NFL Draft 1st Round Preview and Thread

It’s officially draft weekend as the three day event that is taking place in Cleveland this year. Coverage of tonight’s first round kicks off tonight at 7:00 and can be seen on both NFL Network, ESPN and ABC. For my 2021 Draft Preview here is a look how you can watch the draft coverage.

How to Watch

NFL Network
Hosted by Rich Eisen along with draft experts Daniel Jeremiah and Charles Davis and Stanford head coach. David Shaw

ESPN/ABC
Hosted by Mike Greenberg along with draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. along with NFL analyst Louis Riddick and Booger McFarland

Mock Draft

Want to see how I project the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft? Here my final Mock Draft

Story Lines to Watch

Who Do the 49ers Take

With everyone knowing that the Jaguars and Jets are picking Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson respectively, what does this mean for the 49ers who also will be taking a quarterback. This likely comes down to either Trey Lance or Mac Jones. With San Francisco giving so much up you would think they’d go with Lance or even Justin Fields, but the rumor is they are going with Mac Jones.

Where does Kyle Pitts Go

We’ve seen some really good tight ends in the past couple of drafts with TJ Hockenson and Eric Ebron going in the top ten, Noah Fant and OJ Howard going in the top 20. But we haven’t seen a physical freak like Kyle Pitts since maybe Vernon Davis was taken sixth overall. Kyle Pitts from Florida is a straight up unicorn who is probably the closest thing we’ve seen to Calvin Johnson. Atlanta at 4, Cincinnati at 5, and Miami at 6 are all contenders to draft him.

Trades

We’ve seen plenty of trades already this draft with San Francisco moving up from 12 to 3 with Miami and then the Dolphins moving back up with the Eagles to six. There are rumors of New Orleans wanting to move up into the top 10 to possibly get one of the top cornerbacks. But what about the fourth and fifth quarterbacks? And we always know there is plenty of movement.

Bengals take OL or WR

Another big decision looming is what the Bengals will do at pick five. Do they look to protect Joe Burrow and draft Penei Sewell who some consider to be one of the best lineman to come out in years. Or do they continue to build up the skill talent and take Burrow’s former receiver in Ja’Marr Chase?