Jeremiah Top 50 NFL draft prospect rankings Four players debut, many others move in updated ratings

[RS12]

Now that I've had an opportunity to study more players -- both on tape and at the all-star games) -- I've made a few adjustments to my Top 50 prospects list. There are four new additions and several players have been moved up or down on the list.


One new addition is Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland. After seeing him up close at the Senior Bowl, I came away very impressed by his quickness and instincts. He makes his debut at number 43.


My top three quarterbacks remained in the same order: Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles. The other two signal-callers that remained on my list were Derek Carr (44) and AJ McCarron (49). One wide receiver dropped out of my Top 50 (Jordan Matthews) but nine others remain.


For full analysis, click on the player's name.

http://www.nfl.com/top50?campaign=Twitter_writers_jeremiah

 

[xwalker]

So Aaron Donald is at 30, but would probably be mid-first if he was bigger; however, Easley weighs 3 lbs less, is about 1 inch taller, is coming off a season ending ACL which is his 2nd ACL tear but is ranked 33...

Easley might be ranked above Donald if not for the injury issues; however, 33 just makes no sense to me in light of the injuries.

 

[CowboysLaw87]

Easley is a complete wildcard at this point because of the medical. My guess is that at this point, teams are wrapping up their "healthy" evaluation of him. Then they'll poke and prod and gather medicals at the Combine, and adjust their grades accordingly.

What strikes me about Easley is his potential to move up and down the line a little more than Donald. Donald seems to be a 3T only type, whereas Easely actually has extensive experience at DE, as a 1T, 0T, etc. With that extra inch (and likely additional arm length), and at 280-285 lbs., he's a candidate to bump out to LDE in certain situations. I can just see why he's still really highly regarded.

Tank Carradine was essentially a one-year wonder last year, tore his ACL, and was the 40th overall pick. We saw Bruce Carter go in the same range in 2011. Pre-injury, I think Easley was more highly regarded as a prospect than either of those guys.

 

[jterrell]

interesting ranking because the guy was actually an NFL scout.
he looks about 12 but has years of experience scouting for teams.

as (he is) a former qb I did pay attention to his qb rankings.

not sure i agree with him but it is interesting nonetheless.

while its always fun to see kiper and mcshay those guys boards jump players around 20 slots a month and seem to be based as much on consensus wisdom at the time as anything.

 

[Risen Star]

I've been following Mel for 20 years and McShay since he started and I've never seen a prospect jump 20 slots in a month.

But it's fun to say.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I've been following Mel for 20 years and McShay since he started and I've never seen a prospect jump 20 slots in a month.

But it's fun to say.

Curious how far Dontari Poe jumped after his combine.

 

[chicago JK]

So I am not draft expert but I do read and listen to a lot leading up to the draft. I think I remember the Baylor guard had some trouble in the senior bowl. But is he now not a top 50 prospect? I thought he looked pretty darn good during the season.

 

[jterrell]

I've been following Mel for 20 years and McShay since he started and I've never seen a prospect jump 20 slots in a month.

But it's fun to say.

ESPN has mel's farcities behind a paywall and removes old copies.
With research you can certainly find old versions but seldom a full record.
I know Sammy Watkins was his biggest riser this last Big Board but watch this kid end up in the 20s by the end, lol.

He debuts new players in his top 25 all the time and guys on his top 15 drop off all the time.

Here's a good article detailing how he's inaccurate even after all the shifting during the year:
http://harvardsportsanalysis.wordpr...mel-kiper-jr-and-todd-mcshays-draft-rankings/

If you want to see how how far removed a first Mel take is from his final one this is a good indication.
http://bloggingthebeast.com/2012/04...y-first-2012-big-board-from-back-in-may-2011/
Since players fell from ~15 to undrafted I'd say that is a bit more than 20 spots.

 

[Risen Star]

Naturally players are going to move around a lot when you do a ranking in August and in April, but players don't move around 20 spots a month.

 

[Chuck 54]

Kipper seldom varies his rankings much. Early on it's all about rankings...then it moves to where he thinks players should go....by the end it's more of a mock draft based on needs, free agency, rumors, etc. just because he moves a player around in his mock, it doesn't mean he has changed his ranking.

 

[jterrell]

Kipper seldom varies his rankings much. Early on it's all about rankings...then it moves to where he thinks players should go....by the end it's more of a mock draft based on needs, free agency, rumors, etc. just because he moves a player around in his mock, it doesn't mean he has changed his ranking.

that's just not true at all.
he introduced 3 new players (which meant he dropped 3 players off) in December alone.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draf...gewater-drops-justin-gilbert-debuts-big-board

his latest mock has greg robinson at 2 overall (a big jump) and another player cracks the top 25 while another drops off.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draf...t-big-board?addata=2009_insdr_mod_nfl_xxx_xxx

he is ONLY doing a top 25. none of these guys have played anything and the guy he moved up to 2nd couldn't even participate in the Senior Bowl.