2021 NFL Draft scouting notes on Penei Sewell and some Day 3 sleepers

Digging into some under-the-radar prospects and an elite offensive lineman in this week’s 2021 NFL Draft scouting notes.

Auburn wide receiver and 2021 NFL Draft prospect Anthony Schwartz has been turning heads since he was in high school, when was named the Gatorade National Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year. He made a living with his speed his first couple of years at Auburn mainly on short passes and Jet Sweeps but started to look like more of a complete wide receiver this year.

The biggest area of improvement he made this year was being a downfield threat. An example of this is when he had a career-long 91-yard reception on a go route against LSU. To go along with his top-notch speed, Schwartz shows impressive agility which allows him to be an even bigger threat to pick up yards after the catch.

While he has made significant strides in order to be a more complete receiver this year he still has a few things to work on once he gets to the NFL. One of these things he still needs to learn is the finer points of route running. He also needs to improve his hands as he has a limited catch radius currently. I currently project Schwartz as a fourth or fifth-round prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft and think he would make sense looking to add a deep threat.

A couple of Redbird prospects

One of the toughest conferences in the FCS is the Missouri Valley, as this conference has produced the last three national champions in North Dakota State and also has the second-most players in the NFL with 21 guys starting the season on an NFL team. The 2021 NFL Draft looks like it will produce several other players who should be in the NFL next year. Two of these players play at Illinois State in safety Christian Uphoff and offensive tackle Drew Himmelman.

Uphoff is the more highly regarded player of these two as he is the first player in school history to make it to the Senior Bowl. What makes Uphoff such an intriguing prospect is his ability to contribute both on defense and special teams. On defense, he is a safety who has great size, coming in at 6-foot-3, and the cover skills to play at the next level.

On special teams, Uphoff has been one of the best return men in the nation, as he averaged 26.1 yards per kickoff return in 2018. It is worth mentioning that Uphoff has decided to skip the spring season this year, and instead start preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft.

One prospect you should be able to see this fall is offensive tackle, Drew Himmelman. Himmelman has imposing size coming in at 6-foot-10, which can be both a positive and negative. On the positive side, it allows him to have great length and keeps defenders at bay. On the negative side, if a defender is able to get to his body, he can get the leverage advantage on him and overpower him. Most likely Himmelman will not be drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft, but I could see an NFL team keeping him on the practice squad next year.

Franchise Left Tackle

The highest graded prospect in this year’s draft will most likely be Trevor Lawrence, however, he is not the only franchise player in the 2021 NFL Draft. The other prospect who very easily could turn out to be one of the best at his position is Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell. Like Lawrence, Sewell will also be a top-five pick and in fact, could be the second overall pick in the draft.

The reason people are so high on Sewell is his outstanding feet and the overall athletic ability he shows. He has the feet to play left tackle and will be very rarely beat off the edge by speedy pass rushers. He also is one of the more mobile linemen in the class and has no trouble getting to the second level.

One area I would like him to improve on is that he does have poor pad level at times, which makes him just an average run blocker. Overall, I would have no problem with my team taking Sewell as the first non-quarterback off the board in the 2021 NFL Draft. This is due to the fact that I expect him to be a starting left tackle in the NFL for the next decade.

Sleeper of the Week

This week’s sleeper prospect to watch is Oregon State running back Jermar Jefferson. During his career at Oregon State, Jefferson has put up strong numbers being named to the All-Pac-12 team after rushing for 858 yards and seven touchdowns in just six games.

He also was named the Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 1,380 yards in 2018. Unfortunately, he did see a dip in his production in 2019 though as he battled an ankle injury most of the year and was only able to gain 685 yards on the ground.

In terms of how his game will project to the next level, the first thing he has working in his favor is his vision. He does a terrific job of finding the correct running lane to run through, which is the main reason he has the second most 10+ yards in the PAC-12 since 2018 according to Pro Football Focus.

Another thing he has working in his favor is his excellent balance. He does a great job of bouncing off tacklers and picking up yards after contact. One more positive with Jefferson is his speed which allows him to outrun defenders once he is in the open field.

In terms of things to work on, he does need to improve his ability to be a receiver out of the backfield. He had a couple of critical drops this year and is not used much in Oregon States’ passing attack. His lack of size (5-foot-10, 217 pounds) will also cause him to slide in the draft. I look for Jefferson to be a day three pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but to compete for a starting role once he enters the league.