Todd McShay 2021 NFL Mock Draft: Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields Headline Top 5

Clemson star Trevor Lawrence sits atop the 2021 NFL mock draft for ESPN's Todd McShay released Wednesday.

McShay has Lawrence going first overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are set to open the 2020 season with Gardner Minshew II at quarterback. Ohio State star Justin Fields was off the board at No. 4 to another QB-needy team, the Carolina Panthers.

Here's the entirety of McShay's top five:

• 1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
• 2. Washington Football Team: Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama
• 3. Cincinnati Bengals: Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon
• 4. Carolina Panthers: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
• 5. Miami Dolphins: Ja'Marr Chase, WR, LSU

Along with the reveal of his mock draft, McShay went on Get Up! to explain how the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will make evaluating players for upcoming draft difficult.

The Big Ten was the first Power Five conference to announce it was canceling its 2020-21 fall sports season because of the pandemic. Shortly thereafter, the Pac-12 announced it was putting sports on hold until at least Jan. 1, 2021.

The Mid-American Conference and Mountain West had already confirmed postponements of their respective seasons.

The ACC and SEC issued statements to say they have yet to make any final decisions:

The Big 12 will attempt to forge ahead with football in the fall.

Even if games are played over the next few months, the season will be unlike any other in recent memory. As a result, it will create problems for NFL talent evaluators to properly scout potential draft targets.

A spring season would likely exacerbate the problem since it would presumably overlap with the draft itself.

USA Today's Dan Wolken reported in July that the NFL had little interest in moving the 2021 draft back from its scheduled start date of April 29, though NFL Network's Ian Rapoport told Good Morning Football on Wednesday the league was open to the idea.

A number of college players have opted out already to focus on the draft. Should any hopes of a fall season fade for good, that list is bound to grow if playing in the spring means missing out on the NFL Scouting Combine or individual pro days.

Certain players such as Lawrence, Sewell and Chase seem firmly entrenched near the top of draft boards. Their stock will remain strong regardless of what happens with the college season.

However, Joe Burrow is a perfect example of how the perception of a player can shift dramatically over the course of a season.

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller didn't even list Burrow among the top 10 quarterbacks in his initial 2020 big board. The former LSU star went on to win a Heisman Trophy and a national championship before the Cincinnati Bengals selected him first overall this spring.

In the absence of a traditional college football campaign, that kind of rise might be impossible ahead of next year's draft.