Miami football projects to have two or three 2021 first round draftees

After not having a player chosen until the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the consensus 2021 NFL mock drafts project the Miami football program to have two or three players taken in the first round.

The Miami football program has not had a first-round pick in the NFL Draft since 2017. The last time the Hurricanes had multiple players chosen in the first round was 2015. Miami last had three players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft in 2009. The Hurricanes should have at least two first-round picks in 2021.

Rising redshirt sophomore defensive end Greg Rousseau is a consensus top 10 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and potential top-five pick. Rousseau had a breakout season in 2019 with 54 tackles and a team-leading 19.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks. The NFL Mock Draft Database projects Rousseau as the third overall pick in 2021.

Rousseau would be selected behind the frontrunners for the 2020 Heisman Trophy, quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Justin Fields of Ohio State. To go from being a three-star signee in 2018 to the third pick in the draft and first defensive player drafted in 2021 is a meteoric rise for Rousseau.

There are a plethora of NFL mock drafts out for 2021 following the conclusion of the 2020 NFL Draft on Saturday. The NFL Mock Database also has graduate transfer, DE Quincy Roche, returning to Philadelphia after three years at Temple and getting taken by the Philadelphia Eagles 23rd overall.

Rising junior TE Brevin Jordan completes the Miami triumvirate of first-round picks with the Baltimore Ravens selecting him with the 30th pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Several sites have Rousseau, Jordan and Roche being taken in the first round. Many have Rousseau and one of the other two as first-round picks.

Nearly every site, if not every site will have Rousseau as a first-round pick, if not a top-five or 10 selection in their 2021 Mock Drafts. As the Mock Draft Database indicates the consensus is that Rousseau, Roche and Jordan will be first-round picks in 2021. The sites with at least two Miami first-round picks are the focus here.

Sports Illustrated has Rousseau being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals with the third overall pick in 2021 and Roche to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 28th selection. SI highlighted the Bengals weak pass rush as a reason Rousseau would wear the orange and black.

Roche would help a Tampa Bay defensive line that is expected to lose a pair of starters in the next few seasons. Roche had 19 TFLs and 13 sacks at Temple in 2019 to earn the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. The Sporting News ranks the players without specifying which teams will choose them.

Rousseau is ranked as the fourth-best player in the 2021 NFL Draft, Roche 32nd and Jordan 34th which would place him just outside the first round. Walter Football has Rousseau to the Dolphins with the fourth pick in 2021 and Jordan to the Green Bay Packers with the 22nd pick to essentially replace former Miami TE Jimmy Graham.

For future success, Miami needs to start developing elite players in the NFL. Calais Campbell who was traded from Jacksonville to Baltimore during the offseason is the only true star player from Miami currently in the NFL. Rousseau has been compared to Campbell. Jordan is regarded as the next great TE from the Miami football program.