Things we learned doing the positional previews … Having completed our pre-season positional previews for the 2024 draft (see above), it was kind of interesting to go back and reread them just to see if there were any more general observations to be made about the upcoming draft. The first thing that still kind of jumped out at us is the fact, that at least for now, this certainly looks like it will indeed be the year of the QB. And not just because Caleb Williams of Southern Cal and North Carolina’s Drake Maye both look like almost solid locks to be top 5 picks next April who would almost assuredly have been the 1st and 2nd players chosen this year had they been draft eligible. There are just so many good QBs out there in college football this year. Indeed, the NFL could quite literally have a QB-only draft this year and even teams picking at the very bottom of the opening round would have a chance to select one that was at least interesting.
As well, in addition to the QBs, the overall elite, blue-chip talent, as it looks today, appears to be somewhat stronger than their counterparts in 2023. At the same time, though, the true elite talent in the upcoming draft class, which may not go much past the first half dozen or so prospects, looks like it may not be as deep as it was this past April when there were closer to a dozen blue-chippers. One also gets the sense, at least at this time, that the bottom half of the opening round of the upcoming draft may not be quite as strong as the comparable group this past April. It may also not be as deep through the latter part of the second day and into the third day, although there will be some decent depth right across the board next spring.
Again, its early, but based on where we are today, it looks like the strength of the 2024 draft will be on the offensive side of the board. Indeed, in addition to QBs, it looks like the upcoming draft could be very strong, at least depth-wise, while it looks like a potentially good year for both WRs and along the offensive line. In fact, the only position that looks like it could have a down year next spring is at TE. Meanwhile, it looks like it could be a could be a good year for DTs next April, but there is still a lot of sorting out to do among both the edge rushers and corners, while it looks like it a potentially down year at safety.
