NFL Draft: Chris Thomas’ Big Board 2.0

The NFL Draft is almost here! Due to unfortunate circumstances a majority of most college programs Pro Day’s have been cancelled. So after the NFL combine most prospects have done all they can to raise their draft stock. It is now up to scouts and general managers to watch the game day footage and find players that they want based off that. After evaluating the combine and watching more players I have revamped my Big Board. Here is my big board 2.0, two weeks from the NFL Draft.

*in parenthesis is big board 1.0 ranking*

Big Board 1.0

Big Board 2.0

Not Ranked: Stanford Samuels III, CB, Florida State (58); Jake Fromm, QB, Georgia (68); Thaddeus Moss, TE, LSU (73); Brandon Jones, S, Texas(75); Matthew Peart, OT, UConn(77); Rashard Lawerence, DT, LSU(81); Darnay Holmes, CB, UCLA(85); Nick Harris, G/C, Washington(87); K.J. Hill, WR, Ohio State(88); Trey Adams, OT, Washington(89); Antoine Brooks Jr., S, Maryland(90); Gabriel Davis, WR, UCF(92); Hunter Bryant, TE, Washington(93); Anfernee Jennings, EDGE, Alabama(94); Jared Pinkeyes, TE, Vanderbilt(97); A.J. Green, CB, Oklahoma(98); Ben Bartch, OT, St. Johns(99); Bryan Edwards, WR, South Carolina(100)

Big Board Notes

• Iowa’s offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs became the top tackle on my board after his historic combine. Wirfs showed that he is athletic free during the combine. Add his versatility to his athleticism and you get a near perfect draft prospect. Wirfs can go anywhere between No.4-11 in the draft because of the amount of talented tackles in this years draft. Teams near the top will be drafting based on fit rather than talent because of this.
• The Jerry Jeudy vs. CeeDee Lamb debate will go on until a few years into these guys careers. Right now I’m in favor of Jeudy over Lamb because of how well Jeudy does everything. Jeudy is fast, runs great routes, and can catch balls in tough coverage. Lamb however catches everything regardless of how many defenders are around him. His skillset reminds me of the two best receivers in the league DeAndre Hopkins and Michael Thomas when they were coming out. They were bigger receivers who dominate 50/50 balls and can turn underneath routes into huge plays for the offense. Lambs only downside is that he is doesn’t stretch the field well. I am definitely not the only one who struggles picking between the two. I do not envy the Jets, Raiders, and other teams who might have to make that decision picking between these two receivers.
• Derrick Brown fell out of my top 10. This thought might be unpopular considering he is one of the best defensive players in the entire draft. Brown is a great player, but I dropped him down because  I am not a fan of his floor compared to the other players in my top 10. The players listed above him have higher floors than Brown. Browns floor is a starting defensive tackle who just eats space to help the pass rushers around him. He can be extremely valuable to have and should be selected in the top-10, I just like the floors of some of the players I have above him more.
• It would not surprise me if Antoine Winfield Jr. pulls a Darnell Savage and sneaks into the end of the first round. Winfield has been compared to the likes of Tyrann Mathieu and T.J. Ward (in his prime). He might be a safety, but he could do it all. Winfield Jr. can cover, hit, and has great ball skills. If a team feels they can get the All-Pro ceiling out of Winfield I don’t see a reason not to take him in the first round
• Arguably the NFL Drafts biggest riser because of what he did at the Senior Bowl and Combine is Denzel Mims. Mims showed potential to be a starting receiver and valuable weapon for a team. After factoring Mims offseason with his film it was obvious that he is a first round wide receiver and he shot up my board.
• The biggest riser on my board is Jeremy Chinn. Many will ask ‘Who is Jeremy Chinn?’, but they should be asking ‘Where to play Jeremy Chinn?’. Chinn has the versatility to play safety and weakside linebacker. He has been called a poor mans Isaiah Simmons which makes Chinn a great consolation prize for those who miss out on drafting Simmons.
• I’m back on the Jalen Hurts bandwagon! My bold take this summer was that Jalen Hurts was going to follow in former Oklahoma quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray and be the first overall selection in this years draft. That fell apart after the breakout season by Joe Burrow and Hurts stock fell from not showing that he could be a prototypical quarterback at the professional level. I dumped him low on my board. Until he performed well at the combine and realized Hurts had an ‘it factor’. Something about him makes him a threat and leads to wins and success on the field. Hurts should be a day 2 pick and will likely have to wait his turn to start in the NFL. But he he could be a teams starting quarterback as soon as 2021.
• Both Darrell Taylor and Willie Gay Jr. debuted on my big board at 65th & 66th. Both would make cases to be selected at the end of the first round definitely in the second round under normal circumstances. However both have dealt with their own off the field issues. Teams will take them into consideration before selecting them, but their issues aren’t anything that cannot be fixed. After Jachai Polite’s first season in the league, selecting a player without really looking into them as a person could scare teams away from selecting players like Taylor and Gay Jr. if they haven’t done their research.
• Cameron Dantzler had one of the biggest drops going from 47-67. This has to do with the fact that he ran a 4.64 40 time. A lot of what corners could do on the next level is goes off speed. If you don’t think so ask the Giants about DeAndre Baker. Dantzler fell a lot lower on my list until he recorded a 4.38 at his Pro Day. Realistically Dantzler hasn’t done much besides train to boost his 40 time so he can show that the Combine was a fluke. He’s actually between a 4.38-4.64 which makes him good, but still not great. He won’t be creeping into the first round but could be selected between the second and mid third.
• Stamford Samuels III fell completely off the list to the same reason as Dantzler. Samuels ran a 4.65 40 time in the combine. Dantzler at least had great game film to him up and keep him not the list, then rise back up slightly after showing that he does have speed. Samuels could fall victim of the cancelation of Pro Days and could realistically fall to Day 3 because of it.
• Now what happened to Jake Fromm and Thaddeus Moss? Both are fan favorites that both expect to be on this list. Unfortunately for Fromm he just hasn’t shown anything for a team to think of him as an eventual starter throughout the draft process. Fromm doesn’t have the arm strength to be an NFL starter. Fromm right now projects to be a good number two quarterback. Thaddeus Moss got the eye of the public after being one of Joe Burrows favorite targets during LSU’s road to the National Championship. It also doesn’t hurt to be son of Hall of Famer Randy Moss. He just hasn’t shown enough to get drafted to become anything more than a backup tight end with potential at this point. In my opinion I think if Moss would have pulled an OJ Howard and stayed at school another year and showed what he could after gaining the spotlight for what he did this past season he could have been drafted early next year. I was not a fan at all of Moss declaring this year.