First Round | Picks 11-20
11. Washington Football Team: DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
The Team With No Name needs a quarterback, but I believe head coach Ron Rivera will seek a veteran solution now that Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields are well out of reach.
DeVonta Smith is having another great season as part of a deep Alabama receiving corps. Smith uses elite speed to set up shorter routes, is a nifty route runner, can contribute in the screen-reverse game, and has plenty of experience in the spotlight. And we all know Washington loves to draft Alabama players. Pairing Smith with Terry McLaurin would set the next Washington quarterback (Sam Darnold? Jameis Winston? Matthew Stafford? Carson Wentz? Dwayne Haskins in glasses and a fake mustache?) with a formidable receiving tandem.
12. Detroit Lions: Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State
Trey Lance is a mystery box tucked inside a mystery box. Anyone claiming to be able to evaluate an FCS quarterback who was forced to essentially take his senior year of college off is trying to sell you their draft guide. Lance has the tools of Good Josh Allen, but in his lone appearance of 2020, he looked much more like Bad Josh Allen: understandable under the circumstances, but a reminder of the risks involved in drafting him.
The next Lions brain trust will get a mulligan year to overhaul the roster. That gives them a perfect opportunity to groom Matthew Stafford’s successor without worrying about expectations. Lance makes sense as a two-year developmental project, and he’s the best pure talent the Lions are going to get at the position, a perfect fit for Detroit in my first-round 2021 NFL mock draft.
If you would prefer some edge rusher or cornerback here, then you are choosing Lions business as usual over a bold move to start fresh. Business as usual hasn’t worked for the Lions for 75 years.
13. Chicago Bears: Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
As the old saying goes, if there are three first-round quarterbacks in a draft class, four quarterbacks will get drafted in the first round. Zach Wilson looks to me like your typical Day Two prospect: nice frame, decent athleticism, the ability to loft deep passes to wide-open targets against BYU’s hinky schedule of opponents.
His release quickness, velocity, accuracy, and decision making are all boxes that probably won’t be confidently filled in when he’s drafted. But the Bears cannot come away from the 2021 draft class without a new quarterback, even if that quarterback shares many similar traits with Mitch Trubisky.
Feel free to flip Lance and Wilson based on Wilson’s impressive performance in BYU’s loss to Coastal Carolina if you like. Just remember: it was a loss — against Coastal Carolina.
14. San Francisco 49ers: Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama
Jaylen Waddle was having an excellent year before suffering an ankle injury in mid-October. The injury is unlikely to impact his draft stock much, though teammate DeVonta Smith and one or two others may slip past him in a deep crop of receivers simply by producing more tape.
Waddle lists at 5-foot-10 but plays like he’s 6-foot-2: he presents a surprisingly big downfield target with the leaping ability to extend his catch radius, yet he’s also shifty with the ball in his hands. The latter skill makes him ideal for Kyle Shanahan’s short-passing offense; the former makes him appealing for Jimmy Garoppolo, who is reluctant to throw the ball downfield unless he’s really double-deluxe extra certain that his receiver can make a play on it.
15. Arizona Cardinals: Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson
Many mock drafts I peeked at over the last month or so linked Travis Etienne with the Cardinals. It may not be the best value or need fit. I think lots of folks just want to see Etienne paired with Kyler Murray in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. And you know what? So do I. So let’s roll with this in my first-round 2021 NFL mock draft.
16. New England Patriots: Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida
The Patriots need a wide receiver. But never, ever, EVER let the Patriots draft a wide receiver in the first round: it’s literally the one thing (besides dressing himself) that Bill Belichick cannot do.
Tight end is a safer position for the team that built an offense around Rob Gronkowski in the past. Kyle Pitts is no Gronk (that would be an unfair comparison for any prospect), but he can play a T.J. Hockenson-type role: he has the hands and quick release of a wide receiver, yet he’s feisty enough as a blocker from the H-back position to be useful in the running game.
Pitts will give whoever quarterbacks the Patriots next year one reliable weapon. Then they need about four more.
17. Baltimore Ravens: Wyatt Davis, OG, Ohio State
The Ravens missed former All-Pro guard Marshal Yanda far more than they thought they would this season. His absence took away some of the interior rushing lanes that Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense counted upon, and everything fell apart for a while when tackle Ronnie Stanley was later lost for the year. Davis has Zack Martin-like potential at guard: great lower body strength/base/anchor, surprising agility, and a mean finish, making him a worthy candidate to fill Yanda’s shoes and bring the fun back to the Ravens offense.
18. Las Vegas Raiders: Kwity Paye, Edge, Michigan
The Raiders made Clelin Ferrell the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft, then swung around in the fourth round and added midmajor marvel Maxx Crosby. Ferrell has turned into a stout run defender who provides minimal pass rush (though he delivered a huge sack against the Jets in Week 13), Crosby a “flash” rusher who produces bunches of sacks and hurries, then disappears for a while. The Raiders pass rush, in other words, looks better on paper than it really is. The same can be said of most of the roster.
Kwity Paye is a size-speed marvel with a powerful lower body and tremendous burst. He was having an outstanding 2020 season before suffering some injuries that won’t impact his draft stock. Paye is technically raw, but Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden love raw talent.
19. New York Giants: Joseph Ossai, Edge, Texas
Ossai reminds me a little of Khalil Mack coming out of college. He’s the complete package as a pass rusher, but he can also drop into pass coverage without needing a GPS tracker, and he makes a lot of hustle plays in pursuit. He has elite quickness when getting upfield and bending back toward the quarterback, which should make him an instant-impact NFL pass rusher.
The Giants haven’t had a truly dangerous edge rusher since Olivier Vernon left town (now, Markus Golden doesn’t quite qualify) and haven’t really scared opponents with their pass rush since the days of Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul. Assai could go a long way toward making the Giants look like the Giants again.
20. Minnesota Vikings: Alijah Vera-Tucker, OG, USC
The Vikings want to pound the ball down opponents’ throats while paying Kirk Cousins eight figures to hand off and look busy — and for some reason, that’s precisely what they want to do — then they need to beef up their interior line. Vera-Tucker is huge, quick, and technically sound. Stick him in the middle of the line, let Dalvin Cook run behind him, and party like it’s 1977 while the division-rival Lions and Bears embark on rebuilding projects.