DA Draft Buzz April 21: Comparing Draft Boards
One week from today, we’ll know the players selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. And while teams continue to tinker with their boards, many have their top 32 in order. Here’s a look at two of those teams.
During conversations a pair of teams rattled off the players they grade as the top 32 on their draft board. The order or the way the teams graded these players from top to bottom was not revealed nor was it asked. In comparing the top 32 from both lists, the teams had these 28 players listed as potential first-round picks on their respective boards (listed alphabetically by position):
Gareon Conley
Kevin King
Marshon Lattimore
Tre'Davious White
Jonathan Allen
Derek Barnett
Taco Charlton
Myles Garrett
Charles Harris
Solomon Thomas
Forrest Lamp
Jarrad Davis
Takkarist McKinley
Haason Reddikk
Mitch Trubisky
Dalvin Cook
Leonard Fournette
Christian McCaffrey
Jamal Adams
Malik Hooker
Garett Bolles
Ryan Ramczyk
Cam Robinson
O.J. Howard
David Njoku
Corey Davis
John Ross
Mike Williams
The breakdown: 6 defensive lineman, 4 cornerbacks, 4 offensive lineman, 3 linebackers, 3 running backs, 3 wideouts, 2 tight ends, 2 safeties, 1 quarterback
These are the eight players (four for each team) where the franchises differed -- one team had four of these players graded in their top 32 while the other franchise had four completely different prospects:
Chidobe Awuzie
Adoree' Jackson
Tarell Basham
Zach Cunningham
Tim Williams
Patrick Mahomes
Budda Baker
Jabrill Peppers
The breakdown: 2 cornerbacks, 2 safeties, 2 linebackers, 1 defensive lineman, 1 quarterback
The Takeaway
1 - I was surprised both teams graded Taco Charlton as a first-round selection.
2 - Neither team grades Deshaun Watson as a top-32 material. Watson has always been a second-round prospect on our board. It doesn’t mean he won’t be selected in the first round.
3 - Reuben Foster has dropped dramatically. The news of his failed/diluted drug test from yesterday was the icing on the cake. One team was ready to take him in the middle of Round 1 but has backed off. I’m told it’s a combination of what’s described as “horrible behavior” as well as concussion issues.
4 - Neither team feels Foster’s teammate, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, grades as one of the top 32 players in the draft. We reported earlier this week that more and more teams are comparing Humphrey to
Dee Milliner as a straight-line cornerback.
5 - When asked about UConn defensive back Obi Melifonwu being a potential top-32 prospect, the response from both teams was unanimous -- no way.