Offensive Position Rankings 2.0
Ranking the top ten players at each offensive position.
2024 NFL DRAFT
Top 10 QBs
Caleb Williams
Drake Maye
Jayden Daniels
J.J. McCarthy
Michael Penix Jr.
Bo Nix
Michael Pratt
Spencer Rattler
Jordan Travis
Kedon Slovis
I think the biggest change in the top for me is not my rankings of each player, but the way that I tier them. Williams is firmly in a tier of his own. I don't think this will be surprising to anyone, but I have come to think he is a pretty special talent. After that fall Maye, Daniels, and McCarthy tiered together, but firmly in that order. Those three seem to have a very high upside and will more likely than not see playing time early. Penix and Nix come in Tier 3, once again firmly in that order. Both players offer a decent floor but seem to have a limited ceiling given their age and physical limitations. Of the remaining four, Slovis at the bottom intrigues me the most. I see all of these guys as long shots to be anything more than backups, but I think Slovis' athletic traits could help him break out beyond the life of a backup.
Top 10 RBs
Jaylen Wright
Trey Benson
Jonathon Brooks
Braelon Allen
MarShawn Lloyd
Isaac Guerendo
Blake Corum
Audric Estime
Ray Davis
Will Shipley
I came into the draft season with Brooks as RB1 and while I still think he is the best talent of the group, the ACL has become more concerning to me than before. With every player that has a success story in coming back from an ACL injury, there are two that don't. The question marks surrounding him are enough to make Wright and Benson that much more appealing. My favorite player in this group has to be Isaac Guerendo. The guy has every tool of an All-Pro back, he just needs to put them together. I think if an NFL coaching staff gets their hands on him, he can really turn into something special.
Top 10 TEs
Brock Bowers
Ja'Tavion Sanders
Ben Sinnott
Theo Johnson
Cade Stover
AJ Barner
Erick All
Dallin Holker
Jaheim Bell
Jared Wiley
Before the combine, the tight end class to me was Bowers, large gap, Sanders, and then everyone else. Now it is Bowers, enormous gap, Sanders, followed by Sinnott and Johnson both not far behind. The athleticism and potential of those guys are enough to be taken at the end of day 2. I think this class is getting slept on more than it should and if these guys do drop in the draft, some teams will find some quality players on day 3.
Top 15 WRs
Marvin Harrison Jr.
Malik Nabers
Rome Odunze
Brian Thomas Jr.
Ladd McConkey
Adonai Mitchell
Ja'Lynn Polk
Troy Franklin
Keon Coleman
Xavier Worthy
Jermaine Burton
Ricky Pearsall
Xavier Legette
Roman Wilson
Jalen McMillan
I just couldn't help myself. I copied my top ten wide receivers to the list above and I was floored at how many notable players were missing. Given the depth of this class, ten players are not enough, so here are the top 15.
In this group, I think Jermaine Burton might be the most interesting of them all. He has the tools and skills to be a dangerous receiver at the next level, but I would have liked to see him do more at the collegiate level. Zero drops is a nice stat to see from last year and I think he could be a day-two steal for a team if things go in a positive direction. The other player that I have on my radar and moving steadily up the board is McMillian. Injuries this last year did him no favors, but he has the tools and skills to be a solid player when healthy.
Top 10 Ts
Joe Alt
Olumuyiwa Fashanu
Taliese Fuaga
Amarius Mims
Troy Fautanu
Tyler Guyton
JC Latham
Patrick Paul
Kingsley Suamataia
Kiran Amegadjie
Talk about a solid group from top to bottom. I think these guys represent the cream of the crop and all have a legitimate opportunity to start either this year or next. After them comes a bigger gap that represents more of a swing tackle group or guys with a chance of success in my opinion. Some of these guys—Fuaga, Latham, Fautanu, and Amegadjie—might end up as guards at the next level, but I think all have a good chance to be impact starters.
Top 10 IOLs
Jackson Powers-Johnson
Graham Barton
Jordan Morgan
Zach Frazier
Christian Hayne
Zak Zinter
Dominick Puni
Cooper Beebe
Christian Mahogany
Sedrick Van Pran
This is another group when you are finding some really good talent on day two of the draft. Much of that is a result of positional value, but make no mistake, every player on this top ten shares the same ability as the tackle class to be starting in the league within the first two. I don't see any of these players making it past Pick 99 and if they do, expect them to be a priority day pick and a steal as far as I am concerned.
Newt Westen
Post combine and with Pro days rolling, I wanted to get out my adjusted and expanded position rankings.
The Top 5 are tweaked and changed a little here and there, but a fair amount of the players stayed put. As I have started to evaluate players at the back of Round 3 and beyond, it has started to paint a picture of what the Top 10 (or even 15 for some) might look like. In my eyes, identifying those players outside of each position's Top 5 is where the draft is won and lost.
As always, let me know your thoughts and ideas on X. Until then, prost.