When it comes to 2021 quarterback prospects, the biggest question for most analysts is, “Who’s No. 2?” For one analyst, the question of who’s No. 1 is more important.
On Wednesday’s PFT Live, Chris Simms pulled the sheet from his 2021 quarterback draft rankings. He has in the top spot not Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence but BYU’s Zach Wilson.
Simms explains himself in the attached video. He also thinks that, if the Jaguars (as expected) take Lawrence, the Jets should sprint to the podium to take Wilson, resisting any temptation to package the second overall selection to get proven commodities at the position like Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson.
Simms has Lawrence at No. 2, followed by Alabama’s Mac Jones, Kellen Mond of Texas A&M, Ohio State’s Justin Fields, and Trey Lance of North Dakota State. Simms thinks all six could be first-round picks.
Scoff if you will (and scoff you will), but Simms has done a very good job of evaluating incoming quarterbacks. He loved Patrick Mahomes in 2017, and he had Lamar Jackson as his top prospect in 2018 until some of the people he knows in league circles shamed him into dropping Lamar behind Josh Allen. (Both are pretty good.) Last year, he loved Justin Herbert, putting both Herbert and Jordan Love ahead of Tua Tagovailoa. (Both Herbert and Love were behind Joe Burrow.)
Time will tell, as it always does. Regardless, Simms is willing to go against the crowd — and he’s definitely doing that here.