NFL Draft 2023: Top prospects at each position

Of the five quarterback prospects I gave an in-depth review this time around, I think Ohio State’s CJ Stroud is the best player, based on ball placement, mechanics and sneaky second-reaction agility. After that it was Alabama’s Bryce Young (which is actually 1A), Florida’s Anthony Richardson, Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker and Kentucky’s Will Levis.

You can read the detailed exploration reports here:

(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

This class of running backs brings all kinds of running backs to the NFL, but there’s clearly one running back that rises above the rest: Texas’ Bijan Robinson, who I think is the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson. After that, there’s Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs, UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet and five very intriguing ones that round out the list. All these runners matter!

(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

It was a close race to get to the top of my receiving list, but in the end, I chose Boston College’s Zay Flowers, not only because of his movement skills, vertical ability, and explosiveness off the catch, but also because of how he showed all of that with a quarterback situation that would have a lot of guys looking desperately in the trade portal. Flowers’ NFL environment is expected to be more hospitable to his talent.

Here is the full list:

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He’s a very deep class of tight ends in this draft, but based on contested catching ability, vertical potential, and the means to break all kinds of coverages, Utah’s Dalton Kincaid is right on top for me. He reminds me a lot of Travis Kelce when Kelce left Cincinnati. Here’s the full list of tight end prospects.

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This year’s offensive tackle prospect list is a bit shortened, because I moved three OT prospects to the interior offensive line, based on their attributes. That leaves us with a true class of tackle that has Tennessee’s Darnell Wright at the top. All Wright did last season was wipe out Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. and LSU’s BJ Ojulari, and throw tantrums at Clemson’s Bryan Bresee to fight him to a tie. Besides, Wright explained at the scouting combine how he was able to deal with two very different players in Anderson and Ojulari. Those are NFL-level things.

(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Like I said, I moved three tackle prospects — Georgia’s Broderick Jones, Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski and North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch — to the interior offensive line. Skorinski and Mauch are normally thought of this way, but I put Jones at the top of my IOL list because while he could be a very good tackle, I think he has the demeanor, movement skills and power in areas short to ruin the league as a guard. Here is the full list of established converts and prospects.

(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

There’s no question that Georgia’s Jalen Carter is the best interior defensive lineman in this class, and probably the best overall player. It’s the things off the field that have teams wondering. Other than that, it’s a very strong IDL class with Pitt’s Calijah Kancey, Clemson’s Bryan Bresee, Baylor’s Siaki Ika, Michigan’s Mazi Smith, Wisconsin’s Keeanu Benton, LSU’s Jaquelin Roy and Florida’s Gervon Dexter Sr. worthy of mention. consideration in the early rounds.

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The extent to which you value Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. or Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson as EDGE’s top prospect in this class could depend on how quickly you need a commanding presence there. Anderson is the most NFL-ready plug-and-play guy in the job, but Wilson brings a huge advantage that he could come forward with even more authority in a year or two. Beyond that, here’s a detailed look at Clemson’s Myles Murphy, Iowa State’s Will McDonald IV, Georgia’s Nolan Smith, Georgia Tech’s Keion White, USC

(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

This class of linebackers has a little bit of everything for everyone. If you want a huge guy who can play all over the field, Clemson’s Trenton Simpson (my LB1) might be for you. If you like old school punches with movement, Iowa’s Jack Campbell might be your speed. There are also new school speed sponsors with safety profiles like the one in Washington State.

(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

In a ridiculously deep class of cornerbacks, Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon combines speed, short-area recovery skills, footwork and aggression to look like an ideal match-and-carry cornerback in today’s NFL. There are plenty of cornerbacks behind Witherspoon in this class, and not far behind, who should make an impact at the next level right away. He starts with Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez, Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr., Maryland’s Deonte Banks and South Carolina’s Cam Smith. This is the longest list of prospects I’ve evaluated this year.

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There aren’t many dominant deep-third safeties in this class, but those guys are pretty rare, and the modern NFL demands more than just “box or depth” at the position(s). Alabama’s Brian Branch reminds me of Minkah Fitzpatrick, her Crimson Tide predecessor, in that she can play all over the field, but she could be better in that traditional free safety role. Read on for evaluations from Branch, Illinois’ Sydney Brown, Texas A&M’s Antonio Johnson Jr., Florida State’s Jammie Robinson and more!