NFL record seven consecutive offensive players taken to start 2021 draft

Defense wins games, offense entertains?

Don't tell that to the first seven teams in the 2021 NFL draft. 

A record seven consecutive offensive players were selected to start a draft. The previous record was the 1999 NFL draft, when Hall of Fame cornerback Champ Bailey was the first defender taken at No. 7 overall by Washington.

Thursday night, the record was broken when the Detroit Lions took Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell with the seventh pick. 

The previous six picks before Sewel were Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence to the Jaguars (No. 1), BYU quarterback Zach Wilson to the Jets (2), North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance to the 49ers (3), Florida tight end Kyle Pitts to the Falcons (4), LSU receiver Ja'Marr Chase to the Bengals (5) and Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Dolphins (6).

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It might not have come as a surprise, as the NFL continues to evolve to be a more offensive-friendly league. The 2020 season saw the league set records in scoring, yards per game, first downs per game and several more. In fact, the scoring record of 12,692 topped the previous mark y more than 700 points, which was 11,985 set in 2013.

The offensive trend quickly reversed, with cornerbacks coming off the board at picks No. 8 (South Carolina's Jaycee Horn to the Panthers) and No. 9 (Alabama's Patrick Surtain II to the Broncos).