2021 NFL Draft: 5 players who could be surprise first-round picks

To put it bluntly, this year’s class of edge rushers is going to require a leap of faith from any NFL team drafting them early on.

With that in mind, Ronnie Perkins stands as good of a chance as any of his tape convincing NFL teams that he is worthy of a top 32 selection.

At 6-foot-3, 251 pounds, you would think that the name of Perkins’ game is speed, but he’s much more impressive with the power in his hand punch.

That doesn’t mean that Perkins can’t win with speed — he can — but he undoubtedly wants to let offensive tackles know that he is going to be a problem early on with his punch and strength to knock them back.

He will need to be grilled about a suspension he served while at Oklahoma due to a failed drug test, but this guy can get after the quarterback. He had 16.5 sacks and 32 tackles for loss in three seasons for the Sooners.

A well-rounded edge defender, there’s no question that Perkins could buck the mock draft trend and hear his name called in the first round next month.