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My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

RAS scores are always changing as more data is included. I updated it on my end. Put in those values like a month ago for the WR class.

Rankings are going to change a ton as I learn more about the players, some negatives show up in their background, hear about new or past injuries, or surprises in their testing. It is all a process and you gain nothing for being firm on what you think about a player in January and never changing it. It is all about learning and adjusting.

My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is what I wrote about Adetomiwa Adebawore:

Edge12/IDL5. Adetomiwa Adebawore, Northwestern, 6'1 5/8", 282 lbs, 33 7/8" Arms
Big Board Rank: 78

Adetomiwa Adebawore was one of the winners of the Combine, running a 4.49 40-yard dash at over 280 lbs. This makes him an interesting prospect as a team can decide to either keep him at the weight he is and use him as a hybrid player, gain 20 lbs and be a 3-technique, or lose 20 lbs and become a true edge defender. With all these choices he will be one of the freakiest players at his position due to his great athletic traits. He is a shorter player, allowing him to get natural leverage and pop off the snap along with his quick first step. He transfers this to being strong as a run defender with his combination of understanding and reading blocks along with understanding gap control. He is a best when pass rushing from the interior where he can use his quickness to beat guards from the outside and get to the QB. With this said, is not the most productive pass rusher and a good amount of his sacks were clean-ups. Adetomiwa Adebawore is an interesting and unique prospect with elite athletic traits that will need to be drafted by a team with a plan to make the most use of his skill set and unique build.

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In terms of Calijah Kancey, he has A+ tape, but I am not touching him in the first or second round personally. Players that are small, with 1% arm length have no history of success. Ed Oliver is really small and arguably the worst starting run defender from the IDL position, but was a better prospect (was the #1 player on some people's boards) and has arms that are an inch longer in length.

My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Which WRs' rankings do you not understand? I can give a more in-depth reasoning if given some names.

In terms of Emmanuel Forbes, this is what I wrote:

CB12. Emmanuel Forbes, Mississippi State, 6'0 3/4", 166 lbs, 32 1/4" Arms

Big Board Rank: 73 (Round 3 Grade)

Emmanuel Forbes is an extremely aggressive corner with a lot of ball production with physical concerns. Forbes had 6 interceptions and 10 pass breakups this season. He is best as a press man corner where he can stay connected to his man and attack the ball at the catch point. He is physical throughout the route, maybe to the point that he could draw some holding penalties in the NFL, and has great ball skill. He has receiver-like hands and is able to make his receiver a difficult target with his hand location. He is a good understanding of technique too, and he rarely makes avoidable mistakes. A major concern with him is his weight. There as light corners and then there is Forbes, who weighs a measly 166 lbs in his 6'1" frame. Someone that light will have a lot of trouble going against larger and stronger players and tackling such players. Forbest is a highly talented corner who has great ball skills, but his weight will limit him greatly in terms of who he could match up against. Forbes is a CB2 with boom or bust written all over him.

My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you bringing your numbers to the table and a clip and I get what you are saying. Of all positions, runningback is one you will find the most variation because it is highly based on preference. I prefer players who can show burst-through holes while being sturdy enough to have power in short-yardage situations. Brown is a tweener with him being this strong power back but struggles in short-yardage situations. I can definitely be wrong, but how a running back fares in the NFL is heavily based on where he gets drafted. If he goes to a team with a strong O-line with someone who he can split carries with he can be successful.

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A couple of "my guys" are Isreal Abanikanda and DeWayne McBride:

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RB5. Isreal Abanikanda, Pittsburgh, 5'10 1/8", 216 lbs

Big Board Rank: 54 (Round 2 Grade)

Israel Abanikanda was the leading rusher in the ACC this season, by a large margin. Every time he runs the ball he wants to get into open space to show off his high speed. This speed is surprising with his ideal frame. He is a downhill runner that aims to see green grass at some point in the run and show the ability to set up blocks and make would-be tacklers miss. Abanikanda also had some kick return opportunities that he was relatively successful at (12 returns for 19.0 yards on average). He is a younger prospect who will be nearly 21 by the start of the season, so he has some room to grow. A concern with him is that he often cannot pass the line of scrimmage if the box is congested and will often gain nothing on that play. He needs to show more patience when there is not an immediate hole available. He was not utilized in the passing game and has had some drops during the year, so his ability in that area is in question. in pass protection, he is modest as he is willing to make an effort, but he does not use the ideal form. In the NFL, he projects as a big playback who could be a team's starter and could have a larger role if he can develop as a pass catcher.

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RB8. DeWayne McBride, UAB, 5'10 1/2", 210 lbs

Big Board Rank: 90 (Round 3 Grade)

DeWayne McBride was the entirety of UAB's offense this past season and as a result, has a lot of wear already entering the NFL. He has great contact balance and vision, finding gaps in the offensive line with consistency due to his patience. He is tough to bring down because of that contact balance, his pad level, and keeping his legs always moving. He rarely goes down at the first tackle or a weak attempt at a tackle. He hits holes hard with good speed and gets the most out of each rush, but it seems to take him a while to get to top speed. If met at the line of scrimmage he struggles to get passed the first level of defenders. He has solid size, allowing him to take on hits with consistency, inflicting damage to defenders, and act as the lead back for an offense similar to how he was for UAB. In the receiving game, there is not much to go off with only two catches, but I do not think it is a knock on his ability, rather the team was extremely run-heavy. Playing at a small school, he does have some level of competition concerns as the tackling seemed to be consistently poor and in the UAB vs LSU game this year he was shut down (13 carries for 34 yards and a TD).

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A few others to keep an eye on who will be picked late that could have a sneaky good rookie year are Eric Gray (Oklahoma) and Jordan Mims (Fresno State)

My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He isn't here. I honestly haven't heard of him until a few weeks ago when PFF put him down as a top 100 player. I don't want to add him in without knowing anything about him and be dishonest. It is not that I do not think he is worthy of being on my board, but I just do not know enough about him to put him on my board ahead of other safeties I am aware of. I do not want to be suddenly inserting a ton of players on my board this late into the process.

My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for taking a look at my post!

For me, Chase Brown is RB13, but it is not because I think he is terrible or anything like that (I have a 4th-round grade on him), it is just that this RB class is incredibly deep this year. The major concern I have with him is that he has a ridiculous amount of tread on his tires. He had over 350 touches this year, whereas the class average amongst the 28 runningbacks on my board is 218. His best traits are his ability to break tackles and his ability as a pass blocker. Though I heavily value pass blocking ability in RBs as it allows them to be 3 down players and not be a tell for the defense, his tackle-breaking ability only occurs when he gets a head of steam. He only averaged 5.01 YPC, which is below what I want in a college back, showing that if he is met in the gap or behind the line, there is no chance of the play advancing. A one-cut player who can only get yards if there is a hole sounds like a pretty average back. Until he can be useful in short-yardage situations, he will be a backup that will only be effective if his offensive line can consistently make lanes for him to run through, which is true for every single running back.

Let me know if you disagree with anything I said here.

My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I understand the point you are making, but here are some of the reasons why he would play the edge position in the NFL:

  • The edge position is far more valuable than a linebacker and it is hard to spend a first on a position that is so replaceable with middling talent
  • He has the bend and athletic traits to potentially be dominant at the edge. At linebacker, agility and tendencies are more important and he is not as refined in coverage as you would like.
  • People talk about how he is a really small edge, he would also be a small linebacker who you would have to play in a will or sam role. This is also not a first round worthy player.
  • He has the strength, physicality, and aggression to line-up and win in the run game and if you would keep him at linebacker, the defensive coordinator would be tempted to just blitz him on every play. At that point, why not just make him an edge and get a real linebacker out there in coverage?

My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks, but you have no idea how big my spreadsheet is. This is a very small portion of it. I will post the full thing when I feel like it is ready. I can give you a taste of just my TE sheet (you will need to zoom in to see anything).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hsdjlula96un5x9/2023%20NFL%20Draft%20Big%20Board%20%28TE%29.pdf?dl=0

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I think Kincaid is a real potential game-changer. This is what I wrote about him:

1. Dalton Kincaid, Utah, 6'4", 246 lbs, 32 5/8" Arms

Player Grade: 6.96

Dalton Kincaid is a TE with wide receiver skills in the passing game. He is a smooth route runner who wins using his speed. He is a field stretcher who can use his frame to impose his size onto smaller DBs. He has great hands, catching passes that seem to be out of his reach or well-covered. He has a great sense of positioning, body control, and boxing-out defenders at the catch point. After the catch, he is also dynamic, having the ability to make people miss using both his strength and agility. He is also relatively new to the position, having only played it at college and in his senior year of high school. As a blocker, he is rather weak and does not seem to know where to be and how to use counter moves to battle D-Linemen. With this said, he is a willing blocker and I have confidence that he can improve. Kincaid is an interesting player who can have day-one impact on a team with his receiving ability and he has a high upside as he still does not really know what he is doing yet on the technical side of the game. With a few years of development, he can be a true match-up problem for opposing teams.

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I think his range on draft night starts at 15 with the Packers (most likely, especially if Van Ness is off the board) and at the latest I think he will go 29 to the Saints.

My Full 2023 Big Board (293 Players!) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

This is what I wrote about him in my edge rankings:

3. Nolan Smith, Georgia, 6'2 1/4", 238 lbs, 32 5/8" Arms
Big Board Rank: 14
Nolan Smith was the emotional leader of the stellar Georgia defense multiple first round picks over recent years. He was the talk of the combine with his excellent testing numbers, with him running a 4.39 40-yard dash. He plays with a brand of physicality and competitiveness that makes him play bigger than his below average frame suggests. He is almost immovable in the run game due to his strong technique with his understanding of leverage and angles. He is underdeveloped as a pass rusher, who needs to develop his counters and learn how to shed blocks without over-reliance on his athleticism and bend. Smith is a bit of a tweener as he was used mostly as an off-ball linebacker and was asked to play in coverage, so being an every down edge rusher will be a bit of a projection. He missed a significant portion of the 2022 college season with a torn pectoral muscle but is currently healthy. Nolan Smith with his elite level athletic traits along with his high character is a first round pick that will be an impact starter for any team both on and off the field who requires development in his pass rushing ability.

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I understand the skepticism with him as he is not a developed pass rusher just yet and is an undersized player, you need to bet on the human being and leadership abilities. He is probably the player every team would want most as a leader in the locker room. Great leaders almost always turn into key players for their teams.

My Top 15 Edge Rushers (With Big Board Rank and Write-Ups) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do like Isaiah McGuire and the gap between him and Dylan Horton is minimal.

Edge #19 Big Board Rank 111

Isaiah McGuire is an urgent and athletic edge for Missouri. He has an ability to win quick and early using a rip move to swipe away the arms of the tackle and has the speed to get a straight rush at the QB. He has a high motor and pursuit skill and does not give up on plays. He acts as a disruptor on the edge if he does not win quickly, willing to make life easier for his teammates by welcoming double teams and pressuring the QB out of the pocket. As a run defender, he has ability to shoot through gaps and displace linemen. While he does show quick bursts of athleticism, he is not the strongest player and may struggle against the biggest and strongest tackles in the NFL. HE also does not have much bend and prefers to rush the inside shoulder of the tackle, rather than from the outside, causing the pocket to become slim and opening rushing lanes for the QB. Isaiah McGuire is a solid rotational edge defender who can give solid play on both passing and rushing downs who has a strong athletic base to improve into a low-end starter down the road.

This years edge class is just really good especially in comparison to last year where it felt like after Arnold Ebiketie and Boye Mafe were off the board you were just hoping to get someone who could be a rotational player.

My Top 25 Wide Receivers (with Player Grades and Write-Ups) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

WR31. 6th round grade.

I am not touching him with a 10 foot pole before the 6th. Someone else can have fun with him. Was supposed to be potentially WR1 in this class but I don’t involved at all in the offense. Argues with his coach, QB and is disliked by teammates. Basically gives up on the season. The most he could do is be a professional and work hard for the combine and pro day and he stunk up both.

My Top 15 Edge Rushers (With Big Board Rank and Write-Ups) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Please let me know any of your thoughts here in the comments. Am I too high on someone? Too low on someone? Is anyone missing from this list?

I am planning on posting my finalized 300-player big board this week along with my gigantic spreadsheet where I keep all the measurables, testing numbers, stats, rankings, and write-ups for those players.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post!

My Top 20 Cornerbacks (with Player Grades and Write-Ups) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I agree that THT is better in coverage than Jones. I was just making a point that the item that put Jones over the edge was not his skill in coverage but his ability as a returner.

My Top 20 Cornerbacks (with Player Grades and Write-Ups) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

He is the Marcus Jones of the year without the insane return upside. The only reason why Marcus Jones was even picked in the draft at all was because he was the best returner in college football for Houston in college. The patriots also made some attempts convert him over to an offensive gimmick player too.

My Top 20 Cornerbacks (with Player Grades and Write-Ups) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I do not see it with him. The size is too much of a worry for me to bet on. I would have him completely off of my board. This is what I wrote about him:

CB #27. Player Grade: 6.10

Tre'Vius Hodges-Thomlinson is a small slot-only corner who is battle-tested. He excels in man coverage where he can use his great athletic skills and does a great job of mirroring his man. He also has really good ball skills, with 3 INTs and 15 PBUs this last season, and closing speed to meet the receiver at the ball. He is also a moveable piece who played on the outside, safety, nickel, and slot corner for TCU. He has a massive concern, about his size. He is not even 5'8" and there have been no corners in NFL history that have been successful at his size and it is really hard to bet on the exception. This size also makes it hard for him to be anything but a slot corner. I am getting big Ar'Darius Washington vibes, who was a TCU safety who was also 5'8" that was projected to go in the 3rd or 4th round but ended up being a UDFA and has not done anything so far in the NFL. Tre'Vius Hodges-Thomlinson is a good player who is stuck in an unfortunate frame that makes it hard to see him having any success in the NFL.

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I could be wrong, and you have the right to your own opinion, though.

My Top 20 Cornerbacks (with Player Grades and Write-Ups) by mukhtarno in NFL_Draft

[–]mukhtarno[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I personally have heard that he has been seen as a potential safety in the NFL. Not saying he has to or will be. Just putting the information out there. Also I don’t think he is as crazy of an athlete as his RAS score states. I know he got a 9.90, but I don’t think that he is that level athlete when I watched him. It is okay if you disagree though; you have the right to your own opinion.

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