How will the 2021 NFL Draft be remembered Storylines that could stem from this years class

You'd think I consume enough football during my 9-5 job that I'd try to take a breather during times when I'm not on the clock, right? It's simply not the case, however, as I am -- for better or worse -- an NFL junkie. The latest example came quite recently as I was binging a handful of NFL-related documentaries and rewatched "Elway to Marino," an centering around the 1983 draft. Of course, that draft is famous, in part, for Elway's refusal to play for the Baltimore and Dan Marino's dip down the board to No. 27 where he was eventually picked by the . It's a draft that had no shortage of storylines and effectively changed the trajectory of the league from that point forwardThese were the questions I had some fun asking myself while watching the doc, which then brought me to another question: How will the 2021 NFL Draft be remembered? While we don't have the Elway-like drama of a player declaring he won't play for an organization, we do in Trevor Lawrence, who is poised to be the No. 1 overall pick. That's just the tip of the iceberg of what may be around the corner in the NFL.In that spirit, I decided to run through some fun hypotheticals and take a few storylines that are already surrounding the 2021 draft and project them out as po sible candidates for being the headliner of how this year will eventually be remembered in the years to come. While I'm not saying these scenarios , I'm simply putting them out there so they are on your radar to follow once the dust settles on this madne s in a few weeks. Might as well start this thing out with the guy who'll Tiago Splitter Jersey hear his name first on draft night. The arrival of Trevor Lawrence into the NFL has been hyped for a long time and we're finally about to see it come to fruition when the make him the top overall selection. Lawrence has been deemed one of the most polished quarterback prospects ever and has been compared to the likes of Elway, , and Andrew Luck. What's interesting about those comparisons is that they all didn't have the same exact careers, despite similar hype coming into the league. Elway and Manning went on to live up to that billing and became two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. While Luck enjoyed succe s during his time in the league and seemed well on his way to joining both Manning and Elway as one of the game's greats, it was cut short. After dealing with a shoulder injury for a number of seasons, Luck shocked the entire NFL by announcing his retirement in Wilt Chamberlain Jersey August of 2019. During his announcement Luck noted that injuries have "taken the joy out of this game" for him and was the driving force of him walking away early.I bring that up as it relates to Lawrence because he's very much in this same situation as those three quarterbacks were at the time they were coming into the league. Once he's picked, it will be fascinating to see which road he goes down. Does he rise up to the hype, become an all-time legend and take the Jaguars to relevancy for the next decade-plus? On the flip side, is he the next Andrew Luck, who for one reason or another came up short? Lawrence is the most hyped-up prospect in recent memory and however his career plays out could prove to be the defining takeaway from this coming draft.Whenever we talk about drafts, it's easy to center almost exclusively on the quarterbacks. It's the most important position on the field and what can turn a franchise from a bottom-dweller into a Super Bowl contender, so it's understandable that quarterback talk dominates the conversation. Heck, the majority of these hypotheticals that you're reading about are going to center around quarterbacks. That said, it's not the end all be all when we talk about these cla ses. As it relates to the 2021 draft, there does seem to be a world where the best player to come out of it isn't throwing pa ses, but is catching them instead.Florida's Kyle Pitts has all the makings of not only an elite tight end but simply a dominant pa s-catcher within a given offense. only looking up to Lawrence and even compared him to how we viewed pa s-rusher when he was coming into the league last year. "He's such a gifted player that it's hard to imagine he isn't a game-changer from the moment he steps onto an NFL field," wrote Wilson when talking about Pitts.If Pitts lands with a team that has an established quarterback -- like he is in -- I don't think folks would be too surprised to see him rivaling and for the NFL's top tight end mantle in the coming years. That's how special Pitts could become. And if we're talking about all-time great here, he could very well become the most decorated player to come out of this draft cla s when it's all said and done. This might be the situation I'm most fascinated with on this list. While he didn't do himself any favors, I never thought Sam Darnold had the proper shake in New York. Systematically, the Jets failed their former No. 3 overall pick as they were unable to put the right pieces around him. That's also not mentioning the lack of stability along the coaching staff throughout his tenure. With New York slotted in at No. 2 and primed to take BYU's Zach Wilson, the team shipped Darnold to the . There, Darnold has a chance to reset his career and potentially even live up to that No. 3 overall billing.Remember, there was a time where Darnold was viewed as the better prospect than both and , who are both now MVP-caliber players. That talent is still there somewhere and Carolina presents an opportunity for a rebirth of sorts, especially with head coach Matt Rhule and offensive coordinator Joe Brady leading the way. It's also worth highlighting that Darnold -- who has three years of NFL experience under his belt -- is younger than 2020 No. 1 overall pick .The new Panthers quarterback has plenty of football left in his career and if he can rise to the level of his draft cla smates like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, Darnold could eventually have Carolina in contention. Speaking of Joe Burrow, he and the find themselves with quite the decision to make with the No Robert Covington Jersey . 5 overall pick. With the po sibility of three quarterbacks coming off the board within the first four selections and the potentially taking Kyle Pitts at No. 4, Cincinnati will e sentially have its pick of the litter of the top non-QB prospects. If the Falcons do go with Pitts, that leaves Cincy likely picking between LSU receiver Ja'Marr Chase and Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell.Most have the Bengals leaning towards Chase, who was college teammates with Burrow down in Death Valley. With the Tigers, the two were electric en-route to a national championship so it's easy to see the appeal of trying to get them back together. However, as we saw last season, the Bengals need help along the offensive line in the worst way. The lack of ability on that line led to Burrow getting beat to a pulp during his rookie season Julius Erving Jersey and certainly contributed to his season-ending ACL tear. With that in mind, you can also understand those pounding the table for Sewell, who is looked at by most as the top tackle in this cla s.This decision between giving Burrow more pa s-catching help or providing him with suitable protection upfront could be a defining moment for the Bengals as they move forward with the top pick from 2020. If they can get Chase and figure out the protection for Burrow later on in the draft, that's probably their most desired scenario. However, if they do pa s on Sewell and continue to open him up to abuse on Sundays, it could seriously limit Burrow's ceiling. No two teams are looked at with more intrigue as it relates to po sibly selecting a quarterback in this year's draft than the and New England Patriots. These two clubs were playing in the Super Bowl not too long ago and both are now looking to reset at the quarterback position. Of course, the Patriots lost last offseason and are still looking for the heir to his throne for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the 49ers made a blockbuster move up to No. 3 overall to bring in a quarterback and eventually move on from . How each team goes about finding their next signal-caller will likely be one of the key storylines immediately coming out of the draft and their succe s (or failure) will be worth watching as they develop.These two teams could be involved in a trade with one another as well. It's no secret that the Patriots are fond of Jimmy Garoppolo, whom they drafted back in 2014 to serve as the succe sor to Brady. As we know, Garoppolo never was able to succeed Brady and was eventually traded to San Francisco, but it will be curious to see if New England tries to reacquire him once the Niners actually take a QB at No. 3. If not, Bill Belichick and company could use the No. 15 overall pick to addre s that need.If one or both of these teams can hit on a quarterback, we could be looking at them contending for a championship again in relatively short order. I told you there was going to be a lot of QB talk in this post. Again, it's for good reason. This cla s is extremely deep at the quarterback position and -- if Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, Trey Lance, and Justin Fields all live up to the hype -- the first round has the chance of looking like the infamous 2004 draft where , and were taken. Each of these prospects has the ability to be special and change the course of whatever franchise they land with for the better. Even if that proves to be the case for three or four out of the five quarterbacks and they go on to be Hall of Fame-type talents, you could start putting this cla s in the conversation as one of the greatest ever. Obviously, time will determine all of that, but the road is there for this being a historic cla s if all these QB prospects pan out in one form or another. As we talk about the top five quarterback prospects in Lawrence, Wilson, Jones, Lance, and Fields, I do wonder if we'll get a sleeper QB in this cla s. It's not out of the realm of po sibility. Would you have imagined in 2016 that fourth-round prospect out of Mi si sippi State would become the best quarterback in his cla s? What about , who was picked in the third round out of Wisconsin during the 2012 draft? Of course not! If you thought either of those quarterbacks were going to become who they eventually became, they'd be first-round picks. So while those five players will likely go in the first round this year, that doesn't automatically mean that they'll have a better career than those who will hear their names called a bit later on in the 2021 draft Charles Barkley Jersey .Names to keep an eye on in that regard are Davis Mills out of Stanford, Florida's Kyle Trask, Jamie Newman from Georgia, and po sibly even Texas AM's Kellen Mond. Either one of those Day 2 and Day 3 prospects could catch lightening the bottle at the next level and become a legit starter in the league as we've seen in the past. Remember, the draft is an inexact science and legends almost always slip through the cracks. Could very well be the case in 2021.
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