1. TEXAS (10-3): The Longhorns may not have the deepest 2027 draft class, but no program in the country has as many potential elite prospects. Indeed, the Longhorns have 4 players with top 10 potential including QB Arch Manning, ER Colin Simmons, WR Cam Coleman and OT Trevor Goosby. In fact, both Manning AND Simmons could be in the mix to be the first player selected overall next April. At the same time, LB Rasheem Briles and WR Ryan Wingo, the latter who combines with Coleman to give Manning arguably the top 1-2 WR combo in the country, are also both among the top 4-5 prospects at their respective positions and could get some late first round consideration. Meanwhile S Jelani McDonald and DT Hero Kanu are third-day depth candidates.
2. OREGON (13-2): The Ducks don’t have quite the star power of Texas, but do have what appears to be the deepest 2027 draft class in the country. Like the Longhorns, though, the Ducks do have one of the top QB prospects for the draft in Dante Moore who also figures to be very much in the conversation to be the #1 pick overall. The Ducks also feature the top defensive line in the country led by edge rushers Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti and DT A’Mauri Washington, each of whom has opening round potential, while S Koi Perich, CB Brandon Finney, TE Jamari Johnson, and C Laloulu Iapani are more second-round candidates, but with the tools to go higher. Pro scouts are also intrigued to see WR Evan Stewart, one of the fastest players in the country who was considered a first-round prospect at this time last year, but ultimately didn’t play at all last fall after tearing a tendon in his knee in training camp.
3. OHIO STATE (12-2): The Buckeyes, who had the most players selected on any college program in each of the past two drafts, will be back for more this coming April. WR Jeremiah Smith, for example, is generally considered to be the best player in college football period! He’s 6-2, 225 with projected 4-4 type speed, along with elite hands and route-running skills. But Smith isn’t even necessarily the most likely Buckeye to selected first this year as QB Julian Sayin is very much part of the current discussion to be the #1 pick this year along with fellow passers Arch Manning and Dante Moore. The Buckeyes also have a couple of potential late first options in rising DE Kenyatta Jackson and versatile G/T Austin Siereveld, while CB Jermaine Matthews, S Terry Moore, OG Luke Montgomery and C Carson Hinzman are late second, early third day possibilities.
4. GEORGIA (12-2): The Dawgs were able to run their streak of having at least one player selected in the opening round to 10 years this past April when Carolina nabbed OT Monroe Freeling with the 19th pick. And there is a better than even chance that Georgia extends that streak this coming April as FS KJ Bolden, a freakish athlete with reported sub-4.4 speed and a nose for the football, is considered to be the top prospect at the position with top 15-20 potential, while CB Ellis Robinson isn’t all that far behind. At the same time, RB Nate Frazier, LBs Raylen Wilson and Christian Cole, and C Drew Bobo are each solid second-day candidates, while QB Gunner Stockton and G/T Earnest Greene are productive veterans with third day grades. (22)
5. LSU (7-6): Hopes are sky high in Baton Rouge after a dismal 7-6 campaign with the arrival of Lane Kiffin from SEC rival Mississippi. And Kiffin got right to work signing star Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt who has all the tools to be a really good one if he can stay healthy. In fact, transfers are the name of the game at LSU where rising OT Jordan Seaton arrives from Colorado, DEs Jordan Ross and Princewill Umanmielen from Tennessee and Mississippi respectively, and safety Ty Benefield from Boise State. Seaton, in particular, has top 10-15 potential, while the other three are all solid second-day candidates. The Tigers’ best prospect for 2027, though, could be freakish TE Trey’Dez Green, who like Seaton could figure in that top 10-15 mix. Meanwhile, veteran MLB Whit Weeks, a prototype tackling machine who is coming off an injury plagued season, is the Tigers’ inspirational leader and has early third-day potential if he can stay healthy.
6. NOTRE DAME (10-2): The Irish got some small measure of consolation after being screwed out of a CFP playoff spot last year when star RB Jeremiyah Love was the 3rd player selected overall this past April. In fact, it was the 2nd time in three years that the Irish had a player taken with a top 10 pick. And the Irish could make it two straight, and 3 out of 4, years with a player taken with a top 10 pick the upcoming draft as Leonard Moore is considered to be the top prospect in the country at the position with elite potential. Indeed, the Irish mav have the top secondary in college football as fellow CB Christian Gray has some late first round potential of his own as does DJ McKinney who transferred over from Colorado, while emerging S Tae Johnson is one of the top candidates at that position. Notre Dame also has several other decent prospects with second-day or mid-round grades including LB Drayk Bowen, OGs Anthonie Knapp and Charles Jagusah, WR Jordan Faison, and DE Troubacar Traore. The Irish draft class would also get a huge boost is QB C.J. Carr, who is being favorably compared to the likes of Moore, Manning and Sayin, opts to enter the 2027 draft, although as a redshirt sophomore with two more years of eligibility he may be inclined to stick with the program for a while longer.
7. INDIANA (15-0): The football Hoosiers had a season for the ages last fall when a team that hadn’t won anything since the 1960s went 15-0 and won the national championship. And, of course, they topped it off when QB Fernando Mendoza was the first player selected at the 2025 draft. No one from the Hoosiers is going to go quite that high this coming April, although star LT Carter Smith certainly has top 10-15 potential. At the same time, WRs Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh, a big-play threat who comes over from Michigan State, both have some late first-round possibilities, while Josh Hoover, a dual-threat gunslinger who transferred in from TCU, should be a more than adequate replacement for Mendoza, although he carries more a mid-round grade entering the campaign. Meanwhile, the defence is anchored by a trio of potential second-day candidates in NT Tyrique Tucker, LB Rolijah Hardy and CB AJ Harris, the latter a Penn State transfer.
8. MIAMI (13-3): It certainly looks like The U is back after the Canes made last year’s CFP final, while the program had top 10 picks in each of the past couple of drafts including QB Cam Ward, the #1 pick overall in 2025. The Canes, though, could have some trouble extending the latter streak, although Miami does have a couple of mid-first round candidates in QB Darian Mensah and DE Damon Wilson. Mensah transferred in from Duke and will replace Carson Beck who had replaced Ward, while Wilson is a Missouri transfer who should help ease the loss of star DEs Reuben Bain and Ahkeem Mesidor, both of whom were first-round picks this past April. The Canes also feature one of the better returning RBs in the country in Mark Fletcher, an early second-day candidate, while CB OJ Frederique, WR Cooper Barkate and NT Justin Scott each have intriguing upsides.
9. ALABAMA (11-4): The Tide was able to extend its record streak of having at least one player taken in the opening round of the draft to 17 years when OT Kadyn Proctor and QB Ty Simpson were selected with the 12th and 13th picks by Miami and the LA Rams respectively this past April. In fact, it was the 10th straight year that Alabama had at least two first round picks the same year. And while the Tide has seen a major drop-off in talent since Nick Saban retired a couple of years back, Alabama still has a decent chance of extending those streaks with at least three guys with opening round potential in WR Ryan Coleman-Williams, DE Yhonzae Pierre and CB Zabien Brown, although at the same time, none of the three are necessarily locks to be opening round picks. Coleman-Williams, for example, looked all the part of a top 5-10 prospect during a breakout freshman year two seasons ago (when he went by just Williams), but saw his production fall way off last season, while Pierre and Brown are still more later first round candidates, but with a lot of upside. At the same time, the Tide defence also features two of the better safeties in the country in Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb. However, other than that there’s not a lot of veteran talent on this team which will be trying to get by this fall with a lot of new faces especially on offence.
10. MISSISSIPPI (13-2): Its been something of a ‘win-some, lose-some’ off-season at Ole Miss. The Rebs suffered arguably the biggest loss of the year when Lane Kiffen bolted the team in the midst of their run to the 2025 CFP playoffs for the greener pastures of LSU. However, the Rebels did get some major consolation when star QB Trinidad Chambliss got a 6th year of eligibility; he’s clearly one of the most productive passers in the country, but his ultimate draft status is still TBD as he’s not all that tall at barely 6-0 and is somewhat older than most QBs in the draft. No such questions, though, about star RB Kerwan Lacy, one of the top 2-3 prospects at the position after he ran for almost 1,600 yards and 24 scores last fall, although he is still something of a borderline opening round candidate. And if Lacy slips into the 2nd day he could be joined there by LB Suntarine Perkins and DT Will Echoles, while OG Patrick Kutas is a solid 3rd-day prospect.
11. OKLAHOMA (10-3): Sooners’ QB John Mateer stands to be one of the more interesting prospects this year. Mateer was arguably the best player in the country through the first month of the 2025 campaign when he started to generate some serious Heisman talk along with some first-round buzz. But he just wasn’t the same in the back half of the season after missing several games with an injury. If healthy, though, Mateer is a proven gunslinger with a live arm and quick feet. And whether or not Mateer regains his early season form from last year, the Sooners do have a legitimate opening round candidate in rising DT David Stone, a freakish athlete at the position with some real pass-rush potential, although he is yet to put up big numbers in that facet of the game. The Sooners defence also features a quality duo at LB in Kip Lewis and Owen Heinicke, while CB Eli Bowen is another rising prospect. The offence doesn’t have quite the same number of prospects, but WR Isaac Satenga does give Mateer at least one proven receiver.
12. TEXAS TECH (12-2): The Red Raiders ranking would be considerably higher had QB Brendan Sorsby not been suspended for gambling on college football including his own team’s games when he was at Cincinnati and Indiana. By all accounts Sorsby will still be in the 2027 draft class where he’ll likely be one of the most polarizing prospects as he is multi-talented, but just won’t be seen in Lubbock this fall. Unfortunately, Sorsby was Tech’s only real first-round candidate for the upcoming draft, but the Red Raiders do have several strong second-day candidates including athletic TE Terrence Carter, DT AJ Holmes and rising CB Bryce Pollock, each of whom could ultimately also get some late opening round consideration. The Red Raiders also have one of the better ILB combos in the country in veterans Ben Roberts and Austin Romaine, although both are more third-day types. And despite losing star DE David Bailey, who became the highest Red Raider pick in over 60 years when he was selected with the 2nd pick overall by the NY Jets this past April, Tech should still be strong upfront on defence with Trey White and Adam Trick at DE and Mateen Ibirigba and Bryce Butler joining Holmes inside, although again, none of the latter group are more than 3rd day candidates at this time.
13. MICHIGAN (9-4): Faced with the sudden and shocking dismissal of head coach Sherrone Moore last fall, Michigan was able to bring some immediate stability to the program by hiring long-time Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. And maybe the best thing Whittingham did once he was hired was to bring Utes’ All-America DE John Henry Daley along with him. Daley did rupture an Achilles’ tendon late last season, but if healthy he’s a legitimate top 10 prospect for this coming April after posting 11.5 sacks last fall. Daley will anchor a defence that also includes one of the deepest CB rooms in the country featuring Jyaire Hill, who was thought to have first-round potential at this time last year, along with Zeke Berry and Smith Snowden, while Rod Moore, a quality 6th year veteran who has battled injuries much of his UM tenure, heads the deep patrol. Whether the Wolverines can contend for conference or national honors this fall, though, could depend on whether sophomore QB Brice Underwood and the young UM offence can step up its game, although it does have a nice building block in LT Andrew Sprague.
14. CLEMSON (7-6): The ACC Tigers are another team looking to get back into the national hunt, although they’ll have to do it without much proven talent or experience at QB. However, whoever gets that call to start this fall will have a couple of very good targets to work with in WRs Bryant Wesco and TJ Moore, both of whom could get some second-day interest this coming April. The Tigers’ best prospects, though, are on the other side of the ball where rising DE Will Heldt, athletic LB Sammy Brown and CB Ashton Hampton each has at least some late first-round potential.
15. SOUTH CAROLINA (4-8): The ‘other’ USC doesn’t necessarily have a lot of 2027 draft prospects, but what they do have are very good. That includes star DE Dylan Stewart, a legitimate top 5 candidate who could get some consideration for the #1 pick overall. And speaking of the number one pick overall, there was a time early last season when there were whispers around the NFL that QB LaNorris Sellars might very well figure in the conversation surrounding the top pick this past April; he’s a 6-5, 235-pound dual-threat passer with a big arm who just needs to get a little more polish and consistency to get back into that discussion for this year. At the same time, South Carolina has a couple of other very intriguing prospects with a lot of upside in 6-5 big-play WR Nyck Harbor and emerging LT Jaccarius Peak.
Schools that just missed: Southern California (QB Jayden Maiava, OT Elijah Paige); Texas A&M (QB Marcel Reed, WR Mario Craver, DT DJ Hicks); Missouri (G/T Cayden Green, RB Ahmad Hardy); BYU (RB LJ Mrtin, LBs Isaiah Glasker and Cade Uluave, C Bruce Mitchell); and Kentucky (OT Lance Heard, RB CJ Baxter, WR Nic Anderson).
