2021 SB Nation NFL writers’ mock draft

With the 31st pick in the 2021 SB Nation mock draft, Baltimore Beatdown selects Trevon Moehrig, safety, TCU. Moehrig joins Terrace Marshall Jr. to round out the Ravens’ first round.

Moehrig is the perfect “but they needed a ______” pick. In this scenario, the Ravens already rounded out their receiver room, fulfilling one perceived need. Ignoring edge rushers and the offensive line is a bold move, as the Ravens don’t pick again until the 94th pick. However, the Ravens have hosted Alejandro Villanueva and Justin Houston, with strong rumors that at least one will be signed after the May 3 deadline for the compensatory formula. If those deals are in place, the Ravens will get to prove their affinity for taking the best player available. Moehrig certainly fits the description, as you’ll struggle to find many pundits with a low grade on the rangy, intelligent, playmaking safety.

The first-round selections to this point in SB Nation’s NFL writers’ mock draft weren’t kind to the Bills, who had to watch and wait as talented players were snapped up by other teams. That’s how it goes when picking at the end of the round, which is unfamiliar territory for this franchise.

Though Brandon Beane re-signed nearly every contributor to last year’s squad that appeared in the AFC Championship, and added key depth and pieces like Emmanuel Sanders, the team still needs to upgrade where it can, if it hopes to conquer the AFC and compete for the Super Bowl.

Coming into the draft Green Bay has a few key holes to fill, not only for 2021, but 2022 and beyond as well. Although an extension for Davante Adams is expected before training camp, Green Bay currently has zero wide receivers on the roster in 2022 (Allen Lazard will be a restricted free agent).

Green Bay also has potential holes on the offensive line as All-Pro center Corey Linsley joined former Packer Bryan Bulaga in the beautiful Los Angeles sun, and future Hall of Famer David Bakhtiari will likely start the season on the PUP list as he recovers from an ACL tear. Adding talent to the interior of the defensive line has been a constant need since injuries forced Green Bay to cut bait with Mike Daniels two years ago. Despite this, the Packers biggest current need is undoubtedly cornerback.

With the NFL draft quickly approaching, teams are finalizing draft boards to fit needs and solidify depth. One area of need for the New Orleans Saints is the linebacker position. With offseason losses such as Kwon Alexander, Alex Anzalone, and Craig Robertson, the Saints are in the market for an impact player at linebacker.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is just the type of player the Saints need to fill that void, which is why Canal Street Chronicles selected him with the No. 28 pick in SB Nation’s 2021 NFL writers’ mock draft.

The Pittsburgh Steelers come in the 2021 draft with some needs to address, especially along the trenches. The Steelers can certainly use help along the offensive line, especially at tackle and center, but with the exit of Bud Dupree and Ola Adeniyi, they could also use depth and talent at EDGE.

However, at the spot they currently are in the draft, they wouldn’t be in the wrong to go BPA in this scenario, and that’s exactly what Behind the Steel Curtain decided to do at No. 24.

We’ve reached the Jets’ second first-round pick in SB Nation’s 2021 NFL writers’ mock draft, and since they locked up quarterback Zach Wilson at No. 2, that frees them up to go in a number of directions with pick No. 23.

Gang Green Nation selected Caleb Farley, cornerback, Virginia Tech.

The Titans have an opportunity with the No. 22 pick to fill the void left by wide receiver Corey Davis, who signed with the New York Jets during free agency. That’s ultimately what Gang Green Nation decided to do in our writers’ mock draft, selecting Rashod Bateman out of Minnesota.

From Music City Miracles’ Justin Melo:

The Indianapolis Colts are, surprisingly, entering the 2021 NFL Draft with quite a few needs, despite their 11-5 finish in 2020. While offensive tackle, and maybe wide receiver, could make more sense in the first round, the defensive end position is the most glaring need in my eyes.

While the Colts had one of the better interior defensive line rotations in the league last year, the struggles off the edge were apparent in the biggest games of the season. With their top two pass rushers from last year currently not on the roster (Denico Autry signed with the Titans and Justin Houston remains a free agent), the Colts desperately need an impact defensive end in this class.

As the 2021 NFL Draft approaches, the general consensus is that the Bears will upgrade their offensive line pretty early.

With a sizable hole at the offensive tackle position, the Bears are expected to draft a player at the position with a selection in the first three rounds for the first time in 10 years, when they took Gabe Carimi in Round 1 back in 2011.

DeVonta Smith is exactly what the Eagles need at wide receiver: Dependability and polish. Other receivers in the class might be bigger or faster or have higher upsides, but it’s hard to argue against DeVonta Smith coming in the league and easily catching 80 passes in his first year without breaking a sweat, which is exactly what the Eagles need.

From Bleeding Green Nation’s Brandon Lee Gowton:

With the 11th overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected an undersized and not-terribly-productive, yet explosively athletic, wide receiver out of the SEC.

The Giants were widely expected to use the 11th overall pick on offensive tackle turned guard Zack Martin or athletic tight end Eric Ebron — with undersized defensive tackle Aaron Donald a distant and not terribly popular third choice. Instead, the Giants drafted 5’11, 193-pound wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. out of LSU at 11th overall, much to the consternation of old school Giants fans.

With the 10th overall pick in our 2021 NFL writers’ mock draft, Blogging the Boys selects cornerback Patrick Surtain II out of Alabama.

If the name sounds familiar to you, perhaps you remember his father, Patrick Surtain Sr. The elder Surtain was a two-time All Pro who spent a decade playing cornerback in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins.

I selected Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons with the ninth overall selection for the Denver Broncos in the SB Nation’s 2021 NFL mock draft.

This scenario ended up being the worst-case scenario for the Denver Broncos in my opinion. Both Justin Fields and Trey Lance were off the board which left Alabama’s Mac Jones for me at ninth overall. I decided to pass on Jones because I do not think he’s worthy of that sort of selection. With the quarterbacks off the board, I set my sights on the offensive tackles. Unfortunately, both Penei Sewell and Rashawn Slater went the two selections before the Broncos. With tight end Kyle Pitts off the board as well, it didn’t leave much for the Broncos.

The Panthers entered the 2021 offseason with needs across most positions on the roster, and they have filled most of those needs via free agency in a flurry of moves that brought in offensive linemen Pat Elflein and Cam Erving, pass rushers Haason Reddick and Morgan Fox, linebackers Denzel Perryman and Frankie Luvu, wide receiver David Moore, tight end Dan Arnold and cornerback A.J. Bouye. In an effort to retain their starting tackles from 2020 on the roster, the Panthers placed the franchise tag on right tackle Taylor Moton and re-signed left tackle Trent Scott to a one-year contract.

The Panthers made their biggest splash of the offseason when they sent a 2021 sixth-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick and a 2022 fourth-round pick to the Jets for quarterback Sam Darnold in a desperate attempt to upgrade the quarterback position and improve on the mediocrity they’ve endured since Cam Newton’s 2015 MVP season.

The Detroit Lions are in full rebuild mode and all options are on the table in this upcoming draft.

New general manager Brad Holmes sent former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to the L.A. Rams for Jared Goff and first-round draft picks in 2022 and 2023. He has purged the roster of bloated contracts and absorbed a massive amount of dead cap that will disappear in 2022. He elected to let almost all of Detroit’s top free agents depart for other teams—save Romeo Okwara—and replaced them with players on one-year contracts looking to prove themselves.

Heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, the plan for the Miami Dolphins to improve this offseason should be pretty straightforward: Do whatever it takes to surround your 23-year-old quarterback with the necessary weapons to succeed.

However, the decision on who the Dolphins ultimately draft lies in the hands of general manager Chris Grier, and to a lesser extent, head coach Brian Flores. That is, unless you’re referring to SB Nation’s annual NFL writers’ mock draft. In which case, The Phinsider’s site manager Kevin Nogle will be putting on his GM cap and making the Dolphins first-round selections.

When the clock started for Cincy Jungle with pick No. 5, the world was the Bengals’ oyster. Cincinnati doesn’t need a quarterback after selecting Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in 2020, so they could watch quarterbacks fly off the board with the first four picks with no cares in the world.

The decision they made would mean an LSU reunion in Cincinnati. With the fifth overall pick in our NFL writers’ mock draft, the Bengals select Burrow’s former college teammate, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase out of LSU.

With the fourth overall selection in the SB Nation writers’ mock draft, The Falcoholic, on behalf of the Atlanta Falcons, decide to bring in the heir apparent to Matt Ryan as the team’s next franchise quarterback.

From Dave Choate at The Falcoholic:

The San Francisco 49ers have a talented roster from top to bottom, and some can argue — especially GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan, considering the move they made to get the third overall pick in the 2021 draft — that the team is a franchise quarterback away from being a perennial contender in the near future.

It’s clear with the move up to the third overall pick that the 49ers organization is looking to move on from current QB Jimmy Garoppolo, as he has had issues remaining healthy and hasn’t been as successful as they had initially hoped. With a good stable of quarterbacks at the top of the draft, the 49ers are primed to pick a very good quarterback prospect who will have the opportunity to excel in Coach Shanahan’s current scheme. With the third overall pick in our 2021 NFL writers’ mock draft, the San Francisco 49ers select….

With the second pick in our 2021 SB Nation writers’ mock draft, Gang Green Nation selects former BYU quarterback Zach Wilson for the New York Jets.

From John B. at Gang Green Nation:

Welcome to the first overall pick in our 2021 SB Nation writers’ mock draft. It’s not even remotely a surprise. Big Cat Country, on behalf of the Jacksonville Jaguars, has selected former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

This pick might be an easier one to make than last year’s No. 1 overall selection in Joe Burrow, now with the Cincinnati Bengals. Trevor Lawrence has been perceived as an eventual top draft pick since his years at the high school level. He is a generational talent with all of the tools, including his arm talent, athleticism, size, and ability to read a defense, and he has the winning pedigree to impress any and all observers.