2021 NFL Draft debate: Would you rather have DeVonta Smith or Ja’Marr Chase?

Alabama football star DeVonta Smith and former LSU football phenom Ja’Marr Chase could be two of the first three wide receivers taken in the 2021 NFL Draft. Which player is picked first?

Two of the best wide receivers in the 2021 NFL Draft are DeVonta Smith and Ja’Marr Chase.

These are the last two Biletnikoff winners. Chase had a sensational sophomore season with the LSU football team en route to a 2019 national title. While he initially planned to play in 2020, he later decided to opt-out to preserve his NFL Draft stock. Though this methodology has come back to haunt a few players, Chase was one of the least impacted by his decision not to play in 2020.

On the other end of the spectrum, no receiver benefited more by playing last year than Smith. Once his teammate and fellow sure-fire first-round pick Jaylen Waddle succumbed to a major injury, Smith stepped up big time. He took home every major award, including the Heisman Trophy, as the Alabama football superstar helped his team win another national championship.

While both receivers are locks to go in the top half of the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, what are the pros and cons with each top-tier prospect, what do the NFL Draft experts think of them and who will be coming off the board first and to where?

DeVonta Smith or Ja’Marr Chase?: The pros and cons

For Chase, the pros are we have seen him thoroughly dominate SEC competition as a bonafide No. 1 option. Even with Joe Burrow throwing him the football, he thrived in a deep receiving corps with the likes of Justin Jefferson and Terrace Marshall Jr. All three Bayou Bengals wideouts are going to end up top-40 picks in the last two drafts. The con with Chase is that he opted out.

With Smith, he can absolutely fly, has unbelievable hands, you can line him up anywhere and he is an incredible teammate. From catching Tua Tagovailoa’s pass on second-and-26 in the 2018 National Championship game to breaking nearly every record in last year’s title bout, he is about as productive as they come. The con for Smith is he is incredibly slight in stature at 170 pounds.

DeVonta Smith or Ja’Marr Chase?: NFL Draft experts opinions

The three main NFL Draft experts (ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN’s Todd McShay and Daniel Jeremiah of The NFL Network) all have varying opinions of these two wide receivers. While Kiper and Jeremiah have not officially released a mock draft since the series of trades the Miami Dolphins made with the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles, the landing spots still work here.

Kiper initially had Chase to the Eagles at No. 6, who are now picking No. 12 after moving back in a deal with the Dolphins. He had Smith going to the Detroit Lions a pick later at No. 7. Jeremiah had Chase initially going to the Dolphins at No. 3 pre-trade with Smith falling all the way to the Minnesota Vikings picking at No. 14.

McShay conducted the most recent mock draft of the three. He has Chase going No. 5 to the Cincinnati Bengals to be reunited with Burrow and Smith going a pick later to be reunited with Tua Tagovailoa in Miami. While the consensus has Chase coming off the board first over Smith and Waddle in some order, let’s take a look at where both star receivers are destined to go this spring.

DeVonta Smith or Ja’Marr Chase? Who is coming off the board first and to where?

In the aftermath of the Dolphins’ two trades with the 49ers and the Eagles, we expect quarterbacks to go one, two, three to the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and 49ers, respectively. With the Jets trading quarterback Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers, it only further solidifies this, as well as opens up a possible landing spot at No. 8 for Smith or Chase.

Since the Atlanta Falcons picking at No. 4 don’t need a wide receiver, the earliest either of these players could be coming off the board is No. 5 to the Bengals. For as much as Burrow may clamor for him to be reunited with Chase, you have to feel Cincinnati will draft an offensive tackle to keep him upright, whether that is Penei Sewell out of Oregon or Rashawn Slater out of Northwestern.

That leaves Miami at No. 6, which is when Chase will be the first wide receiver taken. Though the Lions picking at No. 7 and the Panthers at No. 8 could be good landing spots for Smith, he has a chance to be leapfrogged by his college teammate Waddle as the second receiver taken. With that in mind, Smith will catch balls from former Alabama star Jalen Hurts in at No. 12 with the Eagles.

Predictions: Ja’Marr Chase No. 6 to Dolphins, DeVonta Smith No. 12 to Eagles.

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