2021 NFL Draft: Quarterbacks fall and a major run on tackle in mock draft

Struggling along the defensive line since losing their previous dominant combination of pass-rushers in Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter, the Minnesota Vikings look to rekindle what they once possessed by selecting the first of their dominant conventional 4-3 defensive ends.

Producing more via his athleticism than technique, Michigan’s Kwity Paye is a rare combination of size, strength, burst, and bendiness which will challenge NFL offensive tackles regardless of their savvy and technical polish. At six-foot-four, 271-pounds, Paye has excellent size packed into sufficient length providing a stocky, muscular frame that out-leverages much of his opposition with a lower center of gravity.

Having been measured at Michigan posting at 4.57 40-yard dash and 4.15 shuttle, Paye has become a generational athletic talent who could hone in his athletic ability with technical refinement over the course of his rookie contract to become a potential NFL sack-leader.

A full-season after losing franchise legend Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New England Patriots bring in a 2021 NFL Draft prospect who has drawn numerous comparisons to the greatest of all time with his mental capacity and control over the game pre-snap.

Demonstrating his innate ability to manage the Alabama offense throughout the course of the national championship game, quarterback Mac Jones has shot up 2021 NFL Draft boards with his intellect and conventional arm strength. A taste of the old, Jones is a quarterback prospect more reminiscent of early-2000’s legends such as Peyton and Roethlisberger than a new-age athlete.

Winning their first super bowl with Brady in 2004 on the shoulders of an all-time defense, Belichick and company could be preparing for a similar run with a young signal-caller under center seeing the depth of talent spread throughout the New England Patriots’ defensive personnel.