The biggest 2021 NFL Draft mysteries include 49ers who Patri

It'sa mystery wrappedina riddleinside anenigma. It's the 2021 NFL Draft.

If NFL Mock Drafts have taught us anything year in and year out, it's this: No one knows anything.Even the best NFL Draft analysts have a tendency to mi s onpicks, and that's totally fine. It's all a gue sing game, after all.

This year, though, it seems to be more wide open than drafts past. With an odd college football season that unfolded in 2020 throwing a monkey wrench into scouting, with players Caleb Smith Jersey opting out and schools playing modified schedules, NFL front offices have likely been through a toughertime to evaluate prospects heading into Thursday. Sprinkle in that there was no NFL Combine and face-to-face interaction with prospects was at an all-time low, and you've got a recipe for chaos.

While the top-five quarterbacks are the talk of the town heading into this year's first round, there are plenty of other questions that have yet to be answered ahead of April 29.

Here are some of the most interesting.

Who will the 49ers draft?

The 49ers made the first major move of the 2021 NFL Draft cycle, sending the Dolphins two future first-round picks to jump from No. 12 to No. 3 (thanks, Houston). Make no mistake:The 49ers traded up to take a quarterback, because you don't spend that much future draft capital if it'snotfor a quarterback.

But which quarterback? Rumors have suggested that Kyle Shanahan loves Alabama's Mac Jones at No. 3, while the 49ers'personnel department seems to be hot on Trey Lance.

The Jones stuff is, by far, the most interesting thing to come out of the rumors this offseason: Shanahan has worked well with pocket pa sers in years past (Kirk Cousins with Washington, Matt Ryan with Atlanta, Jimmy Garoppolo with San Francisco), so opting to take another familiar skillset in Jones makes sense.

But

Lance's pure physical attributes coupled with his age make him a home run of a pick should he pan out. While Lance opted out of the 2020 college football season, his 2019 tape could be more of a tell than anything.

Who will Jarlin Garcia Jersey the Patriots draft?

It's the Patriot way to enter the draft with no one havingany idea what Bill Belichick is thinking.

One of the latest rumors indicates that New England could be interested in Florida QB Kyle Trask. Other reports suggest that the Patriots are looking to make a move into the top 10, presumably to take a pa ser high.

While the Patriots could be set at quarterback for 2021 with Cam Newton back for one more year, there's no shortage of options for New England in the draft. The team'sbig-time free-agency period dictates that Belichick will be going for it now, meaning the Patsmight not look to afuture QB until the 2022 draft, which would be something of a left turn heading into this year'sdraft.

In any case, the Patriots are in the sweet spot: They can trade up to give a rebuilding Kyle Barraclough Jersey team a bit more draft capital in the next year and get themselves a quarterback or sit where they are and simply take the best player available.

on Thursday.

Who will draft Justin Fields?

Justin Fields went from consensus No. 2 overall QB in the draft beforethe start of the 2020 college football season to some questioning whetherhe'll be a top-10 pick this year.

Whatever the case may be,the idea of Fields slipping past the top 10 is wholly unfair to him, but it's a question that's going to last headingintoThursday.

With Trevor Lawrence presumably going No. 1 overall and the Jets seemingly falling in love with BYU pa ser Zach Wilson at No. 2, there's no telling who will select Fields or where he'll fall.If the 49ers decide between Mac Jones and Trey Lance, it's another landing spot off the board. All eyes then turn to the Falcons, who recently restructured Matt Ryan's contract, Cameron Maybin Jersey and could pa s.

Then at No. 5 you have the Bengals, who will likely decide between Penei Sewell and a top offensive weapon for Joe Burrow. The Dolphins at No. 6 seem to be sticking with Tua Tagovailoaand are rumored to trade down.

Could Fields go No. 7 to the Lions? Detroit traded away Matthew Stafford and got back Jared Goff and future first-rounders, too. It may be premature to end the Goff era before it starts. The Panthers at No. 8 couldtake Fields, if they're not a true believer in Sam Darnold's future in Carolina.

Denver at No. 9 seems like a very realistic option, a suming that no other teams jump the Broncos to get him. It's a very real po sibility that Fields falls out of the top 10 and that would be a damn shame.

Where do the top two running backs go?

Alabama's Najee Harris and Clemson's Travis Etienne are considered to be the top two running backs in the 2021 draft but don't be surprised if neither goes in the first round.

Since 2015:

2015:Melvin Gordon, 82 games, 57touchdowns.2015:Todd Gurley, 88 games, 79touchdowns.2016:Ezekiel Elliott, 71 games, 56 touchdowns.2017:Christian McCaffrey, 51 games, 45 touchdowns.2017:Leonard Fournette, 49 games, 25 touchdowns.2018:Sony Michel, 38 games, 15 touchdowns.2018:Rashaad Penny, 27 games, six touchdowns.2018:Saquon Barkley, 31 games, 23 touchdowns.2019:Josh Jacobs, 28 games, 19 touchdowns.2020:Clyde Edwards-Helaire, 13 games, four touchdowns.

Obviously, varying degrees Miguel Rojas Jersey of succe s stories here, with Gordon, Gurley and Fournette no longer on the teams that drafted them.

A good running back can change an offense, but for how long?There are benefits totaking a running back in the first round, the fifth-year option chief among them;but the fifth-year option doesn't matter much if guys are starting to slow down into Year 3 or 4.

Teams have been slowly but surelymoving away from drafting first-round running backs since 2000.There are at least two teams thatcould use a back toward Brad Ziegler Jersey the back end of the firstin this year's draft Pittsburgh, Buffalo and one or both could go that route. It would be a readymade move for either team to take a running back now to help with offense: The Steelers were one of the worst rushing offenses in football in 2020, while the Bills were decidedly middle of the pack.

What will the Falcons do?

If you believe that Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and one of Mac Jones or Trey Lance goes 1-2-3 in this year's draft, then the draftreallystarts with the Falcons at pick No. 4.

While Atlanta restructured Matt Ryan's deal to ease the burden of the capand could look to ship out Julio Jones to help ease the cap as well, there's no denyingthat the team will look drastically different on offense come the start of the 2021 season.

With