I think media evaluators can do a large disservice to readers, and possibly even prospects, when posting massive lists that project draft slots prior to the season. Does this apply to everyone? Not at all. But it is worth pointing out that many of these opinions are based on watching prospects from afar when evaluating last year’s class rather than spotlighting specific players.
To be fair, the NFL does this too. In fact, scouting services used by teams (with representatives from teams) do spotlight the rising seniors and are still notoriously off by draft time. It happens. That is the evaluation game.
The goal of this is to share my opinion on some of the top prospects after spotlighting them. I want these preseason looks to be my own opinion, and I will strive not fall into groupthink. Feel free to follow along with me as I focus one position a week leading up to College Football’s kickoff.
Note that non-seniors (juniors and redshirt sophomores) are included.
Offensive Tackles (Click Here for the link)
Andrus Peat, Stanford
Cedric Ogbuehi, Texas A&M
Brandon Scherff, Iowa
La’El Collins, LSU
Cameron Erving, FSU
Sean Hickey, Syracuse
Jake Fisher, Oregon
Spencer Drango, Baylor
Torrian Wilson, UCF
Bobby Hart, FSU
Ty Sambrailo, Colorado State
Interior Offensive Linemen
Hroniss Grasu, Oregon
Reese Dismukes, Auburn
Arie Kouandjio, Alabama
Germain Ifedi, Texas A&M (likely transitioning to RT)
Max Tuerk, USC
Josue Matias, FSU
Jamil Douglas, Arizona State
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Amari Cooper, Alabama
Stefon Diggs, Maryland
Nelson Agholor, USC
Rashad Greene, FSU
Jaelen Strong, Arizona State
Devante Davis, UNLV
DeVante Parker, Louisville
Antwan Goodley, Baylor
Ty Montgomery, Stanford
Justin Hardy, ECU
Devin Funchess, Michigan
Running Backs
Melvin Gordon III, Wisconsin
Todd Gurley, Georgia
Mike Davis, South Carolina
Karlos Williams, FSU
Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
Duke Johnson, Miami
TJ Yeldon, Alabama
Kenyan Drake, Alabama
Quarterbacks
Marcus Mariota, Oregon
Jameis Winston, FSU
Connor Cook, Michigan State
Brett Hundley, UCLA
Bryce Petty, Baylor
Chuckie Keeton, Utah State
Cody Fajardo, Nevada
Sean Mannion, Oregon State
Rakeem Cato, Marshall
Anthony Boone, Duke
Edge Rushers
Shawn Oakman, Baylor
Vic Beasley, Clemson
Devonte Fields, TCU
Markus Golden, Missouri
Owamagbe Odighizuwa, UCLA
Shilique Calhoun, Michigan State
Dante Fowler Jr., Florida
Randy Gregory, Nebraska
Noah Spence, Ohio State
Ishaq Williams, Notre Dame
Kyler Fackrell, Utah State
Interior Defensive Linemen
Leonard Williams, USC
Arik Armstead, Oregon
Mario Edwards, FSU
Sheldon Day, Notre Dame
Michael Bennett, Ohio State
Danny Shelton, Washington
Andre Monroe, Maryland
Gabe Wright, Auburn
Ellis McCarthy, UCLA
Christian Covington, Rice
Carl Davis, Iowa
Off Line of Scrimmage Linebackers
Denzel Perryman, Miami
Ramik Wilson, Georgia
Eric Kendricks, UCLA
Shaq Thompson, Washington
Benardrick McKinney, Miss State
Trey DePriest, Alabama
Kris Frost, Auburn
Tanner Birch, Gardner Webb
Zach Hodges, Harvard
Defensive Backs
Marcus Peters, Washington
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon
PJ Williams, FSU
Ronald Darby, FSU
Trae Waynes, Michigan State
Josh Shaw, USC
Lorenzo Doss, Tulane
Landon Collins, Alabama
Kurtis Drummond, Michigan State
Cody Prewitt, Ole Miss