Ryan's Big Board 21-40

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A week 3 ACL tear against Appalachian St. hurt Revel’s draft stock and development through game experience. Revel is an elite level athlete with a rare combination of size, length, speed and strength that directly correlate to a player with the potential to develop into a top press man corner. While his footwork and punch timing is a work in progress, he has excellent recovery speed to make up for getting beat off the release. He is a willing tackler, although he sometimes will not take great angles to the ball. Revel has the rare tools and upside you’re looking for as an outside corner to matchup with any variety of wide receiver archetype. 

Calling card - athletic ability and length

Weakness - press man jamming technique

Williams has all the measurables and metrics that look the part. In a crowded Georgia defense, the production was not great, as is often the case for Bulldog’s prospects. Already an elite run defender, the pass rush chops show room for improvement. He has the lateral agility and power required to be a plus pass rusher, although he doesn’t have ideal burst off the snap. At the moment, Williams lacks the pass rush tool bag to consistently make an impact, and his hand placement needs work in order for him to develop. That said, this is the profile of a player that you bet on. Still just 20 years old, there looks like a lot of untapped potential here. 

Calling Card - run defense

Weakness - hand placement and pass rush counters

Banks is a bit of Jekyll and Hide prospect. As a pure pass rusher, he shows excellent balance, leverage and agility, paired with good punch and quick feet. He has the athletic ability to mirror and match with the best of them, and has very smooth shuffle steps. He can get out in space and look like a road grader at times. However, he is still a work in progress as a run blocker. He tends to lean out of his base too often and get himself in trouble. I watched tape where he flat out missed blocks in the run game. There is a world where moves to guard, mostly due to shorter arms for the tackle position, but he has a shot to stick because of his athleticism and technique. If he cleans up some of the finer details of his game, he could be an impact player at either position. 

Calling card - footwork

Weakness - length and run blocking

A true junior who spent his first two seasons at Houston, Golden was a bit of a surprise early entry into the draft process, and has been flying up draft boards. His testing at the combine was impressive, particularly in the 40, where he ran a best in class 4.29. Golden is a good route runner and can vary tempo better than most in this class. While I don’t necessarily see that deep speed on tape, Golden has the hands and ball tracking to warrant a capable deep threat as well as reliable intermediate threat. He makes big time plays when the lights are at there brightest. He has some instances of the dreaded concentration drops. He’s not a very reliable downfield blocker. He’s also battled multiple injuries in his career, including a groin, ribs and turf toe.

Golden plays with an alpha mentality and he has terrific hands. I would not be shocked if he ended up being the most productive receiver in this class long term. 

Calling card - Hands and route tempo nuance

Weakness - concentration drops and run blocking

Off field concerns are the main reason for this ranking, otherwise he would be significantly higher. He’s been accused of sexual assault twice, once in high school and once in college. He’s publicly denied both claims. He was suspended from Virginia and subsequently transferred to Marshall. 

On the football field, there’s a lot to like with Green. He shows elite explosion off the snap and a nose for the quarterback. He’s got a plethora of moves and a tremendous motor. Green plays with excellent leverage and agility to bend and turn the corner. He’s not very long, but he has the highly coveted speed to power profile to mask those physical deficiencies. 

Calling card - burst off the snap

Weakness - length and off field issues

After an excellent junior season, Burden’s production dipped a bit in 2024. After watching the tape, I attribute this more to Missouri’s offense than a regression from Burden. All that said, make no mistake, LB3 is legitimately dynamic threat with the ball in his hands and is easily the best RAC receiver in this draft. His vision and ability to wiggle away from tacklers after the catch is problematic to opposing defenses, to say the least. Burden has a terrific build, similar to a Deebo Samuel, while not nearly as versatile as a multi-positional player. Burden is an explosive athlete, with good speed, burst and exceptional agility. He is a nuanced route runner that knows how to find open space and shows soft hands to collect the ball. He is a true master of the slot fade and jet sweep.

Primarily a slot player, there are several teams that will pass on him due to his lack of track record as an outside threat. Nitpicking a bit here, he sometimes waits for the ball instead of attacking the catch point, which may be a reason for his lack of outside snaps.

Calling card - run after catch ability

Weakness - positional versatility 

Barron won’t be the ideal fit for every team as his man coverage skills are not all that special, due to limited hip fluidity. Barron is primarily a zone coverage corner that will thrive in a quarters or cover 3 role. Barron has tremendous football IQ, and has played the nickel, wide corner, safety, wide receiver and punt returner. Texas played him all over the place and finally put him on the outside in 2024, and Barron won the Thorpe Award as the nations top DB. He reads quarterbacks incredibly well, and has the click and close ability to make a lot of turnover worthy plays. Concerns over his speed were answered when he ran a 4.39 40 at the combine. He’s not the stickiest man corner in this class, and lacks some agility and consistent technique in his footwork to match breaks. Barron has the talent, awareness and ball skills to be one of the top interceptors over the course of his pro career. 

Calling card - zone coverage and instincts

Weakness - footwork off of route stems in man coverage

One bad snap against Mike Green at the Senior Bowl and social media threw Conerly to the wolves. The fact is, that was an aberration, as the rest of his Senior Bowl week was nearly immaculate. Conerly has the quickness off the snap, length and the footwork to stick at tackle. He’s an excellent athlete for the position with ample lateral agility and the awareness to read stunts. He plays with an edge and finishes blocks through the whistle. He’s doesn’t play with a great anchor and lacks strength, but at his age and the trajectory he’s put on tape, this is a player worthy of drafting in the first round that can continue to add bulk into his frame. He has improved dramatically since I watched him last year and I could see him developing into a cornerstone left tackle. 

Calling card - footwork and mirroring skills 

Weakness - play strength 

Not a player for every team, Grant is a true nose tackle that is best suited in an odd front scheme. Unsurprisingly, he is already an elite run defender, which in my mind, is a prerequisite at his size. He regularly draws double teams and is quick to diagnose run lanes and plug them. A surprisingly nimble and agile athlete for someone with that mass. He currently plays too high, giving up leverage, but he has tremendous fight and anchor to shed and square up to the line of scrimmage. He’s got a very unique build for today’s NFL. This is a player that sometimes flashes in pass rush with tremendous burst off the snap and leaves you wanting more. If he can improve his effort as a pass rusher, he’s going to be a premier nose tackle in a league that has been gradually moving away from this archetype. Right now, I see him as a 2 down player.

Calling Card - size and run stuffing ability

Weakness - pass rush chops

There aren’t a ton of guards that will have played guard consistently at the top of the draft, and in that regard Booker is an outlier. Booker is an extremely thickly built guard with excellent power to match. He has long arms that allow him to offset his height and establish leverage. He’s a surprisingly good move blocker, although his run blocking is not nearly as consistent as his blocking in pass pro. Booker has an advanced feel for the game, high football IQ and reads pretty snap stunts and blitzes at a high level. He doesn’t have ideal quickness for a pull guard but he’s very smart and reads defenders well to box out from awkward angles. Booker has the upside of a pro bowl guard due to his attention to detail, great character and willingness to accept coaching. 

Calling card - football IQ

Weakness - quickness

Egbuka isn’t the sexiest receiver in this class, but he’s just a solid and finely polished wide receiver. Egbuka is a true technician as a route runner, showing super clean breaks out of his stems and natural ability to vary tempo and knowing when to show for the ball. I don’t think he’s an excellent athlete, but there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be on the field on every snap if you don’t have two absolute studs on your roster already. He has terrific hands and an excellent feel for the position. Brian Hartline continues to develop guys in this program to have fantastic football IQ. This is a player with a #2 receiver floor at worst. This would be a tremendous addition, and one of the safest picks in the class for any team, right away. 

Calling card - route polish and hands

Weakness - not an elite athlete

For a 20 year old, Scourton is only scratching the surface of his potential. While he isn’t the most athletically gifted, this dude just knows what he’s doing. Opposing teams routinely sent additional help to block him in pass rushing situations. Scourton has an absolute tool bag full of pass rushing moves. This is a remarkably advanced pass rusher for his age, that is well versed and experienced. Scourton has strong hands and a punch off the snap that allow him to dip and bend around tackles, and if he gets stunted, he has the tempo variance and counter moves to still remain disruptive. He’s not overly explosive, and he doesn’t have the speed of say James Pearce Jr, but he’s got the mentality and IQ to offset some of those length and athletic limitations.

Calling card - pass rush arsenal

Weakness - vertical explosion

Although Ezeiruaku is a smaller edge, he has really good length to mask it. He is explosive off the snap and wins quickly in pass rush scenarios. He uses his length to stun initial contact and then uses excellent bend to flatten the corner and get after the quarterback or ball carrier. He can get swallowed up on inside moves, but has a euro step and a swipe over move that can be very disruptive to break free in one on one situations. Ezeiruaku isn’t a silly athlete but he has a decent pass rush plan to remain effective. He was a highly productive player in his senior season and showed enough in both the run and pass game to be considered a three down edge, ideally in a 3-4 scheme. 

Calling card - pass rush plan

Weakness - size

A freakishly athletic, jumbo sized safety by today’s NFL standards. He’s been a riser throughout the draft process and is his stock is soaring after an impressive combine. Emmanwori is a straight line menace, but when he’s forced to change direction and react, he shows some deficiencies. He has some play recognition shortcomings and there are some questions about where his best position is, strong safety or off ball linebacker. He’s a bit stiff as a safety and lacks awareness. He’s also a bit overpowered as a run defender while in the box. Emmanwori could end up a tweeter, and needs to nail down a permanent position in a hurry to avoid busting. The athletic profile is there, he just needs proper coaching and a plan/scheme that will work to his strengths. I currently see him at his best an in the box safety, that might have to come off the field in 3rd and long situations. 

Calling card - elite athleticism 

Weakness - positional identity

Johnson is a vicious power back with surprising game speed. Johnson’s short area burst is a weapon for breaking tackles and creating explosive runs. He has good patience to allow his blocks to develop, and plays with good variance in tempo to wait for lanes and create awkward tackling angles for defenders. Johnson is a handful for smaller defenders when he gets to the second level and a nasty stiff arm that will embarrass small corners or safeties. His awareness in the passing game is a work in progress and will likely limit to him to a 2 down role, at least to start his career. 

Calling card - patience and acceleration through gaps

Weakness - pass game experience

Zabel made himself a lot of money during Senior Bowl week. All he did was keep his head down, line up wherever coaches asked him to and blocked the guy in front of him. Coming from a smallish school, at least from a big picture level, Zabel did not look out of place against some of the best players in the country. He projects best as a center, but shows a lot of positional versatility. His 32” arms will likely mean an inside role, at guard or center, but he has the urgency and quickness with his punch and footwork to be effective at either position. In a pinch, he has the strength, quickness and anchor to play tackle and hold his own.

Calling card - positional versatility 

Weakness - length

Amos is a 5th year senior who spent 3 seasons at Louisiana Lafayette, 1 season at Alabama and finally transferred to Ole Miss for his last season of eligibility. Amos finally put it all together for Ole Miss and developed into an outstanding player with a well rounded game. He has the length and twitch to play as a press man corner but is currently more advanced in zone concepts. Amos has excellent agility and hip swivel for his size. He has a tendency to over commit on stems causing him to give up space for throwing lanes, but has the burst to click and close in a hurry in short areas. Amos has good, not great, speed. He is very good at the catch point, backed up by a 97th percentile forced incompletion rate. He has good length and ideal physicality, but gets caught often playing the man instead of the ball which will likely yield flags in the NFL. He needs to get better with angles and preparation for contact in running situations as he currently tries to arm tackle too often. 

Calling card - catch point physicality and length

Weakness - tackling technique and gets handsy 

Thomas has the length, aggression and physicality to be a highly effective press man corner. He can jam receivers better than anyone in this class. Thomas has good burst and technique to mirror receiver’s in short areas and uses his length to box out and reach around to break up throws. Thomas doesn’t play with great speed, and didn’t run at the combine, but he’s very aggressive at the catch point to make up for some of those deficiencies. The ball skills are currently more focused on forcing incompletions than trying for interceptions. My fear for Thomas is that he’s going to draw a lot of flags early on with his style of play. His angles in run defense lead to several explosive plays and need to be worked on. Thomas is one of the youngest players in the class and flashes high upside with more development. 

Calling card - length and physicality at the catch point

Weakness - straight line speed and ball carrier pursuit angles

Ball skills and instincts in spades are Watts calling cards. Watts has terrific range and feel for coverage, with excellent read and react ability. In run fits he doesn’t take the best angles and gets caught over pursuing too often. 

Watts is best in a cover 2 or deep cover 1 role, where he can use his elite play recognition to click and close. Watts is a good, not great athlete. He’s not a guy you want stepping down to cover slots with great regularity, due to a little stiffness in his hips, and is somewhat wasted as an in the box safety. 

Calling card - ball skills

Weakness - hip stiffness

Sawyer is a do-it-all prospect with refined technique, particularly with his hands. He has a bigger build is ideally suited as a 4-3 end. Sawyer has a good feel for setting edges, and maintains his base well to let plays develop. He is a natural leader who has the high end intangibles and compete level to be a long term starter. Sawyer also thrives in big moments and was often the catalyst for big defensive stops at Ohio St. He lacks any real top shelf athletic abilities which limit his ability as a pass rusher, but he is plenty adequate enough to remain effective and have a long career.

Calling card - football IQ and motor

Weakness - limited athleticism