Are you ready for some football!!! … There actually were some college football games this past weekend, but the 2017 collegiate season gets underway in earnest this coming weekend. And whether it was planned or not, the season gets off to a super great start with two of the top three teams in the pre-season polls going head-to-head when #1 ranked Alabama plays #3 Florida State in Atlanta on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, other notable games this weekend include #11 Michigan facing #17 Florida in Arlington, while West Virginia plays Virginia Tech and Texas A&M Battles UCLA on Sunday. As usual, we’ll be back later in the week with previews of the top prospects to watch in these and other games for the 2018 draft. In fact, the 2018 draft is now less that 240 days away. With the clock ticking, here is the GBN’s current ranking of the top prospects at each position for the upcoming draft. Of course, much can – and will – change between now and April 26th. However, at this time it certainly looks like it could be a pretty good year at QB led by Southern Cal’s Sam Darnold, who many analysts consider to be the best overall prospect at the position since Andrew Luck. Darnold, though, is just the tip of the iceberg of what could be a deep QB class which could also include UCLA’s Josh Rosen, Josh Allen of Wyoming, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, the returning Heisman holder, Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham, Mason Rudolph of Oklahoma State and Washington State’s Luke Falk. Same story at RB where juniors Saquon Barkley of Penn State and LSU’s Derrius Guice are both considered to be better than the top prospects at the position over the past 5 years or so. There is also a potentially really intriguing group of young edge rushers in college football including guys like Arden Key of LSU, Dorance Armstrong of Kansas, Boston College’s Harold Landry, Clelin Ferrell of Clemson, Bradley Chubb of NC State and Stanford’s Dyland Jackson, none of whom is a household name yet, but everyone of them can really get after the QB. There will also be quality prospects this year right across the board along the offensive line, as well as in the secondary, especially at safety. Stay tuned should be a fun year!
