I know, I know, it’s too early to talk about next year’s draft class.
But it should be obvious that right now we don’t have a lot to talk about. And I have a feeling this particular subject is gonna get talked about A LOT over the next eleven months, so we might as well start now.
Plus, if we start talking about it now it gives us all something to look for during the college season. Outside of my favorite team, the main reason I watch college football is to check out prospects.
As it stands now, this is a deep class with 2/3 elite options at the top. Now, are the options outside of that top 2/3 really any better than the 2022 class? I think so, but it’s certainly within the realm of possibility that they aren’t and after the guys at the top, the class fades.
Anyway I won’t bogart the conversation with an info dump or post a bunch of videos, I’m sure those will come, I’ll just list them the way I have them ranked right now.
The stud tier:
Bryce Young, Alabama
CJ Stroud, Ohio State (really more of a 1a)
The guys closest to joining the stud tier:
Will Levis, Kentucky
Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
Devin Leary, North Carolina State
The guys with the talent to join the stud tier:
Anthony Richardson, Florida
DJ Uiagelelei, Clemson
Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma
Cameron Ward, Washington State
The guys who could skyrocket with great seasons a la Pickett/Burrow/Wilson, etc…
Sam Hartman, Wake Forest
Tanner McKee, Stanford
Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma
Jaren Hall, BYU
Phil Jurkovec, Boston College
Hendon Hooker, Tennessee
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
Aidan O’Connell, Purdue
Brennan Armstrong, Virginia
Kedon Slovis, Pittsburgh
It’s a really, really deep class, I’ll say that right off the bat. I still have to take a deep dive into them, but off my initial impression all of them would have grades that would get them drafted (maybe Slovis winds up with a UDFA grade). That won’t happen, there’s not enough openings and too many other needs, but that’s the way I see it.
Keyton Thompson 78 receptions for 990 yards 39 carries for 237 yards
Billy Kemp IV 74 receptions for 725 yards
Dontayvion Wicks 57 receptions for 1,203 yards
Freshman Fields converted from QB and cornerback 11 receptions for 172 yards.
At 6"4" 220 pounds and athletic, he’s going to get some more looks this year.
He lost Woods at TE.
Thompson is the Deebo player, Wicks makes absurd catches and their D get’s scored on so fast they’ll get plenty of chances.
Good topic and one worth following closely for Lion’s fans moving forward.
Good news is should have the draft capital to make a move if one is warranted to get the guy they want if they decide to go that route.
I am not sold on Stroud at Ohio State at all so far. Bryce Young at Alabama, he looks like the real deal. It will just come down to size concerns with him
Yep, there’s a lot of intriguing QB prospects to sort through. The 2 year plan that Holmbell outlined early last year is still in place and that includes the possibility of Goff reviving his 2017/18 self. If that happens and he develops even further in a nurturing environment, the QB1 question will be mute next off-season. That is well within the realm of possible 2022 outcomes, IMO.
But, hell yeah, there’s a bumper crop of QBs to consider in the meantime, and some talents could fit our late teens draft budget, should we have a need.
Right, I tried to keep this clear of any of the Goff talk, it’s the one thing there isn’t a shortage of at this time of year. But I certainly think it’s possible Goff renders this whole conversation moot, but when has that stopped us before? I figure around 75% of the den’s archives is us arguing about stuff that never came to pass lol.
Levis is probably the most interesting guy to me right now. When he’s on he has #1 overall pick type gifts. Cannon arm, moxie, very good athlete. And we saw those gifts a lot in the SEC last year. Like half of the games he played were awesome. But the other half of the games… let’s just say I wrote down ‘consistency’ as the #1 thing he needed to work on this year.
He’s also an older prospect who couldn’t beat out Sean Clifford at Penn State which is something of a red flag, but after Burrow’s experience at Ohio State, I’m starting to lean more towards the idea that coaches often can’t see a good thing staring them in the face.
One of the reasons I’m all over Armstrong is because he’s really getting his best targets back. Levis isn’t, in fact w/o Robinson it’s going to be interesting to see what happens to that O. Getting their RB Rodriguez back will help plenty, his 1,378 rushing yards last year was huge. Levis moves well and can run if he has to but he’s not exceptional, (running). He had 233 passing yards vs IOWA in the Citrus Bowl, 170 yards were to Robinson, 5 other receivers combined for 63 yards. 24 TD’s to 13 int’s last year. I think that team is going to struggle to showcase him this season because the talent level around him simply doesn’t strike me as all that.
That’s a good thing for us if Levi struggles this year with lesser talent around him, maybe? Good evaluators can eliminate the noise and see the essential traits. Our bridge QB playing a 3rd year is an option for us…
Yeah we’ll see it’s certainly possible kind of like Sam Howell struggled at UNC this year once his targets left. But that’s one of the reasons I wanted to start this thread, to talk about stuff exactly like that. How much should we dock him (as @Sofatso asks) for losing his weapons? What if he thrives/improves anyway, does he enter the conversation with Stroud/Young? I just saw a CBS mock that had him going #1 overall, so certainly that’s within the range of possible outcomes I would think, but he needs to have a really good year.
Actually the same was true for Willis, his previous year was way more impressive capped off with beating an undefeated #9 Coastal Carolina in their bowl game and finished as a ranked team. I guess I’m not seeing what CBS is seeing but just like a bunch of those guys there’s going to be a lot of shuffling of the ranks when the rubber hits the road.
I almost mentioned Willis when talking about Levis, I was really high on him last offseason because of his obvious gifts. It wasn’t until I watched him with a scouting eye during the 2021 season that I started to sour on him, and the same could absolutely happen to Levis. It’s on him to step up.
What’s interesting is your list is 17 QB’s and a normal draft is like 11 or 12 even if several fly off the board in the first round. Even if 13 or 14 go there very well may be a QB that gets passed over that ends up a starter in the league.
I also think Casey Thompson might open some eyes with Whipple as his OC. Though I’m a homer of course. Bo Nix has a ton of talent as well if the light bulb were to ever go off.
Maybe I’m just way out to lunch but I’m not sold on Young. He has the arm (more accurate than uber strong, kind of like Brees) but he’s really small. Not just short but has a slight frame unilke Murray or Wilson who were stocky. He looks like Goff level skinny but much shorter.
He has the mobility, arm and moxie to be good but I can’t get past how small he looks out there.
Van Dyke is my sleeper to possibly get in the conversation with Stroud/Young. The size, the arm and he can move pretty well for a big guy. Has all the attributes.
I had Strong as my sleeper last year so take with a grain of salt, although that injury kind of screwed my prediction.
