Top 10 NFL prospects by position - ESPN Insider

[iowajerms]

Ranking top prospects at every position - 2015 NFL draft - ESPN
By Todd McShay

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACKS

1. Jameis Winston, Florida State (Draft grade: 97)
2. Marcus Mariota, Oregon (93)
3. Bryce Petty, Baylor (71)
4. Garrett Grayson, Colorado State (70)
5. Brett Hundley, UCLA (68)
6. Sean Mannion, Oregon State (62)
7. Shane Carden, East Carolina (42)
8. Bryan Bennett, Southeastern Louisiana (36)
9. Connor Halliday, Washington State (35)

RUNNING BACKS

1. Todd Gurley, Georgia (91)
2. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin (89)
3. Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska (87)
4. Tevin Coleman, Indiana (81)
5. Duke Johnson, Miami (FL) (80)
6. Jay Ajayi, Boise State (79)
7. T.J. Yeldon, Alabama (78)
8. David Johnson, Northern Iowa (69)
9. Buck Allen, USC (66)
10. Mike Davis, South Carolina (64)

WIDE RECEIVERS

1. Amari Cooper, Alabama (93)
2. Kevin White, West Virginia (93)
3. DeVante Parker, Louisville (92)
4. Devin Smith, Ohio State (89)
5. Jaelen Strong, Arizona State (89)
6. Dorial Green-Beckham, Mizzou (88)
7. Devin Funchess, Michigan (87)
8. Nelson Agholor, USC (86)
9. Breshad Perriman, UCF (85)
10. Phillip Dorsett, Miami (FL) (84)

TIGHT ENDS

1. Maxx Williams, Minnesota (86)
2. Clive Walford, Miami (FL) (79)
3. Jeff Heuerman, Ohio State (68)
4. Tyler Kroft, Rutgers (65)
5. Jean Sifrin, UMass (61)
6. Nick O'Leary, Florida State (60)
7. E.J. Bibbs, Iowa State (53)
8. Ben Koyack, Notre Dame (52)
9. Nick Boyle, Delaware (49)
10. Gerald Christian, Louisville (47)

OFFENSIVE TACKLES

1. Brandon Scherff, Iowa (93)
2. Andrus Peat, Stanford (93)
3. Ereck Flowers, Miami (FL) (90)
4. T.J. Clemmings, Pittsburgh (89)
5. La'el Collins, LSU (89)
6. D.J. Humphries, Florida (87)
7. Cedric Ogbuehi, Texas A&M (85)
8. Jake Fisher, Oregon (80)
9. Daryl Williams, Oklahoma (77)
10. Corey Robinson, South Carolina (73)

GUARDS

1. Laken Tomlinson, Duke (80)
2. Tre Jackson, Florida State (79)
3. A.J. Cann, South Carolina (78)
4. Ali Marpet, Hobart (63)
5. Antoine Everett, McNeese State (61)
6. Arie Kouandjio, Alabama (50)
7. Robert Myers, Tennessee State (47)
8. Trent Brown, Florida (46)
9. John Miller, Louisville (45)
10. Josue Matias, Florida State (43)

CENTERS

1. Cameron Erving, Florida State (90)
2. Hroniss Grasu, Oregon (62)
3. BJ Finney, Kansas State (53)
4. Max Garcia, Florida (50)
5. Shaq Mason, Georgia Tech (46)
6. Reese Dismukes, Auburn (43)
7. Andy Gallik, Boston College (40)
8. Dillon Day, Mississippi State (34)
9. Shane McDermott, Miami (FL) (31)

 

[iowajerms]

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE ENDS

1. Leonard Williams, USC (96)
2. Arik Armstead, Oregon (93)
3. Dante Fowler Jr., Florida (92)
4. Preston Smith, Mississippi State (86)
5. Owamagbe Odighizuwa, UCLA (83)
6. Trey Flowers, Arkansas (80)
7. Markus Golden, Missouri (77)
8. Danielle Hunter, LSU (75)
9. Henry Anderson, Stanford (71)
10. Mario Edwards Jr., Florida State (67)

DEFENSIVE TACKLES

1. Danny Shelton, Washington (93)
2. Malcom Brown, Texas (91)
3. Eddie Goldman, Florida State (90)
4. Carl Davis, Iowa (88)
5. Jordan Phillips, Oklahoma (86)
6. Mike Bennett, Ohio State (81)
7. Grady Jarrett, Clemson (80)
8. Marcus Hardison, Arizona State (71)
9. Darius Philon, Arkansas (68)
10. Gabe Wright, Auburn (62)

OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

1. Randy Gregory, Nebraska (93)
2. Shane Ray, Missouri (91)
3. Vic Beasley, Clemson (89)
4. Eli Harold, Virginia (88)
5. Hau'Oli Kikaha, Washington (87)
6. Bud Dupree, Kentucky (86)
7. Shaq Thompson, Washington (80)
8. Nate Orchard, Utah (79)
9. PJ Dawson, TCU (78)
10. Kwon Alexander, LSU (77)

INSIDE LINEBACKERS

1. Eric Kendricks, UCLA (87)
2. Denzel Perryman, Miami (FL) (86)
3. Stephone Anthony, Clemson (81)
4. Benardrick McKinney, Miss. St. (80)
5. Hayes Pullard, USC (62)
6. Taiwan Jones, Michigan State (55)
7. Jordan Hicks, Texas (54)
8. Bryce Hager, Baylor (44)
9. Trey Depriest, Alabama (43)
10. Amarlo Herrera, Georgia (40)

CORNERBACKS

1. Trae Waynes, Michigan State (91)
2. Marcus Peters, Washington (90)
3. Kevin Johnson, Wake Forest (89)
4. Jalen Collins, LSU (88)
5. Byron Jones, UConn (84)
6. P.J. Williams, Florida State (82)
7. Ronald Darby, Florida State (80)
8. Quinten Rollins, Miami (OH) (77)
9. Steven Nelson, Oregon State (75)
10. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon (73)

SAFETIES

1. Landon Collins, Alabama (90)
2. Derron Smith, Fresno State (76)
3. Damarious Randall, Arizona State (75)
4. James Sample, Louisville (73)
5. Jaquiski Tartt, Samford (69)
6. Anthony Harris, Virginia (66)
7. Clayton Geathers, UCF (65)
8. Cody Prewitt, Ole Miss (64)
9. Gerod Holliman, Louisville (62)
10. Durell Eskridge, Syracuse (52)

 

[shabazz916]

prospect rankings do not matter... to me its about what team drafts for system and keeps the system long enough for players to develop and flourish with their talents.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Thanks for the list.

 

[SonnyCID]

For the life of me, I don't understand the ultra-high grades for Mariota. He's a Kaep clone, extremely athletic, but plays rigid, no natural pocket skills. He got his reads from the sideline at Oregon, and like Kaep, I would expect him to struggle with the transition to taking snaps directly from the center and dropping back fluidly.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

God bless you people for these Insider articles. I don't think it's the $30 a year that holds me back from just getting it myself... I think I'm literally just too lazy to enter my credit card info. and sign up for it. Even though it probably takes about the same amount of time to write this post, it just seems like such a daunting task.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Surprised that KSU WR Tyler Lockette doesn't crack the top-ten prospects. Won't be surprised, however, if he surprises those who made the list.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

for you draft guru's
how far down do you think the top 3-5 DTs will be drafted at?

 

[cdumler7]

for you draft guru's
how far down do you think the top 3-5 DTs will be drafted at?

My guess is Malcolm Brown will go late teens early 20's. Eddie Goldman will be a mid-20's guy, and Carl Davis will take a tumble in my opinion. He has gotten really bad reviews during the interview process and from what I understand even his coaches have said the kid is bad news.

Now my favorite 2 DL guys are not top-5 guys. I am a big fan of Marcus Hardison of Arizona State as I think he could play all over and has one of the best first steps of any DL player in this draft. The other is Xavier Cooper of Washington State. He might have come out a year too early but athletically speaking there might not be a better player in this entire draft. Isn't quite the strongest guy so needs a year in the weight room to develop that part of his game and needs to work on some technique but man you get this kid with the right coaching staff and he seriously could be a wrecking ball in the NFL.

 

[Southieinnc]

there are so many good players in this draft that the NFL as a whole will be better.
I would not be the least surprised if the # 4 and 5 QB's taken turn out to be players and top 2 are busts.

I think there are so many good lineman that thinking about them as needed in the 1st round might be trying to sharpen the pencil too sharp. The guys in the 3rd and 4th rounds might be as good as the 8 or so that get taken in the 1st

 

[HaroldSeattle]

there are so many good players in this draft that the NFL as a whole will be better.
I would not be the least surprised if the # 4 and 5 QB's taken turn out to be players and top 2 are busts.

I think there are so many good lineman that thinking about them as needed in the 1st round might be trying to sharpen the pencil too sharp. The guys in the 3rd and 4th rounds might be as good as the 8 or so that get taken in the 1st

I don't agree with the QB part, I think this draft is lacking at that position. Still lots of talent in other positions.

 

[cdumler7]

I don't agree with the QB part, I think this draft is lacking at that position. Still lots of talent in other positions.

I actually agree with Southie on this one. Some of this depends where these guys go. I honestly do think that some of the top quarterbacks taken are busts mostly because of the situation they are put in. Such as Sam Bradford in he went to a terrible team with a terrible OL when he got to town and they got him torn apart. Same with David Carr back in the day and by the time the team gets any kind of talent the psyche of those players is gone.

With this draft I could see guys like Bryce Petty and Garrett Grayson get a chance to sit on the bench for a year or two with a good supporting cast then step in and find instant success. Such as a team I think could be interested in Bryce Petty is that of New Orleans. Petty has a very live arm, can make all the throws, and would fit well with the high flying offense that Payton likes to run. Grayson I could see with the Broncos and sit behind Peyton for a year. Kubiak's system is very quarterback friendly and we have seen even average quarterbacks go on to play at a Pro Bowl level like that of Schaub and Flacco in his system. So again the right situation makes a huge difference with some of these guys.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

I actually agree with Southie on this one. Some of this depends where these guys go. I honestly do think that some of the top quarterbacks taken are busts mostly because of the situation they are put in. Such as Sam Bradford in he went to a terrible team with a terrible OL when he got to town and they got him torn apart. Same with David Carr back in the day and by the time the team gets any kind of talent the psyche of those players is gone.

With this draft I could see guys like Bryce Petty and Garrett Grayson get a chance to sit on the bench for a year or two with a good supporting cast then step in and find instant success. Such as a team I think could be interested in Bryce Petty is that of New Orleans. Petty has a very live arm, can make all the throws, and would fit well with the high flying offense that Payton likes to run. Grayson I could see with the Broncos and sit behind Peyton for a year. Kubiak's system is very quarterback friendly and we have seen even average quarterbacks go on to play at a Pro Bowl level like that of Schaub and Flacco in his system. So again the right situation makes a huge difference with some of these guys.

Well to be honest I haven't scouted the QBs. That takes a lot of work and since the Seahawks don't need a QB, I 'm not willing to put in the work. So I'm just going by a general input from the media. Still color me surprised if this draft turns out to be a good one for QBs.

 

[cdumler7]

Well to be honest I haven't scouted the QBs. That takes a lot of work and since the Seahawks don't need a QB, I 'm not willing to put in the work. So I'm just going by a general input from the media. Still color me surprised if this draft turns out to be a good one for QBs.

Well I have actually watched quite a few of the 3rd-5th ranked quarterbacks as there is a chance the Broncos will take one in the upcoming draft and they are not too bad. Like I said they will need to go to the right system and all of them need a year or two to develop but I would say Grayson and Petty both have the ability to actually be good quarterbacks. Grayson was one of the most highly accurate quarterbacks in college football this past year and actually comes from a pro system. I would say what Colorado State was running was one of the most complicated offenses in all of college football. From what I understand they had 87 different formations on offense that they would run out of and that was just 87 formations to the right side of the field with being able to do those same 87 to the left then. Grayson was also asked to read a defense at the LOS and did just fine. Petty on the other hand is about as raw as the come in the sense he is from the zone read system where the coaches read the defense for him. He hardly ever played from under Center and at most he would have 2 WR's to read then take off running. So he will need some development on how to read a defense. His arm though is pretty impressive. He can make all the throws, has plenty of power, and when he steps into a throw he is pretty darn accurate. Considering he injured his back this past year yet still played through the pain should show the guys toughness as well.

Hundley is the one I don't think is ever worth drafting. The kid athletically speaking is the most gifted of any of the quarterbacks and that includes Mariota. The issue is he struggles with reading defenses and will hold onto the ball forever trying to go through his reads. He takes a ton of sacks because he refuses to pull the trigger unless the player is wide open and even then he still struggles with accuracy. Some team will take a chance on him in hopes of developing him and maybe they can as everything is there that you would want but it is going to be a lot of work.

Sean Mannion is a guy not many are talking about but I actually like his game. He had one of the worst OL's in college football this past year yet he still put up some decent numbers. If he could go to the right team I think he could compete a year or two down the road to be the starter.