Only 20 Prospects with R1 Grade

[wab]

Clearly this is before the combine... but

https://draftwire.usatoday.com/lists/20 ... n-daniels/

QB:
Caleb Williams
Drake Maye
Jayden Daniels

WR:
Marvin Harrison Jr
Malik Nabers
Rome Odunze

OL:
Joe Alt
Taliese Fuaga
Olu Fashanu
Troy Fautanu
Graham Barton
Jackson Powers-Johnson

DL/EDGE
Jared Verse
Dallas Turner
Jer’Zhan Newton
Byron Murphy II

DB
Quinyon Mitchell
Cooper DeJean
Terrion Arnold
Nate Wiggins

Some fairly glaring omissions:
Brock Bowers
Laiatu Latu

Other notable ones:
Michael Penix Jr.
JJ McCarthy
J.C. Latham
Tyler Guyton
Chop Robinson
Keon Coleman
Brian Thomas Jr.

[southdakbearfan]

What grade did Puka Nacua have last year?

Lists and grades are all subjective and subject to error, as we all know.

[Moriarty]

Back when I used to make full 7 round boards, I used to have the same issue, every single year.
I'd get about 20 or so first rounders, then I'd really struggle to find 10-12 more names to elevate from my initial valuation of R2 to fill out the round.

(Still, I think Latu, Bowers, Guyton, McCarthy are pretty easy adds here)

[wulfy]

Latu I can kind of understand based on the Medicals.

But Bowers? That’s ridiculous if you actually watched him play. He reminds me of a hybrid between Greg Olsen and a young Zack Ertz..

[thunderspirit]

I think it's this way every draft. The top guys for one team are generally the same for all teams — we all can pretty much see Marvin Harrison Jr can play really well, for instance, so the top 12-20 guys in most drafts are the same guys, even if they go in a different order than I might think.

It's past that point in the draft where team boards get more and more subjective. I think Darius Robinson is a first rounder for sure, but someone else might not see him that way.

[karhu]

Yeah, the best way to read a list like this is probably to view it as a breakdown of players who could force someone to draft them in the first. "Well, we don't really need a CB, but Wiggins should've been gone ten picks ago," that sort of thing. It's easier for an edge player or CB to force that conversation than for a TE.

[RichH55]

I think it's this way every draft. The top guys for one team are generally the same for all teams — we all can pretty much see Marvin Harrison Jr can play really well, for instance, so the top 12-20 guys in most drafts are the same guys, even if they go in a different order than I might think.

It's past that point in the draft where team boards get more and more subjective. I think Darius Robinson is a first rounder for sure, but someone else might not see him that way.

He looked great all week at Senior Bowl and looks the part

[UOK]

The Brock Bowers thing is mind-boggling.

[Rusty Trombagent]

The Brock Bowers thing is mind-boggling.

I wonder if there's some course correction going on for TE scouting? When was the last time a highly touted TE actually lived up to his hype? Bower's weakness is that he's an extremely average inline blocker, and the common thinking has been that you can just teach these athletic freaks to block. But to use any TE effectively, for defenses to take them seriously, you need to be seriously threatened by their blocking.

You look at all the Great TE's currently in the NFL:
-Mark Andrews (3rd rounder)
-Kelce (3rd)
-Freiermuth (2nd) (coming on as a blocker, but hasnt been great)
-LaPorta (2nd)
-Kittle (5th)

Meanwhile the world waits with bated breath for Kylie Pitts to break out because HES SUCH AN ATHLETIC FREAK.

I could be completely wrong, but it's something I find pretty fascinating.

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

The Brock Bowers thing is mind-boggling.

Could it be his size? 6'4" 240lbs is really a tweener. Too small for an in-line TE, and too big for a FB. How many teams are going to draft a Move TE in the first round?

[mmmc_35]

20 seems accurate. There are the QBs but generally it doesnt see like a very top end draft at several positions.

[wab]

The Brock Bowers thing is mind-boggling.

I truly don't believe he goes top 10, let alone top 5.

I think if anything the Bengals move up to the early teens for him. 13/14 ish...

[crueltyabc]

This tackle class is sick

The guys who didn't make the cut are pretty awesome
Guyton's got everything you want at LT, just needs to refine his game a little
Latham is probably too slow-footed to play OT in the NFL but his OG ceiling is All Pro.

[wab]

This tackle class is sick

The guys who didn't make the cut are pretty awesome
Guyton's got everything you want at LT, just needs to refine his game a little
Latham is probably too slow-footed to play OT in the NFL but his OG ceiling is All Pro.

Kingsley Suamataia might be my favorite. He came in smaller than expected (6'4 vs 6'6), but man...that dude could be a 12 year starter at guard.

[crueltyabc]

I heard a rumor that he's gonna run a 4.8

[spudbear]

The Brock Bowers thing is mind-boggling.

I wonder if there's some course correction going on for TE scouting? When was the last time a highly touted TE actually lived up to his hype? Bower's weakness is that he's an extremely average inline blocker, and the common thinking has been that you can just teach these athletic freaks to block. But to use any TE effectively, for defenses to take them seriously, you need to be seriously threatened by their blocking.

You look at all the Great TE's currently in the NFL:
-Mark Andrews (3rd rounder)
-Kelce (3rd)
-Freiermuth (2nd) (coming on as a blocker, but hasnt been great)
-LaPorta (2nd)
-Kittle (5th)

Meanwhile the world waits with bated breath for Kylie Pitts to break out because HES SUCH AN ATHLETIC FREAK.

I could be completely wrong, but it's something I find pretty fascinating.

Cole Kmet, second round pick, highest rated TE for his draft. Has he lived up to his hype? Has he progressed as a blocker? Poles thought well enough of him to resign him. I'll let others comment on his blocking, but from what I've seen it can be hit or miss.