Player comparisons: Some people love them, and others see no point. When I’m evaluating draft prospects, I put a lot of thought and time into comps to NFL players.
Not just because they give the reader an easy picture of players they may or may not have seen yet, but also because they a general impression of how the draft prospect fits into the modern NFL. When you go through heights and weights, combine performances, traditional and advanced metrics, and tape study, it helps a lot in evaluation to draw a similar picture from an NFL player to the prospect you’re studying.
So, to that end, here are more detailed reasonings behind the player comparisons I made for the top 50 players in the 2020 draft class, per our big board, and what they tell us about the futures of these prospects.
1. Joe Burrow, QB, LSU — Sam Bradford
When Bradford came out of Oklahoma as the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, before he was done in by injuries and early inefficient NFL offensive structures, he had freakish accuracy and an easy mobility that allowed him to flash big plays to all parts of the field. Bradford has shown these attributes on occasion through his career, but Burrow — as long as he’s in a decent offense with targets around him — has that same potential.
2. Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State — Aldon Smith
Smith was an absolute force as a pass-rusher before off-field issues unfortunately wrecked his athletic potential. But when Smith was on his game, he had the same combination of size, explosive speed, and unusual power that allowed him to total 33.5 sacks in 2011 and 2012 — the most for any NFL player in his first two seasons since the sack became an official statistic in 1982. Young absolutely has the ability to make the same kind of impact, and has All-Pro potential especially if he cleans up a few non-pass rush issues that will make him a more complete player.
3. Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State — Aqib Talib
Of all the cornerbacks in the 2020 draft class, Okudah has the best grouping of ideal traits for the position. He’s aggressive, patient when he needs to be, has the speed to track receivers all over the field, and the short-area agility to deal with quicker, smaller receivers. At the next level, he projects well as a press corner with lockdown abilities, much as Talib has been at his NFL peak.
4. Isaiah Simmons, Defense, Clemson — Brian Urlacher
It’s tough to put together a realistic comparison for Simmons, because he’s such a unique athlete. Last season, he logged more than 200 snaps each at linebacker and slot cornerback, and more than 100 each as a free safety and on the defensive line. You have to go back a ways, but Urlacher — who played hybrid safety at New Mexico before the Bears took him with the ninth overall pick in the 2000 draft — had a similar range and became the prototypical Tampa-2 ‘backer in his era. Were he picked today in a more scheme-diverse era, Urlacher would be asked to do many of the things Simmons does.
5. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma — DeAndre Hopkins
Lamb is tied in many minds on top of the receiver board with Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III, but the difference Lamb brings to the game is an alpha mentality over the middle and a willingness to go hard for the contested catch. Watching him brings Hopkins to mind, especially when it comes to consistency and toughness.
6. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama – Drew Brees
There are elements of Russell Wilson to Tua’s game, but Wilson got a lot of his high-level traits from Brees. Similarly to both quarterbacks, Tagovailoa has the ability to run a timing and rhythm passing game either in the pocket or on the move. Take out the potential injury concerns, and Tagovailoa has the clear look of a top-3 pick, and he could edge Joe Burrow out as the best quarterback in this draft class.
7. Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama — Antonio Brown
No, not the Antonio Brown of recent years and recent dramas, but the Brown who proved himself to be the NFL’s best pure route-runner, and one of the league’s most explosive receivers, at the peak of his career with the Steelers. Jeudy is unquestionably the best route-runner in this draft class, but don’t minimize his speed and ability to create vertical plays. Last season, of the nine passes he caught of 20 or more air yards, four went for touchdowns.
8. Javin Kinlaw, DL, South Carolina — Stephon Tuitt
Some like Auburn’s Derrick Brown as the best interior defensive lineman in this class, but I’ll take Kinlaw overall on pure athletic potential. Kinlaw has some work to do with technique and hand use, but he’s a wrecking machine as a pass-rusher. He reminds me of Tuitt, who the Steelers stole in the second round of the 2014 draft, in his ability to take over a game with pure athleticism and power. Once Kinlaw gets his technique together, he’ll be a force multiplier on any NFL defensive front.
9. Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia — Eugene Monroe
Like Monroe, the Virginia alum selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Jaguars, Thomas checks all the boxes you’d like from a power tackle with improving agility characteristics. His kick-step is a bit choppy, but he’s an agile, powerful mover, and he’s as close to “plug-and-play” as you’ll find at the tackle position in this draft class.
10. Antoine Winfield Jr., S, Minnesota — Earl Thomas
Winfield missed all but eight total games in the 2017 and 2018 seasons due to injuries, but he returned with a vengeance in 2019, grabbing seven interceptions. When Thomas came out of Texas in 2010 at 5-foot-10 and 208 pounds, there were people who thought he should move to cornerback because he didn’t fit the physical profile they wanted for the safety position. Thomas proved the doubters wrong with a formidable competitive demeanor and all the smarts you could ever want on the field. Not that Winfield projects to be Thomas in his prime — not yet, at least — but the different for Winfield between the tape and the doubts seem similar. As a pure deep safety, Winfield has no rival in this draft class, and he excels as a desperately needed position.