Road to the Draft – Part 6
February 23, 2021
By Noonefromtampa
Welcome to the latest edition of The Hog Sty’s mock draft tracker column.
The release of veteran players is continuing as teams trying to free up cap space in preparation for the new league year that begins on March 17th. An important thing to remember about players who have been released is that signing them does not factor into the compensatory pick calculation like signing free agents does.
The Mocks
This week the number of mock drafts published went from 117 to 131 as more analysts published their new or revised mocks. The position distribution is now:
| Position | Picked Count | Picked % |
| QB | 40 | 30.53% |
| OT | 28 | 21.37% |
| WR | 24 | 18.32% |
| LB | 13 | 9.92% |
| IOL | 12 | 9.16% |
| CB | 7 | 5.34% |
| TE | 4 | 3.05% |
| S | 3 | 2.29% |
| Grand Total | 131 | 100.00% |
The selection of quarterback as the pick at 19 for the Washington Football Team was down 2% this week to 30.5%. Offensive tackle was unchanged percentage-wise, wheras wide receiver was up 1%, interior offensive line was unchanged and linebacker was up about 2%.
The players mock picked to WFT at nineteen in descending frequency are:
| Player | Position | School | Picked Count | Picked % |
| Mac Jones | QB | Alabama | 24 | 18.32% |
| Christian Darrisaw | OT | Virginia Tech | 14 | 10.69% |
| Trey Lance | QB | North Dakota State | 11 | 8.40% |
| Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | LB | Notre Dame | 10 | 7.63% |
| Alijah Vera-Tucker | IOL | USC | 9 | 6.87% |
| Samuel Cosmi | OT | Texas | 8 | 6.11% |
| Rashod Bateman | WR | Minnesota | 7 | 5.34% |
| Kadarius Toney | WR | Florida | 6 | 4.58% |
| Jaylen Waddle | WR | Alabama | 5 | 3.82% |
| Jaycee Horn | CB | South Carolina | 5 | 3.82% |
| Kyle Pitts | TE | Florida | 4 | 3.05% |
| Terrace Marshall Jr | WR | LSU | 3 | 2.29% |
| Kyle Trask | QB | Florida | 3 | 2.29% |
| Teven Jenkins | IOL | Oklahoma State | 3 | 2.29% |
| Rondale Moore | WR | Purdue | 2 | 1.53% |
| Alex Leatherwood | OT | Alabama | 2 | 1.53% |
| Elijah Moore | WR | Mississippi | 1 | 0.76% |
| Tua Tagovailoa | QB | (blank) | 1 | 0.76% |
| Patrick Surtain II | CB | Alabama | 1 | 0.76% |
| Caleb Farley | CB | Virginia Tech | 1 | 0.76% |
| Liam Eichenberg | OT | Notre Dame | 1 | 0.76% |
| Rashawn Slater | OT | Northwestern | 1 | 0.76% |
| Dillon Radunz | OT | North Dakota State | 1 | 0.76% |
| Jevon Holland | S | Oregon | 1 | 0.76% |
| Micah Parsons | LB | Penn State | 1 | 0.76% |
| Trevon Moehrig-Woodard | S | TCU | 1 | 0.76% |
| Andre Cisco | S | Syracuse | 1 | 0.76% |
| Nick Bolton | LB | Missouri | 1 | 0.76% |
| Jaylen Mayfield | OT | Michigan | 1 | 0.76% |
| Zaven Collins | LB | Tulsa | 1 | 0.76% |
| Zack Wilson | QB | BYU | 1 | 0.76% |
Two of the biggest gainers this week, percentage-wise, were Jaycee Horn (up 3%) and Kadarius Toney (up 1.1%). That move put Horn in the top 10 for the first time so far. Horn, the son of former Pro-Bowl wide receiver Joe Horn, is a tall, lanky corner who projects to play on the outside versus the slot. Toney is a very productive wideout from Florida who projects to be a slot receiver in the NFL.
Breaking down the percentage picked within the position group for the top five positions:
- Quarterback – Mac Jones (62% of QB picks), Trey Lance (28%), Kyle Trask (8%)
- Offensive tackle – Christian Darrisaw (50% of OT picks), Samuel Cosmi (29%), Alex Leatherwood (7%)
- Wide receiver – Rashod Bateman (29% of WR picks), Kadarius Toney (25%), Jaylen Waddle (21%), Terrace Marshall Jr. (12.5%), Rondale Moore (8%)
- Linebacker – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (77%), everyone else (8%)
- Interior Offensive Line – Alijah Vera-Tucker (75%), Teven Jenkins (25%)
Several of the mocks have Washington trading up with the Lions or Vikings to get a quarterback like Mac Jones or Trey Lance.
Source: nflmockdraftdatabase.com