2021 NFL mock draft: 49ers and Patriots trade up for quarterbacks
By John Blair
2021 NFL mock draft Round 1, 13th overall
player. OT. Northwestern. Rashawn Slater. 13. 13. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis
The Chargers must upgrade their offensive line this offseason as they need to do a better job protecting franchise quarterback Justin Herbert. The team needs to improve its run blocking since they only ranked 30th in yards per carry last year with an average of only 3.8 yards per carry. The Chargers also could lose three of its top linemen in free agency as Sam Tevi, Forrest Lamp and Dan Feeney are set to be free agents, as well.
Northwestern’s Rashawn Slater would make sense for the Chargers for a variety of reasons. The first one being that he is a smart technically sound offensive lineman with great production. In 2019, Slater did not give up a single sack and only allowed one pressure on the season. Another reason he makes sense for the Chargers is he has the ability to play either guard or tackle in the NFL, which is important for Los Angeles as the team has multiple holes to fill across its offensive line.
2021 NFL mock draft Round 1, 14th overall
DE. Gregory Rousseau. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 60. Miami. 14
Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer stressed at the end of the 2020 season that one of the team’s goals this offseason was to upgrade the pass rush. This is a tremendous need for the Vikings as they ranked 28th in the NFL last season in sacks per game registering just 1.4 sacks a game. To make matters worse, the team’s leader in sacks last year was Yannick Ngakoue and he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens in the middle of the 2020 season.
A player who knows how to get after the passer is Miami’s Gregory Rousseau. Before sitting out the 2020 season, Rousseau recorded 15.5 sacks in 2019 which placed him second in the nation in that category. As a pass rusher, he shows tremendous quickness off the ball and is one of the best athletes in the 2021 NFL Draft defensive end class. If he continues to develop he should be able to record double-digit sack numbers consistently.