QB in high school but moved to CB when we had some injury and depth issues. He won the starting corner job last year after only moving to the position in spring ball. Teams left AJ Terrell alone all season and targeted him and he was up to the challenge all year. He didn’t get beat and is a playmaker with the ball in his hands. Also the most competitive player on the team. He’s still raw as he has only been playing the position for a year now, but the upside for him to be a star is there. 

[Burgundy Yoda]

I swear some of your all's analysis's here are better than a lot of the national guys. You could definitely make yourself money from a team sending in your evaluations. The thing that is always difficult with evaluations are character concerns. Yeah, you can see the guy can play, but does he live and breathe football? That kind of stuff is hard to find out and determine by watching film. I don't have to say your names because the board pretty much already knows who you are, but you all put in some great work! 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Burgundy Yoda

[PartyPosse]

Josh Jobe, Devonta Smith and call it a draft.

[zCommander]

@Kingkylr1008 what an entrance indeed. I am glad that you decided to finally create an account. It is people like you that makes ES what it is - great wealth of football knowledge. Loved reading your insights! Please keep on contributing. 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by zskins

[KDawg]

@Kingkylr1008 Awesome post! But you left Penei out! Very good insight!

[skinzplay]

6 hours ago, Berggy9598 said:

Key & Peele could have done another 100 football player name skits and they'd still never come up with a better one than Dicaprio Bootle

 

Maaaan, that dude with the last name Shower-Handel........I lost it when I saw that; all the hyphenated names these days. Anyway, this is a great thread (thanks to the OP!) and I am very thankful that we've got such a group of guys with deep insight. If you watched this draft unfold and went back to the evaluations of our guys on here like SIP, volsmet, stevemqueen, KDawg and others, it was easy to see how/why teams picked who they picked based on what those coaches like to do. A lot of the blowhards on the networks are good with hindsight justifications for picks. These guys here at ES are on the damn case!

 

And judging from the early stuff that's posted in this thread, the 2021 draft will be loaded at some positions of need for us. Having picks will be key so we don't have to sit for so long between our first and second pick like we had to do this year. Give Kyle and Rivera a bucket of picks, and I think we'll come out alright.

[KDawg]

I've already tweaked my system a touch.

 

Size/Strength

Athleticism

Tape (This is where I evaluate the player from a personal POV weighing whatever I feel like into the equation)

Football IQ

Technique

 

I'm not going to go into detail for each of my grades, I'll just give the actual final grades.

 

Of the OTs I already did:

Penei Sewell - 9.5

Alex Leatherwood - 8.8

Walker Little - 8.08

Sam Cosmi - 7.8

 

 

I also fully expect Little and Cosmi to be much higher on this scale after the upcoming season.

 

The current scale (again, I will be tweaking this):

 

All Pro - 9.6 and up

Pro Bowl Starter - 8.8 and up

Starter - 7.8 and up

Fringe Starter - 7 and up

Rotational - 6.5 and up

Role Player - 5.5 and up

Fringe Roster Spot - 5 and up

 

 

Again, this will be tweaked. Several times.

Edited April 26, 2020 by KDawg

[Skinsinparadise]

During the 2020 college season aside from Chase Young, the dude I hyped more than anyone was Devonta Smith.  He got lost sometimes in conversation about Alabama receivers because of the hype that Jeudy got and to a lesser extent Ruggs.  But he was really Tua's go to guy in some big games.  He has better hands IMO than both Jeudy and Ruggs. And has some good explosion to his game, can seperate. Really consistent. He needs to put on IMO 10 pounds, he's very scrawny.  LSU's Chase might be the best receiver I've seen in a long time, I'd take him over any of the 2020 class of receivers.    But he already has plenty of hype. Smith deserves some.  I think he's going to put up monster numbers this year.  Waddle is pretty good, too and brings some special teams ability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Skinsinparadise

[KDawg]

 

 

 

Jalen Mayfield, Underclassmen. 6-5, 319. RT.

 

He's got plenty of strength and size. But his feet are not very active and he lunges and plays off balance in both the run and the pass game more than I'd like to see out of an offensive line prospect. He doesn't do a great job moving his feet. He hops to set in his pass sets versus a tighter shade, which is a viable technique as long as you don't hop and then have your feet glue to the grass. He also doesn't have a great anchor. 

 

He seems better against wider rushers where he can kick out to them, though. He's decent at running the defender wide.

 

He has a strong punch in the run game and delivers a shot at the snap. Gets to the second level well enough, but in all phases his hand positioning and body positioning isn't where you'd like them to be. He does do a nice job of trying to block to the whistle, though. 

 

My Grade: 6.95

[DWinzit]

12 hours ago, KDawg said:

 

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Lawrence*    Clemson    6-6, 220
Justin Fields*    Ohio State    6-3, 223

 

Runningbacks:

Travis Etienne    Clemson    5-10, 200
Najee Harris    Alabama    6-2, 230

 

OT:

Penei Sewell*    Oregon    6-6, 325
Alex Leatherwood    Alabama    6-6, 322
Sam Cosmi    Texas    6-6, 295

 

IOL:

Trey Smith    Tennessee    6-6, 320    G
Trey Hill*    Georgia    6-4, 300    C
Creed Humphrey*    Oklahoma    6-5, 312    C

 

WR:

JaMarr Chase*    LSU    6-1, 200
Justyn Ross*    Clemson    6-4, 205
DeVonta Smith    Alabama    6-1, 175
Jaylen Waddle*    Alabama    5-10, 18

 

Tight End:
Jalen Wydermyer*    Texas A&M    6-5, 260
Matt Bushman    BYU    6-5, 245

 

LB:

Dylan Moses    Alabama    6-3, 233    ILB/OLB
Micah Parsons*    Penn State    6-3, 245    OLB/ILB

 

CB:

Shaun Wade*    Ohio State    6-1, 194
Patrick Surtain Jr*    Alabama    6-2, 203

 

Safety:
Richard LeCounte    Georgia    5-11, 190
 

It's early and I don't know a lot of the players well yet but I know I like the guys above

 

Will this thread be titled tank for Trevor or sink for Sewell? 

 

We already the loaded crop of QB's, T's WR's and RB's. Defensively I am a huge fan already of these guys in positions of probable needs:

Dylan Moses and want him to gain a couple pounds and run the defense from the middle for a decade.

Patrick Surtain and want him to remove the opponents #1 WR

And the IOL - Smith, Hill and Humphrey are killers

 

 

 

[88Comrade2000]

You know 2021 is going to be a crapshoot. Odds are slim there’s a 20 college football season; so you will be basing your assessments on what they did in 2019 and if they played in 2018 or earlier.

[Going Commando]

Cosmi was one of my favorite players to watch last season.  He's not as gifted as Penei but he's a barbarian too.  I could see him being Ryan Ramczyk type pick at the end of the first.

 

Speaking of Ramczyk, Wisconsin has another good left tackle prospect this year.  Van Lanen.  They crank these dudes out every couple of years.  I'll trust a Wisconsin tackle at the next level.

 

Etienne would have been the top back and first one drafted in this year's class.  He is a superstar.  Elite acceleration.  True ferocity and power.  High end creativity.  He's the best player in the ACC.

 

Najee Harris is one of my favorite players in the class too.  He is the most gifted RB in the class and he will draw physical and stylistic comparisons to Derek Henry and Todd Gurley.  He carries is size so well and he was the best skill player in that ridiculous Alabama offense last year, especially after Tua got hurt and they had to lean on Harris more.  Excited to see what he does this year if we have a season.  He's a Heisman candidate along with Lawrence and Etienne.

 

EDIT: Leveon Bell, that's who Najee Harris reminds me of.  It's actually eerie how similar they are.  They're even built the same way.  He's a Leveon Bell clone.

Edited April 26, 2020 by stevemcqueen1

[KDawg]

Just now, Rdskns2000 said:

You know 2021 is going to be a crapshoot. Odds are slim there’s a 20 college football season; so you will be basing your assessments on what they did in 2019 and if they played in 2018 or earlier.

I don’t think odds are slim theres a season. I do think odds are slim it’s a traditional season. Shortened schedule, minimal travel, lack of fans for at least a portion.

 

But given the worst case scenario of no season, it’s still not that much of a crapshoot. Every player is in the same boat. So their film is their film. 
 

I think you’d see a lot of the underclass men prospects stay who aren’t obvious first rounders.

 

Using OT as an example, Penei Sewell likely comes out regardless. But Jalen Mayfield probably stays.

[clskinsfan]

Ah. Right back at it I see. Way too early for me to do anything. Depending on Haskins next years draft could be all about this:

[jobaga]

Is it too early to start the Suck for Sewell campaign? Lose for Leatherwood? Cash Out for Cosmi? Asking for a friend....

[KDawg]

 

Liam Eichenberg. Left Tackle. 6-6, 305. Senior. 

 

Another prospect with excellent size. He's pretty good around the line of scrimmage in both run blocking and pass blocking. Meaning that as long as he's in his kick, power or run blocking set he's a better player than when he gets out into space. He doesn't have great anticipatory skills and he takes poor angles on some outside edge rushes and either over kicks or under powers down and in the running game he often finds himself at level 2 without anyone to block. But he seems to possess all the necessary traits for a developmental prospect and likely a bit better than that. He seems a little plodding when moving levels.

 

My grade: 7.6

[frontline205]

2 hours ago, clskinsfan said:

Ah. Right back at it I see. Way too early for me to do anything. Depending on Haskins next years draft could be all about this:

If Haskins doesn't work out we'll be in prime position to draft him most likely too. Although I really hope Haskins is our guy. On an unrelated note lawrence looks more like he'd fit in with the Raiders, Chargers, Rams, Jaguars, Dolphins, a team like that. Most of the Redskins quarterbacks have always come off more blue collar (except RGIII). However most of the Redskins QB's have also sucked too so there's that 

[Skinsinparadise]

Looks like we are the hot pick for first pick in next years draft

 

http://www.tankathon.com/nfl

 

2021 NFL Draft Order

 Mock Draft player rankings updated recently

PICK	TEAM	RECORD	WIN%	GB	SOS	STREAK
1	Washington	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
2	Jacksonville	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
3	Cincinnati	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
4	Carolina	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
5	NY Giants	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
6	Miami	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
7	Detroit	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
8	NY Jets	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
9	Las Vegas	0-0	.000	--	.000	--
10	LA Chargers	0-0	.000	--	.000

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

I like Surtain but I couldn't pass over Chase.  Two Chases in a row?  I haven't really sat down and studied Ja'Marr Chase but watching him in a real time and watching a lot of LSU games in preperation for this last draft -- the dude looked absolutely sick and unstoppable.  Though if AGG ends up the solution, I gather no need for a WR.  Will see. 

 

1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson

Jacksonville plans to roll the dice and ride with quarterback Gardner Minshew for the 2020 season. Well, that roll of the dice leads them to the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The good news is that the Jaguars just landed the biggest superstar the franchise has ever had.

2. Cincinnati Bengals: Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon

Penei Sewell is the best offensive tackle prospect to enter the NFL ranks since Laremy Tunsil. While the Bengals drafted Jonah Williams just two years ago, selecting Sewell will allow Williams to kick inside to guard and give the Bengals a brick wall on the left side of the offensive line.

3. Washington Redskins: Patrick Surtain Jr., CB, Alabama

The Redskins will be thinking long and hard about Justin Fields with this pick, but instead, they grab a potential lock-down cornerback, which is something the team desperately lacks in 2020.

4. Carolina Panthers: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State

Despite signing Teddy Bridgewater to a three-year deal this offseason, the Panthers will be thinking long term and select their quarterback of the future.

5. Miami Dolphins: Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU

During the 2020 draft, the Dolphins got their quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa and built a formidable offensive line in front of him. Now, they get him a big-time weapon in the passing game. Ja’Marr Chase was the best wide receiver in college football in 2019, and it is fair to expect an encore in 2020.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Skinsinparadise

[JamesMadisonSkins]

That mock has us taking Patrick Surtain and DeAndre Smith in Round 1/2. 
 

I think we end up picking between 8 and 18. 

[Berggy9598]

Brock Purdy can be my QB any day of the week. Above everything else he can do, his pocket poise is elite at times IMO. Interesting to see now that the height rule of thumb for an NFL QB is history, where he'll go if he has a strong senior season.