Positional Pre-Draft Rankings of the All-22 Era (Defense)
Every year, we look at a class of prospects and struggle to contextualize the significance of one class against another. Yet again, I’ve taken a shot at doing just that. To rank the top prospects per position of the 2024 class against the top prospects of the All-22 era, which is now 2020 - 2024. In an attempt to keep things even, I’ve based my rankings on the data at hand, on post-combine and pre-draft information. In short, these rankings are primarily based on college film and production, combine workouts, and pre-draft news. These rankings exclude the round the prospect was drafted, and which team drafted them. Situation will always play an important role in final rankings which is why I am choosing to exclude that information since the data for the 2024 class is not yet available. As a bonus, if you see an “e” next to a player’s name that means I think of them as elite— in a class of their own.
Defensive Interior
Byron Murphy leads a solid group of Defensive Interior players. Murphy is a true jack-of-all trades type player on the interior, with the ability to line up anywhere. He has fantastic speed and power that emulate NFL stars like DJ Reader and Christian Wilkins. His teammate, T’Vondre Sweat offers a completely different profile. Sweat is a true run stuffing Nose Guard at 6’3 362lbs. His massive frame will allow him to win the run game on command, but is a reason he won’t see the field on all three downs. I was pleasantly surprised to see his advanced hand fighting skills and advanced technique raise his game to a level beyond just being a big body. Jer’Zhan Newton is the last player of the group I have a 1st round grade on. His swim move is elite but his overall arsenal of moves is limited. He won easily with his NFL caliber speed and strength against some lesser competition. Seeing similar success at the next level will require time.
Other Guys I Like: Kris Jenkins, Brandon Dorlus, and Braden Fiske.
Edge
Dallas Turner is the athletic bendy freak that we love in today’s NFL. He isn’t the can’t miss Edge prospect that each of the last few drafts have had, but he still has legit top 20 potential to his game. Jared Verse is a slightly older prospect that has the reps to win every which way. He has ideal size and matches that with high level effort. Laiatu Latu is about as productive of an Edge player as you can find. Injuries hold him back in my rankings, but he should be an instant impact player wherever he lands. Bralen Trice is my sleeper at the Edge position. It seems everyone had written off the anchor of the Washington defense. Trice is a sideline to sideline player, which I don’t think I’ve ever said for a player at his position.
Other Guys I Like: Chop Robinson, Darius Robinson, Jonah Elliss, and Adisa Isaac.
Linebacker
Payton Wilson and Edgerrin Cooper are neck-and-neck at the top of this class. Wilson is a big time playmaker with above average instincts and limitless range. He’s a bit older and moves stiffly, which move him down my LB rankings. Cooper is “FTW” (Fun to watch). This guy screams across the field with tenacity and straight fire in his heart. He is nasty at the collision point but overextends on plays and often is a tick slow with his recognition. This Linebacker class is one to sit back on. Let others dive in while you smartly wait and draft Junior Colson or Tommy Eichenberg in the 5th. Both guys are reliable in different ways. Colson is a fantastic cover LB that may struggle against the run and Eichenberg is an extremely instinctual player that will always find his spot but may struggle to make a game changing play. Both guys do their job.
Other Guys I Like: Cedric Gray
cornerback
This is as fun of a class as I have seen because there isn’t a clear #1 guy. Instead, there are 5-6 really good players that could all be the #1 depending on the drafting team’s scheme and needs. My flavor of the day is the sticky man-to-man cover Corner, Kool-Aid McKinstry. Kool-Aid route matches as good as any prospect I’ve watched but may be a liability in zone and against the run. Nate Wiggins plays similarly but maybe not to the same level. He can be overly confident in his recovery speed and it gets him in trouble at times. Terrion Arnold is the other end of the spectrum. He is built for zone and has fantastic squat technique and a wide pane of vision. He plays the run well too. While he can play man, he isn’t nearly as good at handcuffing himself to the Receiver. Then there is Cooper DeJean… Cooper is a hawk that may be the only player to play the ball as well as Daron Bland can. It makes sense since he is a high end return man on special teams as well. My knock on Cooper is that he often gives too much cushion when playing man. While it will work well when guarding the bigger Receivers in the league, I would hate to see what a Chase or Jefferson would do to him.
Other Guys I Like: Quinyon Mitchell, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Kamari Lassister, Mike Sainristil, T.J. Tampa, Max Melton, and Cam Hart.
safety
This is a down year for Safety with only 1 guy on the 1st round spectrum. That man is Tyler Nubin. Nubin has the best ball skills of the class and used that to intercept 13 balls in his career, 9 more than any of the other top guys. His range is next level and his hitting ability is Eric Berry-esque. Javon Bullard is a clear 2nd round guy to me. While his speed and range are special, he is a smaller player that will be limited to the Free Safety role without much flexibility. Jaden Hicks is the last guy in this years class that I would draft in an All-22 draft. Hicks is a strong downhill tackler that guesses too often, maybe due to limited athleticism. His vision in coverage helps him overcome his limitations as an athlete.
Other Guys I Like: Calen Bullock and Sione Vaki
Want to hear about someone in specific? Don’t agree with my analysis? Let me know in the comments.
