2021 NFL Draft: Full first-round mock draft with Bucs adding offense
By Rob Leeds
2021 NFL Draft: Picks 9-12
Pick Analysis. 9. Scouting Report. QB. Alabama. Mac Jones. player. 45
Just so we’re clear, Mac Jones is not the next best quarterback on this list. Trey Lance would likely be a much better fit in this offense and as a quarterback in the modern NFL, but that’s not what it’s about for John Elway.
Elway has a specific type of quarterback that he loves, and Mac Jones fits the bill much better than Lance. Jones is extremely dangerous with a pick this high and the concerns that exist around his abilities and character, but it is only fitting that the Broncos will continue to shoot themselves in the foot at this position after doing so ever since they won the Super Bowl.
Pick Analysis. Alabama. Patrick Surtain II. 10. Scouting Report. CB. player. 123
The Cowboys had the worst defense in the NFL for the vast majority of the 2020 campaign. Apparently, paying your starting running back way over market value and letting an All-Pro-caliber corner walk in free agency is bad for winning football games.
Surtain is the Cowboys’ best hope of turning their defensive woes around, and he is excellent value with the tenth overall pick.
Scouting Report. 11. DeVonta Smith. Pick Analysis. Alabama. 11. player. 31
The Heisman Trophy winner comes off the board a little late here, but he finds a great fit with the Giants. New York has been looking for an excellent WR1 ever since Odell Beckham Jr. departed, and Smith has the talent necessary to elevate the entire offense in the featured role on a team that is still trying to figure out what it has at quarterback.
QB. 12. player. 42. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. NDSU. Trey Lance
How could the rest of the NFL let this happen? Jimmy Garoppolo and his many injuries were one of the main things holding San Francisco back in the big moments for the past few years, but now, Kyle Shanahan gets a versatile quarterback that should wreak havoc on the rest of the NFC West with improvements in every category over the former starter.