NFL 2018 Draft Prospect Rankings Post Week 4
Prior to the start of the college football season I posted my top 30 college football prospects for the 2018 NFL Draft (assuming they all declare for the draft) and with 4 weeks in the books, why not take a look at my updated rankings. Now before we get into how my rankings changed let me lay out some important observations I have made so far this season that affected my rankings.
The biggest thing I wanted to watch for this season is the QB play, and needless to say a lot can be said about this year’s group of QBs. Heading into the season, USC’s Sam Darnold, UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Wyoming’s Josh Allen were my top 3 ranked QBs and even though they will continue to receive heavy scrutiny about their up and down performances, I still believe they will be the top 3 QBs drafted.
Outside of the QBs, there seems to be a lot of talent and depth at several positions on both sides of the ball and looks to have similar hype to what we saw last year. Even though there are standouts on offense, this draft looks to be loaded on defense headlined by 5 defensive players in my top 10. Looking at this class of defensive players, it’s no secret that there are several highly touted linemen and pass rushers but don’t look passed the secondary as there are a few safeties and cornerbacks who could end up being drafted in the top 10 as well. Considering the NFL is a pass heavy league, look for defensive talent to come off the board early and often,
Let me also point out that even though this draft class has potentially more defensive talent than offensive talent, don’t look passed the notion that my top tanked prospect is Penn State RB Saquon Barkley. Barkley is arguably the most talent player in this entire class but he may even be the most talented player in all of college football. The Penn State junior is a complete RB who may be the safest player in the draft and if the draft order falls a certain way come 2018, Barkley may end up being the #1 overall pick. One last thing to remember- my rankings are based on my observations of each prospect and how I project them in the NFL. I take into account a players production as well as their potential moving forward so with that in mind let’s take a look at my updated rankings:
1 SAQUON BARKLEY RB PENN STATE
2 CHRISTIAN WILKINS DL CLEMSON
3 CONNOR WILLIAMS OT TEXAS
4 SAM DARNOLD QB USC
5 DERWIN JAMES S FLORIDA STATE
6 MIKE MCGLINCHEY OT NOTRE DAME
7 JOSH ROSEN QB UCLA
8 HAROLD LANDRY EDGE BOSTON COLLEGE
9 ARDEN KEY EDGE LSU
10 MINKAH FITZPATRICK CB/S ALABAMA
11 DERRIUS GUICE RB LSU
12 CALVIN RIDLEY WR ALABAMA
13 TAVARUS MCFADDEN CB FLORIDA STATE
14 BRADLEY CHUBB EDGENC STATE
15 JOSH ALLEN QB WYOMING
16 DA’RON PAYNE DL ALABAMA
17 COURTLAND SUTTON WR SMU
18 DEON CAIN WR CLEMSON
19 RONNIE HARRISON S ALABAMA
20 MASON RUDOLPH QB OKLAHOMA STATE
21 MALIK JEFFERSON LB TEXAS
22 DENZEL WARD CB OHIO STATE
23 RONALD JONES RB USC
24 LAMAR JACKSON QB LOUISVILLE
25 CHRISTIAN KIRK WR TEXAS A&M
26 JAMES WASHINGTON WR OKLAHOMA STATE
27 AUSTIN BRYANT EDGE CLEMSON
28 SAM HUBBARD DL OHIO STATE
29 CLELLIN FERRELL EDGE CLEMSON
30 JAIRE ALEXANDER CB LOUISVILLE