Tag Archives: Prospect Rankings

NFL Draft

Top 10 linebackers of the 2023 NFL Draft:

After kicking things off with the running backs earlier this week, we’re switching over to the defensive side for the first time for these positional draft breakdowns and look at this linebacker class. Especially as we get to these positions on defense, where what you covet depends so much on what your scheme asks of players and how play-callers utilize these guys, boards will look a lot different for each team. So this is just me looking at this from a more general standpoint and ranking these prospects based on how valuable their skill-sets can be for the NFL.

It’s kind of an ambiguous group of linebackers this year I believe, because as we get to the edge defenders a couple of weeks from now, you’ll see that there’s some overlap, where a player may be defined differently depending on who you ask. Wisconsin’s Nick Herbig for example will be part of my edge rundown, rather be listed here.

I don’t think there’s a single clear-cut first-rounder, taking positional value into account, but the first four names should all go in the second round and then there’s about seven names I think have a case to go in the third. After that, there are quite a few names, who can fill a certain role and contribute on special teams, but overall there are just too many guys I think are undersized or lack a certain quality, for me to call this a strong class.

This is how I have these names stacked up:


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NFL Draft

Top 10 running backs of the 2023 NFL Draft:

It’s positional draft rankings time! As I outlined on social media and my most recent video on the biggest risers and fallers from the NFL combine, over the next five-and-a-half weeks, I will be releasing top ten lists for each position in the draft. That means two groups every week, starting with running backs and linebackers, and I will follow that theme of talking about an offensive position first and then their defensive counterpart (wide receiver – cornerback, offensive tackle – edge defender, etc.).

As far as this running back class is concerned, we have a legit superstar prospect at the top, who draft evaluators have long held in high regard and were just waiting for to declare. I also think there’s a pretty clear number two – who might actually be underdiscussed – and number three has remained steady throughout this process for me as well. After that, you can argue there’s about ten names in one big bucket, where it largely depends on what flavor your team is looking for. Not all of them will, but I would have no problem with any one of them coming off the board before day. Even after that, there are a lot useful players, who you can find in the later rounds and be contributors for you to a certain degree.

This is how I have them stacked up:

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NFL Draft

The top 100 prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft:

All the evaluations are in the books and you can check out my detailed positional rankings for every unit in the draft right here on my page. So now it’s time to combine them all and bring to you my combined big board. Unlike the positional breakdowns, this is actually taking injuries into contact, which we’re aware off at the moment, since I obviously don’t have insight into the respective medical records. NFL teams of course also have the benefit of being able to interview these young men. I don’t have that luxury of making personal connections and weighing their characters, but I see myself as a pretty damn good talent evaluator.

Three players I disqualified from this list, because I simply don’t have the medical information to judge how much I should move them on my board – Michigan edge defender David Ojabo, Nevada quarterback Carson Strong and LSU linebacker Damone Clark. All three would be inside my top-50 otherwise, in that order. You can make out where they would come in based on my positional rankings. And Clemson wide receiver Justyn Ross is another guy I struggled with trying to rank, since I simply don’t have knowledge about where he stands medically.

Either way, this is how I stack up basically the first three rounds of this draft:

 

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All the evaluations are in the books and you can check out my detailed positional rankings for every unit in the draft right here on my page. So now it’s time to combine them all and bring to you my combined big board. Unlike the positional breakdowns, this is actually taking injuries into contact, which we’re aware off at the moment, since I obviously don’t have insight into the respective medical records. NFL teams of course also have the benefit of being able to interview these young men. I don’t have that luxury of making personal connections and weighing their characters, but I see myself as a pretty damn good talent evaluator.

Three players I disqualified from this list, because I simply don’t have the medical information to judge how much I should move them on my board – Michigan edge defender David Ojabo, Nevada quarterback Carson Strong and LSU linebacker Damone Clark. All three would be inside my top-50 otherwise, in that order. You can make out where they would come in based on my positional rankings. And Clemson wide receiver Justyn Ross is another guy I struggled with trying to rank, since I simply don’t have knowledge about where he stands medically.

Either way, this is how I stack up basically the first three rounds of this draft:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 quarterbacks in the 2022 NFL Draft:

We have reached the point of our final positional draft rankings and of course we’re going to end with the most divisive group – the QBs. The NFL has seen their picture of what those guys should look like change over the last decade, from statuesque pocket passers to more mobile play-makers. However, the kings of the sport right now are the ones capable of making big throws from within the pocket with their special arm talent and add that out-of-structure element when needed.

This group has largely been labelled lackluster and while it’s obviously nowhere close to the same level that we saw a year ago, with four legitimate prospects worthy of going in the top ten and another player with a very high floor, who actually outproduced the rest of the pack, I heavily disagree with the general consensus on these guys and how they are portrayed by the media. I have three names on here that I think are all worthy of going in the first round – although one of those comes in with the caveat of needing a clean medical report – with another guy in that top-50 range, while two names that are typically considered to be part of the top tier I’m significantly lower on. Plus, I have one sleeper on here, that I don’t ever hear discussed.

Let’s dive into these guys:

 

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We have reached the point of our final positional draft rankings and of course we’re going to end with the most divisive group – the QBs. The NFL has seen their picture of what those guys should look like change over the last decade, from statuesque pocket passers to more mobile play-makers. However, the kings of the sport right now are the ones capable of making big throws from within the pocket with their special arm talent and add that out-of-structure element when needed.

This group has largely been labelled lackluster and while it’s obviously nowhere close to the same level that we saw a year ago, with four legitimate prospects worthy of going in the top ten and another player with a very high floor, who actually outproduced the rest of the pack, I heavily disagree with the general consensus on these guys and how they are portrayed by the media. I have three names on here that I think are all worthy of going in the first round – although one of those comes in with the caveat of needing a clean medical report – with another guy in that top-50 range, while two names that are typically considered to be part of the top tier I’m significantly lower on. Plus, I have one sleeper on here, that I don’t ever hear discussed.

Let’s dive into these guys:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 interior defensive linemen in the 2022 NFL Draft:

Concluding our look at the players in the trenches, we are putting the interior D-line under microscope. This group anything from true zero-technique over the center all the way out to four-/five-technique playing head up on the offensive tackle, in terms of base positions. Obviously depending on scheme, alignment and role can vary a lot.

There’s a clear top two from the same school as chance may have it, then a trio of interesting body-types that some NFL teams may refer to as tweeners, a couple of specific fits with narrow skill-sets that they are outstanding at however and then it’s a lot of variety in terms of what people may value. This class is also loaded with two-down nose tackles on the back-end, but overall I think the depth of the group may be a little overstated.

Once again, evaluations are purely based on my film study and done in a vacuum, without taking schematic fits or skill-sets teams are looking for into account, and I have one name up here that I don’t really see anywhere else.

 

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Concluding our look at the players in the trenches, we are putting the interior D-line under microscope. This group anything from true zero-technique over the center all the way out to four-/five-technique playing head up on the offensive tackle, in terms of base positions. Obviously depending on scheme, alignment and role can vary a lot.

There’s a clear top two from the same school as chance may have it, then a trio of interesting body-types that some NFL teams may refer to as tweeners, a couple of specific fits with narrow skill-sets that they are outstanding at however and then it’s a lot of variety in terms of what people may value. This class is also loaded with two-down nose tackles on the back-end, but overall I think the depth of the group may be a little overstated.

Once again, evaluations are purely based on my film study and done in a vacuum, without taking schematic fits or skill-sets teams are looking for into account, and I have one name up here that I don’t really see anywhere else.

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 wide receivers in the 2022 NFL Draft:

We’re entering our second week of positional draft breakdowns. After talking about the best running back and linebacker prospects, it’s time to highlight the wide receivers and cornerbacks, once again starting with the offensive side of the ball.

Right off the bat, I cheated a little bit, by having two guys tied at number ten, but this time I didn’t add some names that just missed the cut, but rather decided to mention a wildcard name at the end. As always, this is 90 percent based on film study, with advanced statistics and testing numbers helping me make my case or just separate names, which I had very closely bunched together.

Similar to what we’ve seen in recent years – and a trend that will continue, thanks to all the youth passing camps and wide open college offenses – this receiver class is very deep and I could have mentioned about 30 names here that I look at as draftable players. However, in order to not just list off names, I broke down the twelve guys I already referenced and then put just a few as the “next names up”, that I think are in that next tier. Currently I have first-round grades on five of these and six more in the top-75 or so.

Here’s the list:

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We’re entering our second week of positional draft breakdowns. After talking about the best running back and linebacker prospects, it’s time to highlight the wide receivers and cornerbacks, once again starting with the offensive side of the ball.

Right off the bat, I cheated a little bit, by having two guys tied at number ten, but this time I didn’t add some names that just missed the cut, but rather decided to mention a wildcard name at the end. As always, this is 90 percent based on film study, with advanced statistics and testing numbers helping me make my case or just separate names, which I had very closely bunched together.

Similar to what we’ve seen in recent years – and a trend that will continue, thanks to all the youth passing camps and wide open college offenses – this receiver class is very deep and I could have mentioned about 30 names here that I look at as draftable players. However, in order to not just list off names, I broke down the twelve guys I already referenced and then put just a few as the “next names up”, that I think are in that next tier. Currently I have first-round grades on five of these and six more in the top-75 or so.

Here’s the list:

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NFL Draft

Big Board for the 2020 NFL Draft:

Now that all the film has been watched and I have broken down over 350 draft prospects, it is time to reveal my top 100 players heading into the draft. You can check out my in-depth analyses and positional rankings right here and on Youtube for the explanation to why I have them where I do.

Number one has been the same the entire draft process, but after watching hundreds of hours of tape, a lot has changed further down the list. The top 20 is as good as it has been in any draft recently, but at some positions there could be multiple day-one starters available on day three.

If there are any players you can’t find here or among my positional breakdowns, you can simply ask me about my opinion on them in the comments or by sending me a text on one of my social media channels linked above.

Here is my list:

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NFL Draft

Top 10 quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft:

We have reached the final version of my positional draft rankings with the long-awaited and much-discussed quarterback class. Check out all my other breakdowns and come back for my top 100 big board later on this week, before I release my one and only mock draft for 2020!

I think a lot of people look at this group completely wrong. I don’t see a top four, but rather two top ten prospects and then a second tier of two QBs that I don’t even have first-round grades on. Then after that there are only four more guys I would even consider on day two, with very little after it. However, there are a few guys I think have a skill-set to be considered developmental prospects and a couple of players I haven’t heard anybody talk about.

You can also check out my video breakdown on Youtube.

Here is the list:

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NFL Draft

Top 10 tight-ends in the 2020 NFL Draft:

We have reached the final three position groups of my draft breakdowns! This is the last offensive class before we finish up with the quarterbacks next week.

This class of tight-ends lacks a true alpha or that top tier of guys, which we have had in recent years. However, there are a bunch of prospects I have day two grades on and some interesting players that haven’t been exposed to a lot of casual fans on the national stage. Those prospects either played for smaller schools or didn’t get the opportunity to show off their skill-set due to the offense they were in. Either way, there is definitely some untapped potential. Nevertheless, the one thing that stands out is how slow this group was at the combine, outside of one guy in my top five.

You can also check out my new Youtube channel if you are interested!

With that in mind, here is my list:

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NFL Draft

Top 10 cornerbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft:

After talking about the loaded wide receiver class earlier this week, we now take a look at the guys who will be covering them at the next level. In this category of cornerbacks, I have included both outside and slot corners, while mentioning which type of schemes or roles they could fit best.

This class of cover-guys features one elite prospect, who will most likely be a top six pick, and I think the next three names have kind of separated themselves a little from the rest. Still, there should be several starters from day two and even after that I see a bunch of undersized prospects, who may be overlooked but could easily start at nickel their rookie season.

By the way, you can also find some of my breakdowns on Youtube now!

Here is the list:

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