No suspense as 3 QBs taken early
Broncos pick up CB Surtain II; Cowboys LB Parsons
The themes for the 2021 NFL draft were many, starting with the quarterbacks.
Then, of course, was an actual live draft with players and fans on hand.
And there was Alabama dominating the selections the way it overpowered college football, carrying its conference with it.
No suspense at the top: quarterback, quarterback and, yep, quarterback.
With Commissioner Roger Goodell dispensing greetings to players Thursday night, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence went to the Jacksonville Jaguars to get things started. Next was BYU’s Zach Wilson going to the New York Jets, and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance landing with the San Francisco 49ers.
That matched 1971 (Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning, Dan Pastorini) and 1999 (Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Akili Smith) as the only drafts with quarterbacks taken with the top three picks. Only Plunkett won a Super Bowl among those QBs, and he didn’t do it with New England, which drafted him.
Two more passers went in the top 15: Ohio State’s Justin Fields to Chicago, which traded up to the 11th slot with the Giants, and Alabama’s Mac Jones to New England.
Lawrence, a junior who led Clemson to a national title, generally is considered the best prospect at the position since Andrew Luck in 2012. He joins new coach Urban Meyer, himself a major success in the college ranks, in trying to turn around a franchise that went 1-15 last season.
“I’m just pumped,” Lawrence said. “The best is yet to come.
“I don’t know what the point is … if you don’t expect to win every week. I’m going to bring the same mindset.”
The mindset in Cleveland was positive simply because there were 12 prospects (not Lawrence) and thousands of fans — includ
ing, according to the league, fully vaccinated folks near the stage — joining Goodell on the shore of Lake Erie. Last year’s draft, scheduled for Las Vegas, Nevada, was instead a totally remote affair because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Perhaps emboldened by successfully finishing the 2020 season on time and then staging the playoffs and Super Bowl without a hitch during the pandemic, the NFL targeted the draft as an opportunity to embrace some normalcy in America’s biggest sport. It also has used the event to support vaccinations for COVID-19 and, for the second consecutive spring, as a Draft-a-Thon raising money for a variety of causes.
Wilson was expected to go to New York, which hasn’t had a franchise QB since Joe Namath and traded incumbent Sam Darnold to Carolina this month to clear a path for Wilson.
Lance was something of a surprise at No. 3. He played only 17 games for his FCS school, but his offseason workouts sold San Francisco.
Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, considered by many the best athlete in this draft, went fourth to Atlanta, followed by wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase of LSU, who sat out last season, to Cincinnati. The first player from Alabama off the board, on the Crimson Tide’s way to tying a first-round record, was wideout Jaylen Waddle to Miami, where he will be reunited with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
The first offensive lineman was tackle Penei Sewell of Oregon, taken by Detroit.
The SEC and, naturally, the Crimson Tide, were particularly popular. Of the six SEC players chosen in the top 10, three were from Alabama: Waddle, cornerback Patrick Surtain II to Denver, and Heisman Trophy-winning receiver DeVonta Smith to Philadelphia, which traded up with division rival Dallas, of all teams. The others were Pitts, Chase and cornerback Jaycee Horn of South Carolina to the Panthers.
By the 17th slot, Alabama had five players chosen, with tackle Alex Leatherwood headed to Las Vegas. And when running back Najee Harris was selected by Pittsburgh, the Tide had tied the Miami Hurricanes’ mark of six first-rounders set in 2004.
The SEC finished with 12 first-rounders.
After the Eagles-Cowboys deal, Chicago moved up from No. 20 and thrilled its fans by choosing Fields.
COWBOYS: The Dallas Cowboys selected Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons with the 12th overall pick after trading down two spots in a deal with NFC East rival Philadelphia.
The Cowboys picked up a thirdround pick from the Eagles in the trade, the 84th overall selection. The deal gives Dallas three picks in the third round.
Dallas made the move down after two cornerbacks the club was targeting at No. 10, South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II of Alabama, were taken eighth and ninth by Carolina and Denver, respectively.
Parsons opted out of the 2020 season over COVID-19 concerns. He was an Associated Press All-American as a sophomore in 2019 when he led the Nittany Lions with 104 tackles, including 14 tackles for loss.
BRONCOS: The Denver Broncos bypassed quarterbacks Justin Fields and Mac Jones and selected Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II with the ninth pick.
Instead of grabbing a quarterback to counter Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Derek Carr in the stacked AFC West, new general manager George Paton picked a cornerback who can help curtail those passers.
Surtain is the second consecutive Alabama alum selected in the first round by the Broncos, who drafted wide receiver Jerry Jeudy with the 15th overall pick last year.