More Big Boards, Mock Drafts and Position Rankings, Oh My!
With very little going on in sports other than the 2020 NFL Draft, scheduled for April 23-25, speculating on what teams might do has become the rage of the Internet — as least on sports-related websites and with NFL fans.
It's just too bad that we'll have to wait at least a year to see what kind of turnout the league would have gotten for the draft in Las Vegas. The NFL will hold a fully virtual draft with team personnel separately located in their homes instead of in their traditional war rooms.
Over the weekend, Kevin Hanson of Sports Illustrated released his Big Board 2.0, which is his ranking of the top 100 players available in the draft.
Note that the players do not line up with either his last mock draft, or the mock draft released by Matt De Lima on Monday, which factors in team needs.
Of note on his Big Board is 16 of the top 100 players are wide receivers, which demonstrates just how special and talented this year's group is, and with enormous potential. Hanson has six going in the first round.
Over the past decade, only one other wide receiver class (2014) has had as many wide receivers (16) drafted within the first 100 picks.
Take note, though, Hanson also has 13 cornerbacks listed as well.
As for Alabama players, Handon's big board ranking is listed first, followed by De Lima's first mock draft:
5. Tua Tagovailoa; 5th overall by the Dolphins
7. Jerry Jeudy ; 13th by the 49ers
8. Jedrick Wills Jr.; 8th by the Cardinals
12. Henry Ruggs III; 24th by the Saints
24. Trevon Diggs; 31st by the 49ers
25. Xavier McKinney; 17th by the Cowboys
47. Terrell Lewis (not in first round)
Big Boards
• Matt Miller of Bleacher Report has Jeudy rated higher than Tagovailoa, at No. 5 and 6, respectively. Seventh is Wills and Ruggs is No. 12. Among the defensive backs he lists McKinney at No. 23, but Diggs isn't in his top 32.
• Fantasy Pros has Jeudy rated third and Tagovailoa eighth, but is really high on LSU prospects with five in the top 15. It also had Raekwon Davis 19th.
Mock Drafts
• CBS held its third straight Mock Draft Monday, and the latest one included a lot of trades:
3. Chargers (via DET) - Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama
12. Raiders - Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama
14. Buccaneers - Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama
15. Jets (via DEN) - Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama
19. Raiders - Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama
31. Broncos (via SF) - Xavier McKinney, DB, Alabama
• The latest mock draft by Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz and USA Today has a different twist on the quarterback situation, with the Lions and Giants both opting for defense at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, and the Miami Dolphins selecting Oregon quarterback Justin Hebert at No 5. "The sun shines on Los Angeles in this scenario," with Tagovailoa landing with the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 6. Tackle Jederick Wills goes No. 8 to the Cardinals, Jeudy is taken No. 13 by the 49ers, Ruggs is drafted by the Broncos at No. 15, Diggs ends up with the Cowboys at No. 17, and McKinney goes to the Dolphins at No. 26.
• Charley Casserly's 2.0 mock draft on NFL.com has seven Alabama players in the first round, with Raekwon Davis at No. 31 to the 49ers. Meanwhile, his colleague Charles Davis has six, but all in the top 22 selections with the last being McKinney by the Vikings. Maurice Jones-Drew has a bit of a head-scratching mock draft as he projects numerous trades and Tagovailoa going second to the Chargers after Hebert at No. 1
Position Rankings
• ESPN's Todd McShay did something a little different and named his All-Satellite team, ranking the best playmakers in space. He had Ruggs first. His latest mock draft had six Alabama plays in the first round and linebacker Terrell Lewis going at No. 58 to the Vikings.
• Mel Kiper Jr.'s latest positional rankings is loaded full of former Alabama players, including Lewis fourth among outside linebackers and Anfernee Jennings ninth.
• Sport Illustrated's fantasy football guru Shawn Childs ranked his top QB, RB, WR and TE prospects heading into the 2020 NFL Draft and had Tagovailoa second and former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts third among the quarterbacks. At wide receiver, he had Jeudy second and Ruggs fourth, respectively,
