2021 NFL Draft: Five quarterbacks go in first round of new mock draft

Pick 11 – New York Giants

If the New York Giants were picking earlier and could land Lawrence, Wilson or Fields then a quarterback would be in play. However, being down in the order they go a different route in the 2021 NFL Draft by taking an edge rusher to improve the defense and stick with Daniel Jones.

Like Chase, Gregory Rousseau didn’t play during the 2020 season after a breakout 2019 season. This could be a knock against him as he really only had one strong season with Miami, but it was an impressive one at that. During the 2019 season, Rousseau totaled 19.5 tackles for loss as well as 15.5 sacks while also forcing two fumbles on the year.

The Giants are lacking a strong edge rush and that’s exactly what Rousseau would provide. While the sample size is a bit small with only 14 career games at the collegiate level, the ability is still clearly there.

Pick 12 – Jacksonville Jaguars (Trade with San Francisco 49ers)

The Jacksonville Jaguars will enter with a second first-round pick in addition to the first overall and while they don’t have a dire need for a wide receiver, this opportunity will be hard to pass up. Seeing the best wide receiver in the class falling, the Jaguars move up in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers.

With D.J. Chark and Laviska Shenault, the Jacksonville wide receiver group is solid, but adding Devonta Smith to the group with Trevor Lawrence taking the snaps could make for an instant transformation for this offense. This would provide Lawrence with ample options and give him a player to build chemistry with from day one.

For Smith, he went off in Alabama’s playoff game and should go higher than this, but that’s not always the way the draft goes. Most of the teams in the first half of the 2021 NFL Draft have wide receivers set or have bigger needs, causing Smith to tumble down in this mock draft.