The 2021 NFL Draft is loaded with intrigue at the quarterback position, starting at the top of the class with Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence who has been touted as a possible number one overall pick since he was in high school.
For some quarterback prospects, the writing is on the wall. It’s possible that Trevor Lawrence has known exactly where he was going to be playing football in 2021 for months already.
For other guys, the process has continued to play out, and teams are already jockeying for position to take quarterbacks near the top of the 2021 Draft.
The Jaguars hold the top pick, but the New York Jets will likely take a quarterback right behind them, and the San Francisco 49ers traded up from 12 to 3 so they could also take a quarterback.
The top three picks will likely be quarterbacks, but where will the top prospects in this year’s draft all land?
Some fits may be obvious. Others? Maybe not so much.
2021 NFL Draft top 10 quarterbacks
- Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
- Zach Wilson, BYU
- Justin Fields, Ohio State
- Trey Lance, North Dakota State
- Mac Jones, Alabama
- Kellen Mond, Texas A&M
- Jamie Newman, Wake Forest
- Kyle Trask, Florida
- Davis Mills, Stanford
- Feleipe Franks, Arkansas
It’s possible that all of these players will be selected before the conclusion of the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Although it’s extremely difficult to find starting-caliber players beyond round one these days, it’s certainly not impossible with the right player in the right situation with the proper development.
Let’s go through each one of these players and predict where they might land later on this month.
No theatrics, no surprise here.
Lawrence has been projected to be the first overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars literally since the 2020 NFL Draft came to a conclusion. Regardless of who this team had as their head coach or GM, Lawrence was expected to be the pick for them and that has all but come to fruition.
Although terms like “generational” are thrown around way too loosely these days, Lawrence is really about as polished as you will ever see a quarterback prospect coming out of the college ranks.
Not since Andrew Luck has a guy had such high expectations early on in his career and lived up to them — and then some.
Lawrence helped lead Clemson to a National Title and was always a major difference-maker for them, not only as a passer but as a runner as well when he was asked to do so.
With Urban Meyer running the show in Jacksonville, it will be fascinating to see how Lawrence makes his initial transition to the pro game, but there is every reason to believe that he will be capable of breaking Justin Herbert’s rookie records he set last year in Los Angeles with the Chargers.
With a top-three at receiver of DJ Chark, Laviska Shenault, and veteran Marvin Jones, the Jaguars should be able to add even more weapons after drafting Lawrence and put together a formidable unit in 2021.
Although he’s also capable of doing the routine stuff, the amount of “flash” to Zach Wilson’s game is very Patrick Mahomes-like.
This is not to say that Wilson is Patrick Mahomes, of course. Putting that kind of pressure on any player would be ridiculous. But the way this guy is able to make throws to all levels of the field regardless of what direction he’s moving or if he is even able to set his feet is something very few guys in the NFL can do.
The New York Jets have Sam Darnold on the roster right now, and until he’s traded, the possibility that they could go a different direction than quarterback remains exactly that — a possibility.
At this point, however, the momentum seems to have shifted firmly to Zach Wilson being the Jets’ quarterback of the future, especially after the spectacle he put on in front of many big coaches and executives at the BYU pro day.
Among those in attendance were Jets GM Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh.
Wilson is not a “backyard” quarterback but he excels when he has to go off-script. As strong as he is throwing on the move or outside the pocket, he should be a perfect fit for the Mike LaFleur offense in New York.
Pegging Justin Fields’ ideal fit in the NFL is not particularly easy at this point.
He is certainly not unanimously the third-best quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft but there are those who feel like Fields would be a QB1 in many other classes.
With his combination of arm talent, athleticism, and playmaking ability, some team could be getting a major steal in Fields if he lasts past the top three or four selections, which he very well could based on the rumor mill 28 days out from the NFL Draft.
Why the New England Patriots for Fields?
After Tom Brady left, the New England Patriots changed their offensive philosophy and molded their gameplan around former league MVP Cam Newton. Newton added an element in the running game that the Patriots simply would have been wasting their time with when Brady was under center.
Apparently, they liked the foundation that was set last season because they brought Newton back on another one-year contract worth up to $14 million.
That is a nice bargain for a player with Newton’s history in this league, but the Patriots have also set up their roster for some long-term success with wild spending in free agency.
It would be somewhat out of character for the Patriots to do it, but why not strike a deal with the Detroit Lions at 7 and jump both the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos to get Fields?
Fields would be an ideal heir apparent to Cam Newton and would be stepping into a situation where New England knows they have to be aggressive. Their free agency spending shows how displeased they were with Buffalo looking like one of the most improved teams in the league this past season.
Adding Fields would give the Patriots a guy they could build around and steal some of Buffalo/Josh Allen’s thunder.
The Carolina Panthers have committed long-term to Matt Rhule and the culture he wants to build for their franchise, and there might be no move that screams “long-term” more than drafting Trey Lance.
Whether they are able to stick with the 8th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft or not to make this pick remains a mystery, but the Panthers are as good of a team fit for Trey Lance as any.
Lance, for what it’s worth, could wind up going to the San Francisco 49ers with the third overall pick, even the Atlanta Falcons with the fourth overall pick.
The talent for this guy is there. The desire to get better is there. The experience, however, is not really there.
Still, Lance’s 2019 campaign where he racked up 28 touchdown passes, 14 rushing touchdowns, and zero interceptions is arguably the most impressive individual season performance of any player in this 2021 draft class.
The Panthers’ roster is still a work in progress, but adding a player like Lance who could sit behind Teddy Bridgewater for however long they would want, and they could take a page out of the Baltimore Ravens’ model for success by emphasizing Lance’s running skills and setting him up for high-percentage passing situations.
Where there are billows of smoke, there’s bound to be some fire.
The rumor mill has been swirling since the San Francisco 49ers traded for the third overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft and, surprisingly, many of those rumors have centered around Mac Jones being a player the 49ers could target.
Would the 49ers really take Mac Jones over Trey Lance and Justin Fields? At this point, who really knows?
We know that Kyle Shanahan has had success in the past or has absolutely loved quarterbacks who might have similar scouting reports to that of Mac Jones:
- Kirk Cousins
- Matt Ryan
- Jimmy Garoppolo
- Brian Hoyer
- Matt Schaub
Although Shanahan would not likely scoff at the chance to work with a quarterback who is more talented in the speed department, it’s clear that he has identified a “type” at the quarterback position and Mac Jones fits that bill.
It makes things all the more fascinating that Shanahan and 49ers GM John Lynch didn’t go to Trey Lance’s pro day (apparently for fear their interest in trading up would be found out) and they also went to Mac Jones’ second pro day instead of watching Justin Fields at Ohio State.
Jones is mobile enough to run Shanahan’s offense and the 49ers have a strong core of players to surround him with so he could step into the NFL and have early success.
The Chicago Bears let former second overall pick Mitch Trubisky walk in the 2021 offseason and they replaced him with former second-round pick Andy Dalton.
Dalton, an established veteran at this point, was apparently assured that he will be the Bears’ starter in 2021 but Chicago is not fooling anyone that he is their long-term play at the position.
The Bears, Washington Football Team, or any team picking behind the New England Patriots is probably at a substantial disadvantage when it comes to any possibility of trading up for a quarterback in this year’s draft unless they make a ridiculous offer to some team picking in the top seven.
Therefore, I think the Bears should set their sights on the player who could possibly be the best option on day two of the 2021 NFL Draft — Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond.
Chris Simms, who has been fairly spot-on in his pre-draft QB rankings over the past few years, thinks extremely highly of Mond.
. @CSimmsQB 2021 NFL Draft QB Rankings pic.twitter.com/VlxsNXhW2h
— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 3, 2021
Mond has big-time arm talent and he’s a very athletic quarterback with a ton of experience against top SEC competition.
There’s plenty to like about Mond and for the Bears, he’s a high-upside option in round two that you could reasonably at some point in the 2021 season replace Andy Dalton with if things are not going well with the Red Rifle under center.
The Denver Broncos could be much bigger players in the 2021 NFL Draft at the quarterback position than Jamie Newman, who will likely go sometime in the third round.
New general manager George Paton has gone through his in-depth film evaluation on 2020 starter and former John Elway second-round pick Drew Lock, and after watching that film, he has been going on the pro day circuit to see some top QB prospects.
Of note, Paton has been to Provo to see Zach Wilson, he’s been to Columbus to see Justin Fields, and he’s been to Fargo to see Trey Lance.
The Denver Broncos could very well go with a quarterback with their top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but they could also come away from that pro day circuit and think that what they saw from Drew Lock they liked better than what they saw from the guys they’ve got a realistic shot at from those pro days, which would at this point seem to be Justin Fields or Trey Lance.
Paton has passed on three opportunities to see Mac Jones in person — the Senior Bowl and his two pro days — so unless the Broncos are trying to veil interest there, they would be drafting Mac without Paton seeing him throw in person.
Paton has talked early on about his relationship with the scouting staff in Denver and how well they’ve been working together early on, and director of scouting Brian Stark undoubtedly had a big hand in the team picking up a handful of Demon Deacons in the 2020 NFL Draft class (Justin Strnad, Essang Bassey, and Kendall Hinton).
As heavily as the Broncos scouted Wake Forest in 2019, it’s entirely possible that this team has liked Jamie Newman for quite some time.
George Paton did not attend the Wake Forest pro day, but the Broncos were represented there, and if the team intends to move forward with Drew Lock (or maybe trade for Sam Darnold) an upside play like Newman could make some sense on day two or early day three.
Sean Payton is going into the 2021 season without Drew Brees, the first time he will be doing that since the mid-2000s.
Jameis Winston will be back for the 2021 season and will have a chance to compete for the starting job with Taysom Hill, which could be one of the weirdest quarterback competitions in the league.
Winston and Hill could not be more different in terms of their style of play or abilities, so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to think the Saints could look at a quarterback within the top 100 picks.
In fact, they probably should.
Although Kyle Trask has been dinged for looking like he’s running with cement blocks in his pants at times, he proved over the course of 2019/20 that he is capable of being at least a solid backup option at the NFL level.
Trask, stylistically, is pretty similar to Jameis Winston. They are not the fleetest of foot but they can spread the ball around from the pocket.
I think in the third or fourth round, the Saints could do worse than Kyle Trask as a developmental option behind Winston and Taysom Hill, who will undoubtedly still serve a role in the offense if Winston is the primary QB.
Quickly becoming one of the most interesting prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft class, there may not be a better fit for Davis Mills than right behind the GOAT, Tom Brady.
Fresh off of their Super Bowl victory, the Buccaneers have been racking up Ws in the 2021 offseason by bringing back essentially their entire roster for another run at things this season.
With that being said, the Bucs currently don’t have a quarterback under contract behind Tom Brady. Perhaps they’ll be able to bring Blaine Gabbert back for another year, but the Bucs should think about bringing in a talented prospect who can replace the kind of low-risk, high-reward option that departed when Josh Rosen moved out to San Francisco.
Davis Mills was once a very highly-regarded recruit in high school who has a very live arm to all levels of the field and plenty of throws on tape that have talent evaluators intrigued.
He only started 13 games at Stanford but the talent is certainly there for Mills to be an effective starter with the right team around him in the NFL.
The star-studded Buccaneers would fit that description, no doubt.
The Washington Football Team made a pretty bold move to go out and get Ryan Fitzpatrick in free agency, a necessary move considering the team’s draft position (19th overall).
They also went out and picked up Curtis Samuel, giving this roster some intriguing firepower offensively at the skill positions for Fitzpatrick to work with.
Washington could certainly try to make a bold move up for a quarterback but who knows if anyone is really going to want to move down this far unless they’re basically offering an arm and a leg?
Washington might be in a position to go after a talented day-two prospect like Kellen Mond, but if they believe they can win this year with Fitzpatrick and Taylor Heinicke they might go for a day three shot like Feleipe Franks, who might be one of the more underrated QB prospects in this class.
Franks started his college career at Florida before transferring to Arkansas where he showed greatly improved accuracy in 2020.
In addition to being a ridiculous athlete with a massive frame, Franks may have the strongest arm in the entire 2021 NFL Draft class.
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Feleipe Franks with a dime in The Swamp to put Arkansas on the board 💪 pic.twitter.com/soPYKzaMsK
This guy can throw absolute dots from any part of the field. Consistency has been an issue for him in the past, but there is no question about his ability to sling the ball all over the yard.
He has a cannon, runs a 4.61 at 6-foot-6, 234 pounds, and has all of the tools.
This is a worthy dart throw for a team like Washington with a very good defense and some nice offensive weapons.