Grading every position group in the draft inside our updated top-10 rankings

Andre Simone Avatar
March 31, 2018

After updating our top-100 overall prospects on our latest big board, we’ve got new top-10 position rankings for you, only we’re doing things a little differently this time around.

In order to assess each position group in this year’s draft, we’ve put a grade on each class, and with the Denver Broncos still having six selections in the top 115 picks, there’ll be plenty of names here that they should consider.

Note: We’ll reference prospects in the top 100 a lot in this piece, that’s important because being in the top 100 means being a selection in the top three rounds. If selected in the top three rounds, a prospect should project as a starter in the near future, which is a pretty important threshold to establish the value of a player.

With that, let’s dig in.

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACKS

Grade: B+

This is a really top heavy group, with the top two guys in the top three on our board and the top five all in the top 22. Even the sixth quarterback on our list, Mason Rudolph, is 55th with a second-round grade.

For a premium position like quarterback, that’s a lot of highly-graded talent. The grade on the class isn’t higher simply because the bottom half of the group isn’t very good, lacking upside and depth. So if you want a quarterback, you better jump on it early this year.

1. Sam Darnold, QB, USC

2. Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA

3. Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma

4. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville

5. Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming

6. Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State

7. Logan Woodside, QB, Toledo

8. Kyle Lauletta, QB, Richmond

9. Mike White, QB, Western Kentucky

10. Luke Falk, QB, Washington State

RUNNING BACKS

Grade: A

This group of backs might not be at the elite level we saw back in the 2017 draft, but they’re just a smidge below. You have three top-14 talents and 15 in our top-110 prospects, with several more guys on our board that didn’t make the cut here in the top 10.

Seven of those RBs are among the 55 best prospects on our board, so you have depth and plenty of talent at the top, with some pretty special talents in among the top-five running backs. A special group that should make the Broncos happy if they pull the trigger with one of those six selections in the first 115 picks.

1. Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State

2. Derrius Guice, RB, LSU

3. Ronald Jones II, RB, USC

4. Sony Michel, RB, Georgia

5. Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State

6. Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia

7. Kerryon Johnson, RB, Auburn

8. Mark Walton, RB, Miami

9. Josh Adams, RB, Notre Dame

10. Kalen Ballage, RB, Arizona State

WIDE RECEIVERS

Grade: C

There’s always been good depth at wideout in the past several years, as there are simply more guys getting their shine in college, with more and more spread out three and four-receiver attacks.

The lower grade here is due to a lack of high-end talent at the top, without a single first-round grade. You have plenty of depth, with nine guys in our top 100, but very few players who are worth high picks.

1. Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama

2. D.J. Moore, WR, Maryland

3. James Washington, WR, Oklahoma State

4. Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU

5. Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M

6. D.J. Chark, WR/KR, LSU

7. Anthony Miller, WR, Memphis

8. Michael Gallup, WR, Colorado State

9. Simmie Cobbs Jr., WR, Indiana

10. Jordan Lasley, WR, UCLA

TIGHT ENDS:

Grade: D+

This is a decent group of tight ends, with the top five all appearing in our top 100 and projecting as potential future starters. However, Dallas Goedert is the only one in our top 50 and the depth of this group is really lacking after the top eight players.

1. Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota State

2. Hayden Hurst, TE, South Carolina

3. Jaylen Samuels, H-back, North Carolina State

4. Mark Andrews, WR/TE, Oklahoma

5. Mike Gesicki, TE, Penn State

6. Troy Fumagalli, TE, Wisconsin

7. Ian Thomas, TE, Indiana

8. Jordan Akins, TE, Central Florida

9. Christopher Herndon IV, TE, Miami

10. Dalton Schultz, TE, Stanford

OFFENSIVE TACKLES

Grade: C

This group of offensive tackles is not the greatest, especially at the top, with only one top-50 prospect in Connor Williams, who some in the league see as a guard.

There is some decent depth after the top 50, though, with some intriguing upside as well. We have 11 guys in our top-100 prospects, and while none of them project to be elite, there are some serviceable starting talents in this group.

1. Connor Williams, OT, Texas

2. Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame

3. Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma

4. Martinas Rankin, OT, Mississippi State

5. Tyrell Crosby, OT, Oregon

6. Jamarco Jones, OT, Ohio State

7. Kolton Miller, OT, UCLA

8. Chukwuma Okorafor, OT, Western Michigan

9. Brian O’Neil, OT, Pittsburgh

10. Will Richardson, RT, NC State

INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINE

Grade: A-

This is a really great group, with six prospects receiving second-round grades or higher. Considering the fact that the interior line is usually devalued a bit, this is pretty impressive. There are 12 prospects in our top 110, giving this group really nice depth.

In the first three rounds, the Broncos are all but guaranteed to find a serviceable future starter in this class, which is perfect considering the wealth of picks Denver has in that range.

1. Quenton Nelson, OG, Notre Dame

2. James Daniels, OC, Iowa

3. Isaiah Wynn, OG, Georgia

4. Will Hernandez, OG, UTEP

5. Billy Price, OC/G, Ohio State

6. Frank Ragnow, OC/G, Arkansas

7. Austin Corbett, OT/C, Nevada

8. Braden Smith, OG, Auburn

9. Mason Cole, OT/C, Michigan

10. Colby Gossett, OG, Appalachian State

DEFENSE

INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINE

Grade: B+

This is another good group with 14 prospects in the top 110. It’s not all that top-heavy, though, as there’s a bit of a drop off after the top-four interior linemen.

However, the depth is nice, and players like Rasheem Green or Trenton Thompson—who didn’t make the cut here but is featured on our board—have some nice upside too.

The Broncos could use more depth up front, and someone out of this group might be worth a gamble to add more interior pass rushers to the three-man front in the future.

1. Vita Vea, DT, Washington

2. Taven Bryan, DL, Florida

3. Da’Ron Payne, DT, Alabama

4. Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan

5. Tim Settle, NT, Virginia Tech

6. Harrison Phillips, DL, Stanford

7. Rasheem Green, DE, USC

8. Justin Jones, DL, North Carolina State

9. Derrick Nnadi, DT, Florida State

10. Andrew Brown, DE, Virginia

EDGE RUSHERS

Grade: B

The depth here is nice, too, and with three prospects in our top 20 receiving first-round grades, it’s a strong group at the top.

They get a “B” and not an “A” here because a lot of the guys on this list are projects. You’re gambling on untapped potential with this crop, which makes selecting an edge rusher a bit of a boom-or-bust proposition.

Still, there are 12 edge rushers ranked in our top 100, which means if the Broncos are looking to add more depth, this is a nice class to do so if they pick the right guy to gamble on.

1. Bradley Chubb, EDGE, North Carolina State

2. Harold Landry, EDGE, Boston College

3. Marcus Davenport, EDGE, UTSA

4. Arden Key, EDGE, LSU

5. Sam Hubbard, EDGE, Ohio State

6. Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, OLB/EDGE, Oklahoma

7. Hercules Mata’afa, EDGE, Washington State

8. Jeff Holland, EDGE, Auburn

9. Lorenzo Carter, OLB/EDGE, Georgia

10. Josh Sweat, EDGE, Florida State

OFF-BALL LINEBACKERS

Grade: A-

I really like this class as it’s loaded with great athletes who were already productive stars in college. Even better is that those stars have plenty of untapped upside, giving them the ability achieve even greater heights.

With three players in our top 20 and seven total in our top 50, that’s some serious high-end talent. The depth is good but not great with 11 linebackers in our top 100.

1. Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech

2. Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama

3. Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia

4. Matthew Thomas, LB, Florida State

5. Leighton Vander Esch, LB, Boise State

6. Uchenna Nwosu, OLB, USC

7. Malik Jefferson, LB, Texas

8. Fred Warner, LB, Brigham Young

9. Mike McCray, LB, Michigan

10. Jerome Baker, WLB, Ohio State

CORNERBACKS

Grade: A+

We have 14 guys in the top 110 on our big board and a whopping eight in our top 50, making this the best position group in the entire draft.

Most of the guys on this list are athletic ball hawks with the skill set to play in a man scheme, which really helps their stock.

1. Jaire Alexander, CB, Louisville

2. Isaiah Oliver, CB, Colorado

3. Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State

4. Mike Hughes, CB, Central Florida

5. Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa

6. Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn

7. Donte Jackson, CB, LSU

8. Nick Nelson, CB, Wisconsin

9. Tarvarus McFadden, CB, Florida State

10. Levi Wallace, CB, Alabama

SAFETIES

Grade: C+

This is an awesome group at the very top with Derwin James and Minkah Fitzpatrick both featured in our top 10. There’s decent depth here, too, with several guys who bring nice versatility to the table as well.

Not just James and Fitzpatrick, but Justin Reid, Kyzir White, and Terrell Edmunds would all be versatile and useful sub-package players.

The depth isn’t great though, which is what lowers the grade for the group.

1. Derwin James, DB, Florida State

2. Minkah Fitzpatrick, FS/CB, Alabama

3. Ronnie Harrison, SS, Alabama

4. Jessie Bates, FS, Wake Forest

5. Justin Reid, S, Stanford

6. Marcus Allen, FS, Penn State

7. Kyzir White, S, West Virginia

8. Terrell Edmunds, S, Virginia Tech

9. Van Smith, S, Clemson

10. DeShon Elliott, S, Texas

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