Top ten dilemma

March 14, 2016

Top ten draft??? … Earlier today, old-new Philadelphia G.M. Howie Roseman created a few headlines around the NFL media when he suggested that one of the reasons the Eagles traded veteran CB Byron Maxwell and LB Kiki Alonso to Miami and the 13th pick in this year’s draft for the 8th pick overall was that the Eagles feel “there is a big dropoff after 10 players” this year. Of course, Roseman could just be rationalizing a tad to justify the trade, however, it does seem to confirm some of the rumblings we are hearing from around the league about the upcoming draft

In particular, it appears there is an emerging sense around the league that that QBs Carson Wentz of North Dakota State and Cal’s Jared Goff, Ohio State RB Zeke Elliott, Ole Miss OT Laremy Tunsil, Ohio State DE Joey Bosa, Oregon 5T-DE DeForest Buckner, UCLA LB Myles Jack and Florida State DB Jalen Ramsey are consensus top ten prospects for this year’s draft. It also appears that there are a couple of other guys in Florida CB Vernon Hargreaves and Notre Dame OT Ronnie Stanley who get top ten grades from most teams. That’s ten.
Of course, there are teams out there that have other players ranked in the top ten on their value boards. One hears, for example, that some teams have

Louisville DT Sheldon Rankins that high. Same for Alabama DT A’Shawn Robinson and Ole Miss WR Laquan Treadwell. For the most part, though, get by those first ten guys and it looks like something of a mish-mash. Indeed, one could make the case that in addition to DTs Rankins and Robinson, DTs Jarran Reed of Alabama and Baylor’s Andrew Billings could get some top 15 consideration. Same for Clemson DE Sahq Lawson, LBs Darron Lee of Ohio State and Reggie Ragland of Alabama, not to mention injured Notre Dame star Jaylon Smith, any of risimg CBs Eli Apple of Ohio State, Mackensie Alexanader of Clemson and Will Jackson of Houston, Memphis QB Paxton Lynch, Big Ten OTs Jack Conklin of Michigan State and rangy Taylor Decker of Ohio State and WR Corey Coleman of Baylor, especially if he runs really well at his pro day later this week. At the same time, though, there’s no real guarantee that any of the above are locks to be taken even in the first 20-25 picks. Should be an intriguing next 45 days or so. Stay Tuned!