Piece by Nicholas Cosmai
Twitter: @CozzyNick
Facebook: Nicholas Cosmai
As we near the 2021 NFL Draft we will take a look at some of the potential moves that could take place before and on day one. We have already seen San Francisco make a blockbuster move to select now at pick 3 and even Miami Dolphins moving back up to pick 6 trading with Philadelphia.
If you have been following the latest on the draft and what teams could potentially be doing, you will know that the Falcons are now taking calls for the fourth pick. We will go into detail later on who the potential teams will be that will be frequently checking in with Atlanta, but this report has been voiced multiple times over the last 1-2 weeks because of one or two reasons. A) The San Francisco move going up to 3 means one of the QB’s they were intending on taking will go 1, 2 or 3 and they are not huge on the other QB’s who potentially go in the top 10. Or B) They have committed to Matt Ryan and actually need to select someone that can make a tackle or defend a receiver considering they conceded the most receiving yards in the whole league. Depending on what pick they will move down to only then we might find out.
This article is more about the teams that can potentially move up, we already know that Atlanta are willing to move down so who are the teams that might want to move up?
Denver Broncos
There has been recent debate about what exactly Denver’s number one priority is this upcoming draft. Now you will find in most mock drafts, Denver is projected to select a corner despite signing both Ronald Darby from Washington and Kyle Fuller from the Bears in free agency. There is definitely potential for them to be one of if not the best suiter to trade with the Falcons for pick 4. It is really a win-win situation if Denver are not committed to Drew Lock. The Broncos can take a QB at pick 4 and the Falcons move down to pick 9 with additional picks where corners like Patrick Surtain II, Caleb Farley and Jaycee Horn are expected to be picked. Last season they locked in on improving all offence to help Drew Lock as they are already a good defensive team. If they are beaten to the punch for trading up to that spot, they may actually triple down on corner’s this offseason or maybe take an Offensive Lineman to help out Lock if they are still committed to him.
New England
In a similar position to Denver as a team that could make a move for that number 4 pick. After all, New England have been really aggressive this off season and spent more than any other team so this move would not be surprising. On top of this is that they may also not 100% committed to Cam Newton, they have got high interest in Justin Fields and Mac Jones and it more and more everyday feels like if one of them does not go at three then they will at four. Whilst Denver has the higher pick at this point, the Patriots have 10 picks in this draft which is the second highest of all teams and if Atlanta are confident on the later round talent, they may opt with the team with the more picks. If a trade with Atlanta does not happen there has been talks they may only want to move up a few spots and trade with the New York Giants for pick 11. There is a chance one of these QB’s slip and if the patriots are confident it is going to be their guy, it could save them some draft capital and still get their desired quarterback.
Washington Football Team
Recently there has been a report on ESPN that Washington might want to make a move into the top 10. This is a team last season that had Kyle Allen, Dwayne Haskins Jr., Alex Smith, and Taylor Heinicke all start at QB at one point in this season and THEY STILL WON THE NFC EAST. Washington is widely regarded as one of the better defences in the league and most people have considered them to be a QB away from taking the next step. They currently sit at pick 19 and have signed Curtis Samuel to pair with Terry McLaurin at receiver. They have also picked up Ryan Fitzpatrick who maybe can be a mentor to a QB for Washington should they move up like he was for last season with Tua at Miami. Either way I doubt Ryan is there for the long term and Ron Rivera has already said that this off season they want to find there QB for the future. Let’s be real, if Washington can get it right at QB in this mess of a division it can be there’s for a while.
Chicago Bears
We cannot sit here and pretend that Chicago threw everything but the kitchen sink at Seattle for Russell Wilson and fell short just to settle for the Andy Dalton signing. If the Bears were willing to be this aggressive to try and make this deal happen, I cannot see a reason why they might not move up from pick 20. Last season they had both Trubisky and Foles starting for them and like Washington they could not get the QB position right throughout the course of the season. Another case of a team that is strong defence that might be the right QB from taking that next step and overtaking Green Bay in the NFC North. Right now, there has not been any rumours that Chicago might want to move up but their aggressiveness to peruse Wilson and only just fall short might mean that just signing Andy Dalton is not the end of their QB search.
Most experts do not think that the 2022 class of QB’s is as good as this year’s class, although names can shoot up quickly in one college season, e.g., Joe Burrow and Zach Wilson. There will be teams that miss out on taking a QB this season who need one regardless of whether it is in the first round or not. The build-up and anticipation is rising as we are in single digit days until Jacksonville are officially on the clock and to see who really wants to draft a QB.