If you want a Hall of Fame player on your roster, you can do that in the second and third rounds of the NFL draft. In the Super Bowl era alone, Joe Montana, Dan Fouts, Brett Favre, Mike Singletary, Michael Strahan, Terrell Owens, Ted Hendricks, Jason Taylor, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, Will Shields, Rickey Jackson, Thurman Thomas, Aeneas Williams, Kevin Mawae, Brian Dawkins, Curtis Martin, Larry Allen, Isaac Bruce, Lem Barney, and Mel Blount, are just some of the second- and third-round picks who wound up in Canton, and deservedly so.
In the modern era, there are future Hall of Famers like Bobby Wagner, Drew Brees, Seve Smith Sr., Andrew Whitworth, Travis Kelce, and Rob Gronkowski who have been taken in the second and third rounds.
Especially in a draft like the 2023 version, where there aren’t a multitude of prospects with obvious first-round grades, but the talent pool is very wide, the opportunities to get future stars in the second day of the draft should be exciting for every NFL executive and coach.
With the first round not decided, here’s my best remaining prospects for the 2023 NFL draft, with full and detailed scouting reports for each player.
Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee
Height: 6′ 3⅛” (63rd percentile) Weight: 217 (34th)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33″ (81st)
Hand Size: 10½” (95th)
Bio: A four-star recruit out of Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, Hooker chose Virginia Tech over Notre Dame, among other schools. After three seasons on the field with the Hokies, Hooker graduated in December 2020 with a degree in public relations, and went looking for a new home in the transfer portal. He chose Tennessee over Ohio State and Colorado, among other schools. In his collegiate career, Hooker completed 633 of 951 passes for 8,982 80 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a passer rating of 119.7. He also gained 2,079 yards and scored 25 touchdowns on 517 rushing attempts.
Hooker was off to a torrid start in 2022, completing 229 of 331 passes for 3,135 yards, 27 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 123.9 before suffering a torn ACL against South Carolina.
Stat to Know: The NFL classifies explosive passing plays as those plays gaining 16 yards or more, and when throwing passes of 16 or more air yards dead over the middle in 2022, Hooker completed seven of 14 passes for 171 yards, 134 air yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 134.2.
How did C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young, the consensus top two quarterbacks in this class, fare on such passes in 2022?
Stroud: 12 completions in 23 attempts for 391 yards, 270 air yards, six touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 97.6.
Young: Two completions in 11 attempts for 63 yards, 58 air yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 50.9.
Now, it’s time to look at the nature of those throws in Hooker’s case.
Strengths: When you’re evaluating Hooker as an NFL prospect, you absolutely have to take his college offense into account. The Vols were stretching defenses horizontally and vertically to an extreme degree, and that gave Hooker a lot of easy, defined openings. So then, you have to separate the transferable traits from an offense that isn’t 100% transferable.
When it comes to not only making tight-window throws over the middle, but also reading his receivers, I like this 14-yard completion to Ramel Keyton against South Carolina in Hooker’s final college game. He started by looking the deep safety off to the other side of the field, read the outside front-side receiver as an unfavorable look, and hit Keyton in stride where the receiver could get the ball, and the defender couldn’t.
And on this 43-yard pass to Keyton against Florida in Week 4, Hooker had to wait for his receiver to get any separation from cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., who was making that pretty tough. The solution was to get the ball past Marshall at the right time, which Hooker did.
On this 78-yard completion to Jalin Hyatt against Alabama in Week 7, was Hooker assisted by Hyatt’s preposterous downfield speed? Sure. Did he also make a stick throw to his target between two converging defenders with timing and placement? It kinda looks like he did.
This 28-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman against Pitt in Week 2 wasn’t over the middle, but I think it presented another example of Hooker reading the situation well and capitalizing when the opportunity arose. Pitt clogged the middle of the field here, so Hooker’s best option was to wait for Tillman to get open against fairly good lockdown coverage to the boundary. This he did, while stepping up in the pocket to give himself the needed time for everything to play out.
I think there are enough examples of Hooker making the kinds of NFL throws required to strike a balance between what he did in college, and what he’ll be expected to do at the next level.
Weaknesses: Hooker’s passing efficiency is bumped up to a point not only by the nature of his offense, but by the fact that he took a lot of sacks (28 in 2022) when he wasn’t clear about what he was seeing. You have to manage the high completion rate and low mistake rate with that in mind. Here, South Carolina was showing a Cover-0 look which they spun to 2-deep post-snap, and Hooker froze a bit. He’s going to see stuff like this all the time in the NFL, so that’s a thing.
Overall. Hooker was good against two-deep coverages last season (69 of 100 for 947 yards, 742 air yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions), but he does need to work on adaptive strategies for when his receivers are pressed, and he has to re-set quickly. Georgia took his spread offense and spit it right back at him more often than not. Hooker completed 23 of 33 passes against the Bulldogs for 195 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, eight sacks (!!!), and a passer rating of 72.2 — by far the worst performance of his season. Hooker’s NFL coaches will need to work with him on getting the ball out in time to avoid disasters like this.
Conclusion: There are a few reasons for NFL shot-callers to debit Hooker in his NFL transition, starting with his age and injury status. And the advantages presented by Josh Heupel’s Air Raid/veer offense are undeniable, as is the fact that some elements of that offense are not transferable to the next level. On the other hand, Hooker is more than a quarterback propped up by a spread offense, there’s nothing he can do about his age, and reports indicate that he’s well on his way to a full recovery. There’s also the truth that a lot of NFL offenses have concepts not unfamiliar to what Hooker has run so efficiently, and however he got there, Hooker has become an NFL-ready quarterback in just as many ways as his detractors will say he is not.
NFL Comparison: Geno Smith. It took Smith a long time to succeed at the NFL level for multiple reasons, but when he finally caught on all the way with the Seahawks, he combined athleticism, accuracy, velocity to the second and third levels, and leadership attributes to make himself into a franchise quarterback. Smith also had to adjust to the NFL from his college offense, and while that’s also the case for Hooker to a point, Hooker has already shown enough to make his NFL graduation relatively seamless.
Will Levis, QB, Kentucky
Height: 6′ 3⅞” (67th percentile) Weight: 229 (75th)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 34″ (79th)
Broad Jump: 124″ (95th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32″ (48th)
Hand Size: 10⅝” (96th)
Bio: An alum of Xavier High School in Madison, Connecticut, Levis was a three-star recruit who didn’t start getting serious offers until he was named Football Rating MVP at Nike’s The Opening in 2017. He committed immediately to Penn State when he got that offer, and graduated in three years with a degree in finance. He struggled to get starting reps and transferred to Kentucky in 2021. In four collegiate seasons, Levis completed 478 of 739 passes for 5,880 yards, 46 touchdowns, 25 interceptions, and a passer rating of 95.8. He also gained 742 yards and scored 17 touchdowns on 312 rushing attempts.
Stat to Know: We are all up in our feelings comparing Levis to Josh Allen apparently, so consider this: In Levis’ final collegiate season, he completed 16 of 39 deep passes for 541 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 75.5.
In 2017, Allen ‘s final collegiate season, he completed 15 of 46 passes of 20 or more air yards for 441 yards, eight touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 90.7.
If you’re going to compare Levis now to Allen then, you’d better go looking for those seven missing deep touchdowns.
Strengths: You’re going to hear a lot about Levis’ relatively mediocre supporting cast when excusing his inefficiencies, and that does show up on tape. If you’re going to throw deep to the boundary, you need at least one receiver who can beat tight boundary coverage.
There were times when Levis’ targets could do that, as seen by receiver Barion Brown on this 31-yard completion against Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo. Browning did a really nice job of separating at the right moment to get the ball Ringo couldn’t.
And here’s Levis throwing to Brown against Ringo from the slot in that same game — this time, for a 42-yard gain. One might call this an underthrow to a point — I tend to think that if Anthony Richardson was throwing this ball, it might have been a touchdown — but we’re splitting hairs there.
Now, there are times when timing, touch, and accuracy come together for Levis, and you can see where all the love comes from. This 47-yard guided missile to Brown over two defenders is a great throw, no matter who’s throwing it. Levis had to move in the pocket and reset to make the throw, and he did so beautifully.
Weaknesses: The problem with the throw we just saw is that Levis is too inconsistent in putting the timing/accuracy/velocity equation together. He will veer towards arm talent, and then regress back to arm strength, where you’re just not sure what you’re going to get. As this interception against Youngtown State showed, Levis struggles with the combination of these three aspects too often.
Levis can throw to any area of the field in which his receivers are decidedly open, and he will make the occasional big-time throw with outstanding velocity. But the finishing touches that make great NFL deep-ball throwers are not on display nearly enough.
One thing Levis will absolutely have to fix if he’s ever to become a top-tier NFL quarterback is a first-read fixation that got him in trouble too often at the NCAA level. His throwing windows are about to be reduced exponentially, so the processes that lead to plays like this just can’t happen. On this end zone incompletion against Vanderbilt, Levis followed tight end Jordan Dingle through his route, and when that was closed, he didn’t avail himself of any other options. Had he seen Brown’s backside crosser in time, it was open for a touchdown. Alas.
This end zone interception against Georgia had Kelee Ringo retorting for other sins in that game. Here, Levis started off reading Dingle on a similar route — taking the linebacker up the seam — and before that progressed, Levis threw to his outside read, the aforementioned Mr. Brown. Problem was, Ringo and safety David Daniel-Sisavanh were all over that, and it was obvious as the routes developed.
This interception against Tennessee had Levis giving perfunctory looks to his front-side reads (Brown and Tayvion Robinson), then traveling to the back side and making this inexplicable throw to Dane Key — which was picked off by cornerback Brandon Turnage. This was a third-and-seven situation, so maybe Levis thought he had to nuke one in there, but he also had a metric ton of room to run to that side, so… I dunno.
Levis isn’t doing himself any favors with these random plays predicated on a developmental ability to see — and react to — the entire route palette. His NFL coaches will have to put in work to get him where he needs to be in that regard.
If we want to label Levis a “winner” or a “finisher” as opposed to a “gritty, tough guy,” it might behoove us to look at his red zone performance in the 2022 season. And that, my friends, is a problem. Levis threw 14 touchdown passes from the opposing 19-yard line and in, but he also led the nation with four interceptions in such instances, and he tied with North Carolina’s Drake Maye and San Jose State’s Chevan Cordeiro for the nation’s most red zone sacks, with 10.
We’ve already shown a couple examples, but here’s another red zone interception against Miami of Ohio in which Levis has tight end Keaton Upshaw open to the boundary on a well-executed pick play, and Levis can’t time it up. If he feathers the pass to Upshaw earlier, or zings it to Upshaw to make up for the elapse of time, maybe defensive back Eli Blakey doesn’t have an easy turnover. Upshaw’s WTF reaction is one that I suspect a lot of people would have at the end of this play.
This sack at the Georgia 16-yard line with 4:51 left in the fourth quarter of that game was notable because cornerback Javon Bullard got the takedown with a blitz from the slot. Rule No. 1 when you have a blitzer from an area of the field is to check for easy openings to the area of the field vacated by said blitzer. Dane Key had sone free real estate in the left slot, and if Levis had simply capitalized, maybe that’s a touchdown.
At this point in his progression, Levis’s slow reading ability, and his inability to capitalize on easy stuff in compressed areas, could be fatal at the NFL level. Again.., yes, he has tools, but his NFL coaches have their work cut out for them.
Conclusion: My evaluative process generally has me watching more tape of players who give me a negative hit right off the bat than the guys who just wow me. Because with those negative examples, I want to make sure I didn’t start with an atypically bad game. You don’t want to miss on a prospect because your evaluation started out on the wrong foot. So, I’ve watched a crapton of Will Levis, and I’m not any more sure of his NFL potential now than when I started. There are absolutely examples of Levis putting his athletic traits together in a compelling package, but they didn’t happen nearly enough, especially repeatedly enough, for me to be confident in his NFL future. Levis will need to be with NFL coaches who define things for him on every down. There’s nothing wrong with that per se — it’s not a professional death sentence. But when I weigh Levis’ experience against the rawness that’s still obvious… it’s a tough go.
NFL Comparison: Carson Wentz. Like Wentz, who was selected with the second overall pick in the 2016 draft out of North Dakota State, Levis brings a compelling bag of attributes that look good on their face until you dig underneath. Wentz has played at an MVP level when he operated very specifically in a defined offense with the Eagles, and he’s been mystery meat ever since in a variety of systems. Quarterbacks like Wentz and Levis, whose athletic traits pop off the tape, are always attractive until it’s time to successfully operate outside of structure, and then you just never know what you’re going to get. Not a great thing for the game’s most important position.
Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA
Height: 6′ 0⅜” (77th percentile) Weight: 214 (52nd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.53 (60th)
10-Yard Split: 1.54 (70th)
Bench Press: 18 reps (39th)
Vertical Jump: 37″ (80th)
Broad Jump: 122″ (75th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: 75⅝” (69th)
Arm Length: 32″ (87th)
Hand Size: 9⅞” (89th)
Bio: A four-star recruit out of Oaks Christian High School in Camarillo, California, Charbonnet was a high-school teammate of current Giants edge-rusher and 2022 fifth-overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux. He committed to Michigan over offers from UCLA and USC (among others), and transferred to UCLA in 2021 after fighting for reps in the Wolverines’ stacked backfield over two seasons. In two seasons with the Bruins, Charbonnet gained 2,496 yards and scored 27 touchdowns on 398 carries, adding 61 catches for 518 yards.
Stat to Know: 806 of Charbonnet’s 1,358 rushing yards came after contact last season, and he averaged 4.15 yards after contact per rushing attempt.
Strengths: At his best. Charbonnet comes to the field with vision, contact balance, and acceleration in a package that projects him very well to the NFL as a feature back.
Charbonnet also has the lateral speed to bounce it outside for big gains; he averaged 6.9 yards per attempt on 92 runs charted to the outside or off-tackle last season. And he has the ability to re-set in space to bring that contact balance into play, which can be a real problem for defenders at the second and third level. These attributes stand out especially for his size; Charbonnet chews up turf from an agility perspective like a guy 2-3 inches shorter.
Weaknesses: Charbonnet has proven to be a good receiver on simple swing passes and screens, but I don’t know how much you want him running a more advanced route palette at this point. He needs some development as an every-down target.
And while Charbonnet is willing as a blocker, he doesn’t always hit the mark.
Conclusion: If you’re a shot-caller for an NFL team in need of an old-school hammerhead who can blow through tackles and also presents some speed and wiggle. Charbonnet could well be your guy. He may struggle at first for an every-down role at the next level due to some limitations at this point in his process, but the stuff that works is valuable, and it works right now.
NFL Comparison: Marshawn Lynch. Selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2007 draft (it was a different era) by the Bills, Lynch had a few good seasons with his first NFL team, but he exploded onto the scene pretty quickly after the Seahawks traded for him in the 2010 season. Lynch was a broken-tackle machine as you know from his marquee runs over time, but he also possessed tremendous lateral agility, and became the epicenter of Seattle’s offense for a time despite a relative lack of home-run speed, and not a ton of value as a receiver.
Tyjae Spears, RB, Tulane
Height: 5′ 9⅝” (27th percentile) Weight: 201 (18th)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: 18 reps (39th)
Vertical Jump: 39″ (91st)
Broad Jump: 125″ (87th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 30¾” (43rd)
Hand Size: 10″ (92nd)
Bio: Spears attended Ponchatoula High in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, north of New Orleans. He was a three-star recruit who didn’t see a lot of big-school offers, and he committed to Tulane, allowing him to stay close to home, when that offer came in. There was a late offer from Kansas State, but Spears stayed put with head coach Willie Fritz. It proved to be a wise decision. In 2022, Spears gained 1,581 yards and scored 19 touchdowns on 229 carries. adding 22 receptions for 256 yards and two touchdowns. He was the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, First Team All-AAC, and the Most Valuable Player of Tulane’s 46-45 Cotton Bowl win over USC, in which he ran 17 times for 205 yards and four touchdowns.
Stat to Know: Spears had 793 breakaway yards last season (yardage on runs of 15 or more yards) on 21 such carries.
Strengths: I got to watch tape with Spears in the lower ballroom of the Omni Severin Hotel in Indianapolis in the days leading up to the combine, so let’s get the details on some of his more remarkable plays last season from the man himself. This 62-yard run in the Cotton Bowl against USC is the one you’d think he’d want NFL evaluators to watch the most, though this wasn’t even one of his four touchdown runs. He got past all kinds of trouble at the line of scrimmage, and just about had another score, though he got caught at the end when he got a bit too cute.
“We were running a little inside zone,” Spears told me. “We had been working on that play Hug the playside leg, and it just popped right out the front door. I should have scored on that. man. But he had a great angle. I mean, I kinda fell down, but that was crazy. I don’t know, man — you can’t win all of them.”
There was also this 55-yard run against Tulsa, in which Spears put moves on that defense that just weren’t fair. Spears might be the best stop-and-start runner in this class; his ability to get back to full speed from a “dead-leg” move is kind of freaky.
“I just tried to make the hit as light as possible,” Spears said. “Never give up face, I just took my leg from him, and that’s just bursting on the inside, taking my leg from him.”
Spears can de-legitimize contact at all levels of the field, which is an important attribute.
Spears is also able to make things happen as a receiver beyond the basic routes, as he showed on this 29-yard catch against Southern Miss.
“It’s called a seam read,” Spears said. “It’s two yards outside the hash. I had to clear the linebacker there — he had a bust right there, and that ain’t my problem. That’s his problem. Had a bust right there, and I caught the ball over his head. My objective is as a running back, as a ballcarrier, to just make the first guy miss. This was just a little counter action, boom, and I’m going to make that guy miss me. That’s what it’s going to look like, right there.”
At his size, Spears won’t always make the killer block, but when I asked him to name his favorite play from last season, he immediately brought up this block against Memphis. With 10:35 left in the second quarter, Spears did indeed shift into the A-gap, and Memphis linebacker Cincir Evans had no idea what was coming.
“I’m gonna fight,” Spears said when I asked him what this block should tell the NFL about him. “I may be considered a little guy, but I’m gonna step up and hit you in the mouth and fight. I’m not bragging, and I had a fair amount of good runs, but I’m talking about pass protection.”
Weaknesses: For all of Spears’ effort and grit, there are times when the blocking thing doesn’t go quite as well. He’s not the first back you’d want off the bus against an overload blitz, picking out one of two guys to address who might outweigh him by 50-70 pounds.
And there are times when Spears’ size shows up in power situations. He has impressive contact balance, but he really gets his missed tackles through speed, suddenness, and agility. He must rely on these things, and quick vision, to avoid traffic jams.
Conclusion: Spears won’t be an ideal for every NFL team. You have to want a satellite back, and you have to be able to use him in a multitude of ways. He may never gain 1,000 yards in a season on the ground, but he could be a real weapon in a yards from scrimmage sense, and the extent to which Spears’ NFL team focuses on what he is, as supposed to what his size prevents him from doing, is how much his NFL team will be rewarded with the potential of a unique player.
NFL Comparison: Austin Ekeler. The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Ekeler was an undrafted free agent out of Western State, and he managed to transcend size and small-school concerns to become the most important non-quarterback in the Chargers’ offense. Ekeler went from 24 catches in his rookie season of 2017 to 107 in 2022, he forced 44 missed tackles last season, and he had seven runs of 15 or more yards… for 233 total yards. It’s pretty easy to superimpose that kind of role for Spears.
Devon Achane, RB, Texas A&M
Height: 5′ 8¾” (13th percentile) Weight: 188 (3rd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.32 (98th)
10-Yard Split: 1.51 (86th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 33″ (31st)
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 29″ (4th)
Hand Size: 8½” (5th)
Bio: A four-star recruit out of Marshall High in Missouri City, Texas, Achane wasn’t just a football star — he also helped Marshall to two straight state track championships, was the 2020 Gatorade Texas Track & Field Athlete of the Year, and posted the fastest times in the country in the 200-meter run and the 4×100 relay. He chose Texas A&M over offers from Alabama, Florida State, Houston, and LSU. Achane started with a bang, winning the Most Valuable Player award in A&M’s Cotton Bowl win over North Carolina at the end of his freshman season. Over three years with the Aggies, Achane gained 2,376 yards and scored 21 touchdowns on 369 carries, adding 65 catches for 554 yards and five touchdowns. He also returned 20 kicks for 613 yards and two touchdowns — a 96-yarder in 2021, and a 95-yarder in 2022.
Stat to Know: Last season, Achane had 18 runs of 15 or more yards on 196 carries.
Strengths: You want the track background to show up on Achane’s football tape, and it certainly does — not only with his straight-line speed, but with some preposterous moves to render defenders motionless, wondering what just happened. LSU safety Joe Foucha experienced that unpleasant sensation when Achane just whipped around him on this 10-yard touchdown run.
Achane can also bang it inside on zone or gap concepts, and he’s eager to exploit any opening. I would love to see him in an NFL offense with pulling and sweeping linemen, just blasting those gaps so that he can start the speed show. He shows a nice combination of patience and burst in those moments.
You can extend Achane’s exploitation of openings to the passing game; anything open on the edge, and he’s gone. This is a good time to mention that he forced 53 missed tackles last season. So, not just a speed guy.
Weaknesses: There are many things Achane does well on the field. Let’s just say that blocking is… not one of them. At all. Per PFF, he allowed two sacks and 10 total pressures in 2022. As much as his burner speed will put him on the field, that might take him right off.
Conclusion: Achane’s athleticism has been touted for a long time, that praise is well-deserved, and he can deploy it at a level that puts defenses in a box more often than defenses would like. He’s got surprising after-contact power for his size, there’s potential as a receiver, and though his blocking is absolutely abysmal, his NFL team would likely be smart enough to avoid that being an issue. Splitting hairs regarding whether he’s an every-down back might be a bit short-sighted when there are teams fully capable of having him hitting the ground running everywhere from the backfield to the slot. Home-run hitters like this don’t grow on trees. You take players like this, and you don’t really ask them to muscle up.
NFL Comparison: Napoleon Kaufman. Like Achane, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Kaufman was a prodigal track star, and that showed up with all kinds of big plays for the University of Washington. No surprise that Al Davis selected Kaufman with the 18th overall pick in the 1995 draft. Kaufman was a football player, not just a straight-line speed guy, so he provided more value than a lot of those track dudes Davis loved to bet on. Kaufman was a lightning bolt waiting to happen as a runner, receiver, and returner, and Achane has all of that potential.
Roschon Johnson, RB, Texas
Height: 6′ 0¼” (76th percentile) Weight: 219 (67th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.58 (40th)
10-Yard Split: 1.52 (83rd)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 31½ (17th)
Broad Jump: 122″ (75th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32″ (82nd)
Hand Size: 9⅝” (77th)
Bio: Raised in Port Arthur, Texas (the birthplace of Jimmy Johnson and Janis Joplin), Johnson attended Port Neches-Groves High in Port Arthur and was a four-star recruit as a quarterback and running back. He committed to Texas over offers from (deep breath) Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas A&M because he had wanted to be a Longhorn since he was a kid. The original plan was for Johnson to be a dual-threat quarterback, but running back injuries had his coaches moving him there.
Johnson had a nice start to his collegiate career with 649 yards and seven touchdowns on 123 carries in his freshman season of 2019, but then, the Longhorns bagged Bijan Robinson, and Johnson’s carry share was going to decline, for obvious seasons. Over four seasons, he totaled 2,190 yards and 23 touchdowns on 392 carries, with 56 catches for 420 yards and three touchdowns.
Stat to Know: Johnson forced 46 missed tackles last season… on just 94 rushing attempts.
Strengths: While he’s more than capable of running with power, Johnson can also turn on the jets both at the second and third levels, and when it’s time to bounce something outside. His longest run of the 2022 season, this 52-yard touchdown against Oklahoma State, was more about Johnson’s ability to just beat everyone to the goal line.
And just because he’s big, don’t assume that Johnson was forcing all of those missed tackles by running people over. On this 32-yard run against UTSA, Johnson’s quickness and elusiveness in short spaces were the featured skills.
Of course, when it is time to just go Beast Mode on a defense, Johnson has no problem doing that. He’s an aggressive, smart runner with outstanding second-reaction recovery and contact balance. You don’t have to tell Oklahoma’s defense about it — they’ve seen it up close.
Speaking of Johnson embarrassing Oklahoma’s defense, he’s also got the ability to break off huge yards after catch on simple outlet stuff. This 38-yard reception had 44 YAC. Johnson is a guy who can bail his quarterback out quite credibly.
Weaknesses: Texas had some interesting formations last season in which Johnson and Robinson were in the backfield at the same time, and for the most part, Johnson’s blocking could have better when his buddy got the ball.
Other than that, Johnson’s primary weakness seems to be that he isn’t Bijan Robinson… but as we have established, nobody else is, either.
Conclusion: You have to do some projecting to classify Johnson as a top-five back in this class, but based on the reps he had, it wasn’t difficult for me. As a power back with some second-level speed and juice, he’d be an easy top-rated back were he not hidden behind such a great player in Robinson, and he shouldn’t be debited too much for that. He’ll hit in the NFL because he brings a serious load at first contact, and he had some compelling answers for what to do after it.
NFL Comparison: Chris Ivory. An undrafted free agent out of Tiffin via Washington State, Ivory had limited college reps for reasons Johnson didn’t (injuries and violations of team rules), but when the Saints picked him up in 2010, he proved pretty immediately that he could serve as an outstanding power back. I believe that Johnson can become more than a rotational guy, but here’s where we start.
Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee
Height: 6′ 0⅛” (35th percentile) Weight: 176 (5th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.40 (86th)
10-Yard Split: 1.50 (86th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 40″ (92nd)
Broad Jump: 135″ (97th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: 77⅝” (61st)
Arm Length: 32½” (65th)
Hand Size: 9″ (20th)
Bio: Hyatt attended Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, South Carolina after serving as a ball boy for the football program in his younger years. The three-year varsity star also burned up the track at an All-American level, and participated in strength contests despite the fact that he weighed just 155 pounds as a high school senior. Perhaps it was the weight that had Clemson and South Carolina, the two prominent schools in his home state, looking elsewhere. Eventually, Hyatt committed to Tennessee over Penn State, Michigan, and Miami (Fla).
In three seasons with the Volunteers, Hyatt totaled 108 catches on 151 targets for 1,769 yards and 19 touchdowns. In 2022, as the featured weapon in Josh Heupel’s field-stretching Air Raid/Veer offense, Hyatt had 311 snaps in the slot, seven out wide, two in the backfield, and one inline.
Stat to Know: Hyatt’s 13.9 yards per target leads all receivers on this list by a large margin; TCU’s Quentin Johnston ranked second at 10.9.
Strengths: Very few receivers have ever done to Alabama’s defense what Hyatt did to it last season. He caught six passes on eight targets for 207 yards and FIVE TOUCHDOWNS, and his tape against the Crimson Tide is as frightening as any you’ll see from any receiver in this class.
Obviously, Hyatt’s speed is game-changing, and it’s a constant threat. Even the balls he didn’t catch against Alabama showed a danger any defense has to account for. Had Hendon Hooker not been pressured to throw this ball short on Hyatt’s vertical sweep, Hyatt would probably have had another touchdown. He’s just so scary in open space.
Teams would press other Tennessee receivers in man and zone coverage last season even when they wouldn’t press Hyatt because they were petrified of his deep speed. Often, the results turned out the same with that more cautious approach. You’re going to want safety help more often than not when you’re on him — especially if he’s dusting your cornerbacks with any kinds of switch releases.
Hyatt isn’t a yards after catch receiver in the sense that he’ll beat contact to gain yards after it. What he is, is a dominant yards after catch receiver because he can turn on that Road Runner gene, go all “meep meep” on a defense, and that’s going to be that.
Weaknesses: Hyatt faced very little press coverage in that offense, and you’d expect that he’ll get a lot more of it in the NFL. That’s a tough projection, because there just isn’t a lot of press tape to watch, He lived in a constant state of free release, and he certainly won’t at the next level. Even the few guys who did press him did so with some trepidation.
Conclusion: Debiting Hyatt too much because he’s not a “traditional” receiver with this or that route tree might betray a lack of understanding not only of his specific assets, but also a lack of understanding of how these kinds of receivers are deployed at the NFL level right now. If Hyatt was beating press all the time and running 20 unique routes (he had 12 last season, per Sports Info Solutions), he would be the lead-pipe No. 1 receiver in this class, and probably a top-five pick. That’s not who he is, and maybe it’s not who he’ll ever be, but if he can develop the things he wasn’t asked to develop in college, you’re talking about a Tyreek Hill-level field-tilter who will just waste a defense, and automatically change how those defenses are forced to play.
NFL Comparison: DeSean Jackson. Jackson came out of Cal and was selected by the Eagles with the 49th overall pick in the 2008 draft as Andy Reid’s vertical element in his West Coast-based passing game. Jackson had burner skills from his first minicamp, and over time, he developed an underrated ability to alter his routes and movements to further create issues for defenses. Hyatt has a lot of that same profile, and whichever speed receiver he most reminds you of, he is absolutely That Guy.
Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee
Height: 6′ 3″ (81st percentile) Weight: 213 (77th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.54 (37th)
10-Yard Split: 1.53 (68th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 37″ (70th)
Broad Jump: 128″ (86th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32¾” (72nd)
Hand Size: 10″ (86th)
Bio: A three-star recruit out of Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas, Tillman was high school teammates with eventual UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, among other notable names. He was lightly recruited, though, and it wasn’t until then-USC head coach Clay Helton told his brother Tyson, then Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, about Tillman that things got going. Tillman accepted the Vols’ offer for the 2018 class. In five seasons with Tennessee (two with serious playing time), Tillman caught 109 passes on 167 targets for 1,622 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Stat to Know: Tillman caught just three passes of 20 or more air yards last season, but two of them went for touchdowns.
Strengths: Tillman doesn’t have anything approaching home-run speed (the Vols had Jalin Hyatt for that), but he is capable of creating big plays with route nuance, after-catch toughness, and a nice awareness of the catch point.
Spread offenses are amplifiers for guys like Hiatt; Tillman may actually be more effective at the NFL level where his brand sheer determination after the catch is more valued in the short to intermediate game. There aren’t many receivers in this class who can drag defenders after the catch like he can — and is eager to.
That physicality extends to an ability to beat aggressive press coverage, as Tillman did here against Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo. NFL cornerbacks who are used to pushing rookie receivers around might be surprised to see Tillman striking the first blow more often than not. In an NFL where quick game is the thing, and defenses are responding with more press coverage, this is an important next-level asset.
Weaknesses: Tillman does not have separation skills to any great degree — his speed is what it is, and he has a lot of assets to make up for it, but it’s just not his game. He’s also not going to make amazing plays that expand his catch radius.
Conclusion: Tillman’s athletic limitations will have some NFL teams wondering if he can be a credible starter in their offenses. If you want to run a track team on the field, that concern would be entirely legitimate. But if you have a need for a tough, smart receiver who is going to bail your quarterback out of some ugly situations and can be a plus in quick-game situations, Tillman might feast on your playbook. He is not spectacular, and he is not scheme-transcendent, but Tillman absolutely has a place in the right NFL home.
NFL Comparison: Eric Decker. Selected in the third round of the 2010 draft by the Broncos out of Minnesota, Decker became a high-volume receiver who was especially productive in Denver and for the Jets. Like Tillman (they ran the same 4.54-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine), Decker was not a land speed wizard, nor did he create separation with anything but his wits and play strength. But Decker showed that there’s still a place for a receiver like this in today’s NFL — and again, with quick-game and RPO concepts increasing in popularity, there might be more of a place now than in Decker’s heyday.
Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina
Height: 5′ 9⅛” (8th percentile) Weight: 171 (2nd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.48 (63rd)
10-Yard Split: 1.49 (93rd)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 38½” (83rd)
Broad Jump: 131″ (92nd)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 30⅜” (12th)
Hand Size: 9¼” (39th)
Bio: Downs played his high school ball at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia (alums include Jared Cook, C.J. Uzomah, and Ja’Wuan James), and he was called up to the varsity team in his freshman year. An All-State and All-County player who finished his high-school tenure with 187 catches for 3,019 yards and 32 touchdowns, Downs also lettered in basketball and track. A three-star recruit, Downs was offered by several major schools, but decided on North Carolina after former NFL cornerback Dre’ Bly, who played for the Rams, Lions, Broncos, and 49ers from 1999-2009, was hired as the Tar Heels’ cornerbacks coach. Bly, who is now the Lions’ cornerbacks coach, is Downs’ uncle.
In three seasons with North Carolina, Downs caught 202 passes on 272 targets for 2,483 yards and 22 touchdowns. Last season, he had 815 snaps in the slot, 16 in the backfield, 14 out wide, and one inline.
Stat to Know: Sports Info Solutions defined its “Unique Routes Run” metrics as the number of distinct routes that a receiver ran at least once in a season. Downs led all receivers in this class with 23 Unique Routes Run.
Strengths: Downs is regarded primarily as a slot receiver due to his size, but he was also a pest, over and over, from the outside on all kinds of shorter routes like slants, drags, hitches, and out routes from the outside. Wherever you line him up, he has the quick movement skills to get open, and the speed to make something of it after the catch.
Of course, you really want Downs as a slot weapon in your offense, and he brings the attributes above, as well as an ability to play bigger and taller than he is at the catch point, to the inside. Downs isn’t going to bully anybody out there, but he’s not afraid of contact.
He’s also mot afraid to catch the ball over the middle, probably because he knows he can just run away from defenders before they can get a lick on him.
Weaknesses: As is the case with most smaller, faster receivers, Downs makes his after-catch bones in open space. He’s not a tackle-breaker to any great degree. And while he’s feisty enough against press coverage (you love the competitivetemperament in those situations), again, he’s a space player. He’s better at getting out of compressed situations than fighting against them.
Conclusion: Receivers like Downs are a preference as opposed to a mandatory type. You have to have a plan for him, and that plan involves the design of open-space concepts he can exploit. But in any NFL offense where such a player is valued, Downs could make immediate contributions with not only his speed and movement abilities, but also his route versatility.
NFL Comparison: Travis Benjamin. Selected in the fourth round of the 2012 draft by the Browns out of Miami, Benjamin was that same type of scooting receiver with the ability to beat defenders on all kinds of routes. At his peak with the Browns and Chargers, Benjamin could do those things both in the slot and outside. Not bad for a 5-foot-10, 175-pound receiver, and Downs could also be that sort of NFL weapon.
Marvin Mims Jr., WR, Oklahoma
Height: 5′ 11¼” (27th) Weight: 183 (11th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.38 (90th)
10-Yard Split: 1.55 (54th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 39½” (89th)
Broad Jump: 129″ (89th)
3-Cone Drill: 6.9 (63rd)
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 31⅝” (40th)
Hand Size: 9″ (20th)
Bio: Coached by his father in little-league football in Frisco, Texas, Mims switched his attention to basketball in middle school ,and played on the same AAU team as did Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Mims worked his way back to football at Legacy Christian Academy and then Lone Star High School. His 5,485 receiving yards is the most in Texas high school history, which is pretty notable. A four-star recruit, Mims first chose Stanford among a host of major schools, and then decided that he preferred Oklahoma. It went well for the Sooners, as Mims became the first Freshman All-American in school history in 2020.
In three seasons with the Sooners, Mims caught 123 passes on 177 targets for 2,397 yards and 20 touchdowns. In 2022, he had 571 snaps out wide, 220 in the slot, 12 in the backfield, and one inline.
Stat to Know: In 2022, all six of Mims’ receiving touchdowns came on passes of 20 or more air yards. He caught 13 of 33 such passes for 602 yards.
Strengths: Mims isn’t a great deep receiver just because he can run really fast in a straight line (though he obviously can) — he also tracks the ball very well at high speed, he’ll jump to win at the catch point, and he is fearless for his size when he knows he’s about to get his block knocked off.
And you have to like that Mims doesn’t fold up against aggressive coverage — he can also beat press with foot fakes and quick movement, but he’s not above putting an elbow in there to get open.
440 of Mims’ 1,082 receiving yards last season came after the catch, and he’s fully capable of basting a defense on screens or any other quick pass — especially anything with angles in which he can further use his short-area quickness to win after the catch.
Weaknesses: While Mims has a nice playing demeanor when the ball is on the way to his area, that doesn’t always transfer to blocking. He’s willing at times, but it’s not a strength.
If a cornerback gets outside leverage on Mims, he can be compressed too easily to the boundary — he would do well to learn how to shoot back to the middle of the field to make himself a more attractive target in those instances.
Conclusion: Mims may be limited to a slot role at the next level due to his size and depending on his NFL team, but I’m not ready to make him a one-trick pony based purely on his tape. He has proven the ability to win outside (especially on deep passes), his play strength is better than you might think, and in any 3×1 set, the outside slot receiver can play outside roles in crossers and switches, anyway. You put him in your offense, you design concepts that allow him to get in the open field, and your quarterback’s deep efficiency is probably in for an uptick.
NFL Comparison: Emmanuel Sanders. Selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2010 draft out of SMU, Sanders has been a smaller (5-foot-11, 180-pound) but estimable target both in the slot and out wide because of his increasing route understanding, smooth speed from the line of scrimmage and out of his breaks, and toughness when it needed to be there. Like Sanders, Mims projects well as a highly-regarded WR2 in any offense where there’s a vertical element in need of reinforcement.
Luke Musgrave, TE, Oregon State
Height: 6′ 5⅞” (80th percentile) Weight: 253 (52nd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.61 (88th)
10-Yard Split: 1.58 (87th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 36″ (82nd)
Broad Jump: 125″ (93rd)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: 79½” (53rd)
Arm Length: 32⅝” (32nd)
Hand Size: 10⅜” (87th)
Bio: A championship skier in his younger days, Musgrave played quarterback, defensive back, receiver, and then tight end at Bend Senior High School in Bend, Oregon. The three-star recruit chose Oregon State over Oregon, and he’s got a lot of family connections in football. Most notably, his uncle, Bill Musgrave, was selected in the fourth round of the 1991 draft out of Oregon by the Dallas Cowboys, and Bill Musgrave spent five seasons in the NFL as a backup quarterback, later becoming an offensive coordinator for several NFL teams. Over four seasons with the Beavers, Luke Musgrave caught 47 passes on 80 targets for 633 yards and two touchdowns. In 2022, he lined up 80 times inline, 28 times in the slot, and six out wide. Musgrave missed all but two games in the 2022 season due to a knee injury.
Stat to Know: Last season, Musgrave was targeted just three times on passes of 20 or more air yards — due mostly to that injury. His 2021 season, in which he caught four deep passes on 10 targets for 117 yards, should be more indicative of his explosive play opportunity rate, with a serious bump in efficiency based on his 2022 tape.
Strengths: Musgrave’s high-percentile speed and burst at the combine absolutely show up on tape. He’s quick out of the gate, and he has excellent build-up speed through the second and third levels of a defense. This doesn’t just allow him to create big plays in a straight line — he’s also comfortable and capable at the end of a route in an explosive play situation. If you want to echo Kyle Shanahan and run a bunch of “Y-throwback” stuff, Musgrave would be plug-and-play.
Musgrave’s comfortable speed has also allowed him to develop subtle (and at times not-do-subtle) moves to create separation, thwarting tight coverage.
Musgrave also brings a good sense of creating openings through route breaks; he knows how to maximize space and leverage, and this will be important in his professional development — especially as he expands his route palette.
Weaknesses: Musgrave is more of an innocent bystander than a true blocker; effort and intent don’t really show up on tape. Teams will have to decide how important and coachable that is in his case.
There are times when Musgrave could improve his radius for his quarterbacks by squaring to the ball more accurately and with better timing. He has nine drops throughout his collegiate career, and he’ll need to shore that up.
Conclusion: Musgrave’s value to NFL teams will depend entirely on what NFL teams are looking for. Making him a YAC specialist who blocks a lot and gets the occasional big play isn’t the ideal paradigm for him at all. He is a player for teams who see tight ends as big receivers, have moved on from the “traditional” constructs of the position, and will let the developmental liabilities slide in the name of how he can burn up the field.
NFL Comparison: Darren Waller. Selected in the sixth round of the 2015 draft by the Ravens out of Georgia Tech, Waller overcame personal issues to become one of the NFL’s most explosive pass-catching tight ends. Musgrave doesn’t have Waller’s longer track speed (Waller ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at his scouting combine), but the 1.58-second 10-yard splits are identical, and from the deep play potential to the blocking issues to the occasionally maddening drops, Musgrave looks a lot like Waller to me.
Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame
Height: 6′ 4½” (52nd percentile) Weight: 249 (33rd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.70 (66th)
10-Yard Split: 1.66 (32nd)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 32½” (42nd)
Broad Jump: 118″ (68th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: 76¼” (9th)
Arm Length: 31⅝” (7th)
Hand Size: 9½” 924th)
Bio: Mayer grew up dreaming of playing basketball at Kentucky, but when he enrolled at Covington High in Covington, Kentucky, he started playing football, and it really stuck. He was a U.S. Army All-American and Kentucky’s 2019 Mr. Football, helping Covington to a 44-1 record with two state titles in his three varsity seasons. The five-star recruit chose Notre Dame over Penn State and Kentucky among a host of schools. Over three seasons with the Fighting Irish, Mayer caught 180 passes on 255 targets for 2,099 yards and 18 touchdowns. In 2022, he had 463 snaps aligned to the formation, 202 in the slot, 63 out wide, 19 in the backfield, and one on the offensive line.
Stat to Know: Mayer led all tight ends in the 2023 class with eight receptions of 20 or more air yards, gaining 420 yards and scoring four touchdowns on those plays.
Strengths: Mayer isn’t an explosive player with a lot of juice downfield — and we’ll get more into that in a minute — but he does have the ability to stack defenders with route awareness, and there are times when he looks like a proto-Gronk when he gets by opponents and just posts them up in some remarkable ways.
Mayer is also a highly effective receiver on short passes because he can explode (in a relative sense) after the catch. He’s learned through tons of positive experience to not fear contact, because he can just beat people up in open space.
As a run- and pass-blocker, Mayer also has no issue getting grimy. He could use a bit of help latching onto his targets in open space, but he’s a willing and effective protector.
Weaknesses: If your tight end preference leans toward the explosive slot guy who can riddle defenders with short-area movement and speed, Mayer isn’t going to be your optimal choice. He needs to be schemed open for those big plays, because he’s not going to win in those situations with his own pure athleticism, and he’s at his best aligned to the formation.
Mayer’s speed deficits show up in a couple of ways — he’ll look downfield too quickly at times on shorter passes because he’s looking to get going, and if the timing of the throw is off at all, Mayer will let defenders into his kitchen for potential incompletions.
Conclusion: It’s easy to overthink players like Mayer to their own detriment. When a prospect does most everything pretty well to very well, few things badly, and few things spectacularly, we tend to label him a “safe pick” and move to the next guy, hoping for something more explosive. Mayer will not throw highlights all over his NFL team’s game tape, but that team will get a few splash plays, a manageably low rate of negative issues, and proven repeatable consistency game after game. That may sound boring to some, but there are times when boring is preferable to zany spikes in production. He is a true tight end in the old-school sense, and if that is what you want (or are willing to settle for) at the position, Mayer will be plug-and-play from Day 1. There’s nothing wrong with that.
NFL Comparison: Jason Witten. I could also go with Zach Ertz, though Ertz has been a bit more explosive throughout his career. Instead, let’s look at Witten, selected by the Cowboys in the third round of the 2003 draft out of Tennessee. Witten was nobody’s idea of a speed demon, and he wouldn’t necessarily fit the modern prototype of the detached big receiver masquerading positionally as a tight end, but he made 11 Pro Bowls and had two All-Pro nods because he was consistent, tough, and fearless on the field. He maximized his abilities, and I think Mayer will do the same in his own way with similar athletic limitations.
Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa
Height: 6′ 3⅜” (23rd percentile) Weight: 245 (17th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.59 (90th)
10-Yard Split: 1.62 (69th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 35″ (73rd)
Broad Jump: 123″ (90th)
3-Cone Drill: 6.91 (88th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.25 (78th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32⅛” (16th)
Hand Size: 10¼” (81st)
Bio: A four-year letterman and three-year team captain at Highland High in Highland, Illinois, LaPorta played wide receiver and defensive back to good renown. He was also a star in basketball, baseball, and track, and Iowa broke the logjam for the three-star recruit by offering him a football scholarship after seeing how he moved on the basketball court. Over four seasons with the Hawkeyes, LaPorta caught 153 passes on 238 targets for 1,777 yards and five touchdowns. Last season, he had 381 snaps in-line, 111 in the slot, 90 out wide, 28 in the backfield, and three at quarterback.
If you want to know how the Hawkeyes finished their 2022 season with an 8-5 record, including a 21-0 win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl, consider that their defense ranked second among FBS teams in points allowed per game, and they ranked 123rd of 131 in points scored per game. Sam LaPorta, who continues an estimable tradition of Iowa tight ends including Dallas Clark, George Kittle, Noah Fant, and T.J. Hockenson, was the only real receiving threat in a passing game that averaged 14.8 completions, 156.7 yards, and 0.5 touchdowns per contest. His 58 catches on 90 targets for 648 yards and one touchdown should be seen in context. We generally go with more biographical information here, but it really is important to note what LaPorta was able to do with what he had to deal with.
Stat to Know: LaPorta led all tight ends in his class with 20 missed tackles forced, and I think about half of them came on this 27-yard catch against Kentucky in that bowl game.
by my count, iowa te sam laporta broke 136 tackles on this play #Analytics pic.twitter.com/nNxvVHu94i
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 15, 2023
Strengths: So, yes. LaPorta is an after-catch demon, who has the wherewithal to find openings in space on short passes, and an impressive determination to beat people up when their uniforms look different than his. the whole “contested catch” idea is relative with him, because he’s generally the one doing the contesting.
We talked about the importance of the “Y-iso” position in the Dalton Kincaid discussion, and LaPorta is another prospect with the athleticism to be that guy.
Weaknesses: LaPorta might be a willing blocker; I’m not sure. But the results on tape are often lacking. He doesn’t really have an awareness to target and stick defenders, which can lead to some interesting whiffs.
LaPorta had six drops last season and 14 during his time at Iowa, which is less than optimal. You don’t want to assume that a tight end hears footsteps over the middle, but…
Conclusion: LaPorta’s NFL team should be excited to play on his potential in an offense that didn’t scare anybody. That team will also have to acclimate to his blocking issues, drops, and the fact that his height precludes him from being a post-up weapon downfield. Still, he shows ability as a move tight end and H-back, and that should work pretty easily into his next phase.
NFL Comparison: Owen Daniels. The Texans took Daniels in the fourth round of the 2006 draft out of Wisconsin, and Daniels managed to make two Pro Bowls as an undersized tight end with a lot of savvy, despite mostly bad-to-horrible quarterbacks. Like Daniels, who finished his NFL career as one of Peyton Manning’s more reliable targets in Denver, LaPorta has proven the ability to transcend broken offenses.
Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia
Height: 6′ 6⅝” (93rd percentile) Weight: 264 (85th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.64 (79th)
10-Yard Split: 1.61 (73rd)
Bench Press: 21 reps (59th)
Vertical Jump: 31″ (26th)
Broad Jump: 122″ (86th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.08 (97th)
Wingspan: 83¾” (98th)
Arm Length: 34⅜” (91st)
Hand Size: 11″ (98th)
Bio: Washington grew up one of eight children with his mother in the Las Vegas area, and the family moved often, homeless at times. He didn’t have a lot of school stability until he was a sophomore at Desert Pines High School in East Las Vegas. There, he became a star at tight end and defensive end, as well as a championship-level athlete in basketball and track. The five-star recruit chose Georgia over just about every major college in the country. In three seasons with the Bulldogs, Washington caught 45 passes on 70 targets for 774 yards and three touchdowns. In 2022, Washington had 537 snaps aligned to the formation, 114 in the slot, 18 out wide, one in the backfield, and one at free safety.
Stat to Know: Washington’s yards after catch average of 7.8 leads all tight ends on this list, and that should not come as a surprise.
Strengths: We don’t usually start tight end evaluations with blocking prowess, but in Washington’s case, we’ll make an exception. He had a 0.0% Blown Block Rate in pass protection last season, and his Blown Block Rate of 0.5% in the run game tied with Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer for second among tight ends on this list, behind only Iowa’s Sam LaPorta (0.0%). You’d expect a guy Washington’s size to block well, but there are some pretty epic examples on his tape. Washington’s NFL team should love him as an inline blocker, and as an H-back on sweeps and pulls. The ways in which he’s able to casually Godzilla defensive linemen is kind of hilarious.
When I watch Washington high-point a catch over some poor defender, I think to myself, “How did this guy only have a 31-inch vertical leap at the combine? Did he slip on the turf?”
Weaknesses: Washington is far more a rumbler than a runner. A lot of his big catches over the middle came when Georgia was throwing four and five wide at a defense with all kinds of motion. He will need to be similarly schemed open at the NFL level, where the windows are generally tighter. Basically, just about every catch for Washington is going to be a contested catch if he’s the point of focus. He’s not going to separate with quickness.
Both as a blocker and as an after-catch giant, Washington could be even more effective with some technique fixes. Especially in the after-catch game, a more consistent ability to catch the ball with a stronger base could lead to some comical reps for opposing defenders.
Conclusion: I’m not sure how productive Washington will be at the NFL level; it’s hard for me to project him as an 80-catch, 1,000-yard player per season in any offense. But there’s a difference between production and value, and Washington can provide a ton of value as a field-tilter in all facets for his next team. Smart offensive coordinators will open him up with numbers and scheme, let him destroy cornerbacks on intermediate passes, and block defensive linemen with authority in the run game.
NFL Comparison: Darren Fells. An undrafted free agent out of UC Irvine, Fells was a basketball player in high school and college, and he actually played professional basketball in Argentina, Mexico, Belgium, Finland, and France from 2008 through 2012. Signed and released by the Seahawks in 2013, Fells caught on with the Cardinals in 2014, and over time with multiple teams, he’s been a good big receiver in certain routes, and a plus blocker in all facets. You have to imagine what Washington could be as you would have to imagine what Fells could be, and Washington obviously has more like-as-like football experience, and I’ll be fascinated to see how Washington is deployed in the NFL.
Tucker Kraft, TE, South Dakota State
Height: 6’5″ (66th percentile) Weight: 256 (56th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.69 (71st)
10-Yard Split: 1.59 (84th)
Bench Press: 23 reps (75th)
Vertical Jump: 34″ (62nd)
Broad Jump: 122″ (86th)
3-Cone Drill: 7.08 seconds (64th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.29 seconds (69th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32¾” (38th)
Hand Size: 10″ (62nd)
Bio: Kraft attended Timber Lake High School in Timber Lake, South Dakota, a very small farming town. He was a star in basketball and nine-man football, playing quarterback, running back, defensive end, and linebacker. Kraft wasn’t ranked at all by any of he major scouting services, and South Dakota State was his first Division I scholarship offer. He later received an offer from Wyoming, but turned it down, and later refused several offers to enter the transfer portal from schools as large as Alabama. In three seasons with the Jackrabbits, Kraft caught 99 passes on 132 targets for 1,208 yards and nine touchdowns. This despite missing three games in 2020 with a sprained knee, and six games in 2022 with an ankle injury. Last season, Kraft had 274 snaps aligned to the formation, 66 in the slot, 28 out wide, 15 in the backfield, and three at quarterback.
Stat to Know: Just one of Kraft’s catches and two of his targets last season were on passes of 20 or more air yards, which doesn’t make a ton of sense after you’ve studied his athleticism. Especially when that deep touchdown came on an iced field.
Strengths: As a straight-line runner, Kraft is a smooth glider to start, with impressive acceleration to the second and third levels. He’s comfortable as a receiver ln explosive plays because he’s not “efforting” to get to the ball.
Kraft brings plus power and leverage when asked to block, especially for a player with his height. Here’s where the fact that he broke the South Dakota State power-clean record shows up. He’s good at engaging defenders with his hands, and he’s got the power and leverage to bull people back.
Weaknesses: Kraft could stand to work on his route precision and his hands (two drops last season and 12 in his collegiate career); he was able to just height/weight/speed opponents in ways he won’t be able to in the NFL. In cases like that, you want to see consistent dominance to project his professional future, as opposed to stuff like this.
Conclusion: Kraft is a bit of a project as a total NFL receiver based on the intricacies of the position that he’ll have to pick up, but that’s balanced by the fact that he’s got downfield potential we haven’t seen nearly enough. He’s already got a lot going for him as a blocker and as a move receiver, and most of the stuff that needs coaching is pretty coachable.
NFL Comparison: Dawson Knox. Selected in the third round of the 2019 draft out of Mississippi, Knox has become a staple in the Bills’ offense with his ability to move to the second and third levels, while providing reliable blocking, He’s not the best route-running tight end, and goodness knows that drops have been an issue, but Knox present a good illustrative example of how Kraft could bring immediate value to an NFL offense even when he’s rounding out his football palette.
Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State
Height: 6′ 8¼” (97th percentile) Weight: 374 (98th)
40-Yard Dash: 5.35 (30th)
10-Yard Split: 1.92 (4th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: 87⅞” (97th)
Arm Length: 36⅜” (97th)
Hand Size: 11⅝” (98th)
Bio: Jones was primarily a basketball star at Ben Davis High
School in Indianapolis; he didn’t really focus on football until he was a senior. Still, he was a three-star recruit, and waited out several scholarships from his first favorite sport until he was able to choose the Buckeyes from a list that included Florida, Indiana, Penn State and USC. He wasn’t a full-time starter in college until 2021, when he became a fixture at right tackle.
Stat to Know: Jones allowed the fewest total pressures last season — no sacks, no quarterback hits, and five quarterback hurries — of any offensive tackle in his draft class, and he did so in 419 pass-blocking reps. He allowed just two quarterback hurries in 152 True Pass Set snaps.
Strengths: Jones’ movement skills for a man his size are rare. He gets to the second level quickly and efficiently, and when he gets there, he can turn on the power.
Of course, what you want if you’re putting a guy this big on your roster is the ability to just demolish everybody in the run game, and there are multiple snaps in which Jones proves eager and adept when it’s time to get nasty.
Jones’ size shows up as a positive when he’s able to just eclipse defensive linemen after he throws them out of the club with his ridiculous wingspan. Georgia’s Jalen Carter, the best defensive lineman (and perhaps the best overall player) in this class found it out on this rep, when Jones got his hands out, and Carter just couldn’t get anywhere near C.J. Stroud. If you come straight ahead at Jones… well, you’d best not miss.
Weaknesses: Jones will lose to defenders who can get to either side of him in a hurry; he’s not always as agile as you’d like in space. Not that the aforementioned Jalen Carter is an easy matchup for any offensive lineman, but you can see here how Jones struggles with quick movement at times.
Jones’ relative lack of lateral agility is evident from time to time when he needs to link with his fellow linemen in slide protection situations. He’ll get leaky when he shouldn’t.
Conclusion: Bigger offensive tackles have the ability to succeed in the NFL as long as they have plus movement skills, and Jones checks all the boxes there. His lateral issues can be coached up to a point, and managed with the right playing weight. He’s not a perfect fit for every NFL offense, but if you’re in charge of an offensive line where gap power is the point of the exercise, and you’re running a lot of quick game, Jones could be a great fit at the next level.
NFL Comparison: Orlando Brown Jr. The 6-foot-8, 363-pound Brown was selected by the Ravens in the third round of the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma. Brown was able to succeed in Baltimore’s heavy gap scheme at right tackle, and he subbed in on the left side for Ronnie Stanley when Stanley was hurt. That led to his trade to the Chiefs, in which Brown became a starting left tackle at a size you wouldn’t normally expect. Brown, who signed a major deal this offseason to be the Bengals’ left tackle, will lose edge-rushers around the arc, but like Jones, he’s great in quick-game pass pro, and there’s enough size and technique to make things work.
Blake Freeland, OT, BYU
Height: 6′ 7⅞” (92nd percentile) Weight: 302 (12th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.98 (93rd)
10-Yard Split: 1.68 (92nd)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 37″ (99th)
Broad Jump: 120″ (98th)
3-Cone Drill: 7.46 (84th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.71 (55th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33⅞” (37th)
Hand Size: 10″ (45th)
Bio: Freeland was an athletic wonder at Herriman High School in Herriman, Utah, excelling at basketball and track as well as football. He played quarterback and tight end in high school, committing to BYU as a three-star recruit. He was a four-year starter for the Cougars — the first two seasons at right tackle, and the last two on the left side. In 2022, he allowed no sacks, three quarterback hits, and four quarterback hurries in 462 pass-blocking reps.
Stat to Know: Freeland had blown blocks on just 0.3% of his run snaps last season. Only Tennessee’s Darnell Wright (0.0%) had a lower rate among tackles on this list.
Strengths: Freeland is impressively quick and nimble for a tackle with his height — he comes off the ball immediately, and has the technique and agility to match with defenders in space.
When asked to pick up lateral defenders one-on-one and in stunt situations, Freeland has all the lateral movement skills you’d want at the position. He’s just an easy mover all over the place.
Weaknesses: Freeland’s obvious issue is a need for more play strength and weight at the NFL level. He’ll need to learn to bend more naturally into his leverage and power. While there are reps of drive-blocking on his tape, he’s more a dotter of I’s than a pure assassin when he’s hitting people in space, and that’s not going to work at the next level.
And it’s too easy for opposing defenders to get in Freeland’s kitchen and just push him back. Along with strength and weight developments, Freeland must be more consistently aggressive with his hands to strike the first blow, and keep “power pigs” from blowing him right back into the pocket.
Conclusion: The extent to which Freeland has developed his technique and athletic potential might have him as an early-to-middle Day 2 pick. The extent to which NFL teams are scared off by his relative lack of physical dominance could complicate that equation. The good news is that when you have a player with 92nd percentile height and 12th percentile weight for his position, the primary fix is obvious, and I don’t think Freeland’s movement abilities will be negatively affected by an additional 15-20 pounds. He’s a bit of a project in that regard, but the upside, and the existing tape, will have some NFL team betting with enthusiasm on what he could be.
NFL Comparison: Brian O’Neill. The Vikings took O’Neill out of Pitt with the 62nd overall pick in the 2018 draft knowing what he had on the ball in an athletic and technical sense, and hoping that the power would come together. That happened well enough for Minnesota to reward O’Neill with a five-year, $92.5 million contract extension with $49 million guaranteed in 2021. I’m not saying that Freeland will reach those heights, but I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for how he looks after some time in an NFL strength program.
John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota
Height: 6′ 3½” (54th percentile) Weight: 301 (38th)
40-Yard Dash: 5.35 (25th)
10-Yard Split: 1.85 (26th)
Bench Press: 26 reps (51st)
Vertical Jump: 29½” (68th)
Broad Jump: 104″ (62nd)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.56 (68th)
Wingspan: 78⅜” (53rd)
Arm Length: 32⅝” (46th)
Hand Size: 9½” (28th)
Bio: Originally a defensive end for Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Schnitz transferred to o Homewood-Flossmoor Community High to play left tackle for a bigger school. The three-star recruit received a ton of offers from MAC schools, deciding on P.J. Fleck’s Western Michigan program, subsequently following Fleck to Minnesota. Schnitz played 57 games for the Golden Gophers, starting 35, and all at center. In 2022, he allowed two sacks, one quarterback hit, and five quarterback hurries in 302 pass-blocking snaps.
Stat to Know: Schmitz was utterly reliable in the run game last season, and with a large sample size — he had a Blown Block Rate of just 0.4% in the run game, and 48% of Minnesota’s runs were intended to go to his gaps.
Strengths: Smith loves to hit people when he’s on the move, and he has all the talent required to do it at the NFL level, as Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy has observed.
John Michael Schmitz rolls out of bed reaching frontside DTs.
There aren’t 31 better/cleaner prospects in this year’s draft.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/XkWGgTHIcz
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) April 14, 2023
There was also this two-fer against Wisconsin, in which Schmitz proved that it’s he’s bouncing off of you, it’s generally going to be worse for you than it is for him. Schmitz has outstanding functional strength that shows up on the field all the time.
When it’s time to seal the edge, Schmitz isn’t just laterally quick to his target; he has the strength and leverage to move his opponent where he wants his opponent to go.
Weaknesses: Schmitz will let defenders cross his face too often to get to the ball — this might be a function of his average arm length, but it’s something his NFL coaches will want to address.
Conclusion: You don’t often think of centers as touchstones for their offenses, but if you have a center like Schmitz, who can get the job done in any scheme and will tattoo his personality all over the team, centers can be just that kind of player. The NFL team that selects Schmitz will have a plug-and-play guy from Day 1 with All-Pro potential down the road.
NFL Comparison: Alex Mack. The Browns selected Mack with the 21st overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Cal, and Mack took a play style with more root strength than you’d imagine for his size (6-foot-4, 311 pounds), impressive agility, and the technique and intelligence required to make seven Pro Bowls in his career. Furthermore, Mack was a Pro Bowler by his second NFL season. Schmitz wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he hit that same high bar.
O'Cyrus Torrence, OG, Florida
Height: 6′ 5⅜” (85th percentile) Weight: 330 (87th)
40-Yard Dash: 5.31 (47th)
10-Yard Split: 1.84 (35th)
Bench Press: 23 reps (33rd)
Vertical Jump: 23½” (8th)
Broad Jump: 101″ (50th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.81 (41st)
Wingspan: 83⅞” (96th)
Arm Length: 33⅞” (74th)
Hand Size: 11¼” (98th)
Bio: A three-star recruit out of (St. Helena Central High in Greensburg, Louisiana, Torrence played football in high school in part to get in shape (he weighed 420 pounds at one point), and he received nothing but smaller-school offers. He chose Louisiana, making Freshman All-American in 2019, and First Team All-Sun Belt in 2021. The move to Florida was an unqualified success in 2022 — Torrence was a Consensus All-American and First Team All-SEC. In 2022 for the Gators, blocking for Anthony Richardson, Torrence allowed no sacks, no quarterback hits, and eight quarterback hurries in 355 pass-blocking reps.
Stat to Know: Torrence’s Blown Block Rate of 1% is the lowest for any collegiate guard on this list.
Strengths: When Torrence moves you in the run game, you tend to stay moved. He has an incredibly powerful base, and excellent upper-body strength to displace defensive tackles where he wants them to go.
Torrence’s better pass-protection snaps, especially on deep passes, are full of pure power. Other guards might want to focus on picking up a stunt or blitz; Torrence is just as likely to block everybody in front of him to put the argument to rest.
Other guards: *I gotta focus on the three-tech and pick up the blitzing linebacker*
O'Cyrus Torrence: Nah, I'll just block them both at the same time. pic.twitter.com/PNEs0WGIrH
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 14, 2023
Torrance is also more than capable of taking the best a defensive tackle has to give him when he’s backing up, and erasing that defensive tackle from the play. Even better NFL defensive tackles will need an extra bowl of Wheaties before taking him head-up. The dude is just comically strong.
Weaknesses: It’s a good thing that Torrence can block two guys at once. Perhaps it’s an adaptive strategy, because he does struggle with picking up stunts and games and overloaded fronts on the move. For the most part, Torrence is not really laterally adept.
Torrence is going to have to work on his ability to pick anything up to either side — it’s a problem with single-blockers, as well. More experienced defensive linemen at the NFL level, whose entire job is based on identifying and exploiting obvious weaknesses, will absolutely eat his lunch with this stuff.
Conclusion: If you run the offensive line for a gap-based power offense (hello, Ravens), Torrence might be the top guard on your board. He has the power to shut down just about anybody. But if you need the kind of lateral agility and movement skills common to guards who excel in more complicates schemes, he could he a short-term to long-term project. Torrence’s strength to and through contact is the best in this class among any offensive lineman, but he won’t be able to trade on that alone when he gets to the NFL.
NFL Comparison: Mike Iupati. Selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2010 draft out of Idaho, Iupati was a massive (6-foot-5, 331-pound) guard who won far more with power than speed and agility. There is still a place for those big earthmovers in today’s NFL (Iupati made four Pro Bowls and had one All-Pro nod) as long as they have enough athleticism to get past the obvious transitive issues with this kind of size and strength. Torrence has snaps in which this seems possible, but it might not happen overnight.
Steve Avila, OG, TCU
Height: 6′ 3⅝” (30th) Weight: 332 (89th)
40-Yard Dash: 5.21 (69th)
10-Yard Split: 1.86 (24th)
Bench Press: 28 reps (67th)
Vertical Jump: 29½” (72nd)
Broad Jump: 98″ (33rd)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.74 (56th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33″ (35th)
Hand Size: 9¼” (7th)
Bio: Esteban “Steve” Avila was born in Arlington, Texas and went to Grand Prairie High in Arlington, where he was once teammates with former Lions and current Falcons cornerback Jeff Okudah, the third overall pick in the 2020 draft. Avila made All-Conference at offensive tackle and defensive end, choosing TCU as a three-star recruit. Avila picked up 35 starts for the Horned Frogs over four seasons — 17 at center, 15 at left guard, two at right tackle, and one at right guard. In 2022 at left guard, Avila allowed no sacks, two quarterback hits, and nine quarterback hurries in 540 pass-blocking snaps.
Stat to Know: TCU runners gained 3.3 yards before contact when running behind Avila’s gaps, the highest such number for any guard on this list.
Strengths: Avila’s anchor is a thing of beauty — when he gets under your pads and starts pushing you back, there’s not much you’re going to do about it. Michigan’s Mazi Smith (ranked fifth on our list of interior defensive linemen) found that out here.
Avila provides a natural barrier between pass-rusher and quarterback when he fires his hands out and starts to get nasty. There aren’t many offensive linemen in this class with his ability to harness his play strength.
Weaknesses: In theory, Avila has position flexibility with his time at center, but that’s not where I’d want him. When you go back to his 2021 tape… well, to put it kindly, there are some pretty iffy reps.
Back to the 2022 guard tape. As dominant as Avila can be against linemen who take him straight on, he’ll lose penetration to either side. Here, it was Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson (our second-ranked edge defender) working him to the outside shoulder that created the issue.
Conclusion: As 2022 was Avila’s first season playing left guard, you’re inclined to forgive the technical missteps and bank on the ridiculous play strength that could have him blowing NFL defensive tackles sooner than later. If he can get everything synced up over time, Avila will be a prefect fit and a total tone-setter in any power-based offense.
NFL Comparison: Gabe Jackson. Selected in the third round of the 2014 draft by the Raiders, Jackson parlayed a massive (6-foot-3, 335-pound) frame into his status as a great power blocker with surprising movement skills. Avila may well have the same kind of bright future.
Cody Mauch, OL, North Dakota State
Height: 6’5″ (30th) Weight: 302 (12th)
40-Yard Dash: 5.08 (82nd)
10-Yard Split: 1.79 (48th)
Bench Press: 29 reps (82nd)
Vertical Jump: 29″ (61st)
Broad Jump: 10″ (76th)
3-Cone Drill: 733 (93rd)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.55 (84th)
Wingspan: 78⅞” (5th)
Arm Length: 32⅜” (5th)
Hand Size: 9¾” (27th)
Bio: Mauch grew up on his parents’ 5,500-acre farm, and he was a no-star recruit out of Hankinson High in Hankinson, North Dakota. Mauch came out of high school as a 220-pound tight end, defensive end, and quarterback for a school that could only manage nine-man football due to relatively low enrollment. He walked on at North Dakota Statem redshirting as a defensive end while he gained the necessary weight to switch to the offensive line. Over time, he had 39 starts for the Bison — 37 at left tackle, and two at right tackle. Last season, he allowed one sack, two quarterback hits, and six quarterback hurries on 304 pass-blocking snaps in North Dakota State’s run-heavy offense.
Stat to Know: Mauch allowed just two sacks, five quarterback hits, and 16 quarterback hurries in 836 pass-blocking snaps through his time at North Dakota State.
Strengths: Mauch is quick and agile on the move, whether it’s at the line of scrimmage or to the second level, and through his play strength is nothing to write home about, he’s efficient and enthusiastic when it’s time to show the power he’s got.
Mauch is also an immediate lock as a guy you want working pulls, sweeps, and slides due to his lateral agility and target surety. There aren’t a lot of wasted movements here.
Weaknesses: For all his experience at left tackle, Mauch will let edge defenders around the arc too often. This is where his short arms show up, and if he isn’t striking the first blow outside, things can escalate quickly. You have to assume this will multiply in severity against NFL competition.
Conclusion: I’m on board with the estimable Mr. Brugler here. Mauch is feisty as heck, he clearly wants to dominate on the field, and the only things stopping him from doing that are his physical limitations. With his good reps in smaller spaces, clear intelligence, and adaptive techniques, Mauch might turn out to be an amazing center. Reports indicate that he’ll move inside for whichever NFL team takes him, and he doesn’t strike me as a natural guard. Move him all the way inside, go through whatever growing pains there might be, and there you are.
A few years from now, it wouldn't be surprising if Cody Mauch is the best center from this draft class.
Scouts want to see him play multiple positions this week in Mobile. https://t.co/SbtcWCu87M
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 30, 2023
NFL Comparison: Mitch Morse. The Chiefs selected Morse in the second round of the 2015 draft out of Missouri and didn’t think twice about moving him from tackle to center. Like Mauch, the 6-foot-5, 305-pound Morse was limited in arm length, hand size, and pure power, but he had all the grit and movement skills you’d want in the middle of your offensive line. If such a transition is good enough for Andy Reid, it should be good enough for anybody else.
Siaki Ika, DI, Baylor
Height: 6′ 3¼” (60th percentile) Weight: 335 (94th)
40-Yard Dash: 5.39 (5th)
10-Yard Split: 1.88 (1st)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: 7.8 (37th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.99 (4th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32⅜” (22th)
Hand Size: 10¼” (73rd)
Bio: A universal four-star prospect out of East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ika started his collegiate career at LSU, played on the 2019 National Championship team, and moved to Baylor via the transfer portal for the 2021 season. He won Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year, and went on from there. Over four seasons with the Fighting Tigers and Bears, Ika totaled seven sacks, 12 quarterback hits, 40 quarterback hurries, 53 tackles, and 45 stops. He had 664 snaps in the B-gaps, 574 in the A-gaps, and two over the tackles.
Stat to Know: Ika is seen primarily by some as a nose tackle, but six of his 18 pressures last season came when he was either aligned right over the guard, or to the guard’s outside shoulder.
Strengths: When he’s fresh in a game and on point, Ika’s movement skills for his size are preposterous. He possesses the kind of lateral movement and penetrative technique you dream of in most bigger, block-soaking nose tackles. This is true of his efforts as a run defender…
…and how he’s able to affect opposing quarterbacks. Ika’s relentless effort at times is a true force multiplier for his athletic toolbox.
Ika also has a nice elemental skill set for getting off blocks quickly that could be accentuated by further NFL coaching.
Weaknesses: Just three of Ika’s 18 pressures, and none of his three tackles for loss, came in the fourth quarter of games last season. You always wonder how long into a game guys his size will last, and there are legitimate concerns with that. Ika will start to fall off and miss things when he gets gassed. Not that Bijan Robinson is easy to tackle under the best of circumstances, but…
And needless to say, you’d like a guy his size to be a cheat code against double teams. For all his speed/power mix, Ika doesn’t always use his leverage to its maximum advantage.
Conclusion: Former Giants executive George Young’s “Planet Theory,” which is often mis-attributed to Bill Parcells, postulates that there are only so many people on the planet big enough and athletic enough to excel on the line of scrimmage in the National Football League. This applies to Ika in both a positive and negative sense. When he’s on, Ika is a Destroyer of Worlds, capable of taking half an offensive line and whoever’s unfortunate enough to have the ball right to the woodshed. However, his off-snaps will be cause for concern in NFL buildings. Making the most of Ika’s potential would have some NFL team with the kind of defensive weapon you just don’t see that often, but we’ll have to wait and see if that actually happens.
NFL Comparison: Vita Vea. When Vea came out of Washington for the 2018 draft, he was selected 12th overall by the Buccaneers despite similar concerns regarding the consistency of his play. The collegiate version of Vea was a terror on one series, and all too average the next. But Vea has made the most of his tools at the next level, and if Ika can do the same, he could have the same kind of unique — and transformative — impact.
Keeanu Benton, DI, Wisconsin
Height: 6′ 3⅝” (62nd percentile) Weight: 309 (62nd)
40-Yard Dash: 5.08 (51st)
10-Yard Split: 1.79 (29th)
Bench Press: 25 reps (34th)
Vertical Jump: 29½” (52nd)
Broad Jump: 111″ (81st)
3-Cone Drill: 7.34 (80th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.65 (50th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33⅞” (73rd)
Hand Size: 9¾” (37th)
Bio: A three-star recruit by 247 Sports, ESPN and Rivals, Benton started six games in his freshman season, and recorded his first collegiate sack against Ohio State — which is a nice way to get going. Over four seasons with the Badgers, Benton totaled 10 sacks, 24 quarterback hits, 34 quarterback hurries, 58 tackles, and 57 stops. He had 700 snaps in the A-gaps, 611 in the B-gaps, five over the tackles, and one outside the tackles.
Stat to Know: Benton’s four sacks last season each came from different gaps — the left and right B-gaps, the A-gap, and the left edge.
Strengths: People tend to talk about Benton more as a run defender than as a pass disruptor, but there’s enough tape of him getting to the quarterback from multiple gaps to make me think that his part of his game is undersold. Benton has nice quickness off the snap, and the upper-body strength needed to displace blockers on a regular basis.
Benton’s pure power off the snap allows him to landslide some pretty tough blockers — his reps against Minnesota center John Michael Schmitz (perhaps the best center in this class) showed that.
Weaknesses: Benton will get too high in his stances at times, and as is the case with just about any lineman on either side of the ball, when you do that… well, you tend to lose leverage, and you’ll get bodied all over the court.
Benton has good pursuit speed and determination, which make him a pest even late in the down, but there isn’t a lot of recovery quickness here. If you get him off his spot, he’s going to stay there, at least at this stage of his development.
Conclusion: Benton strikes me as the kind of player who could really bump up his game with a year or two of NFL coaching that would reinforce more advanced techniques with his hands and in his leverage. Right now, he’s a big ball of clay in a lot of ways, but if his coaches at the next level could marry the nuances of the position(s) with his strength and first-step quickness, Benton might turn out to be a top-tier player everywhere from 3-tech to overhead nose tackle.
NFL Comparison: DaQuan Jones. The Titans selected Jones in the fourth round of the 2014 draft out of Penn State, hoping that he’d fill out his power and quickness with more of a knack for avoiding washouts along the line of scrimmage. People tend to expect more of Jones than he’s displayed through his NFL career, but he’s been a consistent provider of pressure and run stops. Not at an elite level for the most part, but good enough to stay in the game. Benton might be aiming for “JAG” status at the next level, but he is capable of more.
Jaquelin Roy, DI, LSU
Height: 6′ 2¾” (35th percentile) Weight: 305 (51st)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: 30 reps (71st)
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: 8.01 (11th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 5.00 (4th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32¾” (35th)
Hand Size: 10⅛” (63rd)
Bio: Roy played his prep football at University High School on the LSU campus, so the transition to the Fighting Tigers seemed like an easy one, especially given his four-star status. Over three LSU seasons, Roy totaled five sacks, 14 quarterback hits, 59 quarterback hurries, 67 tackles, and 50 stops. He had 977 snaps in the B-gaps, 354 in the A-gaps, 98 over the tackles, and seven outside the tackles.
Stat to Know: Roy drew five holding penalties in the 2022 season, by far the most for any player on this list.
Strengths: Roy’s ability to deal with double teams really stands out on his tape. Whether he’s side-stepping them or just blasting through, Roy gives opponents no assurances that two guys on him will work. When he can accentuate that with the acumen to seal off Bryce Young’s escape route, as he did on this play against Alabama… that’s the good stuff.
When he’s using a rip or swim move to get into the backfield, Roy’s power and first-step quickness lead to a lot of stops.
Weaknesses: At this point in his process, Roy doesn’t have a lot of counters when blockers get him off his point. If he gets beaten off the snap, he tends to stay there, and you’d like to see him develop more aggressive strategies to get out of those negative situations.
Conclusion: At first glance, Roy might seem like a “low-ceiling/high floor” prospect in that he doesn’t do anything grievously wrong, but the highlight plays aren’t as frequent as you might like. However, with a bit of refinement in his consistency of technique, he could be a plus-level interior disruptor and stopper from nose tackle to outside the guards. I hope that the snaps in which his power and technique align will be the standard in years to come.
NFL Comparison: Jay Ratliff. Selected by the Cowboys in the seventh round of the 2005 draft out of Auburn, Ratliff put together his best seasons as a fast one-gap nose tackle in Wade Phillips’ 5-2 fronts. Roy can play outside to five-tech roles in various fronts, but I like him best as an inside prospect with a team playing a lot of those five-man alignments in which he can eat up single-teams, and work to the ball.
Keion White, DL, Georgia Tech
Height: 6’5″ (79th percentile) Weight: 285 (91st)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: 30 reps (89th)
Vertical Jump: 34″ (60th)
Broad Jump: 117″ (57th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 34″ (69th)
Hand Size: 10⅛” (71st)
Bio: White was a two-way star at Garner High in Garner, North Carolina, playing both defensive end and tight end. He originally committed to Old Dominion, and made his impact on the edge before transferring to Georgia Tech for the 2021 season, his redshirt junior season. White had just 72 snaps for the Yellow Jackets in that first campaign, but he really put it together in 2022. Last season, White totaled seven sacks, four quarterback hits, 30 quarterback hurries, one batted pass, 33 tackles, and 28 stops. White had 445 snaps outside the tackles, 96 over the tackles, 39 in the B-gaps, and three in the box.
Stat to Know: Last season, White allowed six catches on eight targets for 179 yards, 135 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, no interceptions, no pass breakups, three penalties, and an opponent passer rating of 156.3. I’m not sure you want him covering tight ends up the numbers, for example.
Strengths: As an interior defender, White’s ability to displace far bigger blockers is just fun to watch. He’ll come at a guard with the punch of a 300-pound man, and it shows up on tape — especially when working through double teams.
And if White gets his hands into your base before you’re ready for it, it could be a real problem for your blocking future.
Weaknesses: When White does get stalemated at the line of scrimmage, you’d like to see him develop more second-reaction moves and counters to get out of it. He’s violent with his hands, but not always in a refined sense.
Conclusion: White comes into an NFL that seems tailored for his skill set in some ways. The need for multi-gap power disruptors is high, and he checks all the boxes in most categories. You’re not going to get an excessive amount of bend and edge athleticism from White’s game, but he’ll surprise you once in a while, and with some technique refinement, he could be well on his way to status as an indispensable cog in a professional defensive front.
NFL Comparison: Denico Autry. An undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State by way of East Mississippi Community College, Autry first got on with the Raiders in 2017, became a real force multiplier with the Colts in 2019 and 2020, and has continued that with the Titans over the last two seasons. Like White, Autry came from relatively humble athletic beginnings to maximize what he could bring to a team, and now, he does it as a hybrid-sized game-wrecker from all over the line.
Tuli Tuipulotu,, EDGE, USC
Height: 6′ 3¼” (51st percentile) Weight: 266 (25th)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32¼” (15th)
Hand Size: 10⅛” (67th)
Bio: Tuipulotu’s connections to the USC football program are… intense. From his school bio:
His brother, Marlon, was a defensive lineman at USC (2017-20), earning All-Pac-12 first team in 2020, and now is with the Philadelphia Eagles. His cousins are former USC (2018-20) safety Talanoa Hufanga, the 2020 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year now with the San Francisco 49ers, and former USC (2005-08) defensive tackle Fili Moala, who played in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts (2009-14).
Tuipulotu made The Athletic’s Freshman All-American second team and Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 honorable mention, and became more productive and effective in each of his three seasons with the Trojans. From 2020 through 2022, Tuipulotu totaled 21 sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 60 quarterback hurries, three batted passes, 71 tackles, 63 stops, and four forced fumbles. Tuipulotu had 835 snaps outside the tackles, 446 over the tackles, 180 in the B-gaps, 61 in the box, 32 in the A-gaps, and eight in the slot.
Stat to Know: Tuipulotu’s 22 tackles for loss last season places him highest on this list. He also led the nation with 13 solo sacks.
Strengths: When you throw a 266-pound defensive end out in a wide-9 alignment, you’re assuming that he has not only the power, but also the speed to beat an offensive tackle around the arc. Tuipulotu has a proven ability to beat blockers with upper-body power moves as he’s also working to zoom past them to the quarterback. Tuipulotu’s suddenness is impressive for his size.
And while Tuipulotu isn’t particularly “bendy” in his ability to flatten his rush path around the corner, he has these bursts of acceleration at the right time to surprise tackles at the worst possible time — for the tackles, and for their quarterbacks. He will not be limited to an inside role at the next level, nor will he be automatically tethered to the tackle’s shoulder.
Tuipulotu’s heavy hands also allow him to knife through double teams and create run stops.
Weaknesses: Tuipulotu’s athleticism doesn’t always extend to open space; he’s probably not the first guy on your mind, for example, when it’s time to spy a mobile quarterback. He’s better as a straight-ahead “hunt and kill” disruptor.
Conclusion: Of all the multi-gap defensive linemen in this class who will primarily ply their trade as edge defenders in the NFL, Tuipulotu could well have the most upside as a pure edge guy with his quickness, flexibility, and suddenness to the quarterback. He’s done enough outside the tackles to prove that he has that on lock for his size, and I’ll be highly intrigued to see how his NFL team makes the most out of his athletic potential.
NFL Comparison: Adewale Ogunleye. An undrafted free agent out of Indiana, Ogunleye caught on with the Dolphins in 2001, had a couple of double-digit sack seasons with Miami and later Chicago, and was able to get to the quarterback at a high rate from multiple gaps when such things weren’t as common as they are today. At 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, Ogunleye had “tweener” size for an edge defender, but he and his coaches turned that into versatile productivity, and I think Tuipulotu has similar traits.
Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson
Height: 6′ 2⅛” (68th percentile) Weight: 235 (33rd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.43 (97th)
10-Yard Split: 1.55 (85th)
Bench Press: 25 reps (75th)
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32⅜” (52nd)
Hand Size: 10¼” (90th)
Bio: A running back and linebacker at Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, Simpson was named the North Carolina High School Football Player of the Year in 2019, and he was ranked the 13st-best prospect in the nation by 247 Sports. Over three seasons with the Tigers, Simpson had 12 sacks, 64 total pressures, 119 tackles, 79 stops, and he allowed 50 catches on 73 targets for 406 yards, 319 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, no interceptions, two pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 96.0. In the 2022 season, Simpson had 404 snaps at linebacker, 129 along the defensive line, 88 in the slot, and one at cornerback.
Stat to Know: Simpson allowed the lowest Deserved Catch Rate (50%) and yards per target (2.6) of any linebacker in this draft class.
Strengths: When it comes to pure range, Simpson puts up tape that most linebackers can’t touch. You do not expect a 6-foot-3, 235-pound ‘backer to align at a cornerback position and bomb out the top of a wide trips right formation, but Simpson has multiple examples of doing just that.
That said, we should not downplay Simpson’s power in the run game — whether from the edge or off-ball, he’ll sift through blocks and zoom into the backfield for some major stops.
And as a pass-rusher, Simpson can act as a LEO off the line, blitz with relative impunity, or just run-and-chase the quarterback from a spy position.
Weaknesses: When he’s in the slot as a pass defender, Simpson shows a need for more development. He’s not always quick to the draw for his own assignments, and this can have him struggling to catch up when receptions are made. He’s better off right over his coverage target in situations where he can bump receivers and tight ends off their marks.
As is the case for most lighter linebackers in the modern era, Simpson is better off reading gaps like a running back to get to the ball. Taking on guards and centers who outweigh him by 100 pounds is not always an optimal strategy.
Conclusion: It should come as no surprise that Simpson is from the same program that produced Isaiah Simmons — Clemson obviously has a lot of bandwidth for linebackers who play all over the defense, and do so successfully for the most part. As was the case for Simmons when he was selected eighth overall in the 2020 draft by the Arizona Cardinals, the challenge for his NFL coaches (which is still in place for Simmons and the Cardinals) will be to understand which parts of that amazing versatility transfers to the NFL, and which stuff is best left on the cutting room floor. Simmons projects best as an off-ball wrecker who can blitz off the edge, and can cover in certain (mostly man) concepts.
NFL Comparison: Dre Greenlaw. The 49ers stole Greenlaw out of Arkansas in the fifth round of the 2019 draft, and while coverage has never been his thing, Greenlaw has become one half of the NFL’s best linebacker duo alongside Fred Warner. There are also elements of Tampa Bay’s Devin White in Simpson’s play style in his ability to disrupt the passer from everywhere, but Simpson has more potential in coverage.
Drew Sanders, LB/EDGE, Arkansas
Height: 6′ 4⅛” (96th percentile) Weight: 235 (33rd)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32⅛” (43rd)
Hand Size: 9¾” (61st)
Bio: Everybody wanted Sanders out of Ryan High School in Denton, Texas, but Nick Saban bagged him for Alabama over offers from Oklahoma, LSU, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon and Penn State. Primarily an edge defender for the Crimson Tide in 2020 and 2021 (338 snaps on the defensive line, and just five in the box), Sanders chose to transfer to Arkansas for the 2022 season to move to a more traditional linebacker role — albeit with a lot of pass-rushing pop. In 2022 for the Razorbacks, Sanders had 11 sacks, 39 total pressures, 63 tackles, 43 stops, and he allowed 21 catches on 26 targets for 227 yards, 210 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, one interception, two pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 87.0.
Stat to Know: Sanders lined up along the edge on 20% of his snaps last season, amassing five sacks and 17 total pressures when he did so.
Strengths: Sanders has a real knack for getting to the quarterback whether he’s off-ball or on the edge; when he’s at the second level, he uses his closing speed (which is ridiculous for an off-ball linebacker) and range to close the distance between himself and the quarterback in a big hurry, even if he’s spying at first. Sanders can get to fifth gear right away.
Bryce Young discovered this last season in a highly unpleasant fashion.
Sanders can also bring his edge experience to the table with some nice speed-to-power stuff.
These attributes, as well as Sanders’ ability to take on blockers (running backs don’t like him very much at all in this regard), make him a plus run defender.
Weaknesses: Because he has just one year of experience as a true linebacker, Sanders is very raw in pass coverage. He struggles to pick up keys and will be left flat-footed more often than you’d like, even against short, easy stuff.
That off-ball inexperience also makes itself clear when Sanders tries to take on blocks in the run game, as opposed to just shooting gaps as a blitzer would. This is also a work in progress.
Conclusion: Sanders’ NFL team will have a series of fascinating discussions about his potential. There is an argument to be made that you just make him a pass-rusher most of the time, and forget about the linebacker stuff. On the other hand, if Sanders can get the hang of the nuances of the linebacker position over the next couple of seasons to add to all his existing attributes, he could be a true one-of-one player in the league. He’s a downhill linebacker and pass-rusher from Day 1; the question is, how much more can he become?
NFL Comparison: Connor Barwin. The Texans took Barwin in the second round of the 2009 draft out of Cincinnati, and while Barwin always had a decent number of snaps in the box throughout his career with Houston, the Eagles, the Rams, and the Giants, he was primarily an edge guy — and a very good one at his peak, with three seasons of double-digit sacks. Sanders profiles pretty well in that same way.
Daiyan Henley, LB, Washington State
Height: 6′ 0⅜” (14th percentile) Weight: 225 (5th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.54 (88th)
10-Yard Split: 1.55 (85th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 35″ (63rd)
Broad Jump: 125″ (88th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33″ (74th)
Hand Size: 9½” (41st)
Bio: Daiyan Henley has been around. He started his collegiate career at Nevada as a receiver in 2017, moved to defensive back in 2019, and then to linebacker in 2020. His transfer to Washington State for the 2022 season put him on the national radar, and Henley responded with a season in which he had five sacks, 18 pressures, 74 tackles, 40 stops, and he allowed 34 catches on 46 targets for 361 yards, 212 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, one interception, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 101.8. In 2022, Henley played 560 snaps at linebacker, 59 in the slot, 39 along the defensive line, seven at cornerback, and one at free safety.
Stat to Know: In 2021, his final season at Nevada, Henley had four interceptions. If you want a guy who can defend flat to curl all day long, Henley should be on your list.
Strengths: So, we know that Henley can cover. If he’s going to be a plus NFL linebacker, he’s also going to have to stop the run to some degree. While he’s not going to be a downhill headbanger at his size, Henley does shoot gaps very well against the run game, and the arm length helps when he’s wrap-tackling.
Henley can also disrupt the quarterback from the edge, and as a blitzer. He already has an elevated sense of getting after the passer on stunts and games.
Weaknesses: Henley does have issues diagnosing at times; he’s almost the inverse Jack Campbell in that he’ll go hell-bent for where he thinks the play is going, and it isn’t always going that way. Misdirection and play-action will be an issue at the NFL level at times, and in a league where quarterbacks are performing sleight-of-hand at the highest levels, that’s not great.
As long as he breaks for the ball at the right time, Henley is a good coverage linebacker, as we have seen. But there are times when you’d like to see him be more proactive when getting to his target.
Conclusion: Henley comes into the NFL at a time when his type of linebacker — the off-ball specialist who can legitimately cover half the field — is more valuable than ever. When he’s on point and understands what the offense is doing, he’ll be an asset from the second he steps into the building. His professional coaches will have to clean up the diagnosis stuff, but Henley is well on his way to helping to define his eventual NFL defense.
NFL Comparison: Bobby Okereke. The Colts got Okereke in the third round of the 2019 draft out of Stanford, and Okereke overcame some early play-reading issues to become one of the NFL’s more underrated linebackers. Okereke just signed a four-year, $40 million contract with the Giants, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Henley provide similar value to his defense(s) as a do-it-all guy for his size.
Dorian Williams, LB, Tulane
Height: 6′ 0¾” (16th percentile) Weight: 228 (11th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.49 (94th)
10-Yard Split: 1.54 (89th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 33½” (47th)
Broad Jump: 120″ (68th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33¾” (92nd)
Hand Size: 10¼” (90th)
Bio: Williams was a two- to three-star prospect out of Indian Land High School in South Carolina, and the “major” school offers were not forthcoming — he chose Tulane over Coastal Carolina and Troy. But he became a force for the Green Wave in 2021, when he led the American Athletic Conference with 98 total tackles, and especially in 2022 for a Tulane team that went 12-2, and finished the season ranked ninth in the nation after shocking USC, 46-45, in the Cotton Bowl.
Over four seasons with the Green Wave, Williams had 11 sacks, 44 total pressures, 217 tackles, 128 stops, and he allowed 56 catches on 75 targets for 503 yards, 302 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, two interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 90.0. In 2022, he had 756 snaps at linebacker, 53 along the defensive line, 38 in the slot, and two at cornerback.
Stat to Know: Of Williams’ 22 total pressures last season, 15 came from the middle linebacker position as either a blitzer or as a spy.
Strengths: Williams works well as a spy because of his closing speed, but also because he’s alert to move well in short spaces to keep up with quarterbacks trying to get out of his radius. Good luck with that, quarterbacks.
That closing speed and “match movement” shows up in Williams’ positive reps as a run defender, and I’ll add that he’s just fine mixing it up from a guy his size.
Weaknesses: That Cotton Bowl win over USC did have multiple instances in which Williams struggled to get off blocks to the ballcarrier — generally speaking, linebackers his size are going to be better off looking for open space to exploit as opposed to trying to wrestle with giants.
Misdirection isn’t always Williams’ friend — at times, he’ll inexplicably stop on the way to the ball. As instinctive as he can be in open space, he’s more uncertain with bodies around him.
Conclusion: Nobody is going to realistically debit Williams for his liabilities in power situations when he comes to the NFL with obvious attributes in space with his height/weight profile. Where you want him is in that role as a true half-field ‘backer who can clean things up at the line of scrimmage, create pressure from all over the place, and cover beyond where most linebackers can. In those regards, he’s a modern linebacker who absolutely fits the profile.
NFL Comparison: Wesley Woodyard. An undrafted free agent out of Kentucky, Woodyard got on with the Broncos for the 2008 season, and over the next six years in Denver, matched with six years with the Titans, Woodyard transcended any questions about his size to become one of the NFL’s more instinctive move linebackers. Williams seems like the same kind of player — someone who will amplify the efforts of your defense with a lot of great tools.
Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State
Height: 6′ 2½” (96th percentile) Weight: 193 (52nd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.46 (64th)
10-Yard Split: 1.50 (82nd)
Bench Press: 17 reps (73rd)
Vertical Jump: 35″ (36th)
Broad Jump: 129″ (87th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: 80⅞” (97th)
Arm Length: 34″ (98th)
Hand Size: 10″ (95th)
Bio: The son of former Steelers, Dolphins, and Cardinals edge-rusher Joey Porter, who played in the NFL from 1999 through 2011, made four Pro Bowls, and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-2000s team, Joey Porter Jr. was a first-team all-state selection at North Allegheny High School in Wexford, Pennsylvania before committing to the Nittany Lions.
Over four collegiate seasons, Porter had one sack, five pressures, 101 tackles, 24 stops, and allowed 72 catches on 120 targets for 783 yards, seven touchdowns, one interception, 15 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 95.2. Porter played 1,387 snaps at outside cornerback, 230 in the box, 44 along the defensive line, 30 in the slot, and 13 at free safety.
Stat to Know: Porter aligned in press coverage on 39% of his 2022 snaps, the third-highest total among cornerbacks on this list — Maryland’s Deonte Banks ranked highest with 45%.
Strengths: Porter is a natural in man coverage, and it’s not just on solo boundary stuff — as he showed on this deflection against Northwestern in Week 5, Porter is quite able to break off against a short crosser in Cover-1 and just demolish it. You’d better run that pick concept correctly and get him out of the way if you want the play to succeed.
And if you want your cornerback to smother a receiver in man coverage… well, this rep against Purdue’s Mershawn Rice is teach tape.
There are times when Porter a bit more vulnerable in zone, or he’ll give up short completions that are almost automatic in the scheme, but his 2022 zone defense tape is where the development really shows up.
On this deep deflection against Minnesota in Week 8, Porter took receiver Daniel Jackson all the way up the rail on the right boundary in Cover-3, and there was no way Jackson was moving Porter away from his outside position through the vertical route. Porter has a way of smothering receivers with that aggressive demeanor and developed technique, and this is an excellent example. If you were to change the unform and tell me that this was a Richard Sherman rep from about 2012, I’d be inclined to believe you.
And this deflection against Central Michigan’s Finn Hogan in Week 4 shows something that would have to come to bear were Porter to be considered a top prospect — the ability to charge and recover in off-zone coverage. It’s great to plaster guys all over the field when you have that ability, but NFL teams will challenge you to play off-coverage with route combinations and reduced splits, and you’d better be ready for it.
Weaknesses: Porter’s NFL coaches will want to work with him on advanced route combinations, because there are times where his aggressiveness will get the better of him in those circumstances, and he’ll be out of position to get to the ball. Opposing offenses also deal with him by throwing screens and picks at him, and that doesn’t always work in Porter’s favor. This screen against Michigan in Week 7 is one example.
The best cornerbacks and cornerback coaches will talk about staying in phase and not chasing plays. Porter is better with this than he used to be, but there are still coaching points to consider.
At the same time, even if Porter is a step off at any point in the route, his recovery speed and closure to the ball combine to make a great adaptative strategy. Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. got an 11-yard catch on the crosser here, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience — and Harrison had to throw everything he had at Porter at the angle to get the ball in the first place.
Regarding Porter’s low interception totals, I don’t think it’s an indication of terrible ball skills. I think he’s so focused on breaking up the play, that he’ll forget to go after the ball. The same was said of Sauce Gardner, and Sauce Gardner turned into a pretty good NFL cornerback in his 2022 rookie campaign.
Conclusion: Porter obviously breaks the matrix when it comes to measurables — when you have a cornerback with a wingspan that outdoes a lot of offensive tackles, that’ll get coaches excited. What I think will make Porter a plus NFL starter has a lot more to do with development than traits. He’s still got some work to do with the spatial stuff, but the improvement seen in 2022 augurs well for his future.
NFL Comparison: Jaycee Horn. The Panthers selected Horn with the eighth overall pick in the 2021 draft, and he’s become a lockdown cornerback regardless of coverage concept. While I like to go into the Wayback Machine for a lot of these NFL comps, I think that Porter and Horn have a lot of the same attributes in the sense that they can become scheme-transcendent defenders at the highest level when a lot of comparable players are stuck on one side of the man/zone debate.
Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina
Height: 6′ 0¾” (70th percentile) Weight: 180 (8th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.43 (72nd)
10-Yard Split: 1.49 (89th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 38″ (75th)
Broad Jump: 134″ (96th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: 76⅛” (58th)
Arm Length: 31⅝” (59th)
Hand Size: 9⅛” (47th)
Bio: A noted star prospect at both Meade High School in Maryland and Westwood High School in South Carolina, Smith redshirted his first year with the Gamecocks (appearing for just 40 snaps) before breaking onto the scene in 2020 with a two-interception season.
Over four years with South Carolina, Smith had no sacks, four pressures, 71 tackles, 20 stops, and he allowed 48 catches on 94 targets for 701 yards, 184 yards after the catch, seven touchdowns, six interceptions, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 73.9. Smith had 1,009 snaps at outside cornerback, 235 in the slot, 74 in the box, 22 at free safety, and 14 along the defensive line.
Stat to Know: In man coverage last season, Smith allowed just seven catches on 23 targets for 53 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, four pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 21.8.
Strengths: Smith is also excellent in off coverage because he anticipates routes so well, and he closes to the receiver quickly. Once he’s on your track, you’ll have a tough time shaking him.
In fact, you can play Smith at safety depth and get away with it because he closes to the ball so well.
Weaknesses: As a force defender against the run, or when asked to blow through screens to the ball, Smith might not be your first choice, because he’s more of a technician than an aggressor.
Conclusion: Smith isn’t the most obviously gifted cornerback on this list’ his tape doesn’t blow you away as much as it lulls you into a safe, happy place because he’s just so consistently good in coverage. But most teams would rather have the cornerback who just keeps things under control than amazes and frustrates with boom/bust drama, and Smith fits that role well.
NFL Comparison: Derek Cox. Who is Derek Cox, you may ask? He was selected by the Jaguars in the third round of the 2009 draft out of William and Mary, and he had three different four-interception seasons in four years for Jacksonville, and he had his hands all over the ball, with 11 pass deflections in both 2009 and 2012. Cox stood 6-foot-1 and weighed 180 pounds, and he’s probably the best recent example of how a player with similar build and ball skills to Cam Smith can succeed in the NFL. Most cornerbacks who played at a high level at around 180 pounds did so well before our time, but Cox proved that it’s still possible in the modern era.
DJ Turner, CB, Michigan
Height: 5′ 11″ (42nd percentile) Weight: 178 (5th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.26 (99th)
10-Yard Split: 1.47 (96th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 38½” (79th)
Broad Jump: 131″ (91st)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 30¾” (26th)
Hand Size: 9⅝” (83rd)
Bio: Turner helped North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia to the 2017 GHSA Class AAAAAAA State Championship, and then transferred to the IMG Academy for his senior year. He was named Defensive Player of the Game in that 2017 state championship, and was named one of the 20 most athletic recruits in the finals of Nike The Opening in Frisco, Texas. Turner appeared in four games on special teams for the Wolverines in 2019, started to make his way into the secondary in 2020, started to make his way into the secondary in 2020, and then exploded in 2021 and 2022.
Over two seasons with primary cornerback experience in college, Turner had no sacks, three pressures, 65 tackles, 13 stops, and he allowed 59 catches on 130 targets for 675 yards, 215 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, three interceptions, 15 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 62.2. Turner played 1,202 snaps at outside cornerback, 94 in the box, 73 in the slot, five at free safety, and one along the defensive line.
Stat to Know: A lot of cornerbacks on this list are great when pressing receivers, but you’d struggle to find too many who are better in off coverage than Turner is. Last season, he allowed nine catches on 21 off-coverage targets for 93 yards..
Strengths: Turner excels in off coverage because his recovery speed is real, and it is spectacular. Moreover, he’s confident enough in it to flow smoothly from play to play without a lot of anxiety. Even if you turn him completely around, he’ll put himself back together and make up for it in ways that opposing quarterbacks must find shocking when they review the tape.
Yes, Turner is fast when he needs to be, but he’s also patient through routes, and he knows when and how to play the receiver and close to the ball. He’s great against the shorter, more angular routes that give a lot of athletic cornerbacks fits.
Weaknesses: Turner isn’t the most physically imposing cornerback on this list — he will get beaten up a bit by more aggressive receivers, and he’s not gong to be your first choice if you need a defensive back attuned to stopping the run.
And yes, Turner was the guy who allowed Quentin Johnson’s amazing 78-yard scamper in the Fiesta Bowl with this tackle-like product in need of refund status. Ouch.
Conclusion: Turner’s value to the NFL will depend on how many teams value true technicians who move the needle more with their athletic potential and understanding of the nuances of the position as opposed to glass-eaters who just want to humiliate the receivers they cover. I’d be perfectly happy with a cornerback like Turner who can just make receivers disappear, but that’s a subjective thing.
NFL Comparison: Johnathan Joseph. Selected with the 24th overall pick in the 2006 draft by the Bengals out of South Carolina, Joseph played 14 years in the NFL for Cincinnati, the Texans, the Cardinals, and the Titans. Joseph at his peak was always an underrated cornerback who did a great job of taking his freaky combine numbers to the field. Similarly, Turner’s tape shows a lot more than just another fast guy running around the field with half a clue.
Clark Phillips III, CB, Utah
Height: 5″9′ (7th percentile) Weight: 184 (16th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.51 (44th)
10-Yard Split: 1.51 (74th)
Bench Press: 18 reps (81st)
Vertical Jump: 33″ (13th)
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.32 (17th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 29⅛” (1st)
Hand Size: 9⅛” (47th)
Bio: A four-star recruit out of La Habra High School in Orange County, California, Phillips chose to attach his name to a Utah program that has put out more than its share of fine NFL defensive backs in the last few years. He started at right cornerback in all five games of Utah’s COVID-shortened 2020 season, and remained a plus starter outside and in the slot throughout his collegiate career.
Over three seasons with the Utes, Phillips had one sack, five pressures, 107 tackles, 39 stops, and he allowed 114 catches on 178 targets for 1,362 yards, 557 yards after the catch, seven touchdowns, nine interceptions, 14 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 79.4. Phillips played 1,364 snaps at outside cornerback, 424 in the slot, 87 in the box, seven along the defensive line, and three at free safety.
Stat to Know: Some analysts refer to Phillips as a mostly zone cornerback — maybe it’s the size — but in man coverage for the 2022 season, he allowed just 11 catches on 28 targets for 145 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions.
Strengths: Smith also works well on an island. When in Cover-1 and Cover-3 last season, he led the nation in interceptions with five, allowing 15 catches on 29 targets for 156 yards, and one touchdown. The footwork, transition skills, and closure to the ball make him an ideal cornerback to own a third of the field without help.
And this red zone defense of a pass from USC’s Caleb Williams to receiver Jordan Addison (one of the best receivers in this class) shows how well he moves from Point A to Point B and tracks the ball from there.
Weaknesses: Because of his size, Phillips really does need to establish ideal position against his receiver; if you are able to gain that geometric advantage, Phillips doesn’t always have the wingspan to match up.
Conclusion: Phillips’ size will have some teams dropping him on their boards or taking him off altogether, but for teams who have a more open-minded approach could be rewarded with a technician in the slot, and especially outside. It’s not impossible for him to succeed in the NFL; his coaches will just have to understand what he does well, and put him in positions where the measurables don’t matter.
NFL Comparison: Mike Hilton. An undrafted free agent out of Mississippi, Hilton got on with the Steelers, and has been an impact cornerback for Pittsburgh and the Bengals throughout his six-year career. He’s not the most imposing guy at 5-foot-9 and 184 pounds, but Hilton proves that you can succeed in the NFL without that stature if you’re a student of the game, and that transfers to the field in positive ways. Phillips profiles very much the same way.
Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State
Height: 6′ 2¾” (96th) Weight: 198 (73rd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.53 (36th)
10-Yard Split: 1.57 (41st)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 41½” (96th)
Broad Jump: 138″ (99th)
3-Cone Drill: 6.63 (93rd)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.05 (80th)
Wingspan: 82⅝” (99th)
Arm Length: 34″ (98th)
Hand Size: 9⅝” (83rd)
Bio: Brents was ranked the 28th-best cornerback in the Class of 2018 by 247Sports out of Warren High School in Indianapolis, so there was nowhere to go but up. He committed to Iowa and played three seasons there before transferring to Kansas State for the 2021 season. That’s where the light really went on.
Over five collegiate seasons, Brents had no sacks, one pressure, 94 tackles, 34 stops, and he allowed 67 catches on 136 targets for 811 yards, 259 yards after the catch, nine touchdowns, six interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 71.7. He played 1,678 snaps at outside cornerback, 149 along the defensive line, 44 in the box, 19 in the slot, and five at free safety.
Stat to Know: Brents only lined up in press coverage on 30% of his 2022 snaps, which seems… interesting for a player of his size profile.
Strengths: Brents uses his size as an advantage in that if the ball’s anywhere near him, it’s as much his as it is yours. Some of his interceptions happened just because he was close to the ball, and he was able to go all superhero to get it. That allows him to adjust in quick-twitch situations where some other bigger cornerbacks might struggle.
And if I’m Brents’ NFL defensive coordinator, I’m asking him press receivers quite a bit more than he did last season. He’s very tough to elude if he can just be right up on you from the first step.
That said, Brents is good in off-coverage because his recovery speed is good enough, and again… that wingspan really announces itself with authority on his tape.
Weaknesses: As much as it’s true for any cornerback on this list, Brents has real issues matching and catching receivers who can shake him with changes in quick angles. He’ll look lost in some of these situations to the point where you wonder if it’s fixable. Hopefully, his NFL coaches will have answers for Brents to reduce the transition time in necessary fast movements.
Conclusion: Given Brents’ size, willingness to face up in the run game, and his displayed ability to cover tight ends in the box (there’s not a lot, but it’s there)…
…I wonder if he might be seen as a cornerback/safety hybrid at the next level. I might move him into that role, with the understanding that his debits in quick-twitch and certain one-on-one matchups will be offset by the fact that he’s learned to take his preposterous measurements to the field in a positive sense.
NFL Comparison: Trumaine Johnson. I’m stealing this one from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, because it just makes too much sense. Selected by the then-St. Louis Rams in the third round of the 2012 draft out of Montana, Johnson used his size (6-foot-2, 213 pounds) and ball skills to put up a few dominant NFL seasons for the Rams and Jets. Johnson also saw some time in the box and the slot, which would align with what I think Brents’ ideal usage strategy should be.
Brian Branch, DB, Alabama
Height: 5′ 11⅝” (28th percentile) Weight: 190 (3rd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.58 (42nd)
10-Yard Split: 1.56 (55th)
Bench Press: 14 reps (22nd)
Vertical Jump: 34½” (34th)
Broad Jump: 125″ (78th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: 75¼”(39th)
Arm Length: 30¾” (19th)
Hand Size: 9½” (62nd)
Bio: Branch was a four-star recruit out of Sandy Creek High School in Georgia (which Calvin Johnson also attended) who bypassed offers from Ohio State, Tennessee and Oklahoma to roll with the Crimson Tide. Over three collegiate seasons, he amassed five sacks, 20 quarterback pressures, 140 tackles, 74 stops, and 96 catches allowed on 148 targets for 861 yards, 379 yards after the catch, eight touchdowns, four interceptions, 15 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 87.1. Branch played 1,182 snaps in the slot, 300 in the box, 101 at free safety, 59 along the defensive line, and 42 at cornerback.
Stat to Know: As a pure single-high or split-field safety in 2022, Branch allowed five catches on eight targets for 46 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.
Strengths: Branch just sees the game very well; even if he’s beaten on the play, he has a tendency to limit the damage after the catch as a deeper defender. because he’ll close with confidence and intelligence.
As a slot defender, which comprises a lot of the safety position for most of the players on this list, Branch is a real pain in the butt for opposing quarterbacks and receivers. In the slot last season, he allowed no catches on three targets… and he had four pass breakups. When you have more deflections than targets, that says a lot about your range.
Branch’s intelligence and feel for the game extend to his abilities as a blitzer, where he’ll use a linebacker’s sense of how to explode through gaps to get to the quarterback.
Weaknesses: Branch is a feisty player, and stronger than you would expect for his size, but there are times when that third percentile weight does show up in a negative sense. He needs to have that great gap sense, because he’s not going to win a lot of rock fights.
Conclusion: Branch is the very model of the modern versatile safety in that you can play him just about anywhere on the field, but we’re projecting him as a safety and slot defender here because this is where his best NFL value might lie. Most NFL defenses would be able to take him in the first round the find first-round value for him sooner than later, because he does so many things so well from multiple positions. It’ll be fascinating to see where his NFL team has him playing, and whether that changes from game to game and season to season.
NFL Comparison: Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Dolphins took Fitzpatrick out of Alabama with the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft, and they played him similarly to the ways in which he was deployed at Alabama — all over the defense. When the Steelers traded for Fitzpatrick in 2019, they turned him into more of a pure free safety, and Fitzpatrick was able to make that transition. Branch has all the attributes to make that happen, though you probably don’t want to take too much away from his outstanding slot coverage. Nick Saban and his staff have had a knack for developing these multi-position stars, so it’s no surprise that Branch is the latest guy to shoot out of that pipeline.
Sydney Brown, S, Illinois
Height: 5′ 10″ (6th) Weight: 211 (69th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.47 (79th)
10-Yard Split: 1.51 (83rd)
Bench Press: 23 reps (91st)
Vertical Jump: 40½” (93rd)
Broad Jump: 130″ (92nd)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 31½”(46th)
Hand Size: 10¼” (94th)
Bio: Born in London, Ontario, Canada, and the twin brother of Illinois running back Chase Brown, Sydney Brown was a football and track star in high school, and had 585 snaps as a true freshman for the Fighting Illini in 2018. Over five collegiate seasons, Brown had two sacks, nine pressures, 259 tackles, 78 stops, and allowed 91 catches on 150 targets for 1,296 yards, 497 yards after the catch, 12 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 13 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 87.5. Brown played 1,340 snaps in the box, 747 at free safety, 768 in the slot, 101 at cornerback, and 191 on the defensive line.
Stat to Know: Brown did a lot well in 2022, but he was especially tough to deal with as a single-high safety. In Cover-1 and Cover-3 last season, Brown allowed 13 catches on 31 targets for 155 yards, one touchdown, five interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 29.0.
Strengths: If Brown isn’t starting out in the deep third, it doesn’t matter, because he has the transition ability and backup speed to match a receiver from the slot or the box and take him all the way upfield to deny the reception.
Brown is also excellent when it comes to matching receivers on crossing routes and any other route requiring a defender to catch up at the top of the route. When he starts getting sticky, he usually stays there.
And whether he’s asked to press tight ends at the line of scrimmage from the slot, or blow up run plays behind the line of scrimmage, Brown has the size and playing personality to chase, or square up with, just about anybody.
Weaknesses: Brown did have 14 missed tackles last season, and that’s disconcerting for a guy who plays in the box as often as he does. When he’s blocked, he seems at times to be more interested in getting aggressive against whoever’s blocking him, as opposed to finding ways to slip off blocks and stop the play. And sometimes, when he does slip off the blocks, bad things happen from there.
Brown’s sixth-percentile height shows up when he’s charged to defend tight ends and bigger receivers — he’ll do his level best to deal with targets of this size, but there are times when the math just isn’t optimal.
Conclusion: Brown should be an ideal fit for single-high dominant teams in need of a deep-third and slot defender who wants to mix it up in the box, but doesn’t always have the wherewithal to do so. His height will limit him in some instances (nothing he can do about that), and his tackling technique (which will hopefully improve in the NFL) will make him a tweener to a degree, but the things he does well are important enough to make him worthy of a Day 2 pick. Brown played an astonishing 56% of his 2022 snaps in the box last season; the first thing I’d do as his NFL defensive coordinator is to cut that rate in half.
NFL Comparison: Amani Hooker. I’ll compare Brown to another former Big 10 defender in Hooker, who the Titans selected in the fourth round of the 2019 draft out of Iowa. Like Brown, Hooker is an under-tall safety who can play the deep third (and would do so more often were he not in the same secondary as Kevin Byard) and the slot, and uses intelligence and aggression to mask his liabilities.
Antonio Johnson Jr., S, Texas A&M
Height: 6′ 2″ (86th percentile) Weight: 198 (18th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.52 (64th)
10-Yard Split: 1.57 (55th)
Bench Press: 8 reps (1st)
Vertical Jump: 31″ (5th)
Broad Jump: 118″ (32nd)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32⅛” (68th)
Hand Size: 9¾” (80th)
Bio: A four-star recruit from East St. Louis, Illinois, Johnson hit the ground running for the Aggies, starting in Texas A&M’s Orange Bowl win over North Carolina as a true freshman. Over three seasons, he had two sacks, 14 pressures, 125 tackles, 60 stops, and 75 catches allowed on 106 targets for 506 yards, 366 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, one interception, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 89.6. Johnson played 262 snaps in the box, 123 at free safety, 1,029 in the slot, 33 at cornerback, and 92 along the defensive line.
Stat to Know: In 2022, Johnson had five tackles for loss in the slot, in the box, and as an edge blitzer.
Strengths: Johnson can use his size and aggressive nature to make life tough for quarterbacks as a pressure defender. Auburn’s left tackle really didn’t appreciate getting embarrassed by a 6-foot-2, 198-pound safety on this sack, but that’s what happened.
And as he showed against LSU, Johnson will not hesitate to get grimy when a running back is coming straight at him, whether Johnson is in the box or playing deep to start.
Johnson is comfortable enough as a deep safety despite his non-existent interception and pass breakup numbers in 2022; on this play against Auburn, he probably would have had a pick were it not for an over-eager teammate.
Weaknesses: Johnson’s height shows up as a negative when he’s asked to cover smaller, quicker receivers underneath — it’s common among defenders with longer moving parts, but it does dot his game tape. Any kind of comeback can be a problem from the slot.
Johnson can also struggle to catch up in off-coverage at times; if you’re putting him in the slot, you probably want him pressing and disrupting the receiver more often than not. Otherwise, that extra millisecond it takes him to get everything moving in the same direction will lead to some easy completions.
Conclusion: Teams want big aggressors at the safety positions, especially when you get closer to the line of scrimmage, and Johnson should be able to walk into his NFL facility from Day 1 with that palette ready to go. He was an underrated and under-utilized deep defender who could be built up in that role, and he’ll be one of your best blitzers from the start.
NFL Comparison: Kyle Dugger. Selected by the Patriots in the second round of the 2020 draft out of Lenoir-Rhyne, Dugger is a bigger (6-foot-2, 220) defender who excels everywhere from boxbacker to press slot defender to the deep third at times. Like Johnson, Dugger is at his best when he can set the tone against receivers as opposed to letting them get him out of phase with certain route concepts, and he’s become one of the most valuable cogs in New England’s defense. Johnson could be that kind of player with a few technique fixes, and maybe a couple of protein shakes.
Jartavius Martin, S, Illinois
Height: 5′ 11″ (42nd) Weight: 194 (56th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.46 (64th)
10-Yard Split: 1.47 (96th)
Bench Press: 15 reps (55th)
Vertical Jump: 44″ (98th)
Broad Jump: 133″ (95th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 31⅛” (37th)
Hand Size: 9⅝” (83rd)
Bio: Over five seasons with the Fighting Illini, Martin transitioned smoothly from cornerback to more of a slot/safety hybrid role. As you’ll see on his tape, smooth transitions are a big part of his game. For his collegiate career, he had two sacks, five pressures, 181 tackles, 46 stops, and he allowed 119 catches on 203 targets for 1,806 yards, 518 yards after the catch, nine touchdowns, seven interceptions, 18 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 88.4. Martin had 1,012 snaps in the slot, 851 at cornerback, 300 at free safety, 249 in the box, and 91 along the defensive line.
Stat to Know: If you need a single-high safety in your defense, and teammate Sydney Brown is gone, you might want to look Martin’s way. In 2022, he allowed 24 catches on 51 targets for 366 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 45.1 when in single-high coverage (Cover-1 and Cover-3).
Strengths: When Martin knows what’s in front of him, and he breaks decisively to the ball, he’s got all the athleticism and the ball skills to be a real problem for enemy quarterbacks. Were you to assemble a highlight reel of such plays, like this interception against Nebraska, Martin looks like a first-day prospect.
Martin’s pure athleticism also shows up well when it’s time to get aggressive on run plays and short passes. In instances like these, he wants to get his nose in there and create a loss for the offense.
Weaknesses: There are times when Martin needs to be more aware of routes, and keep his feet under him when he’s closing to the receiver. This reception allowed against Michigan State shows the downside. You’d just like to see him be more consistently economical with his movement. At times, you wonder if he reads things late, and his body works too hard to compensate.
Conclusion: If Martin can get his head around route concepts as they begin, he projects well as a tough, feisty safety and slot defender who will be an asset to his NFL team in a lot of different ways. Until then, the late-breaking stuff might get in his way. Putting him more in the slot, as Illinois did a lot (Martin led all 2023 draft prospect safeties with 64% of his snaps in the slot) should promote his attributes and minimize his deficiencies in the short term.
NFL Comparison: Julian Blackmon. The Colts took Blackmon in the 2020 draft out of Utah, and over time, Blackmon has become more of a slot defender to add to his reps at free safety. I think that Martin projects similarly, and perhaps even better over time, as long as the coverage kinks can be worked out.
