NFL Draft 2021: The first Safety drafted market is wide open

The group of safeties in the 2021 class is bleak to say the last.

As it currently sits Trevon Moehrig out of TCU is currently the big favorite at -400 to be the first safety drafted on Thursday.

In almost all the mock drafts I’ve seen, Moehrig is the only safety projected to even go in the first round.

Oregon’s Jevon Holland has been the second favorite at +400, followed by Richie Grant +500 before a significant drop off with Texas’ Caden Sterns at +3300.

Andre Cisco out of Syracuse is next at +4000, Hamsah Nasirildeen out of Florida State +5000, Paris Ford of Pittsburgh is at +12500 and Joshuah Bledsoe out of Missouri is +15000.

I would say it’s next to impossible for one of these safeties to overtake Moehrig at this point.

However, it’s very interesting to note how close a big underdog was to cashing at this position in last year’s draft.

Last year’s favorite was the Alabama product Xavier McKinney at -188 to be the first safety drafted. Close behind him was LSU’s Grant Delpit close behind at +130. 

While it wasn’t quite a tossup, it was a lot closer than the position group this season.

The long shot I spoke of earlier was just one pick away from cashing. Assuming New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wanted him no matter what, the legendary head coach shocked many when he took safety Kyle Dugger out of Division II Lenoir-Rhyne just one pick after McKinney was drafted.

Dugger had the fifth-best odds among all safeties to be the first selected at +4000. If there were in fact any Dugger ticket-holders out there, my hat is off to you.

So it’s not to say any of these long shots are bad bets, it just seems highly unlikely to me something that comes close to happening again.

Last season, the class’s best safety also played linebacker in Isaiah Simmons and that was the designation he took on in the draft.

Like the race for the first linebacker or offensive lineman being taken off the board, a bet on the first safety to come off the board will not be on my card come draft night.