National Football League

NFL Draft 2021: How did the most heated debates turn out?

Published Oct. 29, 2021 11:56 a.m. ET

By Rob Rang
FOX Sports NFL Draft Analyst

The days leading up to the NFL Draft each year are filled with passionate debates, and the 2021 NFL Draft was certainly no exception. In fact, the fervor might have even been hotter than most years due to the remarkable talent at quarterback and wide receiver.

With the season approaching the midway point, we revisit the five biggest debates and give credit (or blame) where it's due.

No one is suggesting that the rookies selected have already "made it" or been proven busts at this early juncture — it will take a few years to determine that. But certainly, there are teams and individual players who are already winning, making key decision-makers in Cincinnati, Foxborough and Pittsburgh, among others, look pretty smart in hindsight.

Draft Day Debate No. 1: Should the 49ers select Mac Jones or Trey Lance at No. 3?

As noted previously, it takes years before a draft class can fairly be evaluated, but there is simply no denying that Jones has proven the top rookie quarterback from the 2021 draft class thus far.

Jones leads all rookie passers in every meaningful category, including completion percentage (70.4%), passing yards (1,779), touchdowns thrown (nine) and, most importantly, wins (three), while starting all seven regular-season games of his NFL career.

Now, perhaps Jones would not have enjoyed the same success in San Francisco that he has had with New England. Due to his mobility and rocket arm, Lance is clearly an exciting schematic fit for the type of offense Kyle Shanahan wants to run.

But, while acknowledging Lance’s perceived upside, make no mistake, he has only flashed when he has seen the field, including in his lone start this year (at Arizona) after oft-injured QB1 Jimmy Garoppolo went down. Despite Lance’s inexperience and San Francisco's thin depth at quarterback, Shanahan seemed more interested in beating up his rookie signal-caller than protecting the 49ers' massive investment during a Week 4 loss in Arizona. Lance rushed more times (16 attempts for 89 yards) than he completed passes (15 of 29) against the Cardinals, ultimately throwing for 192 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions.

Lance has undeniable physical talent and, more than that, he has already demonstrated the leadership and competitiveness to ultimately live up to San Francisco’s colossal gamble. But while Lance is still just getting his feet wet for a 49ers squad in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Jones already has Bill Belichick and the Patriots planning a potential return to the playoffs.

Draft Day Debate No. 2: Should the Falcons select TE Kyle Pitts or one of the quarterbacks at No. 4?

Given that he is the first rookie tight end to record consecutive 100-yard receiving games since the Raiders’ Raymond Chester back in 1970, and that he is on pace to set the league’s all-time receiving mark for a first-year player at his position, it might appear the Falcons’ decision to draft Pitts fourth overall is an easy slam-dunk winner in this debate.

After all, Pitts just turned 21, and, unlike at receiver and quarterback, the drop-off between him and the next tier of tight ends in last year’s draft was Grand Canyon-like.

It certainly is no coincidence that the Falcons have won their past two games while their young star has broken out. He was virtually unstoppable last week against Miami, hauling in seven passes for 163 yards. Pitts has 471 receiving yards despite having only played six games, unlike the Chiefs and Ravens, whose All-Pros Travis Kelce (533) and Mark Andrews (516) are the only two tight ends in the league with more.

That Pitts is a potential superstar is not the question, however.

Ultimately, the bigger question might be what the Falcons’ long-term plans are at quarterback, with Matt Ryan now 36 and next year’s draft class not appearing nearly as deep at signal-caller.

Draft Day Debate No. 3: Should the Bengals select WR Ja’Marr Chase or OL Penei Sewell at No. 5?

While Chase was my top-rated receiver in the 2021 draft (fourth on my final Big Board), the depth of last year’s crop of pass-catchers was such that I was among many who questioned the wisdom of the Bengals selecting him over Sewell. I saw the Oregon offensive tackle as a generational talent and one playing at a position of greater need, given Cincinnati’s inability to protect Joe Burrow a year earlier.

After struggling with drops during the preseason, however, Chase has proven not only the easy front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, he is deserving of All-Pro consideration, ranking second in the NFL with 754 receiving yards (behind Cooper Kupp’s 809) and tied with three others for third in the league with six touchdown receptions (with Kupp’s nine scores again leading the way).

To justify taking a receiver fifth overall, he must offer big-play ability, and no one has been better in that regard than Chase, who currently leads the league with an eye-popping 21.5 yards per catch.

And it isn’t just that Chase is posting great individual numbers. His reunification with Burrow has given the Bengals back their stripes, with Cincinnati currently holding the No. 1 seed in the AFC at 5-2, based on their 41-17 shellacking of the division rival Ravens last week in Baltimore, a club also with a 5-2 record.

The AFC North showdown was tight until Chase, using his intoxicating blend of tackle-breaking power and speed, broke things wide open in the third quarter.

As the longtime director of player personnel for Cincinnati, Duke Tobin has taken plenty of heat over the years, and some were questioning the qualifications of young coach Zac Taylor after the club went 6-25-1 through their first two years together.

Give both their credit on this decision, however. The orange and black are back, and it has nothing to do with Halloween.

Draft Day Debate No. 4: Is Najee Harris (or any other RB) worthy of a first-round pick?

Many among the analytics crowd will argue that no running back is ever worthy of a first-round selection. A quick glance at this year’s rushing leaders only helps validate that perspective, with all four of the top runners so far this year — Tennessee’s Derrick Henry (869), Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor (579), Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon (539) and Cleveland’s Nick Chubb (523) — all former second-round picks.

And some will suggest Harris’ current place at 15th among rushers (388 yards through six games) further illustrates their point. They might also point out that questions about Harris’ true explosiveness are being emphatically answered in the NFL, with the 24th overall pick of the draft’s longest run so far this season only going for 20 yards, while he averages a pedestrian 3.8 yards per carry.

But they’re wrong.

To typecast Harris as simply a runner is not doing him justice.

In the era of running back-by-committee, Harris was drafted by Pittsburgh to be a true bell-cow back, and he is delivering, leading the Steelers in not only rushing but total scrimmage yards (632) and touchdowns (four), while tying wideout Diontae Johnson for the team lead in receptions (34).

There isn’t another back in the AFC who leads his team in all of those categories, with only the Saints’ All-Pro Alvin Kamara and Detroit’s breakout star D’Andre Swift joining Pittsburgh’s prized rookie with as big of a contribution to their respective clubs.

Draft Day Debate No. 5: What impact will the 2020 opt-outs have on teams and their selections?

The most unique element of the 2021 NFL Draft was that it came on the heels of a college football season in which several of the biggest stars chose to opt out due to the pandemic. There was plenty of speculation prior to the draft that teams might penalize the players who sat out the season and allow them to drop on draft day.

That theory was proven incorrect when the Bengals nabbed Chase at No. 5 overall, and he was followed by six other opt-outs in the first round — OT Sewell to Detroit, No. 7; LB Micah Parsons to Dallas, No. 12; OT Rashawn Slater to L.A. Chargers, No. 13; CB Caleb Farley to Tennessee, No. 22; DE Gregory Rousseau to Buffalo, No. 30; DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to Tampa Bay, No. 32).

Chase, Slater and Parsons have arguably been this year’s top rookies, so shaking off the rust has not proven much of an issue for them, with fellow first-rounders Rousseau and Tryon-Shoyinka adding significant pass-rush punch to their teams. All five were among FOXSports.com’s early All-Rookie Team.

A few opt-outs drafted on Day Two have also performed very well, including explosive Arizona wide receiver Rondale Moore and the Saints’ playmaking cornerback Paulson Adebo — proving yet again that one of the few things not up for debate is that the best players will rise to the challenge.

One of the most recognized names in the industry, Rob Rang has been covering the NFL Draft for more than 20 years, with work at FOX, Sports Illustrated, CBSSports.com, USA Today, Yahoo, NFL.com and NFLDraftScout.com, among others.