There are so many different reasons why these prospects are still on the board. Some still have questions around their makeup. Others have questions around their evaluation. And then even more likely rank higher on my board than NFL teams’.
Below are the top 50 remaining players, according to my evaluations, heading into Day 2. You can see my original ranking of each attached. The “athletic profile” refers to SPARQ, a composite score that factors in all athletic tests along with weight in order to compare prospects’ athleticism across draft classes. The ages are in reference to September 1, 2019 and are rounded up from 0.8.
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WR Hakeem Butler, Iowa State (14th overall)
Age: 23 | Athletic Profile: 80th percentile
Where He Wins: Chris Ballard talks about the difficulties in evaluating receivers out of college, mainly due to them not facing physical press coverage. That is not Butler, as he has plenty of snaps face up against corners. Variety of releases versus press. Sometimes a bit slow with those releases, but he doesn’t give up and creates that separation. Used all over the formation. Powerful YAC vs Oklahoma. Outstanding body control to adjust on floated targets. Heck, even saw him sink his hips and run a whip route on 4th down versus Iowa. At 6-foot-5, 227 pounds.
Forecast: I don’t understand why Butler isn’t viewed as the No. 1 receiver in this class. I understand there were drops last season, but I try not to let a percentage of snaps cloud an entire list of positives. Butler wins at every level from every alignment.
T Jawaan Taylor, Florida (20th overall)
Age: 22 | Athletic Profile: ?
Where He Wins: The play is over when you’re in his grasp. He’ll move you exactly where he wants you to go in the running game, or he will completely halt your momentum in pass pro. And if you try to counter with an inside move, you aren’t going far. Power.
Forecast: Plenty of right tackle experience, which is just as important as left tackles. The issue is it is not always pretty. Sometimes his feet are lethargic. Sometimes his hands and hips are late, so he’ll lose on dips to the outside.
WR A.J. Brown, Ole Miss (21st overall)
Age: 22 | Athletic Profile: 75th percentile
Where He Wins: Generates instant separation with his animated footwork in routes. Jabs in his breaks and gets downhill quickly out of the slot. If you play off of him, Brown will keep you guessing and work off your false steps to create space. In tight man he will jab and plant to separate. Plenty of exposures winning short, intermediate and deep, and shows sideline and downfield adjustment.
Forecast: Mostly viewed as an inside receiver, but took over on the outside when Metcalf went down. If I were forced to predict which receiver in this draft will be most productive in their rookie year, regardless of landing spot, I’d choose Brown.
WR D.K. Metcalf, Ole Miss (22nd overall)
Age: 21 | Athletic Profile: 99th percentile
Where He Wins: Possibly the most athletically imposing player on the field whenever he steps foot on it. Everything is built off the linear plane. Seels vertical route with his size and speed, breaks off of it after corners are fearful of the deeper routes. Uses his physicality on his releases. Will also use that size to shield defenders on bucket catches, creating natural separation. If he’s even, he’s leaving.
Forecast: This is not a clean evaluation. Metcalf was glued to the left side of the formation. He was able to focus on just one set of releases. One set of routes. Footwork from one alignment. That’s a similar hurdle Kevin White tried to overcome. Then his agility scores were horrific. These are the difficulties prospects run into and why evaluating is difficult. Let’s bank on NFL coaching.
WR Miles Boykin, Notre Dame (23rd overall)
Age: 23 | Athletic Profile: 99th percentile
Where He Wins: Such a fluid mover for his size. Easy releases, even against press to create instant space. And if you play off him, he can put corners in a blender with footwork and animated breaks. Free release strides eat up ground so quickly. Then when he faces press, Boykin displays a variety of releases.
Forecast: Has real potential to win in both the big and small receiver game. That is not common. Boykin is far more than a Combine product. I would argue is production was lower than some others in this class due to poor quarterback play for stretches of the season. He has a chance to be very special, and to me moves eerily like Martavis Bryant.
CB Greedy Williams, LSU (26th overall)
Age: 21 | Athletic Profile: 68th
Where He Wins: Faced some of the fastest receivers in this class and played outstanding. Understood Metcalf ran everything off a vertical line, so he anticipated routes play after play, consistently disrupting the catch point. Then turn on his game agains Texas A&M and you see him run the slant for the outside receiver. His ball skills to track passes show up in practically every game.
Forecast: It is difficult to know which team will start the corner run in this draft, and which one it will be. Per PFF, Williams only allowed 27 completions on 74 targets. He projects as an outside corner.
OL Dalton Risner, Kansas State (27th overall)
Age: 24 | Athletic Profile: 42nd percentile
Where He Wins: Experience at multiple spots along the offensive line: Center for all 13 games his freshman year, right tackle beyond that. His goal is to damage you as a run blocker with a finisher’s mentality at the end of plays. That goes to pass protection as well, where he is known to toss pass rushers. It might not always look pretty, but Risner consistently accomplished his assignment.
Forecast: Risner’s career trajectory might follow Cody Whitehair’s, a tackle who moves inside to center in the NFL. I bet there are teams that view him at that anchor spot, others see him as a guard and a few see him at tackle. That might ultimately be a positive, as offensive linemen with as much positive tape as Risner has rarely get out of the top 40 picks.
CB Byron Murphy, Washington (28th overall)
Age: 21 | Athletic Profile: 46th percentile
Where He Wins: Great combination of sticking with receivers’ whose goal is to create separation, then catch match up with a more physical receiver while staying patient in his press, slowing down the receiver can closing the catch point to deny a catch. In off coverage, his timing to close on the catch is very good. He’s going to come up and smack you when in cover 2 versus a short pass.
Forecast: Has sub-31-inch arms, but from what I saw he fits every single scheme.
OL Cody Ford, Oklahoma (29th overall)
Age: 22 | Athletic Profile: 35th percentile
Where He Wins: He’s the terminator at the second level, will absolutely annihilate players trying to get into the mix or close on the ball carrier. Defensive backs, linebackers, dropping linemen, it doesn’t matter. Hands, feet, and posture all work together in pass pro, and he looks to finish even in passing situations.
Forecast: Plenty of reps at left tackle, but I wonder if some teams will want to move him inside to guard. It all comes down to if teams believe in his foot speed and mirror capabilities on an island on the outside.
iDL Dre’Mont Jones, Ohio State (31st overall)
Age: 22 | Athletic Profile: 20th percentile
Where He Wins: Can win instantly with movement and hands, releases, and closes quickly. Obviously shows flexibility in his ankles and hips when immediately reacting to the ball carrier. This is very evident when reacting to a surprising movement in front of him. Many interior players get stuck in the mud or take multiple steps. Jones is very fluid. Love those movement skills.
Forecast: He has the ability to win, but he still lacks a plan and to chain moves. The poor athletic testing was a bit of a surprise considering how well he moves.
| 34. S Nasir Adderley, Delaware | 60. CB Lonnie Johnson, Kentucky |
| 35. S Juan Thornhill, Virginia | 62. EDGE D’Andre Walker, Georgia |
| 36. S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Florida | 63. EDGE Chase Winovich, Michigan |
| 37. WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Stanford | 64. OL Greg Little, Ole Miss |
| 40. CB Rock Ya-Sin, Temple | 65. iDL Zach Allen, Boston College |
| 41. WR Deebo Samuel, South Carolina | 66. QB Will Grier, West Virginia |
| 42. CB Julian Love, Notre Dame | 67. G Dru Samia, Oklahoma |
| 43. CB Justin Layne, Michigan State | 68. iDL Khalen Saunders, Western Illinois |
| 44. EDGE Christian Miller, Alabama | 69. EDGE Maxx Crosby, Eastern Michigan |
| 45. iOL Elgton Jenkins, Miss State | 70. iDL Trysten Hill, UCF |
| 47. S Taylor Rapp, Washington | 71. TE Irv Smith, Alabama |
| 50. QB Drew Lock, Missouri | 72. WR Riley Ridley, Georgia |
| 51. CB David Long, Michigan | 73. RB Devine Ozigbo, Nebraska |
| 52. OT Chuma Edoga, USC | 74. RB Darrell Henderson, Memphis |
| 53. iDL Renell Wren, Arizona State | 75. RB Miles Sanders, Penn State |
| 54. iOL Erik McCoy, Texas A&M | 76. WR Stanley Morgan, Nebraska |
| 55. RB Devin Singletary, FAU | 77. WR Andy Isabella, UMass |
| 56. RB David Montgomery, Iowa State | 78. WR Emanuel Hall, Missouri |
| 58. S Deionte Thompson, Alabama | 79. WR Parris Campbell, Ohio State |
| 59. EDGE Anthony Nelson, Iowa | 80. EDGE Ben Banogu, TCU |
