Looking ahead to the 2021 NFL season

The Kansas City Chiefs are currently set to head into the 2021 NFL season as the favourites to win the Super Bowl come February.

Andy Reid’s side won the Vince Lombardi Trophy back in 2019 before being beaten in this year’s final by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Chiefs are 5/1 to win with William Hill sportsbook WV and have a number of their stars tied down to long-term contracts to be contenders for several seasons. But it’s worth noting a few key losses during the off-season so far:

Eric Fisher – One of the best Left Tackle’s in the game currently and was sorely missed in their Super Bowl defeat. Eric Fisher has been released following the expiry of his contract. The 30-year-old can expect a big pay packet by the team who picks him up before the start of the new season.

Mitchell Schwartz – The Chiefs surprisingly cut both starting tackles this off-season as Mitchell Schwartz is also looking for a new team. This will be bad news for Patrick Mahomes as shown by how penetrative the Bucs defence was at the Raymond James Stadium back in February.

Le’Veon Bell – The talented running back was only picked up on a one-year deal and was impressive in helping his side to the Super Bowl. Not too surprising the Chiefs didn’t want to use a lot of cap space here when they already have Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams.

Bashaud Breeland – Started all but six games in his two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. The franchise will be looking for a new cornerback this off-season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently the sportsbooks’ second favourites to repeat at 9/1. Tom Brady and his offence came good in the final weeks of the season whilst their defence had been playing well throughout.

Ultimately, it was the pressure from the front seven on Mahomes that led them to 2020 Super Bowl glory. Talking Sports mentioned this was likely to be the case in their Super Bowl preview.

NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers fell short at the NFC Championship game for the second season in a row, but the Green Bay Packers cannot be overlooked for making it third time lucky next season.

The quarterback has yet to extend his contract beyond last season but is expected to still be at Lambeau Field next season. Now he needs the General Manager and head coach to draft him a talented wide receiver and the Packers could be Super Bowl-bound.

The Baltimore Ravens have been very impressive these past two regular seasons with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. But they’re 1-2 in the playoffs as the 24-year-old bottles the post-season.

With more experience behind his back the Ravens cannot be counted out. The number one rushing team and a good defence to match gives them a good headstart, but the Cleveland Browns coming on strong and the Pittsburgh Steelers seemingly always strong, the AFC North could be very competitive in 2021.

Before all that we have the 2021 NFL Draft to look forward to, starting on Friday 30 April. The Jacksonville Jaguars are widely-expected to take Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence with the overall number one pick in what is expected to be a quarterback-heavy first round.

The Jaguars have drafted poorly in recent years and it’s been a long time since they’ve had any success at quarterback. Lawrence went 34-2 in college but did lose to Ohio State in the college football playoff semi-finals.

The New York Jets will almost certainly take a QB too with the next pick, and that could be Zach Wilson of BYU. San Francisco, Atlanta and New England could also take a quarterback in the first round. 

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