2024 nfl draft big board
The Super Bowl is done. 31 franchises are seething as they watch the Kansas City Chiefs raise yet another Lombardi Trophy, and scheming how they can knock Mahomes and Co. off the top of the NFL hill. Franchise tags are being extended, free agency offers are being prepared, and we’re about to enter the most hilariously named season of all, the legal tampering window. But most importantly, the NFL draft is around the corner – and with the NFL Combine concluding this past weekend, draft take season is here.
Most of us have opinions about the incoming NFL draft class, or at least plan to as soon as we have time to watch some tape or catch some scouting reports. If you don’t, all I can assume is that some truly unforeseeable set of circumstances has brought you to this specific article. (Thanks for the clicks, come back soon!) But we all know that sometimes our opinions can jump around a little too much based on the last opinion we read. That’s part of the fun of draft season, but it’s helpful to have an anchor to come back to – something to keep us grounded amidst smokescreens and silly season and whatever else the draft industrial complex throws at us.
The premise here is pretty simple — this is a composite Big Board, taken from the most recent Big Boards published by the biggest platforms in the industry (ESPN, NFL.com, The Athletic, the Ringer, Pro Football Focus, and CBS).
Nerdy disclaimers (everyone’s favorite!):
Some of the boards ended at different points, but I only took ones with at least 50 prospects & adjusted on the back end.
I slightly devalued outlier rankings – for example, LSU QB Jayden Daniels is between 3rd and 9th in every source but one… PFF, where he ranks 22nd. Nobody can predict with certainty how Daniels will play in the NFL, but the general consensus is that he’s quite a bit more intriguing than 22nd, so I’m trying to find the midpoint. The average opinion. The kind of take that nobody may pound the table for, but most experts in most places would probably agree with.
These are drawn from Big Boards (representing overall value of prospects), not mock drafts (who will be picked where). I’m presenting the tiers by relative draft position, but that’s more to just have a colloquial way to discuss their overall range of value, than for any deeply predictive reasons of who will go 5th overall to the Chargers, or whatever.
Cool? Cool. Let’s do this.
TIER 1 – Freaky Franchise Prospects
Caleb Williams, QB, USC (average ranking of 1.3)
Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State (1.8)
TIER 2 – Franchise Prospects
Malik Nabers, WR, LSU (3.8)
Drake Maye, QB, UNC (4.2)
Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia (5.9)
Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame (7.4)
Rome Odunze, WR, Washington (7.6)
Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU (8.1)
Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State (9.1)
TIER 3 – Super Starters
Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama (12.0)
Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo (12.6)
Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State (12.6)
Dallas Turner, EDGE, Alabama (13.1)
Laiatu Latu, EDGE, UCLA (15.4)
JC Latham, OT, Alabama (15.8)
Jared Verse, EDGE, Florida State (17.0)
Byron Murphy II, IDL, Texas (18.1)
Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia (18.9)
TIER 4 – First Round Bound
Nate Wiggins, CB, Clemson (20.4)
Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU (21.9)
Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa (22.6)
Jer'Zhan Newton, IDL, Illinois (22.6)
Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma (23.4)
J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan (23.8)
Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington (24.9)
TIER 5 – Day 1 Consideration
Jackson Powers-Johnson, IOL, Oregon (26.6)
Chop Robinson, EDGE, Penn State (26.9)
Darius Robinson, EDGE, Missouri (27.9)
Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama (28.8)
Graham Barton, IOL, Duke (32.4)
Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB, Missouri (32.8)
Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas (34.1)
Keon Coleman, WR, Florida State (34.7)
Bo Nix, QB, Oregon (35.9)
Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia (36.9)
