2021 NFL Draft: Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence early favorite to be first pick

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was the well-deserved top overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday night by the Cincinnati Bengals. Burrow had arguably the greatest season of a quarterback in FBS history in leading the Tigers to a national championship and winning a Heisman Trophy. However, if one player had been eligible for this year's draft, he likely would have been Cincinnati's choice: Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Go ahead and mark it down now: Barring injury, shocking regression or major off-field problems, Lawrence will be the first name called in the 2021 NFL Draft. To say scouts are salivating over the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder is definitely an understatement. Lawrence is considered the best pro quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck went No. 1 overall out of Stanford to the Indianapolis Colts in 2012.

In the 2018 college football season, Lawrence became the first true freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national title since 1985. He got Clemson back to the title game last year, but the Tigers lost to Burrow and LSU. Lawrence and Ohio State's Justin Fields – a probable Top 3 pick next year too – are currently the two Heisman Trophy favorites at William Hill sportsbook for the 2020 NCAA season.

Which teams might be in the running to take Lawrence first next April? Going by the William Hill win totals for this NFL season, the Jacksonville Jaguars have the lowest total at 4.5. No offense to Gardner Minshew II, but the Jaguars would take Lawrence in a second.

Carolina and Washington both have win totals of 5.5. The Panthers just signed Teddy Bridgewater to a three-year free-agent contract last month, and the Redskins selected Dwayne Haskins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Other teams that may "need" a quarterback in next April's draft for various reasons: Detroit, Chicago, New England, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Tennessee, Denver, Las Vegas and New Orleans. Maybe Dallas depending on the Dak Prescott contract situation. 

Clemson has never had a player go No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft.

Which teams sail past their projected win totals? What is the SportsLine model's stunning Packers prediction? And how many wins will every NFL team have this season? ... See every projected win total, including the shocking prediction for the Packers, all from an uncanny computer model that crushed its NFL win total picks last year!