ESPN's Todd McShay released his latest 2021 NFL mock draft this morning, and even with all the uncertainty surrounding college football players and their statuses moving forward, pegged a Michigan Wolverines football prospect to come off the board in the first round.
McShay had senior wideout Nico Collins going No. 18 overall to the Green Bay Packers, and tabbed him as the sixth-highest Big Ten player to be taken, behind the likes of Ohio State junior quarterback Justin Fields (No. 4), Penn State junior linebacker Micah Parsons (No. 6), Minnesota junior receiver Rashod Bateman (No. 7), Ohio State redshirt junior cornerback Shaun Wade (No. 8) and Ohio State junior wideout Chris Olave (No. 17).
"Seriously, what are we doing here?" McShay wrote in his mock draft article. "Ten first-round picks for Green Bay since 2012 and only one — Jordan Love, a quarterback — went toward the offense. Odd strategy when you have one of the game's best QBs in Aaron Rodgers now entering his age-37 season.
"[Running back] Aaron Jones broke out, and [wide receiver] Davante Adams is going to put up points, but can someone in the Packers' front office get this man another playmaker?
"Please. While Collins had just 37 catches last season, he turned that into 729 yards and seven scores with mediocre QB play. He's a physical beast, with a 6-foot-4 frame and plenty of vertical speed."
Expectations were sky-high for Collins heading into his senior campaign in 2020, with the Birmingham, Ala., native named to two of college football's most prestigious award watch lists this summer — the Maxwell Award (given annually to the nation's best overall player) and the Biletnikoff Award (given to the game's best wideout).
TheAthletic.com's Bruce Feldman also had high praise for Collins in July when he tabbed him as the No. 47 overall 'most athletic freak' in all of college football.
The Michigan coaching staff had lofty goals for Collins as well, presenting him with the coveted No. 1 jersey. The move was widely assumed, but made official last week when the school updated its official football roster.
He would have been just the 18th Wolverine ever to wear the No. 1 jersey, with four of the wideouts who have done so (Braylon Edwards, Anthony Carter, David Terrell and Greg McMurtry) ranking in the top-11 in school history in receiving yards at Michigan.
A criticism of head coach Jim Harbaugh in recent years is that he hasn't produced skill position players at a high enough level, evidenced by the lack of U-M quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers to go in the first round of the NFL draft.
If Collins were to come off the board within the first 32 picks of the 2021 draft like McShay is predicting, he would become the first Wolverine wideout to do so since Edwards went No. 3 overall to the Cleveland Browns in 2005.
Believe it or not, only four Michigan receivers have ever gone in the first round of the NFL draft, all of which have occurred since 1992:
• 2005 — Braylon Edwards (No. 3 to the Cleveland Browns)
• 2001 — David Terrell (No. 8 to the Chicago Bears)
• 1994 — Derrick Alexander (No. 29 to the Cleveland Browns)
• 1992 — Desmond Howard (No. 4 to the Washington Redskins)
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