The 2021 NFL Draft is Littered With Elite WRs, What Does that Mean for Tylan Wallace?

Projecting the 2021 NFL Draft in April 2021 is difficult so doing it in April 2020 is a fool’s errand. However [looks around] there is not much else to talk about these days, and one emerging trend that we need to look at is not encouraging for an OSU senior to be.

After multiple Big 12 receivers went in the first round of a WR-loaded 2020 NFL Draft, I thought that might bode well for Tylan Wallace and his future. As it turns out, maybe not.

We had a fun discussion about Tylan’s draft prospects in the Chamber recently, and Adam Lunt — who is much smarter about this stuff than I am — wasn’t bullish on Tylan as a first-rounder in a vacuum.

This is compounded by the fact that the 2021 mock drafts I’ve seen have six, seven and even up to eight (!!!) wide receivers going in the first round. None of them named Wallace. The names include the following.

Justyn Ross (Clemson)
Ja’Marr Chase (LSU)
Jaylen Waddle (Alabama)
Rashod Bateman (Minnesota)
DeVonta Smith (Alabama)
Rondale Moore (Purdue)
Chris Olave (Ohio State)
Terrace Marshall (LSU)

While things could (and will) change over the next 12 months, the early returns for Wallace are that the 2021 first round could be just as tough to break into as it would have been in 2020. None of the projections I’ve seen have Wallace going in the first round, but as Lunt noted …

I think Wallace will be a good NFL player for a long time, anyone who can go up and win contested situations will make it in my opinion. But when teams draft first-round WRs they want Deandre Hopkins or Tyreek Hill types, and that’s not him. [Chamber]

But what about his running mate, Chuba Hubbard? Drafting a running back in Round 1 has become an archaic move, up there with using muskets in war and employing a town raindancer. However, Matt Miller of B/R did have him going late in the first round to the Bucs.

There’s reason to believe Tom Brady will still be the quarterback in Tampa one year from today, which makes loading up the offense through the draft for his last year under contract a smart bet.

Bruce Arians loves pass-catching running backs in his offense, and the early look at 2020 has Oklahoma State do-it-all Chuba Hubbard as the best of the class. He’s productive both as a runner and receiver and has the power and burst to be this year’s version of Clyde Edwards-Helaire. [B/R]

Tommy B. tossing little dump-offs to Chu would delight me to the point that I might have to purchase a Mike Alstott throwback jersey.

Again, we’re talking about an event that is over 50 weeks away. We know nothing. OK, not nothing — we know Trevor Lawrence is going to be a top-five pick — but as close to nothing as you can get. Wallace and Hubbard may take over the CFB world and bump themselves into the late first or early second round after gaining a combined 4,000 yards in empty stadiums all over the country this winter.

I do hope that happens. OSU hasn’t had a first-rounder since Justin Gilbert in 2014, and Wallace and Hubbard probably represent their best non-James Washington chance since that draft, which will have been seven years ago come next April.