Ranking the 2022 draft class; Explaining my process, some player profiles and mock draft predictions
In what has been a long, but enjoyable process, I urge you to enjoy the content I've prepared.
The 2022 draft class was such a fascinating evaluation because of how little consensus there was at the top of respective positions. Talks of this draft class hint at it being not only weak at the top, but some going as far to say this is a bad draft class. I think at the top of certain marquee positions I could see why this is the case, but the draft is about more than just taking the highest priority need.
I’m am going to go over not only my rankings, but also explaining my process behind it and why certain guys ended up where they did. In past years rankings to me seemed a lot more cut and dry, this year I felt that there was a ton of context behind each prospect that led them to very divisive point of views, depending on the person and what they look for.
Included with my rankings there are some player profiles I’ve linked that I recommend reading. Some positions got more than the others and while I wasn’t able to do as much as I hoped I would, I am still happy to have gotten this far.
All Profile report links
QB rankings:
Desmond Ridder ultimately ended up my QB 1 which was a testament to his ability in structure whether it was eye manipulation to open up passing windows, finding solutions post snap on the backside, the great examples of him adjusting protections at the line of scrimmage pre snap, along with his pocket movement and physical tools to bet on from both a floor and upside perspective. Accuracy is something that showed improvement down the stretch of his last season and I think it’s something that he’s shown can improve which gives me enough confidence to project improvement in that area.
Is this a big projection? Yes, but the traits I value most of all are a baseline arm talent ability, strong eye manipulation traits and the pocket movement/awareness to be able to make guys miss, or make accurate throws under pressure. Ridder fulfilled most of biases that I look for in a quarterback and while he’s a very divisive prospect, every quarterback in this class has a large amount of differing concerns that depending on the evaluator’s process, will lead to large rankings discrepancies.
This does not mean my process will lead me to the right conclusion, or that others respective processes are lacking. I am simply stating that my process will be put to the test and that what other respective evaluators are saying is not necessarily wrong, it’s just a difference in how someone values respective traits.
Let’s address the major elephant in the room. Matt Corral was by far the most frustrating evaluation, with huge processing discrepancies game to game. Part of it had to do with the system he was in which was a largely scripted RPO passing scheme and he often had a tendency to predetermine throws. Some believe the reason Lane Kiffin was so RPO heavy with Corral this past year was because of Corral’s limitations as a processor, while others believe it was due to the major lack of talent at respective skill positions.
Personally, I don’t think either is wrong and depending on which games you watched, I wouldn’t necessarily believe that anyone’s conclusion is without merit. For me I spent the most time watching Corral of anyone else in this class because the traits he possessed in terms of eye/body manipulation and pocket movement were all traits I valued highly.
So I did a lot of digging on his film, going through a lot of his 2020 film and what I found was not necessarily him lacking the capabilities to do the things he wasn’t asked to do, but rather he was capable of doing them and just wasn’t asked to do it a lot.
I am going to be quite clear on this, a lot of my ranking on Corral is projection. He is not in a position to play now and if he does play now, what you will ask him to do is going to be very scheme limited. I am not a huge advocate of the sit and learn approach, but I think in this case it does need to be applied.
If he gets that approach and he’s allowed to sit for a few or so years, I think his potential is immense. I think there are very few quarterbacks who can full on manipulate with his body and throw accurately the way he can. That manipulation, his knack for navigating the pocket and his physical tools combined are all traits worth betting on if you want to trade back in at the end of the 1st round.
His floor is a lot lower than Malik Willis or Kenny Pickett, in fact I think Willis has the highest floor in this class because of his physical gifts. The caveat is I do not think Willis has a very realistic shot of attaining his ceiling because of his lack of field vision. I do think he’s very bright though and if there has been a trend in recent years, it’s bright minds with physical tools who aren’t necessarily polished winning out so it wouldn’t be a surprise if I did end up wrong on that front.
Pickett is someone I just think the ceiling is a top 15 or so at best quarterback in the league and it wasn’t because of his arm strength. I was very worried about how skittish he can be in the pocket as he tends to move too early before pressure arrives. often electing to run out the backdoor and running himself into pressure. He needs to learn to wait that extra few steps and the problem is this is a very tough habit to break. If he does accomplish that though, he can exceed my expectations.
Funny enough, Sam Howell has the opposite problem as Pickett where he waits too late for the pressure and often ends up looking oblivious to it. His feet are also the opposite, they’re borderline lazy which makes resetting very inefficient so he’s often late getting to the backside of a play. When you not only lack the field vision, but your footwork often causes you to get sacked for it, that’s a very tough sell for me personally. I like the arm, along with the accuracy and contact balance to shrug dudes off of him, but it just wasn’t enough to sell me.
Carson Strong is someone I would have liked a lot if I was doing this 4 or so years ago and despite his stellar pocket movement, his lack of athleticism, combined with his knee injury is a tough sell for me. Now what I will say is where he’s projected to go in relation to the rest of this class is something I do like and I think it makes him a good value. If you want my opinion, taking Strong on day 2 is a much better value than sinking your assets into someone like Sam Howell on a trade up back into the 1st round. I think if he went to the team like the Colts to wait behind Matt Ryan, that would be a terrific fit.
As for the rest of this class if I am looking for strictly a solid backup, Jack Coan is probably the guy, due to his experience in multiple systems and how sound he is within structure. If I am looking for upside on a dart throw, Kaleb Eleby is the guy to do it. Eleby has a lightning quick release, played in a RPO heavy system and has the arm talent in terms of velocity, distance and accuracy that are worth betting on.
Overall, this class is very hard to sell on teams and for good reason. Each of these prospects at the top has differing significant flaws that make for a ton of debate depending on what traits they value highly the most. For me the guy that was easiest for me to sell myself on was Ridder, so we will see how my process holds up.
RB rankings:
A good amount of people find this running back class a bit underrated, but I am indifferent. I think Breece Hall is very solid RB 1 in this class who’s a very special runner and Walker is a decent RB 2 with good vision and untapped receiving ability, but after that the picture gets muddy for me. There’s a lot of runners in this class who are really complete, but very lacking in terms of athleticism which worries me a good bit.
This is why Jerome Ford and Keaontay Ingram ended up higher on my board than most. Ford’s testing utterly shocked me, but I am electing to trust the film which was probably among my favorite in this class in terms of just pressing and manipulating 2nd level defenders. Ingram is someone who’s lack of buzz is downright puzzling to me. I think he was very underused as a receiver and while he has a ways to go with blocking, tons of running backs in the class do. He has high level traits that will make him a steal later in the draft if he gets the chance, or he could be the next Trey Sermon.
Dameon Pierce is someone I just think plays the position the way it was meant to be played. He’s a tank in terms of contact balance, his blocking is a major asset and his receiving ability in terms of routes and hands is a plus. Florida’s mismanagement of Pierce was a crime and I believe he’ll prove it in the NFL.
I am a bit lower on Isaiah Spiller and that is because I do not believe his vision compliments his running style, but he’s a decent blocker and is a very good receiver. Brian Robinson is just very solid and is polished in all the areas you want. He’s not a sexy pick, but he’s a dependable one. Overall I am mixed on this running back class. I think it has some solid, but unspectacular players and a few high upside guys worth betting on.
WR Rankings:
This WR class is extremely mixed depending on who you talk to, but I am of the belief it is a very talented and deep group that I spent a lot of time on. I don’t want to ramble a lot longer than I did on quarterbacks, so I am going to give you a rundown of my WR evaluation process and you can read my reports above.
I am very picky on the details of both route running, the release, tracking and catching the ball. You may have heard the phrase “route running is like telling a story”, how you run one route might be different than the other, but the best route runners are masters at building off each and every one they run. Some routes might look identical to the others based off how a receiver might sell one move with their body language (whether it be the way they pump their arms, the re-stem to attack off leverage, or the head fakes) before it changes drastically at the breaking point. The release is also part of this, as often receivers sell with the opposite move to open up what they actually want.
The problem is tendency, you do one thing too often and then the cornerback will always be expecting it. That’s where one of the first wall happens and where film study comes into play so much.
What’s crazy is there’s still so much more that goes into playing receiver. Before the ball arrives is arguably the most important. Is it gonna go over to your outside shoulder, do they elect to run back to ball so the coverage can’t jump it, is the ball going to be behind the receiver, when do they time their jump, do they elect to let it come to them and not stop, etc. That’s where catching technique comes into play with it, does the receiver elect to let it into their body, catch it over the shoulder, or attack the ball at it’s highest point. What’s crazy is the small details of this and how some receivers catch, some elect for the diamond catch technique with their hands uniform and some elect to keep them wide and almost clap it with their palms.
The problem with clapping is with a diamond technique the fingers are directly slowing the ball before it reaches the palms. With a clap technique it is actively hitting the palms at a high speed and rotation which can make it easy for it to rattle off and cause a lot of double catches. It is by no means a death sentence and I believe it’s a case by case basis. With player such as Odell Beckham Jr who have such insane grip strength and body control, they can deal with that. Also, just because someone has good technique does not always mean it will prevent them from dropping the ball, especially if their concentration tends to lapse and my favorite example of this is Diontae Johnson. His work with catching tennis balls helped strengthen that aspect with hand eye coordination and it was a big reason for his improvement this past season.
Tracking the ball and catch technique is something I didn’t think about too hard for a while, until I started watching Matt Waldman’s videos the past few years. His work is something I truly have so much respect for as it has influenced my work with wide receivers. I highly recommend everyone watch his videos and support his work. I cannot say enough glowing things about the work he does.
My respect for the athletes that play this sport knows no bounds for how many details go into it. Wide receivers are smart intuitive players who are a master of their craft and is a position I feel I’ve only grasped the surface on. This was a very fun group to evaluate.
TE Rankings:
I am going to try to keep this simple, I do not care about production at this position. If there is anything I’ve learned about evaluating this position over the years, it’s the traits that matter. This is also a position that coaches value very differently depending on the scheme. Some might be looking more for blockers, while others need a big receiving threat.
The ones that do both are the ones everyone wants, but that’s the thing about college schemes and the level of quarterback play; the scheme either has the tight end blocking for their entire career and only running routes as a like the 4th or 5th read in the progression. Then you have spread systems that directly use their tight end like a big slot receiver and they only get asked to run routes, so they get very little experience in blocking.
Simply put, projection is a necessity most of the time. Cade Otton is the best example of the former, as he was asked to block a ton, was often the latest read in the progression, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t run routes, oh quite the opposite in fact. Jelani Woods was also in this boat before his final season, but because of his lack of being asked to block at Virginia, some raised questions to his blocking despite that being the only thing he did at Oklahoma State.
Tight end is decently deep this year with plenty of variety in terms of pure pass catchers, blockers and a few guys who’ve proven they can do it all. Grant Calcaterra is a guy that looked like a great successor to Mark Andrews at Oklahoma, before concussions caused him to retire which makes him an interesting wild card. Trey McBride has a solid all around game, Jeremey Ruckert is a standout blocker, Greg Dulcich is a great athlete who is a really advanced route runner with an easy projection in the passing game, Chigoziem Okonkwo is versatile swiss army knife that a creative scheme can take advantage of, Charlie Kolar is a big dependable target, and Isaiah Likely is a much better athlete than how he tested.
This is a solid overall group that should make it’s mark in the league.
OT Rankings:
I am not very nuanced in offensive line play and it is something I really want to improve on this offseason. I can only give a my general vague thoughts as to how I saw this group.
Evan Neal is first overall worthy in terms of how sound he is, the level of athlete he is and his smart work ethic as he’s working with the best offensive line trainer in Duke Manyweather. I am a believer in his overall talent and he’s only going to get better. Charles Cross finished right behind him and there’s some worry about air raid scheme and past failures who were similar, however, I believe that his pass protection is second to none in this class. He went up against premiere SEC pass rushers and more than held his own, which is plenty enough to sell me. Ikem Ekwonu is just an absolute mauler in the run game with the power and anchor to really hold it down. If he doesn’t work out at tackle, he can definitely succeed as a premiere guard.
After this I honestly thought the next best tackle was a guy many are projecting to move back to center and that is Zach Tom. What stood out to me was just how calm his feet were, he made pass protection look downright boring. He’s not really a finisher, he just does his job and he absolutely shutdown Jermaine Johnson. He’s more of a fit in zone scheme, but I really liked what I saw from him.
Lots of tackles with technique issues being propped up, a lot of people really like Tyler Smith for his nastiness, but his technique and overall pass protection left me wanting more. Trevor Penning is someone who’s been hotly scrutinized for his senior bowl performance and while I do not think he’s worth a 1st round pick, I think he will be able to clean those issues up and become a decent tackle.
Overall this tackle class really drops off after the top 3 and the rest are a hard sell for me in 1st round like many are projecting.
IOL Rankings:
I think this a much deeper group than the offensive tackle group. A ton of guys with position versatility who might be better at center rather guard and vice versa.
Zion Johnson might be the best offensive linemen in this class, I was majorly impressed with not only his film at Boston College, but also how good he was at the senior bowl. Whether he wounds up playing guard or center, his position versatility, combined with his technique and scheme versatility make him one of the better players in this class.
Tyler Linderbaum’s fall from grace was not surprising given how scheme limited he is, but he’s still a really damn good player and one that with the right scheme fit, can be among the best centers in the entire league. I am a big believer in his talent despite his shortcoming in wingspan and size.
Ed Ingram was another standout from the senior bowl who just had such an impressive anchor and power. Very impressive pulling guard that I believe would be an ass kicker in a gap heavy scheme. Cam Jurgens is someone who I really like, despite how out of control he can be at the 2nd level. Might be higher on some teams boards more than Linderbaum just because of the scheme versatility.
After that, Dylan Parham is a really terrific athlete that might fit better at center than guard and Cordell Volson was a big standout during shrine week. Chris Paul is a right tackle who might have better transition to guard, as he’s stellar athlete with a good anchor, but his feet might be a bit too heavy to play tackle.
Overall this is a very solid group and I believe this is a position that will continue to be deep each year with more and more tackle converts moving to tackle. It’s not always the right decision, but in a lot of cases it makes sense.
DL Rankings:
Interior defensive line is a fun position to evaluate that I unfortunately could not watch a ton of this year as I spent a lot more time on edge rushers than I hoped (we’ll get to them shortly) and got to the interior group pretty late. This group to me is a very top heavy group with a very steep fall off.
Jordan Davis is the big standout (literally) of this group and for good reason, he’s an unreal athlete for not only his size, but the position he plays. He doesn’t get asked to move laterally a ton, but when asked to chase in pursuit towards the sideline, holy moly this dude has range. Georgia’s scheme was very specific and they often applied tons of loops and stunts, so Davis was often freeing guys up to rush the passer. The thing is, he’s stout as hell at the point of the attack and he’d often move dudes back like crazy. If he wasn’t completely destroying the guy at the line of scrimmage, it’s because he was 2 gapping and trying to free guys up for them to make the play. His pass rush ability is a projection, but it’s a projection worth making given his skillset. He will also be able to come in as a 2nd tight end, or a fullback on offense and clear the way as a goal line blocker, which he is very good at. Davis is a unicorn and if you pass on a unicorn, you better be sure you have a damn good reason for it.
Devonte Wyatt when asked to attack as a gap penetrator is when he is at his best. Terrific pass rusher with the athleticism to really make an impact in that area. He bends well, plays with good leverage and has some pop in his hands on contact. There are concerns dating back to 2020 involving a domestic violence incident back in 2020 that might have more connections around it. This will be a huge debate for teams whether or not he’ll be on their board. Given how outspoken fans/writers have rightfully become over players with such serious issues, I would not be surprised to see him to take a tumble on draft day.
After this, Travis Jones and Perrion Winfrey round out this group before it begins it’s steep decline. Jones had a very solid week during the senior bowl and could potentially go as early as the late 1st round. Winfrey is someone who was misused at Oklahoma, often being asked to 2 gap and free guys up, when that just did not fit his skillset. Winfrey is a gap penetrator who really fits as a 3 technique where he can win with quickness, length and power as a pass rusher. Winfrey exploded at the Senior bowl, as he was impressive all week and really showed coaches that Oklahoma was wrong to use him the way he was.
You may be wondering where Logan Hall is and that is because he is the only big name prospect I did not get to watch which was a huge blunder on my part. I plan on watching him after the draft, but my board is going to remain the same.
After this, you have a clear tier gap and I think these next 3 are the next best ones you can get. Thomas Booker is someone who tested extremely well and has some versatility as an inside outside rusher. I was super impressed with his interview with Brett Kollmann and the level of details he was able to pick up in film study. Super bright player.
Matthew Butler and Neil Farrell Jr afterwards were probably the most impressive. Farrell had a solid week at the senior bowl and showed more quickness on film than how he tested. Butler I’d project mostly as a 1 gap penetrator as mostly as pass rush specialist early on. He showed impressive first step quickness and I thought he had a nice shrine week.
Overall, this was a group I didn’t get to watch a ton of, but it’s fun at the top. There’s a clear drop off in talent, but there’s still some decent players who can carve a role in the league.
Edge Rusher rankings:
I loved watching this group. This edge rusher group is deep and athletic which is important. Traits and film ultimately trump production at this position and I often look more for how often they’re disrupting, rather than their overall sack numbers. Bend is a very important trait, but winning in translatable ways is the most important to me. Hand usage, counter set ups and especially speed to power play such a big role.
I won’t spend too much time on the big named edge rushers since most of them have profiles. Put simply, I don’t think there’s a wrong answer between Aidan Hutchinson, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Travon Walker as cowardly as that sounds.
Hutchinson ultimately ended up my #1 edge rusher because I fell in love with how consistent his pass rush plan was snap to snap. Thibodeaux’s lack of effort concerns were baffling at best and I just did not see the concerns on film. Walker is a case of scheme hiding talent, as he played a role of freeing up others and just rarely got the chance to attack. Walker is a day 1 plug and play as a run defender and while his pass rush is a projection, players who test the way he did at that position and size rarely ever outright fail.
Boye Mafe and Arnold Ebiketie are extremely close for me because they both have great athletic traits for the positions and have very translatable pass rush plans. Jermaine Johnson and George Karlaftis are both guys with great speed to power, powerful hands at the point of the attack and are considered more high floor, lower ceiling rushers who aren’t very bendy.
I don’t really buy that David Ojabo is super bendy because his rush plan often is predicated on speed to attack the arc and he often ends up beyond it more times than not. A lot of this is because his pass rush plan is very raw overall, hand usage at the top of his rush needs work, but he’s very experimentational with his counters and there’s a lot of potential there to harness.
The guy who really surprised me was DeAngelo Malone. I was expecting a pure speed rusher who only really won with bend, but this dude has some nice speed to power and I love it. Malone really showed up at the senior bowl and showcased that he’s not a 1 trick pony, as he was jolting guys back a ton. Malone is a much better player than I was expecting and despite his size, I am a major fan.
A guy who’s a bit forgotten about due to how poor his testing was is Kingsley Enagbare and I think that’s a mistake. Enagbare has really notable length which shows up when setting the edge, along with good film as a pass rusher and consistently shows up as a disruptor. The reason for that is because his pass rush plan is so good and he wins a number of translatable ways. I really like his cross chop and how good he at softening edges to help overcome the lack of bend (stiff in the hips) and I also think he does a good job of keeping his hips pointed inwards towards the pocket so he doesn’t drift up the arc.
I’d be writing forever if I kept going, but this edge rusher group is fun. There’s a lot of older guys, but don’t let age keep you away from some stellar athletes who win in translatable ways. Really enjoyed this class and looking forward to seeing the impact it makes in the league.
LB Rankings:
In a few years I wouldn’t be shocked if teams begin transitioning over towards bigger linebackers again. With the amount of 2 high shells being played, I feel offenses are going to respond to this by putting more of an emphasis on
I am tired of not talking about Leo Chenal as one of the best players in this class. Chenal is functional enough in coverage to survive, but more importantly he’s impossible to block. It does not matter if you get your hands on him, he stacks and sheds as if he plays on the interior defensive line. He can set up blockers and win with quickness as well. He’s a terrific blitzer who both inside and out. He’s one of those players most like him in an odd front and while I agree he fits well in a scheme like that, I think he’s functional enough in coverage to be a full down mike linebacker.
Nakobe Dean is one of the most well coached athletes on film and you hear about it constantly in the media. Some teams are gonna have him more as a will linebacker because of his lack of length, size and height that could be concerning with taking on blocks consistently. I think he’s got some balance through contact that makes him a menace as a blitzer on 1st level blocks, but at the 2nd level it’s either he makes the guy miss or he’s taken out of the play. I think he’s a really solid all around player who plays fast and diagnoses fast.
After those two I had a bit of tier break. I like Devin Lloyd and his versatility quite a bit and found him to be stellar in coverage, but thought he false stepped and guessed a bit too much when trying to fit the run. Good player, but might have an adjustment period early on.
Chad Muma is a jack of all trades, master of none who reminds me a lot of Sean Lee. High floor player who can do multiple things well and just be a very solid, dependable leader. I think Muma is gonna play for a good while.
Quay Walker is an all world athlete who is an ascending talent that showed a significant jump this past season and I think there’s good reason why he is rising as we get towards the end of the draft. It may take him a little bit more time, but around year 3 I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s taken a huge jump.
Overall this linebacker class is strong on day 2, but it definitely fells off a bit into day 3. It’s a very fun group overall to evaluate and left me wondering about the future trends of the position.
CB Rankings:
This cornerback group was extremely enjoyable to watch. There was some shockers for sure that surprised me with where I ultimately ended up placing them, but this is a strong versatile group that has me excited. What was not a shocker was Derek Stingley being my number one overall cornerback.
I am a big fan of Stingley and think he’s a very rare athlete with unbelievable ball skills and technique. I was honestly astonished that there were some who believed he got worse after his freshman year. I thought his Sophomore film showed huge improvements in technique that kept him from getting beat inside because as a freshman, he opened the gate far too often. He got away with it a lot because he was an incredible athlete who could recover really well. I also think the concerns over effort were bunk and very much was a product of his tackling technique being atrocious. He drops his head a lot which causes him to not see what he’s hitting and he doesn’t wrap consistently, but he’s not liability and he’s willing, which is all I ask when I evaluate this position.
Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner is very high hipped and lean, which might cause an issue with functional strength, but that’s about the only concern I have. In a press heavy scheme he is going to thrive and I was surprised how impressive he was from an off alignment in a shuffle technique.
The shocker to me was Kyler Gordon, as I did not expect to have him this high. Gordon has a background in both kung fu and ballet that is instantly apparent the moment you watch him. This dude has one of the smoothest pedals I’ve seen and combine that with his quick twitched hip flips, the guy has shutdown level potential. He is also really damn good in run support and tackling the catch. Ascending level prospect and I am all in on his potential.
Andrew Booth was tough because I loved his film on the surface a lot, but had more concerns my second time going through the film. Booth is a bit high cut and I noticed he got beat across his face a bit too often, but I couldn’t pin point if it’s because his transition was a bit lacking and/or he had too many false steps. I am a bit worried about his injury history as well and given how reckless he can be with taking on blocks, tackling downhill, etc, he might have issues staying healthy. Keep in mind it’s hard to project these things and Booth is a player I love watching, but he does have some concerns that gave me some pause. Booth still ended up with a first round grade which should speak to how I felt watching his film and regardless if he ends up more scheme limited than I hoped, I still believe he can be a damn good player when healthy.
Kaiir Elam has better 2020 film than 2021 film and he’s getting lost in the shuffle. As a pure press corner, only Gardner was better in this class. His game vs Jameson Williams and Metchie this past season was very impressive as he found great success against Williams at the line of scrimmage, but also showed great recovery speed to get back in phase. I don’t think Elam escapes the first round.
After Elam, there’s a tier break. I think Roger McCreary is a great technician with some great film against some of the best wide receivers you’ll see in the SEC, but his athleticism and lack of length might make him more of a slot for most teams. Still a very good player.
Damarri Mathis is a very interesting prospect that really had it tough with the scheme he came from. Pitt plays a ton of cover 4 and tends to leave their corners on an island a lot of the time. Mathis is a great athlete with some great film against some of the best receivers in the ACC and he absolutely flies out of his click and close. He tackles with authority and is a real asset in run support. The catch with Mathis is he’s a bit too eager to take a receivers’ cheese, so he often had to recover from his own mistakes while playing in a scheme that left him very much on an island. Needless to say, I think his play recognition in zone coverage really stands out and he’s gonna be a very solid pro.
In the next tier, Zyon McCollum and Martin Emerson are my favorites. Emerson reminds me of those cover 3 corners Seattle would employ opposite side of Richard Sherman. I was pleasantly surprised with his film and think he can be a scheme specific starter.
McCollum on the other hand gives me flashbacks to Ahkello Witherspoon, with differing flaws. Witherspoon really struggled as a tackler, but in terms of athleticism and coverage, he was incredible. McCollum’s film is good at the level he’s at because he’s just that stupid good of an athlete and he tackles really well. My issue with McCollum is this dude opens the gate way too often and I thought he struggled quite a bit with competition level change at the senior bowl. He’s someone I’m betting on the traits on and trusting my coaching staff because if he develops, he’s got a chance to be special.
Overall this cornerback group has solid 3 round depth, I think it falls off quite a bit on on day 3, but that’s just based off the guys I watched. There was a good number of names I could not get to because of time constraints, but in what I did watch these were my takeaways.
Safety Rankings:
This was a group I was pleasantly surprised by. In what I watched I wouldn’t necessarily describe this group as deep, but rather I really like the quality of players and their scheme versatility. So many of these safeties often wore different hats and could do so many of different things at a high level. One of the more scheme diverse groups I’ve seen.
I want to keep this one relatively short and only go over the players I wasn’t able to write a report on, so I’m going to start with Bryan Cook. This was one of my favorite watches of the entire class. I really love how versatile he is covering in the slot, how quickly he diagnoses to fit the run and his range in single high. I like Cook more as a strong safety and think he can also be an asset in the slot as well. Really physical player who was just a joy to watch.
Kerby Joseph is probably the best pure single high safety in this class and I thought his instincts and recognition were tremendous. Definitely showed the range sideline to sideline and is a good tackler.
Nick Cross has very high potential and is a super explosive athlete the moment you turn on the film. He needs to clean up his tackling technique and has some coverage lapses where his eyes can get lost in the backfield, but in terms of range and versatility, he’s a guy with high potential.
Overall, like I said before, I really like this group. There are just a good number of quality players who can wear a ton of hats that defenses are going to love. I have high hopes for this group.
Top 100 Big Board:
Mock Draft predictions:
- Fair warning these are only my predictions and I don’t necessarily have insider sources either. If you don’t like the pick made, please remember that this not what I would do in the shoes of all these teams.
1) Jacksonville Jaguars: Travon Walker
2) Detroit Lions: Aidan Hutchinson
3) Houston Texans: Derek Stingley Jr
4) New York Jets: Ikem Ekwonu
5) New York Giants TRADE (Saints): Evan Neal
6) Carolina Panthers: Kenny Pickett
7) New York Giants: Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner
8) Atlanta Falcons: Drake London
9) Seattle Seahawks TRADE (Eagles): Jameson Williams
10) New York Jets: Jermaine Johnson II
11) Washington Commanders: Chris Olave
12) Minnesota Vikings TRADE (Cowboys): Kayvon Thibodeaux
13) Houston Texans (from Cleveland Browns): Garrett Wilson
14) Baltimore Ravens: Jordan Davis
15) Philadelphia Eagles TRADED (Seahawks): Trevor Penning
16) New Orleans Saints TRADED (Giants): Charles Cross
17) Los Angeles Chargers: Kyler Gordon
18) Philadelphia Eagles: Quay Walker
19) New Orleans Saints: Kyle Hamilton
20) Pittsburgh Steelers: Malik Willis
21) New England Patriots: Trent McDuffie
22) Green Bay Packers: Zion Johnson
23) Arizona Cardinals: Jahan Dotson
24) Dallas Cowboys TRADED (Vikings): Lewis Cine
25) Buffalo Bills: Kaiir Elam
26) Tennessee Titans: Desmond Ridder
27) Tampa Bay Buccaneers TRADE (Seahawks): Matt Corral
28) Green Bay Packers: George Pickens
29) Kansas City Chiefs: Boye Mafe
30) Kansas City Chiefs: Skyy Moore
31) Cincinnati Bengals: Tyler Linderbaum
32) Detroit Lions: Sam Howell
Closing thoughts:
This is the first time since 2018 I was finally able to put a big board together. I will not ramble on with the details of the past few years and while I didn’t accomplish everything I set out to do, I am proud of the work I was able to do with this class.
There is a lot I need to learn with efficiently creating profiles and my goal for next time around is to have come up with a system that allows me to create them not only efficiently, but without quality sacrifice which will hopefully allow me to complete a draft guide next time around. I tried to not force as many comparisons this time around, so you'll definitely have noticed a few blank ones if you decided to go through my reports.
If you also noticed, I am more of a lenient grader in terms of round grades and have been since I started grading in 2017. While I have gotten some good results that looked smart, it’s not very accurate to how teams grade and value prospects. I believe if something isn’t broke don’t fix it, but I do want to fine tune this process more.
This was a very fun group overall that really has me driven to want to write again. I am very excited overall for what the future has in store and I thank each and every person for the support they’ve given me. Your support has helped keep me going all these years and I am very much ready to be a more active voice again going forward.