NFL mock draft 2021: Four quarterbacks in the top five, Watson stays put

We finally have made it to the final pick in the first round of this 2021 NFL mock draft. Here, the reigning Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have some decisions to make. Maybe by the time they are on the clock in April, they will have a little bit better idea of what holes they need to fill, but as of now, there could be a lot of them.

Many key players from the team’s successful 2020 campaign are set to hit free agency. Guys like Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Leonard Fournette, Shaq Barrett, Ndamakong Suh and Lavonte David are not under contract for 2021. The Bucs only have so much cap space and one franchise tag, so they could be saying goodbye to some key players that might be looking for a big payday.

While I think the team will make every effort to hold onto him, they just might not be able to afford to bring back Chris Godwin. While Mike Evans and even Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski got a lot of the hype down the stretch, Godwin was key to the team’s success throughout the season. Godwin stuck it out and played with pins in his hand this season. As a wide receiver.

With Godwin’s production over the past few years, he might earn himself a big payday elsewhere. If that is the case, the Bucs would be wide to get a dynamic player to fill his shoes. Particularly if they lose Brown as well, they will need to add a receiver as Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller can only make up some much.

Elijah Moore is a guy that I am really starting to like in this 2021 NFL mock draft process. Although just 5-foot-9, Moore is a true playmaker. Where Ole Miss receivers in the past hung their hat on size and physicality (D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown) Moore is about as shifty and as speedy as they come.

Often lining up in the slot, as Godwin has done for the Buccaneers, Moore is a good route runner with the speed and elusiveness to take any catch the distance. He is a great deep ball threat with great ball tracking skills and impressive catching ability on 50/50 balls for someone his size.

Moore’s shiftiness is on display with his route running and with the ball in his hands. At Ole Miss, they often used Moore like the Kansas City Chiefs use Tyreek Hill. Jet sweeps, dummy motions, screens and seam routes… Elijah Moore can impact the game in a variety of ways.

Although they held him in check in the Super Bowl, I’m sure the Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw what a player like Tyreek Hill can do for an offense. While he is certainly not at that level quite yet, adding a player like Moore with that kind of potential could be game-changing for their offense.