| 2021 NFL draft | |
| Date: | April 29 – May 1, 2021 |
| Location: | FirstEnergy Stadium Cleveland, Ohio |
| Network: | ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio |
| League: | National Football League |
| First: | Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars |
| Mr Irrelevant: | Grant Stuard, LB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Fewnum: | 3 |
| Fewest: | Seattle Seahawks |
| Mostnum: | 11 |
| Most: | Carolina Panthers Dallas Cowboys Minnesota Vikings |
| Overall: | 259 |
| Rounds: | 7 |
| Prev: | 2020 |
| Next: | 2022 |
The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021.[1]
Five quarterbacks were selected in the first round — Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones — the second highest number of first-round quarterback selections (along with the 1999 and 2018 drafts) after the six selected in 1983 and 2024. The draft also marked the third time the first three picks were quarterbacks, following the 1971 and 1999 drafts. A total of eight quarterbacks were selected in the first three rounds, the most in NFL draft history although, only two quarterbacks were taken in the remaining rounds. By 2024, Lawrence was the only first-round quarterback to remain with his original team.
In addition to the high number of quarterbacks, six Alabama players were taken in the first round, which is tied with the six Miami players in 2004 for the most from an individual school. Conversely, no Big 12 Conference players were drafted in the first round for the first time since the conference began play in 1996 and no Michigan State players were selected for the first time since 1941.
Scouts considered the later rounds of the draft lacking desirable prospects due to the COVID-19 pandemic shortening the 2020 college football season. The NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility and an opt-out option for athletes because of the shortened season, resulting in many prospects returning to school instead of declaring for the draft.[2]
The host city was chosen during the NFL Spring League Meeting on May 22, 2019.[3] Cleveland and Kansas City were announced as the hosts for 2021 and 2023, respectively, from the remaining finalists from the 2019 draft after Las Vegas was chosen to host the 2020 event.[4]
The following is the breakdown of the 259 players selected by position:
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In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft.
Round one
Round two
Round three
Round four
Round five
Round six
Round seven
In November 2020 the NFL passed that year's Resolution JC-2A, which rewards teams for developing minority candidates for head coach and/or general manager positions.[5] The resolution rewards teams whose minority candidates are hired away for one of those positions by awarding draft picks. These draft picks are at the end of the third round, after standard compensatory picks; if multiple teams qualify, they are awarded in draft order from the first round. These picks are in addition to, and have no impact on, the standard 32 compensatory picks.[6] Four picks have been awarded for the draft pursuant to the resolution.
Forfeited picks
| Conference | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Division I FBS football conferences | |||||||||
| American | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 19 | |
| ACC | 6 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 42 | |
| Big 12 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 22 | |
| Big Ten | 7 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 44 | |
| C-USA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Ind. (FBS) | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 15 | |
| MAC | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| MW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Pac-12 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 28 | |
| SEC | 12 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 65 | |
| Sun Belt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| NCAA Division I FCS football conferences | |||||||||
| MVFC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Southland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Non-Division I NCAA football conferences | |||||||||
| MEC (DII) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| MIAA (DII) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| NSIC (DII) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| WIAC (DIII) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
A new record-high 65 players were drafted from one conference,[7] the most in NFL history, surpassing the previous number of selections, 64, in 2019. Both numbers were set by the Southeastern Conference.
| Selections | Colleges | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Alabama, Ohio State | |
| 9 | Georgia, Notre Dame | |
| 8 | Florida, Michigan | |
| 7 | LSU | |
| 6 | Kentucky, Penn State, Pittsburgh | |
| 5 | BYU, Clemson, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, Texas, UCF, USC | |
| 4 | Auburn, Cincinnati, Duke, Florida State, Iowa, Miami (FL), Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Washington | |
| 3 | Houston, Northwestern, Wisconsin | |
| 2 | Arizona, Boise State, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Louisville, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Purdue, SMU, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Tulane, UCLA, Western Michigan |
| Position | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| Cornerback | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 38 | |
| Defensive end | 6 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 34 | |
| Defensive tackle | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 19 | |
| Fullback | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Guard | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 13 | |
| Kicker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Linebacker | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 21 | |
| Long snapper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Offensive tackle | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 25 | |
| Punter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Quarterback | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| Running back | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 18 | |
| Safety | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 21 | |
| Tight end | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wide receiver | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 36 |
| Position | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | 18 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 21 | 15 | 122 | |
| Defense | 14 | 14 | 22 | 21 | 26 | 21 | 15 | 133 | |
| Special teams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Trade references
General references