2021 NFL Draft Round One Recap

I hope you all took the over on Bama and the SEC.

1. Jacksonville Jaguars - QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
2. New York Jets - QB Zach Wilson, BYU
3. San Francisco 49ers - QB Trey Lance, North Dakota State
4. Atlanta Falcons - TE Kyle Pitts, Florida
5. Cincinnati Bengals - WR Ja’Marr Chase, LSU
6. Miami Dolphins - WR JAYLEN WADDLE, ALABAMA
7. Detroit Lions - OL Penei Sewell, Oregon
8. Carolina Panthers - CB Jaycee Horn, South Carolina
9. Denver Broncos - CB PATRICK SURTAIN, ALABAMA
10. Dallas Cowboys trade to Philadelphia Eagles - WR DEVONTA SMITH, ALABAMA
11. New York Giants traded to Chicago Bears - QB Justin Fields, UGA anOhio State
12. Philadelphia Eagles traded to Dallas Cowboys - LB Micah Parsons, Penn State
13. Los Angeles Chargers - some OT from Northwestern
14. Minnesota Vikings traded to New York Jets - OG Alijah Vera-Tucker, Southern Cal
15. New England Patriots - QB MAC JONES, ALABAMA
16. Arizona Cardinals - LB Zaven Collins, Tulsa
17. Las Vegas Raiders - OT ALEX LEATHERWOOD, ALABAMA
18. Miami Dolphins - DE Jaelan Phillips, Miami
19. Washington WTF - LB from Kentucky
20. Chicago Bears -traded to New York Giants - WR/RB Kadarius Toney, Florida
21. Indianapolis Colts - DE Kwity Paye, Michigan
22. Tennessee Titans - CB Caleb Farley, Va Tech
23. New York Jets traded to Minnesota Vikings - OT Christian Darrisaw, Virginia Tech
24. Pittsburgh Steelers - RB NAJEE HARRIS, ALABAMA
25. Jacksonville Jaguars - RB Travis Etienne, Clemson
26. Cleveland Browns - CB Greg Newsome, Northwestern
27. Baltimore Ravens - WR Rashod Bateman, Minnesota
28. New Orleans Saints - DE Payton Turner, Houston
29. Green Bay Packers - CB Eric Stokes, Georgia
30. Buffalo Bills - DE Gregory Rousseau, Miami (FL)
31. Baltimore Ravens - DE Jayson Oweh, Penn State
32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - OLB Joe Tryon, Washington

BY SCHOOL

• Alabama 6
• Clemson 2
• Florida 2
• Miami (FL) 2
• Northwestern 2
• Penn State 2
• Virginia Tech 2
• BYU 1
• Georgia 1
• Houston 1
• Kentucky 1
• LSU 1
• Michigan 1
• Minnesota 1
• North Dakota State 1
• Ohio State 1
• Oregon 1
• South Carolina 1
• Tulsa 1
• Southern Cal 1
• Washington 1

NOTABLE GOOSE EGGS

• Oklahoma
• Notre Dame
• Texas A&M
• Texas
• Auburn

They added one more.

BY CONFERENCE

• SEC 12
• Big Ten 7
• ACC 6
• Pac-12 3
• AAC 2
• Ind. 1
• MVFC 1
• Big XII 0

BY POSITION

• QB 5
• WR 5
• CB 5
• DE 5
• OT 4
• LB 3
• RB 2
• OG 1
• OLB 1
• TE 1

REUNITED AND IT FEEL SO GOOD

The first round saw an unusual trend of offensive skill players being matched up with their college quarterback:

• Jaylen Waddle will be catching passes from Tua Tagovailoa in Miami.
• DeVonta Smith and Jalen Hurts hope to connect in Philly.
• Mac Jones will share a backfield with fellow Patriot Damien Harris.
• WR Ja’Marr Chase is headed to Cincy where his old LSU QB Joe Burrow awaits.
• Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence and RB Travis Etienne were both drafted by Jacksonville.

BACK FOR MORE

The following teams used a first round selection on a Crimson Tide player in 2020 and 2021:

• Miami Dolphins: 5 Tua Tagovailoa - 6 Jaylen Waddle
• Las Vegas Raiders: 12 Henry Ruggs - 17 Alex Leatherwood
• Denver Broncos: 15 Jerry Jeudy - 9 Patrick Surtain II

HOT POTATO

The Cowboys No. 12 pick was traded three times within four teams: from San Francisco to Miami to Philadelphia to Dallas.

2017

Alabama’s 2017 recruiting class produced seven first round picks.

LOLS

• When Denver surprised everyone and snagged Surtain one pick before Dallas, it surely caught the Cowboys off guard. The ‘Boys hastily made a trade back with division rival Philadelphia to go from No. 10 to No. 12 to regroup.
• The Jets using the No. 14 pick on a guard is the most Jets thing ever.
• The Dolphins pick of DE Jaelan Phillips was odd and risky. First, he isn’t No. 18 good. Secondly, Phillips has been injury prone and was actually medically retired from football in December 2018 as a member of UCLA. He transferred to Miami, sat out 2019, and played 10 games in 2020. Third, Miami has more pressing needs like offensive line and running back.
• Jaycee Horn at 8 to Carolina is a bit of a stretch. But, yeah, make a couple of locals happy.
• Did you by chance hear the singing group before the first round started? OMG, they were godawful. I was thinking they were disadvantaged youths or something that the NFL was trying to uplift or something but they were members of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District All-City Choir. I could not find any video because we are not allowed to criticize awful performances any more.
• That train wreck was followed by ‘Heart’ singer Ann Wilson with the national anthem. She started out okay but then tried to get creative and screwed it up.
• Justin Fields looked like he had just woke up when he was picked. Man, his voice bugs me.
• Titans pick Caleb Farley looked like he was having a draft party and nobody showed.
• It was good to get the draft back in front of fans so we can hear them boo Roger Goodell again.
• Being that the event was held in the armpit of America, Cleveland, it was mostly Browns fans. The rain did not help things. It should have been in Las Vegas where the 2020 Draft was supposed to be.
• The fans from other teams almost looked staged, like they were actors. They were all dressed in official NFL gear and they enthusiastically cheered their team’s pick(s) even though they were bad ones or someone they surely did not know.
• The draft ended WAY past midnight on the east coast.

STILL ON THE CLOCK

• Christian Barmore
• Landon Dickerson
• Dylan Moses
• Deonte Brown
• Miller Forristall
• Thomas Fletcher

TIME

Rounds 2-3: Friday, April 30, 6:00 p.m. CT - ABC, ESPN, NFL Network