Scouts Survey: The Top Five Quarterback Prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft

Overtime Heroics Editorial

1943 days ago

As teams begin to prepare to win a Super Bowl, everyone has high hopes. The team beat reporters often embellish expectations of wins and losses, and everyone goes into the year positively. That quickly turns to negativity as losses and injuries pile up on teams. In the end, there can only be as many total wins as losses in one NFL season. This brings about the unfortunate reality that some organizations, despite their high hopes, actually have low expectations and are looking at the future. Luckily for everyone, we are always looking towards the future over here. I reached out to 15 scouts and writers from around the twitter draft community in an attempt to gauge the 2021 NFL draft quarterback market. They were asked to submit a list of five ranked quarterbacks that are eligible for the draft.

2021 NFL Draft Top Five

1 | Trevor Lawrence | QB | Clemson | 6-6 | 220 lbs

Trevor Lawrence tops this list with 74 points and fourteen out of fifteen first-place votes. His only other finish being second. Ever since he stepped foot on the campus at Clemson, Lawrence has looked and played like a future franchise quarterback. Much like Patrick Mahomes, Lawrence can make every throw not just inside, but also outside of the pocket. He sometimes takes shots down the field into coverage that he shouldn’t, but he’s still only twenty years old. Combine that with the best arm talent to come out of the draft since Mahomes or Andrew Luck, and you have the recipe for a number one overall draft selection come next spring.

2 | Justin Fields | QB | Ohio State | 6-3 | 225 lbs

In the same recruiting cycle as Lawrence, Fields was neck and neck with Lawrence in most rankings. It may be that way come draft time, but for now, Fields fell a bit short. Fields accumulated 57 votes to Lawrence’s 74 and got only one first-place vote. Not too shabby though, as Fields picked up nine second-place votes and showed up on every ballot. Fields has only one season of playing at the college level, but it was masterful. The talented quarterback finished with 41 touchdowns and only three picks. He also ran for 484 yards on the ground. His leadership showed in a big way, with an inexperienced head coach and playing for the first time in the offense. Fields led his team to a 13-1 record. He is number two for now, but could easily be number one in the end.

3 | Trey Lance | QB | North Dakota State | 6-3| 220 lbs

Lance is another quarterback who has only started one season, but boy was it a beauty. While throwing 28 touchdowns, 2,787 yards and leading his team to an FBS National Championship, he did it all while throwing ZERO interceptions. That kind of accuracy has NFL decision scouts salivating, but that’s only half of the deal with Lance. He also ran for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns. Playing at a smaller school, against theoretically weaker competition did not hurt Carson Wentz or Josh Allen’s draft stock. If Lance has another season like this, it won’t matter the level of competition he plays in. He will be a top-five pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

4 | Brock Purdy | QB | Iowa State | 6-1 | 210 lbs

The fourth spot on this list was a genuine wild card. Seven quarterbacks received votes as the fourth-best prospect, but Purdy received the most and claimed his place here. He gained scout’s attention by taking over midway through his freshman season and never looked back. He keeps scouts interested by having above-average pocket awareness, athleticism, and mental processing–very important to NFL evaluators. Purdy will have to prove he has the arm talent and arm strength to make all the NFL throws, and that will be hard without a great supporting cast at Iowa state, but if he can do that, then he will be a sure-fire first-round pick in 2021.

5 | Jamie Newman | QB | Georgia | 6-4 | 230 lbs

After a few years of not much playing time, Jamie Newman was unleashed in 2019. Newman–then playing for Wake Forest– came out of nowhere with 2,868 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, with a 61 percent completion rate. He has to answer the same questions as Purdy, however, can he make all the throws necessary? The difference between Newman and Purdy, though, is that Newman transferred as a graduate to Georgia. There he will face off against some of the best defensive talents in the nation. One season through the SEC can easily be enough to tell where Newman should land come draft night.