2021 NFL Draft: Top five needs for all 32 teams
The 2021 NFL Draft is only eight months away. What are every team’s top needs?
The 2021 NFL Draft is only eight months away, and hopefully, before then there will be a full NFL season and at least somewhat of a college football season.
At this point, there’s no telling what could happen with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting everyone in the country. With that said, major college programs are already announcing 10-game inter-conference schedules for a revised 2020 season and along with that, big-name athletes are opting out.
At the time of this writing, the highest-ranked prospects to opt-out of the 2021 NFL Draft are players who have been projected in the first round of our mock drafts: Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons, Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley, and Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman.
Not that they weren’t obvious candidates anyway, but all three of those players were on our list of potential opt-outs simply based on the fact that they currently have solid first-round standing.
Based on where NFL rosters stand today and looking forward to issues teams could run into with pending free agents, aging veterans, or other draft picks who simply aren’t working out, how might every team’s top needs in 2020 look?
In no particular order, here are every team’s top five roster needs looking beyond the 2020 season and into the 2021 NFL Draft.
AFC East
New England Patriots. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. WR, IDL, QB, LB, OG. . 47. Top Needs
Top Needs. WR, CB, EDGE, OL, TE. New York Jets. . 30. Pick Analysis. player. Scouting Report
WR, RT, S, WR, IOL. 59. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. Miami Dolphins. . player
player. 16. Scouting Report. OG, CB, LB, EDGE, WR. Top Needs. Buffalo Bills. . Pick Analysis
NFC East
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. S, IDL, TE, EDGE, CB. Dallas Cowboys. Top Needs. . player. 123
Scouting Report. Top Needs. 54. Pick Analysis. LB, CB, S, IOL, EDGE. Philadelphia Eagles. . player
Top Needs. New York Giants. . Pick Analysis. LB, EDGE, OT, CB, WR. player. 31. Scouting Report
AFC West
player. Scouting Report. Top Needs. Las Vegas Raiders. 28. Pick Analysis. IOL, QB, IDL, S, LB.
OT, WR, CB, TE, RB. Los Angeles Chargers. . player. 13. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Top Needs
OT, LB, CB, S, DL. Denver Broncos. . Pick Analysis. Top Needs. player. 45. Scouting Report
124. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. Kansas City Chiefs. player. . Scouting Report. CB, OT, IOL, WR, EDGE
NFC West
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. . player. 36. Top Needs. OT, IOL, EDGE, IDL, CB. Seattle Seahawks
. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. EDGE, OT, LB, CB, IOL. Los Angeles Rams. player. 51
Pick Analysis. player. Scouting Report. Top Needs. IOL, DL, RB, TE, CB. Arizona Cardinals. . 32
San Francisco 49ers. . 42. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. CB, S, WR, IOL, LB. Scouting Report. player
AFC North
DL, OT, QB, CB, RB. . player. Pick Analysis. Pittsburgh Steelers. 55. Scouting Report. Top Needs
. player. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. EDGE, IOL, S, DL, TE. 26. Scouting Report. Baltimore Ravens
Pick Analysis. OT, IOL, EDGE, TE, CB. 56. Scouting Report. Top Needs. Cincinnati Bengals. . player
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. Cleveland Browns. 53. WR, S, EDGE, IOL, DL. . player
NFC North
EDGE, CB, WR, IOL, IDL. Minnesota Vikings. Top Needs. Pick Analysis. . player. 60. Scouting Report
Chicago Bears. 57. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. QB, RB, WR, IOL, IDL. . player
Pick Analysis. WR, DL, OT, LB, CB. Detroit Lions. 50. player. Scouting Report. Top Needs.
Pick Analysis. Top Needs. WR, LB, CB, OT, TE. Green Bay Packers. player. 49. Scouting Report.
AFC South
Pick Analysis. Top Needs. OL, TE, EDGE, DL, CB. Houston Texans. player. 10. Scouting Report.
Jacksonville Jaguars. player. Scouting Report. Top Needs. EDGE, OT, RB, QB, S. Pick Analysis. . 52
Top Needs. Indianapolis Colts. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. CB, S, OT, EDGE, TE. . 46
Pick Analysis. player. 35. Scouting Report. Top Needs. WR, EDGE, DL, TE, IOL. Tennessee Titans.
NFC South
Pick Analysis. Top Needs. . player. 15. Scouting Report. WR, CB, LB, TE, QB. New Orleans Saints
48. QB, RB, WR, EDGE, IOL. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. . player
QB, IOL, OT, LB, TE. 87. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. Carolina Panthers. . player
EDGE, LB, DL, RB, WR. Atlanta Falcons. . 44. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Top Needs. player
The order of all of these needs could change significantly over the course of the next eight months, but with free agency potentially limited by a lower salary cap number in 2021, they may only expand.
Teams are going to have to be creative in the way they address needs in the 2021 NFL Draft, and the draft itself is going to be crucial for addressing these needs with free agent spending and on-hand cash for teams uncertain at this point in time.