Each year, the NFL invites a handful of college football’s hottest prospects to join it at the annual draft. These select few aren’t just near-certain first round locks — they’re also the select few that get to hug, chest bump or generally torture Roger Goodell, all as the commissioner attempts to smile through it (for more ideas, please see Jon Bois’ thorough, and fictional, oral history on the storied draft tradition of punching Goodell).
Players have long been a presence at the draft in hopes of capturing the perfect raw emotion of seeing their dreams come true in real time. Prospects and their families/friends were first kept in the back, sequestered like late night talk show guests in a cushy, catered room where they could be tracked by cameras. While they’d later move to big tables in front of the stage and now to a more nebulous setup thanks to the NFL’s traveling draft road show, the “last man in the green room” has since become shorthand for the final invitee to hear his name called.
In 2023, we’ve got 17 candidates.
These 17 future NFL stars will be in Kansas City for the 2023 @NFLDraft. 🔥
📺: 2023 #NFLDraft — Starts Thursday, April 27 on NFLN/ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/nEwkna6oSh— NFL (@NFL) April 13, 2023
The players who’ve earned an invitation to Kansas City are:
- Jordan Addison, WR, USC
- Will Anderson Jr., LB, Alabama
- Brian Branch, DB, Alabama
- Jalen Carter, DL, Georgia
- Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College
- Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon
- Paris Johnson Jr., T, Ohio State
- Will Levis, QB, Kentucky
- Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State
- Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida
- Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State
- C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State
- Keion White, DE, Georgia Tech
- Tyree Wilson, DE, Texas Tech
- Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois
- Bryce Young, QB, Alabama
That’s a strong list of future pros who all have the capability to be stars on Sundays. But someone’s got to be the last man standing when it comes to this year’s draft invitees. Who will it be? We can separate the players into tiers.
No chance they linger
These are the players who are near certain top 10 locks.
- QB C.J. Stroud, Ohio State
- QB Bryce Young, Alabama
- EDGE Will Anderson Jr., Alabama
- QB Will Levis, Kentucky
- QB Anthony Richardson, Florida
It would be a major story on draft night if any of them slipped to a double-digit pick. They’re safe. Levis and Richardson are the most questionable talents on this tier, but they’re quarterbacks. They’re in demand.
In danger of maybe slipping out of the top 10, but not much farther
- CB Christian Gonzalez, Oregon
- CB Devon Witherspoon, Illinois
- DL Jalen Carter, Georgia
- EDGE Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech
- CB Joey Porter Jr., Penn State
Carter’s talent pegs him as a member of the first group. But he pled no contest to a pair of misdemeanors stemming from a car crash that killed a UGA teammate and staffer this offseason. How that affects scouts and executives estimation of him is yet to be seen, though most pundits doubt he’ll slide that far and his agent refused visits to any team selecting outside the top 10 (which seems dumb, since trades exist).
This year’s cornerback crop is extremely solid and the depth at the top could push one of the Porter-Witherspoon-Gonzalez trio lower than expected. Wilson didn’t put up big numbers at Texas Tech but was reliable, consistent and looks every bit a game-altering defender at an increasingly expensive position.
It depends on how the league views running backs this spring
- RB Bijan Robinson, Texas
Robinson is one of the most talented players in the 2023 NFL Draft class. But this is a deep class of runners — both among rookies and in this year’s free agent crop. Teams could opt to spend their assets elsewhere rather than invest in a three-down back, leaving the possibility Robinson could stick around draft boards despite being awesome.
In danger of lingering
- OT Paris Johnson Jr., Ohio State
- WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
- WR Zay Flowers, Boston College
- WR Jordan Addison, USC
This year’s crop of wideout talent is good, but not great. Flowers is a late riser, Addison fell off after moving from Pittsburgh to USC in 2022 and Smith-Njigba made only three catches last fall due to injury. Each has the potential to be a WR1, but there’s also a chance one or more slides behind uninvited guests like Quentin Johnston or Josh Downs.
The same goes for Johnson, who is neck-and-neck with Peter Skoronski, Broderick Jones and Darnell Wright to be the first offensive lineman selected. He’s currently in the lead, as his draft night invite suggests, but that’s tenuous.
The NFL's invitation committee is more bullish than mock drafts
- EDGE Keion White, Georgia Tech
- S/CB Brian Branch
White is rising through the pre-draft process but hasn’t been a part of any of my first round mock drafts. He’s a second round pick for ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and is Todd McShay’s 32nd ranked prospect. He’s very good! But he might not be a Day 1 selection.
Branch is in a similar position. The versatile defensive back can handle multiple positions but he isn’t on that Witherspoon-Gonzalez-Porter level and might not even be a top five DB pick — Kiper and McShay both peg him as a Day 2 guy while I’ve got him at No. 29. If you’re betting on anyone to be the last man standing Thursday night, these two are your obvious favorites.
