Best 2020 Panini Mosaic Football Cards & Checklist

We recently reviewed the 2020 Panini Mosaic Football Hobby Boxes (Blaster Box, Mega Box) and ripped open some 2020 Mosaic Football Cello Fat Packs. Boy, this was a fun review made possible by Amy S. over at Panini.

While acknowledging the most valuable cards, presented the set’s parallels, and discussed the most desirable places to buy blaster boxes. Let’s delve right into the 2020-21 Panini Mosaic Football Hobby Box, offer our top three cards, and address the brass tacks and quality of the set.

Reviewing the Top 3 Cards of 2020 Panini Mosaic

In our 2020 Panini Mosaic Football analysis, we honed in exclusively on the Blaster Box. Though because this article focuses on the set in its entirety, it opens the door to potentially more valuable parallel cards that blaster boxes didn’t carry.

According to eBay, here are the three most valuable cards from 2020 Panini Mosaic Football:

1. Justin Herbert’s Peacock Choice RC
2. Justin Herbert’s Genesis RC
3. Joe Burrow’s White Sparkle RC

Keep in mind, none of these three cards is serial-numbered. However, due to the success of both players in their rookie seasons, their rookie cards became valuable and sought-after by collectors.

In Herbert’s rookie season, he threw for a monstrous 4,336 yards, with 31 touchdowns against only 10 interceptions. Justin Herbert’s 4,336 yards were good for 6th in the NFL, and his 289.1 yards per game ranked 4th in the league. Herbert’s 31 touchdowns in his rookie season also ranked 10th overall. That said, Justin Herbert captured the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

“Best Longterm Quarterback Rookie Card Investments”
1. Aaron Rodgers Topps Chrome RC
2. Tom Brady SP Authentic RC
3. Joe Montana Topps RC

Similarly, Joe Burrow had a solid rookie year for the Cincinnati Bengals. In Burrow’s rookie season, which was cut short in Week 10 due to a torn ACL and MCL, he threw for 2,688 yards, 13 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Burrow finished the year ranked 7th in the NFL with 268.8 passing yards per game.

With Herbert’s and Burrow’s success on the field in their rookie campaign, the top three cards from the 2021 Panini Mosaic Football set are likely to star rookies who dazzled in their rookie seasons.

Our Long-Term Best Cards of 2020 Panini Mosaic Football Set

While the 2021 Panini Mosaic checklist has yet to be released, we anticipate the top three cards from the set highlighting the Rookie Autographs of Ja’Marr Chase, Mac Jones, and Najee Harris.

According to VegasInsider, Ja’Marr Chase (-145), Mac Jones (+350), and Najee Harris (+900) have the best odds to capture the 2021-22 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Through his first nine games of the season, Ja’Marr Chase has 835 receiving yards on 44 receptions, averaging 19 yards per catch and 92.8 yards per game. Chase has caught seven touchdowns from Joe Burrow this season through nine games. Chase ranks 3rd in receiving yards and has the most 40+ yard catches of any receiver this season with six.

Mac Jones has led the New England Patriots to a 5-4 record in the early going, with 2,135 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Mac Jones has excelled with his completion percentage, completing 68% of his passes, good for 8th best in the NFL.

This season, Najee Harris has 150 rushes for 541 yards for the Pittsburgh Steelers, averaging 3.6 yards per rush. Harris is averaging 67.6 rushing yards per game, good for 12th in the league. He has also rushed for four touchdowns and has caught two receiving touchdowns just halfway through the season.

After Derrick Henry’s 219 rushing attempts, Harris has the 2nd most rushing attempts this season with 150. But what truly sets Harris apart is his ability to hold onto the football, as he has yet to fumble in his rookie campaign, despite holding the 2nd most rushing attempts.

Pack & Box Info

The 2020 Panini Mosaic Football Set:

• 300-card base set
• 10 packs of 15 cards in each hobby box and 12 boxes in a case
• Two Autographs
• 20 Inserts
• 15 Mosaic Parallels
• Five Silver Parallels

While the 2020 Panini Mosaic Football set emphasized various configurations, including but not limited to a Hobby Box, Hobby Choice Box, Mega Box, and Blaster Box, Panini has yet to announce the assorted arrangements and boxes available.

The 300-card checklist will emphasize rookies and veterans.

Additionally, collectors will be chasing the abundant parallels of the set, including:

• Silver
• Mosaic
• Red Mosaic
• Blue Mosaic /99
• Purple Mosaic /49
• White Mosaic /25
• Gold Mosaic /10
• Black Mosaic /1

Autographs and Rookie Autographs

• Gold Mosaic /10
• Black Mosaic /1

Returning inserts from the inaugural release of 2020 Panini Football include Stare Masters and Center Stage, and making its first appearance to the set is the Straight Fire insert with the following parallels:

• Silver
• Mosaic
• Blue /99
• Purple /49
• White /25
• Gold /10
• Black /1

The Busted inserts are also new to the set, featuring the busts of Pro Football Hall of Famers. Currently, there are 354 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, though Panini has yet to announce which NFL legends they will distribute.

2020-21 Panini Mosaic Football Checklist

Best Parallels

As we mentioned previously, we love the modern design of the 2020 Mosaic football cards and, in particular the rookie card parallels. Here are a few of our favorite 2020 Mosaic rookie card parallels from a combination of ROI and design.

2020 Panini Mosaic Orange Fluorescent Justin Herbert RC /25 #204

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2020 Panini Mosaic Fusion Red Choice Prizm Joe Burrow RC /80 #201

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2020 Panini Mosaic Choice Fusion Red Prizm Justin Herbert RC #4

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Overall Rating

In terms of design, the 2020 release is fitting of the Mosaic brand throughout the checklist.

The addition of the Super Bowl MVPs subset will exhibit the Super Bowl logo on the front of the card in the bottom left-hand corner.

The Stare Masters and Center Stage inserts are returning, though the Stare Masters insert appears to emphasize the team’s uniform colors more than last year, and the Center Stage inserts display more of a black hue than the green hue from the 2020 Panini Mosaic.

This year, the Straight Fire insert is a novel addition and illustrates an alluring flame blazing in the backdrop.

Finally, the 2020 Panini Mosaic Football set features short-printed stunning Canton busts. The busts will be die-cut to illuminate the statues of the Hall of Famers. While we don’t yet know which Hall of Famers will be featured, it’s not out of the question that the recent Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2021, featuring Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson would receive an appearance.

In 2020 Panini Mosaic, the most valuable cards of the set featured the two most established players from their rookie campaign: Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow. Due to the success of Herbert and Burrow in their rookie seasons, the value of their rookie cards became worthwhile.

There is a strong possibility that the top offensive rookies of the 2021-22 NFL Season, highlighting Ja’Marr Chase, Mac Jones, and Najee Harris, will be the most coveted rookie cards of the set.

As we expect the trend to continue, collectors are counting down the days until the release of 2021 Panini Mosaic Football to get their hands on some of the top rookies from the 2021-22 NFL season.