You may ask yourself why my final mock draft of 2021 leads with a Metallica reference. Well, besides the fact that any opportunity to slip Metallica into any article is a can’t-miss win, there is an element to the above “Enter Sandman” lyric that becomes the story as we get ready for the draft to actually begin. The light in question was the pre-draft process — even in this weird and unpresented year of COVID opt-outs, no scouting combine, and Zoom pressers and pro days when there used to be more boots on the ground, teams were putting their draft boards together and trying to figure out which players best fit their paradigms.
Now, the rubber meets the road, and enter, night. No more daylight here, and the draft dream or nightmare you’re about to encounter as a team depends entirely on the due diligence you did along the way, and the good fortune you may or may not have as your favorite guys are on the board (or not) when it’s your time to pick.
Come Thursday at 8:00 p.m. EST, there are no more big boards, no more first-round mock drafts, no more hypotheticals. Just a bunch of people in 32 team facilities trying to make sense of it all. And with my final mock of the 2021 pre-draft process, that’s what I’m trying to do: This is what I think teams will do, based on scheme, need, talent, and just a hint of randomness.
As Levi Damien, my Wire colleague on the Raiders side, said…
Just give each fan the One player they want and there will be Justice for All. Otherwise they will dub thee Unforgiven. Cuz to them Nothing Else Matters. It's Sad But True.
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) April 27, 2021
Sad but true, indeed.
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions).
