Reading through the ‘way too early’ 2025 mock drafts and top-50 lists, I’m surprised at some of the projections being made about next years draft. There are a lot of overrated players currently.

This is not a draft class with an obvious #1 overall pick. There isn’t a quarterback you can easily slot into that position. There isn’t a fantastic left tackle or EDGE worthy of being touted for this spot. It could end up being a draft like 2022, where a player emerges (in this instance, Travon Walker) to go first overall.

The best player in the class before the 2024 season is…

Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham. He has a little bit of Ndamukong Suh to his game in that he’s well sized, can play with force and physicality and yet he’s still agile enough to make disruptive plays in the backfield. He’s pretty much a complete defensive tackle who will fit any scheme and there’s every reason to believe he could be one of the first two players drafted next April. Graham is the best overall talent as we begin the college season.

Who’s next?

Penn State’s Abdul Carter is going to transition to edge rush from linebacker although as a conventional linebacker, I thought he also warranted top-10 hype. He is a player with immense potential.

It’s a strong looking cornerback class at the top end with Will Johnson at Michigan leading the way. Keep an eye on Denzel Burke at Ohio State. Both players are very athletic and showed a willingness to play the run last season. Benjamin Morrison at Notre Dame could also generate some first round buzz.

Michigan’s Colston Loveland is a legit pass-catching threat at tight end and will almost certainly, if all goes well this year, be a top-15 pick.

Tennessee pass rusher James Pearce Jr has a chance to be a top-ten prospect. He’s sudden off the edge and has the necessary athletic traits, size and length to be a genuine threat. That said, in order to deliver on his potential he needs to be stronger at the point of attack and be more violent against the run.

Alabama left guard Tyler Booker for me is a first round talent. He might not go that early due to his position — but he is the player I enjoyed scouting the most in preparation for this review.

Texas’ Kelvin Banks will probably have to kick inside to guard from left tackle due to his size/length. He has an opportunity to go early in the way Alijah Vera-Tucker and Troy Fautanu did.

LSU’s right tackle Emery Jones is the best pure tackle I have watched. He is physical with great size, is incredibly tough to get around and is just a bit better on his feet and more of a finisher than team mate Will Campbell, who I don’t currently view as a first round level player.

Who can work their way into first round contention?

It’s a wide open race at quarterback. Carson Beck, Quinn Ewers and Shedeur Sanders are the best placed to achieve this but with no obvious top-10 type, there’s room for others to really promote their stock like Jayden Daniels did last year. I did a full quarterback breakdown in July which you can read here.

Emeka Egbuka is such a smooth, controlled, polished player — if he can stay healthy he could really take a jump in 2024. Missouri’s Luther Burden is consistent, tracks the ball well and he can make things happen — I think the extent of his speed and testing will determine how high he goes.

Georgia’s big D-liner Mykel Williams has the frame, tools and splash plays to be a very high first rounder but he needs to become a more rounded, consistent force. Could he be the 2025 Travon Walker? Possibly. Team mate Malaki Starks has an opportunity to become a top-25 pick at safety. He’s instinctive, quick, flies to the ball downhill and can line-up in multiple positions. Jalon Walker is a reverse Abdul Carter. He’s done a good job providing pressure off the edge for Georgia in passing situations but will now become a full-time inside linebacker, while retaining some rushing snaps on third down. He’s a very interesting player who can bend well off the edge. Plus, he does a better job than his peers when engaging in contact.

Who is being overrated?

I don’t understand why people think quarterback Cam Ward, playing for Mario Cristobal, is going to be a Heisman contender or a high draft pick. Equally, I’m shocked to see people think Drew Allar could be an early round pick. I thought most of his 2023 tape showed an undraftable player.

The aforementioned Will Campbell at LSU looks more like a right tackle to me. He doesn’t look like a great athlete and I think he’ll struggle against speed. Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson has great athletic potential but he needs to play a lot better than he did in 2023.

JT Tuimoloau plays in spurts and lacks game-wrecking consistency and traits. I don’t think he is a round one talent. Team mate Jack Sawyer is a try-hard worker but not an early pick.

Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker has a strange body type where he’s top heavy. I thought he struggled vs double teams and I was left wanting more given how many people view him as a first round pick.

Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan definitely tracks the ball well and makes circus catches look easy but I don’t think he has the pure speed and explosiveness to be a great NFL receiver based on tape study so far.

I’m surprised to see some people rate Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant above team mate Mason Graham. For me it’s a total no-brainer. Graham is far better, with Grant a run-of-the-mill mid-round type you find in most drafts. He has the Bruce Feldman ‘freak list’ appearance but so did Kris Jenkins a year ago and he only went in the second half of round two.

Dontay Corleone is powerful but he’ll need to test well to go early. I think he’s being overrated as a first round type and is more of a typical bigger nose tackle. Those players don’t tend to go early.

Harold Perkins at LSU intrigues me because of his athletic potential and fit in a creative defensive scheme but he needs to play in space and has struggled taking on blocks. I don’t think he can play a full-time role off the edge taking on blockers but is he big enough to play linebacker? He’s caught between two positions.

I understand why Florida State EDGE Patrick Payton is getting first round buzz — but he needs to play with a lot more violence than he did against Georgia Tech on Saturday to get there.

I can’t project Travis Hunter early because I can’t work out what he is. There are games where he plays well at cornerback but then he’ll give up a whole ton of yardage to a bad, struggling offense (see: Stanford). At receiver he’s very capable of big moments but can he be consistent? We don’t often see two-way players like this so how do you grade him?

Josh Conerly at Oregon doesn’t have the size and length and might have to kick inside to guard. I also feel the same way about Jonah Savaiinaea, who I have graded at guard currently although he plays right tackle for Arizona. I do not see Savaiinaea as a first round tackle, as many do.

Players who deserve a bit more hype

Size will be key for Howard Cross but he was an impact player throughout last season for Notre Dame as an interior rusher. Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams, meanwhile, is a terrific, sturdy run defender with the upside to become a plus pass rusher.

Parker Brailsford played so well at center for Washington and while, like Cross, there will be size concerns — I can well imagine him excelling at Alabama and becoming a hot center prospect for next year. I’m also intrigued by Iowa center Logan Jones.

Aireontae Ersery at Minnesota has the tools and measureables to be considered in the top-50 at tackle. I really like Jack Nelson the tackle at Wisconsin. He might end up being a right-sided player in the NFL but there’s something there.

Mitchell Evans, tight end at Notre Dame, is a classic Y-TE with plus athleticism. His run blocking is tremendous and can be a dynamic pass-catcher with his skill-set.

I like what I’ve seen from linebackers Danny Stutsman and Cody Lindenberg and am intrigued to see more this season.

Further thoughts on the quarterback class

Watching Drake Maye in pre-season action on Sunday, I was struck by how much I thought he looked like a John Schneider-type quarterback. This isn’t a class, though, with an obvious player in that mould (big, athletic, strong arm).

I do think some talent evaluators are going to be enamoured with Quinn Ewers’ potential. The arm talent he showed in the road win against Alabama was electrifying. He also has a knack of releasing the ball incredibly quickly with a whip-like motion. There are times on tape where he just waits a split second for the target to emerge, he looks like he’s going to get sacked and then he releases the ball with perfect velocity in an improbably quick fashion. That release, combined with the ability to throw downfield, will interest teams. He’s also mobile and has a high degree of natural talent.

However, he also has to stay healthy and play with greater consistency. This is a big year for Ewers, who lost two high picks at receiver, his top tight end and a left tackle this year to the NFL. He will begin the year as QB1 on my board.

Shedeur Sanders also has plenty of talent but teams will spend a lot of time debating what life will be like if they draft him to be the face of their franchise, given the baggage that comes with making Deion’s son your focal point. How much are you going to need to manage ‘Coach Prime’, let alone his son?

Carson Beck is being overrated somewhat as the assumed top quarterback in this class. He lacks brilliant physical talent or elusiveness. He’s a timing and touch passer — but he did play well last season.

As noted in this article recently, I’m intrigued by Jalen Milroe working with Kalen DeBoer to see what progress he makes in terms of cleaning up his footwork and becoming a better passer in the pocket. It’s very difficult to project Conner Weigman given his lack of playing time but the Texas A&M quarterback clearly carries some intrigue. Riley Leonard has a lot of physical talent but he needs to become an athletic quarterback rather than just an athlete who plays quarterback. Max Brosmer and Brady Cook intrigue me, while it’ll be interesting to see how Tyler Van Dyke and Will Howard get on with new teams. Howard, in particular, could really elevate his stock playing on a loaded Ohio State roster. I’m interested to watch USF’s Byrum Brown given his physical potential.

Finally, here are some video thoughts on the Trevis Gipson trade and Geno Smith’s ranking in Mike Sando’s ‘QB tiers’ article for the Athletic: