With the 2021 NFL Draft behind us, we can look ahead to the regular season. We do that here as we make 20 bold predictions for the 2021 NFL season.
With the majority of free agency done and the 2021 NFL Draft behind us, it’s time to start looking ahead to the new season.
As always, there will be a ton of storylines to follow — and that will also lead to some surprises as well.
Here, we look ahead to the 2021 NFL season and make 20 bold predictions, starting with the Las Vegas Raiders giving up on a first-round pick after drafting many other players at his position.
20. Raiders release Johnathan Abram
The Las Vegas Raiders first pick was criticized by many as they took Alex Leatherwood at No. 17. Whether or not that was a reach is up for debate but what really isn’t debatable is how much of a steal they got with Trevon Moehrig in Round 2.
Moehrig slid to pick No. 43 and Vegas jumped up to get him, giving them a true starting safety. Then in the mid-rounds, they took another safety in Divine Deablo from Virginia Tech at No. 80, and their very next pick was used on Tyree Gillespie, another safety from Missouri who they took at No. 143.
That means Las Vegas added three safeties in the draft and that’s without mentioning the reunion with Karl Joseph who spent last season in Cleveland before returning to the franchise that he began his career with.
All of that being said, Abram is in a tough spot. A former first-round pick, Abram has missed 18 games in two seasons and it’s no secret that Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden don’t waste time cutting players who they don’t think live up to expectations.
It may be early, but Abram could find himself on the open market before Week 1.
19. Todd Gurley heads back to Los Angeles (sort of)
2015 was the last season the Rams were in St. Louis and they also drafted Georgia running back Todd Gurley 10th overall that season. Gurley ran for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns and established himself as the face of the franchise while they again became the Los Angeles Rams.
After a rough 2016, Gurley and the Rams got rolling in 2017. He went for 2,576 yards and 30 touchdowns over the next two seasons and helped Los Angeles become one of the best offenses in the game. But then, a knee injury slowed him down.
Gurley, who was given a four-year, $60 million extension ahead of 2018 season was released just two years later. He spent 2020 with the Atlanta Falcons and had nine touchdowns but wasn’t close to the player he was. Due to that, he’s still a free agent but some team will eventually give him a shot — and this prediction is that he ends up back in Los Angeles. Only this time, with the Chargers.
Currently, the Chargers have Austin Ekeler but he’s not really a goal-line back — and missed six games this past year. What could really help him and the team succeed, is adding a player such as Gurley who knows how to find the end zone. It wouldn’t be the role he’s used to, but he could excel and this is an up-and-coming team that could use such a player.
18. Jaycee Horn leads NFC in interceptions
At No. 8 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers took South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn. The son of former New Orleans Saints wideout Joe Horn, Jaycee wound up being the first corner off the board.
It was a little surprising to see him leapfrog Patrick Surtain, who went to Denver the very next pick, but it probably shouldn’t have been. Horn showed immense growth during his career as a coverage corner and he had nearly no holes in his game.
Of course, when the draft is here we do pick apart everything and there was one thing pointed to with Horn during his collegiate career — he didn’t get many interceptions. In fact, he had just two in his career, both of which came in the same game.
As for this bold prediction, we look at Horn and predict that he will not only get more picks as a rookie but will even lead the NFL as a rookie.
Why would he suddenly go from a guy who doesn’t get picks to the league leader? Motivation.
Horn’s father pointed out that his son didn’t get much attention when he was drafted since everyone wanted to talk about the quarterbacks in the class — and Aaron Rodgers being unhappy in Green Bay. That will give Horn more reason to embarrass quarterbacks. And on top of that, he’s paying homage to Kobe Bryant with his number, so that’s something else to love about this kid.
17. Jason Pierre-Paul released in favor of Joe Tryon
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won it all this season and then they were able to keep the entire team intact — which isn’t the norm when a team wins the Super Bowl. Usually, there’s an exodus of players who look to cash in on the publicity from the playoff run and championship.
This time, Tampa was able to convince everyone to return and some even took less than they could have on the open market. All 22 starters are back but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some change.
In fact, there could be a move at one of their more important positions as the Buccaneers used the 32nd pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on an edge rusher. Tampa tookJoe Tryon out of Washington and he’s a great fit for this defense.
Listed at 6-5 and 259 pounds with 34-inch arms, he looks as though he was built to play the stand-up pass-rushing position that he will be taking on with his NFL team. And if he proves to be capable from the start, he could end up making someone such as Jason Pierre-Paul expendable.
As it stands now, JPP is third on the team with a cap hit of $12.8 million. They could stand to save $5 million of that to move on and while a $7 million dead money cap hit is a lot, the Bucs could still prefer to have more money to use this season to either role into 2022 or make some more moves with extensions or free agency moves.
16. Micah Parsons wins NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year
When the Dallas Cowboys moved down from No. 10 to No. 12 in this year’s draft, there was a collective groan among the fan base. Sure, they all knew it was coming when Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain were both gone at pick No. 8 and No. 9, but the issue was that they traded with the Philadelphia Eagles.
This allowed Philly to land DeVonta Smith which was bothersome for fans — but at least it meant the New York Giants weren’t getting him. And as fans were still trying to justify the move, Dallas came back on the clock at No. 12 and that’s where they took Micah Parsons.
Again, there were mixed emotions as fans understood that Parsons is a great player but they have recently spent early picks on linebackers who were also supposed to be great.
Throw away their feelings about the linebacker position and this is simply a great player who landed on a team that absolutely needs great players. As for what he does on the field, Parsons and his sub 4.4 speed should make a huge impact from the first snap.
And this bold prediction is that he does well enough to win the 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Cowboys fans will then hold their breath to see if he can do what his predecessors could not — have more than one good campaign/
15. Justin Fields wins NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
There were five quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft with Trevor Lawrence leading the way as the first pick overall. He should start right away in Jacksonville and the No. 2 pick, Zach Wilson, is also a lock to start with his club as the New York Jets have no other viable options.
At No. 3, the San Francisco 49ers took Trey Lance and he might not be the guy right away if they do keep Jimmy Garoppolo. The fourth quarterback was Justin Fields who went to the Chicago Bears at 10 and Mac Wilson rounded things off as the 15th pick for the New England Patriots.
Both Fields and Jones have veterans ahead of them that they’ll have to beat out and for Fields, he should be able to get the job done. Andy Dalton was named the starting quarterback when signed this offseason and he’s better than he gets credit for, but he’s not a transcendent star — which FIelds could prove to be.
For that reason, Fields is predicted here as not only the Week 1 starter for the Bears but also the 2021 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. It’s been a long time since Chicago has had a quarterback they could truly believe in and Fields is that guy.
He proved at Ohio State that he can carry a team on his back but the good thing about being in Chicago is, he won’t have to. There’s enough talent around him that he can get the ball to the right people to move the chains — and that will help him be successful and win this award.
14. Cooper Kupp leads NFL in receiving yards
The biggest trade of this offseason (so far) was when the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams agreed to swap quarterbacks. Jared Goff ended up in the Motor City and Stafford will now be the face of the Rams.
L.A. did give up a couple of first-round picks in the deal as well, but some of that was said to be due to their desire to get out from under Goff’s contract. Whatever your feelings are on the price paid, it’s hard to argue against there being a clear winner in this trade — Matthew Stafford.
The former No. 1 overall pick is going to be in a much better situation in Souther California than he was in Detroit. He has a better offensive roster around him and head coach Sean McVay is a superb play-caller who will maximize Stafford’s talent.
Having said that, he’s not the only winner. Another player who will greatly benefit from this move is Cooper Kupp, the No. 1 wideout in L.A. With Stafford now throwing him the ball, Kupp should be able to really take off — much in the same way Stefon Diggs did when he joined forces with Josh Allen.
And like Diggs did with a new quarterback, look for Kupp to find himself atop the leaderboards this coming season and the NFL receiving yardage champ. It might seem like a stretch but Diggs had more than 400-yards added to his career-best in 2020 with a new quarterback and if Kupp does the same, that could do the trick.
13. Deshaun Watson will be on the move… if he’s allowed to play
Things got really ugly for Deshaun Watson this offseason. After signing a massive extension last year, he ended up really losing respect for his team. It was understandable as the Houston Texans not only struggled to put a good team around him but they continued to prove they really didn’t have any plans on changing the way they operate.
Then in the offseason, they seemed as though they had no interest in his input on the head-coaching search. Watson later requested a trade but that’s not where it ended.
Eventually, he was named in several lawsuits as lawyer Tony Buzbee has now brought 22 cases against Watson of inappropriate behavior. There’s a lot going on there and we won’t even get into what could end up happening.
Instead, we will simply look at the football field — and if Watson is not placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list, he likely will never be on the field for the Texans again.
Houston made their intentions clear as they signed Tyrod Taylor and then used their first pick on Davis Mills from Stanford. It’s hard to deny they’re trying to move on and if the Texans are able to pass Watson to another club, they will do so as soon as possible. They won’t get the return they would have had if they acted as soon as Watson requested a trade but they’ll be happy to move forward when they can.
12. Elijah Moore forces out Jamison Crowder
For the past two seasons, Jamison Crowder was the lone bright spot for the New York Jets. A former standout for Washington, Crowder joined the Jets in 2019 and had 78 receptions for 833 yards and six touchdowns. This past season, he had 59 catches for 699 yards and six more touchdowns.
As good as those numbers are, Crowder could be in trouble in 2021. Not only is there a new regime in charge, but the Jets have added more talent. Corey Davis was picked up in the offseason as a free agent. There’s also an expectation that Denzel Mims will get more time and there’s also Keelan Cole in the mix.
Most importantly, however, New York landed Elijah Moore in the draft and he could do a lot of the things Crowder can. And on top of that, Moore doesn’t carry the price tag that the veteran does.
Right now, Crowder is set to count for more than $11.3 million against the cap — and New York can save $10.3 million on their cap with just a $1 million hit in dead money should they decide to make a move. That doesn’t seem like a great formula for Crowder especially considering this coaching staff isn’t the one that brought him in.
11. Josh Allen will sign a massive extension with Buffalo Bills
Ahead of the season, the Buffalo Bills made a decision that was really not a decision at all as they exercised the fifth-year option for quarterback Josh Allen. The former No. 7 overall pick has made huge strides as a starter in the NFL and 2020 was his best campaign yet.
The third-year pro was in the mix for the NFL MVP after leading Buffalo to a 13-3 campaign and taking them to the AFC Championship Game. During the season, Allen completed 69.2 percent of his passes (up from 58.8 the prior year) with 4,544 yards (also a huge jump from the 3,089 he had in 2019).
Allen also had a 37-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio on the season as well. The biggest change for him was the addition of Stefon Diggs as Allen showed that when he has the right weapons he can be one of the best in the game.
This prediction is that Buffalo isn’t satisfied with Allen being under contract for just one more season beyond this. Instead, they will decide to give him a massive extension to prove he’s the future of the franchise.
This move also would be wise since teams who extend their young signal-callers first typically get the best deal. Sure, it will be a lot but waiting to see Lamar Jackson and maybe even Baker Mayfield get deals would only drive the price up for the Bills. They avoid all that with this prediction.
10. Dalvin Cook will lead NFL in rushing yards
Last season, Derrick Henry was the running back who everyone was trying to keep pace with. The Tennessee Titans star finished with 2,027 yards on the ground which was 470 yards more than the 1,557 turned in by Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings.
For Cook, the crazy part is, he didn’t play in all 16 games as he had to sit out two contests. While he might not have topped Henry with the extra games, he was on pace for 1,779 yards on his own. And this was with the Vikings having some issues on the offensive line.
Those issues are going to be a thing of the past as they ended up with not only an improvement over left tackle Riley Reiff, but they also found a new starting guard. At left tackle, Minnesota will be turning to first-round pick Christian Darrisaw whereas Wyatt Davis should be taking over at guard — and he was an absolute steal in the third round.
Cook already was one of the most explosive backs in the game and he’s going to be even harder to deal with after Minnesota improved 40 percent of their line in the 2021 NFL Draft.
9. Chicago Bears shock the NFC North
It was hard to find a team that had as much success in the 2021 NFL Draft as the Chicago Bears did. They ended up with the fourth quarterback in the class but there are plenty of people who believe they landed the second-best behind Trevor Lawrence (those people could very well be right by the way).
Justin Fields wound up being their selection after they traded up from No. 20 to No. 10 and the future day one pick will be well worth it to finally end their constant search for a quarterback.
They also landed Teven Jenkins in the second round and while they didn’t have another pick until Round 5, the Bears found two centerpieces for their offense with these picks. And it wouldn’t be surprising to see this lead to instant success.
Of course, the key will be Fields becoming the starter right away. There’s a call out there for Andy Dalton to continue to start but starting him for the sake of starting a veteran isn’t the right way to go. An open competition should be held, and if so, Fields would likely win the job.
If he does, things could go incredibly well for Chicago. They were 8-8 last season while trying to figure out if Mitch Trubisky or Nock Foles were the starters. Replace them with a legit playmaker such as Fields and this offense could be dangerous.
That’s why this prediction is that they will shock everyone and become the winners of the NFC North this coming season.
8. Myles Garrett will win NFL Defensive Player of the Year
For the past two seasons, Myles Garrett has spent the first 10 games or so playing lights out. But then, something has happened in each of the past two campaigns to derail things.
2019 saw Garrett record 29 tackles with 10 sacks in 10 games but then he made the wrong kind of headlines. Garrett was involved in a fight with Mason Rudolph where he took the helmet off Rudolph’s head and hit him with it.
Garrett was suspended for the rest of the season but then started out 2020 on fire. He again was on a tear with 9.5 sacks in nine games but then came down with Covid-19. He missed the next couple of games and when he returned, he was visibly bothered by the after-effects as his stamina wasn’t what it used to be.
The Cleveland star finished with 12 sacks in 14 games but was knocked out of the discussion for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Now looking ahead to 2021, there’s no reason to think he won’t be back on track and as long as he plays all 17 games, Garrett should be in the mix for the award this season.
This bold prediction is that not only will he be in the discussion, but 2021 will be the year that Garrett ends up winning the award.
7. Richard Sherman signs in Big D
The Dallas Cowboys have had a terrible secondary for quite some time. Over the course of the past two seasons, they have tried to address it as they used a second-round pick in 2020 on Trevon Diggs from Alabama and a second-rounder in 2021 on Kelvin Joseph from Kentucky.
They reportedly wanted to go even higher this past draft but when Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain both ended up going right before they were on the board, they decided to wait until Round 2.
While they did land a talented player in Joseph, the Cowboys might not be ready to turn things over to him as a starter. Joseph has very limited experience as he played just one season for Kentucky after having to sit out the prior campaign following his suspension from LSU.
For that reason, the Cowboys could look to add a veteran who can start until Joseph is ready. There aren’t a lot of names out there who could do that, but there’s one great fit in Richard Sherman.
An experienced vet, Sherman broke out early in his career with the Seattle Seahawks while working under Dan Quinn. Now that Quinn is the defensive coordinator in Big D, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides join forces on a one-year deal.
6. Michael Thomas will decline without Drew Brees
2020 was a year to forget for Michael Thomas. The New Orleans Saints were hoping for another run with Drew Brees, who is now retired, but they didn’t get as far as they hoped.
They also had a lot of bumps along the way as Brees missed four games — he also missed five the season before. With Brees out in 2020, New Orleans turned to Taysom Hill, which was a bit of a surprise since Jameis Winston was the No. 2 guy for most of the season.
New Orleans found success with Hill but Michael Thomas was a different player. Then again, he too dealt with injuries and his entire season wasn’t what was expected and he ended the year with zero touchdowns.
Yes, Thomas had some great moments with Hill starting including 104 yards in Week 10 and 105 in Week 12 but he still never crossed the goal line with Hill throwing him the ball. And now that Brees is gone and Hill could be the starter again — assuming he beats out Winston for a second time — which isn’t ideal for Thomas.
The fact is, Thomas fit Brees’ style of play perfectly. The two were both excellent in the slant game and timing was the key ingredient. Hill, on the other hand, is more unorthodox which doesn’t bode well for Thomas’s style of play.
He would do better with Winston, but New Orleans head coach Sean Payton seems to love Hill and will probably do all he can to run the offense through him. Which isn’t great for Thomas.
5. Julian Edelman joins Tampa Bay Buccaneers
We’ve heard it before. A former New England Patriots player who won Super Bowls with Tom Brady is “retired.” That was the case for Rob Gronkowski, but he ended up coming back in 2020 to join forces with Brady in Tampa Bay, and in the end, he won another title with his friend from Boston.
Now, we have another player who is retired after spending the majority of his career with Brady in New England as Julian Edelman is apparently stepping away from the game. Just like with Gronk, part of the issue with Edelman is health as the Pats released him when he was unable to pass a physical.
With that being the case, Edelman apparently decided to walk away and that started the whole “is Edelman a Hall of Famer” discussion. The answer to that is no — sorry Pats fans — but another question that should be asked is whether or not he’s truly done. And again, that answer could be no.
It might not happen right away but look for Edelman to quickly get bored and decide that he wants to play one more season and if so, there’s only one place any of us expect him to go. Whether or not they defend their title is up in the air, but this prediction is that Edeleman will be one of the players trying to get them back on top.
4. Dak Prescott will win NFL MVP
Just like with Alex Smith last season, it seems as though there will be one player everyone will expect to win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2021 — Dak Prescott. While the Dallas Cowboys quarterback isn’t coming back from as serious of an injury as Smith had, he did have a terrible ankle break that required a long road to recovery.
With the team expecting him to be at 100-percent, and with a healthier line in front of him — there’s no reason to expect Prescott not to have success this coming season. But the young man who just signed a $160 million extension isn’t trying to get the Comeback Player of the Year — he’s trying for more.
Prescott will be determined to get his team back into the playoff picture and if he does, it will be another reminder of how important he is to this team. That was apparent last season as the offense was a mess last season despite having players such as Amari Cooper, Ezekiel Elliott, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Gallup out there.
In fact, there were so many weapons that a faction of fans in Big D thought the Cowboys would be just fine letting Prescott walk and rolling with Andy Dalton. When Prescott went down, they realized how wrong they were as they finished 6-10.
This season, they should be much better and a re-focused Prescott will not only lead them back to the postseason, but this prediction is that he will also get some serious individual hardware as well.
3. Cam Newton will not make the 53-man roster
There was no more perfect match in the 2021 NFL Draft than Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and the New England Patriots. After months of speculation that he would go third overall to the San Francisco 49ers, Jones found himself lasting until the 15th pick, but Bill Belichick and the Pats were thrilled to stop his slide there (they really were, it’s just hard to tell by Bill’s face sometimes, but he was through the roof).
Now the question becomes whether or not Jones can be the starter in 2021. Right now, it looks as though Cam Newton has the job and he will need to fend off the rookie. But is that really the case?
Sure, Newton is a former NFL MVP but his one season in New England wasn’t exactly pretty. They were 7-9 overall and Newton was 7-8. He also threw for just 2,657 yards with eight touchdowns and 10 picks. He did make up for some of that with his legs, finishing with 12 touchdowns on the ground and 592 yards.
The problem is, he just seemed to be a poor fit in Josh McDaniels’ offense. In fact, it was a bit of a surprise he even returned to New England at all. As for Jones, his ability to throw the ball accurately and in rhythm is exactly what this offense needs.
This prediction is that not only will Jones beat out Newton but the Patriots will prefer Jarrett Stidham as the No. 2 option, meaning Cam won’t make the 53-man roster.
2. Los Angeles Chargers will win the AFC West
Justin Herbert was phenomenal as a rookie. The No. 6 overall pick started 15 games for the Los Angeles Chargers and went 6-9. It wasn’t a perfect campaign in terms of their wins and losses but they showed a ton of growth and Herbert was the best rookie quarterback we have seen in a long time.
He finished the season with 4,336 yards passing while completing 66.6 percent of his passes. He also had 31 touchdowns (a rookie record, beating Baker Mayfield’s 27 from 2018) against just 10 picks. If that wasn’t enough, he added five touchdowns with his legs as well.
Then in the draft, they added Rashawn Slater from Northwestern to improve the line in front of him and Asante Samuel, Jr. ‚— a cornerback who should have gone much earlier than No. 44. Josh Palmer and Tre’ McKitty could also be solid additions as they provide some depth on offense.
Throw all that together and this team looks pretty strong on paper. Add in the fact that Herbert should only improve in his second season — and the fact that head coach new head coach Brandon Staley should be huge for the defense ‚— and the Chargers can shock the NFL world this season by de-throning the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
It won’t be easy, but this bold prediction is that they do exactly that and win their division.
1. Aaron Rodgers stays in Green Bay
Aaron Rodgers is not happy with the Green Bay Packers.
Hopefully, that didn’t come as a huge shock to anyone since it’s not really been discussed that much.
In all seriousness, no one is too surprised that things are going south between Rodgers and Green Bay. This started well before they traded up for his eventual replacement, Jordan Love, in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Rodgers seemed bothered by how their coaching search went down and then had a war of words with his coach — even going through the media to complain about things that included the way they practiced special teams.
Head coach Matt LaFleur seemed to be able to smooth things over with Rodgers as they went 13-3 but then the drafting of Love soured things again. The response was another 13-3 season and an MVP for A-Rod, but that doesn’t appear to be enough to have fixed their relationship.
Now, Rodgers wants out — or at least he wants the GM gone. Or so the reports say.
As for the Packers, they’ve remained steadfast that they won’t trade Rodgers. This prediction is that they’re serious in this game of chicken. Remember, this is the team that played hard ball with Brett Favre, so don’t expect them to blink for Rodgers.
There’s always the small chance he does walk away, and Rodgers is savvy enough that he can do something else with his life. Heck, he proved he’s a natural in front of the camera with his Jeopardy stint.
In the end, however, this prediction is that he ends up showing up and playing for Green Bay.