2017 NFL Draft Top-10 Rankings 1.0: By Position

Welcome to my first of many top-10 rankings by position. I’ve been gathering data and writing down my thoughts, so I decided it was time to rank the upcoming 2017 NFL draft prospects at their respective positions.

This was a long process and there, unfortunately, were some prospects I couldn’t get to. In fact, I left out the entire offensive line because I’m still trying to understand what looks just right and what doesn’t (if that makes sense).

There are indeed some surprises in my top-10s, and I’ll be sure to elaborate on why I ranked them where I did and point out things that caused me to pause with some players and not rank them as highly as they’re projected.

Please note that this is going to change a lot because not everyone in the top-10 will stay where they’re ranked. Some might not even be in the top-10 the next time around. Things change, so my evaluation/opinion can also change.

• This QB class is confusing to say the least. I didn’t even intend to rank Patrick Mahomes this highly. Of course, that was before I watched him. After I watched him, I just couldn’t see a reason to rank him below any of the other QBs. I was reminded of QBs like Aaron Rodgers, Brett Farve, a young Ben Roethlisberger and Matthew Stafford when I watched him. I saw a guy with an absolute cannon for an arm, quick feet that allows him to reset quickly, an underrated football IQ that showed on the film and of course an improvisation ability that reminds you of some of aforementioned QBs above. I know the air-raid scheme bears absolutely no comparison to an NFL scheme, but why should you let the scheme judge the QB if the important traits are there. This is why I fought hard that Marcus Mariota should not be judged by the scheme but by his traits. Mahomes isn’t Mariota but he’s got a lot of traits that’ll get him drafted highly and I have no doubt about that. He’s got negatives of course that people will be quick to point out, such as his bizarre footwork and how he’ll transition coming from that system. I’ll be sure to touch on these topics at some point in the near future, but I can tell you now that his mechanics and footwork aren’t nearly the problem people will make it out to be.
• Deshaun Watson has his flaws, but I’m still a bigger fan of his positives. What he did against Alabama was to show me a player with poise and leadership intangibles. Honestly I debated putting him ahead of Mahomes but, at this point, I stand by my rankings. I really like both of these top guys, but the rest of the QBs, not so much.
• Kizer has a tantalizing upside but he’s such a boom bust QB prospect. Under 60% completion percentage is not a good sign, neither is his tendency to throw too many passes into the dirt, which stems from a much larger problem in his lower body mechanics. His footwork can be a mess at points too which really can screw with his accuracy, but then there are the beautiful pump fakes, the rainbow throws in tight coverage that make you go “wow!” The 50 million dollar question is, which Kizer are you getting? The good thing is he’s very young (recently turned 21) and talented which makes him an excellent developmental QB prospect. Problem is he’ll get drafted early and may be asked to start early, which really puts a dent in letting him develop. He’s very much a boom or bust QB prospect.
• Mitch is going to be a 23 year old rookie if he declares. I honestly don’t have a feel for him right now and I can’t give you much more than that unfortunately. I need to keep watching him before I can give you my full opinion of him, so for now I have him behind Kizer.
• Now for the others, Kaaya is smart but he’s terrible under pressure. Dobbs, Peterman, Webb and Pipkin are going to have an opportunity at the senior bowl to impress. Dobbs character and leadership intangibles impressed me and he really stepped up at the end of the season, showing me much more than I ever thought he would. Peterman is someone I’ve watched live quite often and believe he could definitely be a Trevor Siemian type QB in the NFL but I need to watch him much more in depth. Pipkin is very interesting coming from a division II school as he shows some very good traits, like his arm and mobility on film. He’s one of the few division II QBs ever to be invited to an all star game and has a golden opportunity to turn some heads at the senior bowl. Keep an eye on him.
• Chad Kelly is too busy rolling blunts for me to even talk about him. Sorry I forgot, “Swag” Kelly.

• Let me be clear, any RB I have listed here could potentially be a starter in the league. This class is very good.
• Why are Mixon and Cook so high, allow me to elaborate. Simply put, they are special talents in a lot of ways and believe me if Mixon didn’t have the concerns, he might be at the top of this board. I gave them a 1st round grade but that doesn’t exactly mean they would be ranked their on my big board (coming soon). This is simply me listing the players and putting the red flags there to address the issues with them. Cook, while he wasn’t convicted, still had two off field incidents, one where he was accused of punching a girl and the other where he left a bunch of puppies out in the rain and both of those incidents caused me to pause. I’m not hear to make accusations or anything, I’m just noting the incidents and keeping them in the back of my mind if I was on the clock and he was there, let me be clear about that. Joe Mixon has video evidence and it is absolutely a red flag. He could go anywhere in this draft because as we’ve seen with Tyreek Hill and many others, second chances will happen if you have a bunch of talent.
• Fournette is my highest rated RB but he’s not necessarily my favorite type of RB. I believe he’ll be a good pro but he really reminds me of Todd Gurley in the sense that I believe they are one cut, downhill style runners who have decent lateral agility but they don’t play with much hesitation. Not a bad thing and you can see other backs like Demarco Murray be quite successful when put into the right blocking scheme.
• Christian McCaffrey is my favorite running back in this class and before you ask, no it’s not because he’s white. It’s because he’s very young, I have no questions about what type of work ethic he has, he comes from a football family, he doesn’t just have patience as a runner but also lateral agility to compliment that patience, he’s able to run with power, and he can split out wide as WR if he really had to. McCaffrey is a guy I’d pick even if I had Le’Veon Bell and while that sounds crazy, it really isn’t. If he’s there, he may be the best player available by a whole lot that it’d be crazy to pass up on him.
• The rest of these guys I can’t even say enough, they all show the ability to be NFL caliber starting running backs in the league. This is a very good class of backs.

• Let me just make this clear, if there’s going to be any position that’s going to change the most throughout these rankings, it will be WR. So please don’t incarcerate me because of these WR rankings.
• Mike Williams without a doubt reminds me of an identical clone of Dez Bryant. He big bodies defensive backs, he’s great at boxing them out and he has an incredible reach to be able to go up and climb the ladder for those big throws. Williams isn’t a great route runner by any means but if I need a player to throw it up to, I have no doubt he’s going to win a ton of 50-50 balls in the NFL.
• Corey Davis is somebody I need to study more. I can’t figure out if this guy is Jordan Matthews 2.0 or something else. I need to figure out if he’s more twitched up than he was. Can’t really give you much else than that but I ranked him there because he’s an absolute polished player that can contribute out the gate.
• Who’s Taywan Taylor? He’s either Nelson Agholor 2.0 (not a good thing) or he’s potentially a Stefon Diggs 2.0. Which one is it? I don’t know, all I know, is that I got to see how big this guy’s hands are. He’s very explosive, he plays outside and inside, he’s a pretty good route runner but has a few drops occasionally (not an alarming number but enough so that I put it down in my notes).
• Juju Smith is very young, he’s a big bodied guy, talented and he catches with his hands. I like that but he has some drops that caused me to move him to the 2nd round. I really was reminded of Michael Crabtree in terms of build and the way they catch the football when I was watching Smith’s film. I actually turned on Crabtree’s film and they even are similar after the catch. I’ll watch more of Juju but Crabtree is a good WR in the league and while he isn’t as refined as a route runner as Crabtree, I see similar type of success.

• First off, what a group of tight ends. This is probably the best class I’ve seen since the great 2013 class which produced Tyler Eifert, Zach Ertz, Travis Kelce and Jordan Reed. It’s pretty darn good.
• The cream of the crop is of course OJ Howard. He’s not just a tight end, he’s a complete tight end, he’s a throwback with athletic ability sprinkled on top. Think of Heath Miller or Jason Witten as blockers but with speed of the tight ends nowadays. That’s a scary combination and it’s why OJ Howard is the absolute best of this class.
• Gerald Everett I wanted to rank higher but decided against it because I need more film on him. That said, what I saw in limited amounts got me excited. First off, I’ve never seen a tight end come out of his cuts as sharp as he does, it’s like a WR. He catches the ball very naturally which is something I can’t stress enough. He uses his body effectively as well when he needs to box out defensive backs. He’s very good at shaking defenders after the catch as well. I want to see more of him!
• Adam Shaheen? Yep, he’s my sleeper right now. This guy is super big and tall but he this guy can move for someone his size. Just look him up on youtube if you have to, he doesn’t have much, but he’s definitely someone to keep an eye out on in the future.

• If you don’t know who Solomon Thomas is, you’re missing out. Solomon Thomas is developing and he has not reached his full potential and believe me, his full potential is scary high. He plays with really good hands, he’s learning to develop more with his pass rush but he’s still raw. I have him listed at DL but I really believe he could play 3, 5 or even a 7 or 9 technique off the edge. I’ve seen some people compare him to JJ Watt which is quite absurd but Solomon Thomas is a very talented player and what may seem like unnecessary hype, is anything but. He single handily beat UNC. He was so quick off the line, he made so many outstanding play recognition plays that it might be the most dominant performance that I’ve seen since I watched Aaron Donald. After his combine, I would not be surprised if he’s in contention to go in the top 5, especially if the rumors about his 40 yard dash time I’ve seen from Lance Zierlein are true. Not to mention David Shaw, Stanford’s head coach.

• Jonathan Allen quite simply is a football player, he and Solomon Thomas were born to play football. This man is special with his hands and is surprisingly quick in space. He’s got a great work ethic too that I’ve just got to respect, I think he’s definitely got the highest floor when it comes to players I’ve seen in the top 10. I project him as a 3 or 5 technique player in the league.
• Malik McDowell I wanted to list as an edge defender but I didn’t for one reason, he plays inside way more. I don’t know if you’ve kept up with football but if it wasn’t for this defensive end for the Cowboys named David Irving, I would not be high on this player. Now you may be saying who? To quote Jon Gruden on Monday Night football, “Soon the whole world will know who David Irving is.” Irving is a legit freak athlete and when you watch McDowell, you can’t help but see similarities with him and Irving. I’m serious, go watch the two on youtube videos and put them side by side if you’re curious. If you don’t have time for that, you’ll see exactly what I mean by that comparison as I’m going to break him down in the future but I’ll leave at this, you’re going to play this guy everywhere along the line, just like the Cowboys do with David Irving. Now isn’t it a bit crazy that Dallas got this guy off waivers the season before and that McDowell is of similar caliber? Yep, a bit but there’s a reason behind it.
• Okay now I get to talk about the big guys, the traditional linemen. Caleb Brantley is very disruptive on a consistent basis and I have a feeling he’ll be a pretty decent 3 technique in the NFL. Jaleel Johnson is interesting because he kind of reminds me a little bit of Javon Hargrave from a build and scheme perspective, just not as polished from a pass rushing repertoire perspective. I think he could play both nose and be a 3 tech in the league, I really liked this guy’s film.

• Myles Garrett is what people wanted Jadeveon Clowney to be. The way to describe him is if I gave Khalil Mack, Clowney’s body and gave him the ability to the bend the edge. I don’t need to say anymore about him.
• Tim Williams is very polished but as good as he is, I have doubts about him in the pros. From a pure film perspective, he’s extremely polished and he can dip and bend the edge. He’s a little bit rough trying to corner sometimes, but it doesn’t look like much of a problem. He’s better against the run than people give him credit for (go watch the LSU game to see what I mean) and has a very good arsenal of pass rushing moves that he will use. So what’s the concern then? Character. He had an off field issue where he was pulled over for having a gun without a permit but also had Marijuana in his car, which he said was his and a friend named “Brandon Chicken” gave it to him. I’m not even making this up, I swear this is a legit story.
• Carl Lawson is very much a top talent but I want to see how his medical checks go at the combine.
• I’m not even going to discuss Joe Mathis, I gave you my thoughts on him in my scouting report. If you want to go look at it, click the link where the scouting report column is.
• Taco Charlton I feel will be perfect for a 4-3 scheme, he’s a very good player but needs some seasoning and more technique work. That said, I couldn’t help but be astonished with some of his flashes on tape. At points he would bend the edge like a pro and then throw a beautiful inside spin move. He’s fluid, I don’t think he’ll be a great timer in the 40 yard dash but I feel like he could either thrive in the vertical or the broad jump. I actually at first thought he reminded me of Carlos Dunlap. Then I watched some tape on Chandler Jones and I came away with some similarities with the way they moved overall, the burst off the snap and their builds. Jones is a bit lankier but they both have a very tall frame with a great wingspan to boot. I feel Taco needs to use his length a little more though, which Jones was better at. I almost feel like the way to describe Taco is if Preston Smith was a more quick twitch athlete.
• Takk is interesting because he’s either Bud Dupree or he’s potentially the 2nd coming of Demarcus Ware. I can’t figure out which one it is, so that’s why I ranked him where I did. He’s a very good player, raw with his hands but you see a player with absolutely relentless motor that cannot be ignored. His high pad level can drive you insane and some say that is why he doesn’t bend the edge, not because he can’t but because his pad level is so high. I don’t know which it is, all I know is that he’s at least a Bud Dupree level player in terms of upside. That’s still pretty darn good.
• Barnett is the common case of first step explosion does not equal timing the snap count. He wins with a speed rush but I do not feel that he’ll be able to do that consistently in the league. He does have some unnecessary weight he can trim but he’s a really good leader and has a good work ethic. Does his pass rushing ability translate to the next level is the question.
• As for the rest, Charles Harris is explosive off the snap but I doubt his ability to consistently bend the edge. I’m not entirely sold on him at the moment and need to see more film to be convinced. Ejuan Price right now is in my top 10 because I really think he’s more explosive off the snap than I gave him credit for originally, he’s got natural leverage with his height and his rip move is just like James Harrison’s. I like him a lot and he’s more quick twitched than you’d believe.

• The top 3 are basically set (unless Cunningham doesn’t declare) and I see no reason to talk about them at the moment.
• Haason Reddick is very interesting because I don’t know if he’s an edge defender or a off ball LB. All I know is that I see a mixture of that in his future because he shows some very interesting pass rush ability but he’s remarkably smooth in space. Maybe he could go the Jamie Collins, Lawrence Timmons route or the Bruce Irvin, Vic Beasley route. I see a very a good player though regardless.
• Tanner Vallejo is one of my favorite players in this draft. He’s a perfect hybrid build between safety and LB but all I know is that he moves really fluidly and he closes quickly. Reminded me of Kiko Alonso.
• Calvin Munson? Yeah I don’t care, I’ve watched plenty of San Diego State this year that I believe there’s going to be at least two really good pro players on that team and Munson is one of them.

• Gareon Conley might be the most underrated player in this draft. I really thought when going into this guy’s tape I was going to walk away thinking Eli Apple (not a bad thing), I saw something much better. First off he’s fluid, let me get that out of the way now, he’s got a nicely built frame, tackles nicely in run support and he’s very sticky in man coverage. Where he stood out from his partner Lattimore (who I’ll get to in second) was that Conley’s play recognition in zone coverage was some of the best I’d seen from this class. Conley isn’t just fluid, I have big belief that he’s scheme versatile and those guys are the ones that go first in the draft.
• Sidney Jones I could say just about the same for him except for his frame, he’s a bit skinnier than you’d like. That said, big fan of him in both off man coverage, on man coverage and in zone coverage. Jones just has to fill out his frame a little more.
• Lattimore is either the best man coverage CB in this draft, or he’s second. Either way, I know without a doubt I can play this guy on an island. He’s super fluid, gets his head around but can also read the receiver and make plays as well. I wasn’t too encouraged about his play recognition in zone but I believe if he’s getting drafted by a team, he’s getting drafted to shut down someone. He’ll be very high on boards for teams that play man coverage. The question is, will he come out?
• Tabor is Marcus Peters. This guy can get absolutely torched trying to guess routes or keep his eyes stuck in the backfield too long but his instincts are some of the best you’ll see from a CB.
• Kevin King is raw but full of potential. He’s every bit as good as his running mate Jones but doesn’t get as much publicity as him. Well, let me tell you, his combine numbers could be absolutely absurd that he could see a huge rise in the coming months. Especially if what he’s done in the past is any indication of how he’ll do at the combine. Just don’t say you didn’t see this coming, because I warned you.
• Jourdan Lewis was this close to getting a first round grade. You wonder who was the running contender for Marshon Lattimore for best man coverage CB in this class? Yep, it was Jourdan Lewis. I just want to see him at the combine and the senior bowl before I’m ready to give him a first round grade. I really liked him and he reminded me of guys like Jason Verrett and Tavon Young, those guys who I really liked in the past.

• Let me just get this out of the way, the top 3 are a special group of players. Budda Baker makes me think of the Honey Badger or Eric Weddle, Jamal Adams is the best thing since sliced bread and Malik Hooker’s ability as a center fielder might the best since Ed Reed. The top 3 are special talents but Jamal Adams is a rare talent.
• Now the 2nd order of business, no I did not forget Jabrill Peppers. In fact, I don’t even have a position listed for him because I’m having a hard time figuring out if he has the play recognition or the instincts to play on defense. This isn’t the same situation as Su’a Cravens, who had unbelievable instincts and people just overthought him as a prospect.
• Obi Melifonwu could absolutely kill it at the combine and that’s why I have him where I do. He’s very fluid and big, that kind of talent is always in high demand in the NFL.
• I asked myself this question constantly as I watched his film, why does nobody talk about Johnathan Ford? I mean I saw this guy and he was playing nickel a lot and safety. The guy is a sure tacker, he’s fluid and he can cover a lot of ground. What gives? I don’t know, maybe people are looking at his numbers from this year and dismissing him. News flash, NUMBERS CAN LIE! He may not look like a sexy pick because of the numbers he posted this year, but you’re getting a good versatile player if you pick him.
• I put a star beside his name because he might not come out because he could potentially get a red shirt for another season. Nate Andrews has been injured often throughout his career, but when he was healthy throughout his freshman and half of his sophomore season, he was one of the most versatile defensive backs in the country. He played everywhere from LB, to deep half safety, into the box or even lining up in man against some tight ends. He did it all and if he doesn’t get his red shirt, he’s a steal waiting to happen. I classify him as my sleeper at safety.

- Now that you have seen my rankings and if you stuck around to read all my thoughts, let me know what you think in the comments section below. I know there are guys I need to watch more of that I most likely did not get to. It took a lot of time and effort to put this together and I promise I’m going to figure out what to look for with offensive linemen. I’ll tell you this now, the only guy I watched and I know I like without a doubt is Forrest Lamp.

- One last thing to add, I will be coming out with my own big board that will rank the prospects. I’m not sure how many players will be on the board, but my goal is to eventually get to rank 300 prospects. I will be sure to update this information after big events such as the senior bowl and NFL combine. It’s not the same as the big board that Scott Pavelle normally does as it is more of my thoughts on prospects. As a matter of fact we are looking for someone to help take over that role for Scott as he will be unable to do it this year, we are looking for anybody capable of being able to gather and sort all that kind of information. We need someone who has time on their hands and will update it enough.

- Again thank you all for reading!