Tag: top 150

2023 NFL draft big board: Top 150 prospects

Presenting the top 150 prospects for the 2023 NFL draft from Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon

In a few short days, the 2023 NFL draft will be live in Kansas City. It puts an end to months of evaluation of draft prospects and projections.

Figuring out where the players will wind up being drafted is a very different discipline than grading the players and coming up with a final ranking. Separating the two is critical.

With that said, here is my final 2023 NFL draft big board ranking of players.

This is my own board and does not represent the views or ratings of my Draft Wire colleagues in any way. It is not meant to project the draft order.

A bit about my process for ranking the players…

Film study is the basis for all grading, but there are other factors. I tend to value injuries more than most evaluators, especially repeated soft tissue injuries. Relative athleticism for the position matters, as does a player’s progression across the course of his career. Is there upside and is it coachably attainable?

In situations where the grades are effectively the same, I more highly rank the player I’m more confident in achieving his success.

Surprise! Auburn football fans are mad… again

Auburn football fans react to Bo Jackson being ranked behind Herschel Walker

Monday, ESPN named its Top 11 college football players of all time at the national championship game in New Orleans.

The rankings list originally started at 150, given it’s the 150th anniversary of the sport, but narrowed down to the best of the best in the end.

Georgia’s Herschel Walker was named the No. 2 player of all time, behind only Syracuse’s Jim Brown. Sure, one can agree that Brown had one of the best professional careers of all time, but many Bulldog fans were skeptical of him being ahead of Walker in the college football list.

If you thought Georgia fans were mad, boy do we have a treat for you. The little brother ‘cow college’ that is Auburn took saltiness to a new level last night. Sure, we’ll probably get a couple ‘1980’ or ‘win a natty’ jabs in the comments, but that’s typical from a fan of the WarTigerPlainsmen.

We get it, we need to win a natty. You’ve already told us 37 times this morning alone. Did you remember to eat breakfast and put on your shoes before heading out the door?

Take a look at some of these responses from Auburn fans on Twitter, who were livid Bo Jackson was ranked behind Walker in ESPN’s list. Get over it and focus on your Top 5 basketball team that we are 100% jealous of.

Hate to break it to you, but professional baseball stats don’t count for college football.

Ok, before we go here. Bo Jackson was one of the best to ever do it in college football and even as an athlete overall. We’re just having some fun here as you can see.