2021 NFL Mock Draft Submissions

Can you imagine the numbers Barry Sanders would put up if he ran behind a top offensive line. He wouldn't have had to spend half his career running around the backfield looking for a hole to exploit. I remember Sanders scoring a crazy touchdown where he broke tackles and dodged defenders all over the place and Wayne Fontes, the Detroit coach at the time says when he comes of the field 'that was all you Barry, we didn't block anyone. Made me laugh because it was so true.

« Last edited by Sanzano on Dec 5th 2021 »

Barry is the best ever. Only played nine or ten years, and he almost broke Peyton's rushing record.

The record was Sanders for the taking but he decided to walk away, he lost his desire to play football. I would too if I played for the Lions. Detroit has been historically awful since Bobby Layne cursed them all those years back. Do you remember the number 20 before Sanders - Billy Simms, he was special too until he got injured.

Yeah, no one could blame him for leaving early. Got his body crushed for a team that refused to get better. It had to be totally demoralizing.

It's a shame, he is a nice guy.I don't like Emmit Smith, he was overrated and had the luxury of running behind one if the best offensive lines ever with that 90s Dallas team.

Plus Emmitt stayed in the league forever just to break Walter Peyton's record. He played twice as long as Sanders and barely broke the record. Just imagine if Sanders played that long; I bet the record would be double what it currently is.

If Barry Sanders had the same level of talent in the offensive line as Emmitt Smith the all-time rushing record would be out of reach and people would all acknowledge Sanders as the greatest runner ever surpassing Jim Brown and Walter Peyton who I personally still regard as the best ever even though Smith holds the rushing record.

I still consider Barry as the best regardless. Brown is second in my eyes, then Peyton, then Sayers.

How I see the Top 7 going at this point:



« Last edited by Warrior13 on Dec 11th 2021 »

Ben Rothesburger is retiring at the end of the season and I'm hearing the Steelers are going allin on drafting Kenny Pickett as his successor. Pickett is a local boy and the Steelers don't want a repeat of what happened wit Dan Marino. It's like the Bengals were always going to draft Joe Burrow a couple of years back because he was a local boy. I think Pittsburgh will need to trade up to make it happen though.

Washington I think will definately go quarterback in the draft. Although Hienecke is a fan favourite he has too many limitations which got exposed against Dallas when they took away the running game. Deshaun Watson will end up an Eagle if he plays again, interest in him has cooled off. Miami will stick with Tua.

No way the Steelers get Pickett. I'm hearing rumors that he might go as high as #1. Crazy to think that, but teams always overdraft on QBs.

Steelers need to replace Rothesburger, they may trade up, I wouldn't be surprised. After what happened with Marino the organisation will be under pressure from the fans to do everything possible to get the local boy.

No way they get Pickett though. It would cost like three to five 1st Rounder to jump from late teens to #1 nowadays.

For a Deshawn Watson proven player you are looking at that, not for an unproven college kid who could easily be a bust. The Jaguars would probably take three number 1's if offered in order to help build a team around Lawrence.

I've seen Pickett go as high as #3 to Houston in mocks and as low as Pitt around 13-16. I think the Giants, Texans, Panthers, Falcons, maybe the Eagles, Saints and Broncos are all gonna be in the market for a new QB and most of them will pick ahead of Pitt. And I'm not sure we've got the draft capital to move up for him.

Like I said, there are rumors that he will go as high as #1. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. Campbell has to be on the hot seat in Detroit even though it's his first year, and coaches on the hot seat usually overreach for a QB.

I like Pickett overall, but I do worry about his one year wonder status (similar to how I did about Burrow). I also fear that he has small hands. QBs only tends to wear gloves for two reasons: bad weather or small hands. Of course, logic tells you small hands will lead to gripping issues which will lead to fumbles. However, guys like Bridgewater have proven that isn't always the case.

Small hands, small feet, small ****, does it really matter, the NFL puts too much into stats, if the guy can throw a football, he can throw a football. Just wondering, is the college football the same size as an NFL game ball to cause all this fuss about small hands?

As for the draft, I think the Lions will take Pickett with the first pick. Goff is clearly not the guy if Detroit end up with a 1-16 record.

Let's be honest, if you were the Detroit coach you are not going to mess about with Defensive Ends and Cornerbacks, you are going to want to try and save your job which means drafting the biggest impact player possible which is a Quarterback.

They are mostly the same size, but the college standards allow the ball to be about an inch and a half smaller in circumference. And obviously the size of the ball will vary on any given day. Generally the small hands thing is more important in the NFL, imo, because the QB is getting hit more than in college, especially rookies on bad teams. How important it really is I can't say.

Height seems to be the bigger indicator for QBs, you need to be able to see over the O line. But even then guys like Brees and Russell Wilson are short and have had massive success. Seems like what's between the ears is more important than physical stats, but big guys like Josh Allen do have an advantage.

Yes, I totally agree, what is between their ears is the most important thing at the end of the day. I've heard many a tale of physically gifted college players who couldn't make the jump to the NFL because they couldn't grasp the X's and O's aspect of the game which basically rendered them useless, and that's all positions, not just quarterbacks.

I don't think height is too much of a problem, it never bothered Doug Flutie or Kyler Murray who are both 1.78.


« Last edited by Sanzano on Dec 15th 2021 »

Most of the mock drafts I stay in touch with have Pickett going #1 now. They might be projecting that as the final result, but I see it happening too unless he bombs his auditions.