NFL 2018 Draft Prospect Rankings Post Week 4

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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