The annual National Football League (NFL) Draft presents a chance for the top college players to realize their dream and for NFL teams to add players they believe can improve their roster. The 2021 NFL Draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio, from April 29 to May 1. Each of the top five players selected, in addition to several others, made an immediate impact in their rookie campaign.
After finishing the 2020 season with a win-loss record of 1-15, the Jacksonville Jaguars were granted the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The team selected Trevor Lawrence with the pick in hopes that the Clemson University product would become the team’s franchise quarterback. Lawrence, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, played three seasons at Clemson and accumulated 10,098 passing yards, 90 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. Lawrence finished second in Heisman Trophy voting in 2020 and seventh in 2019.
While the addition of Lawrence didn’t help the Jaguars make the playoffs in 2021, the team did win two more games than it did in 2020. Lawrence started each of the team’s 17 games and finished the year with 3,641 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. He had a passing completion percentage of 59.6 and a quarterback rating of 71.9.
The New York Jets selected quarterback Zach Wilson with the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Wilson, who had 33 touchdowns and three interceptions and finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting in his junior campaign at Brigham Young, started 13 games for the Jets in 2021.
Wilson fared slightly better than Lawrence with nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions with 2,334 passing yards. He also added 185 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. Like Lawrence, he only won three games as a starting quarterback last season.
The San Francisco 49ers selected quarterback Trey Lance with the third overall pick, marking the first time since 1999 that the first three picks were quarterbacks. A dual-threat, 6-foot-4 quarterback from Marshall, Minnesota, Lance played three seasons at North Dakota State and accumulated 30 passing touchdowns, 14 rushing touchdowns, 2,947 passing yards, and 1,325 rushing yards. Lance backed up 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021. He appeared in six games and finished the season with five touchdowns and seven interceptions in addition to 603 passing yards and 168 rushing yards.
Tight end Kyle Pitts, selected fourth overall by the Atlanta Falcons, finished the season with 68 receptions for 1,026 yards and one touchdown. Pitts is one of only two rookie tight ends and the first since Mike Ditka in 1961 to exceed 1,000 yards receiving.
Fifth overall pick Ja’Marr Chase was unquestionably the most impressive first-year offensive player in the league in 2021. The LSU alumnus caught 81 passes for 1,455 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in his first season with the Cincinnati Bengals. He came within 19 yards of breaking Bill Groman’s 1960 record for the most receiving yards by a rookie wide receiver and won the 2021 NFL AP Offensive Rookie of the Year with an 84 percent share of the votes.
Other impressive first-year players in 2021 included quarterback Mac Jones (No. 15), offensive lineman Creed Humphrey (No. 63), and linebacker Micah Parsons (No. 12).
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