Future Watch: 2016 NFL Draft – Prospect Rankings – With the NCAA Bowl Season underway and the College Football Playoffs concluding in a few short weeks, it’s not too early to start looking ahead to prospect rankings for the 2016 NFL Draft.
Several of the country’s top schools have multiple players projected as first round picks. Lineman will once again prove to be a valuable commodity in this years NFL Draft.
In addition, some of the other key points of interest in looking at the list of eligible players, positional needs/rankings and the NFL draft order reveals the following:
- Three (3) projected first round quarterbacks (Paxton Lynch, Jared Goff, Connor Cook)
- Two (2) projected first round running backs ( Ezekiel Elliot, Derrick Henry)
- Two (2) offensive tackles in the top four (4) picks (Laremy Tunsil, Ronnie Stanley)
- Alabama lead the way with five (5) projected first round picks (Reggie Ragland, A’Shawn Robinson, Jarran Reed, Jonathan Allen, Derrick Henry)
Below is the current NFL prospect rankings according to CBS Sports as well as the current draft order of NFL teams.
| Overall Rank
(NFL Team Slot) |
Player | Position | Position
Rank |
School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Tennessee) | Joey Bosa | DE | 1 | Ohio State |
| 2 (Cleveland) | Laremy Tunsil | OT | 1 | Ole Miss |
| 3 (Baltimore) | Jalen Ramsey | CB | 1 | Florida State |
| 4 (San Diego) | Ronnie Stanley | OT | 2 | Notre Dame |
| 5 (Dallas) | Paxton Lynch | QB | 1 | Memphis |
| 6 (San Francisco) | Jared Goff | QB | 2 | California |
| 7 (Miami) | Jaylon Smith | OLB | 1 | Notre Dame |
| 8 (Jacksonville) | Myles Jack | OLB | 2 | UCLA |
| 9 (New Orleans) | Laquon Treadwell | WR | 1 | Ole Miss |
| 10 (Chicago) | DeForest Buckner | DE | 2 | Oregon |
| 11 (Detroit) | Vernon Hargreaves III | CB | 2 | Florida |
| 12 (Tampa Bay) | Taylor Decker | OT | 3 | Ohio State |
| 13 (New York-G) | Reggie Ragland | ILB | 1 | Alabama |
| 14 (Oakland) | Robert Nkemdlche | DT | 1 | Ole Miss |
| 15 (Philadelphia) | Emmanuel Ogbah | DE | 3 | Oklahoma State |
| 16 (Buffalo) | Ezekiel Elliot | RB | 1 | Ohio State |
| 17 (Indianapolis) | Mackensie Alexander | CB | 3 | Clemson |
| 18 (St. Louis) | A’Shawn Robinson | DT | 2 | Alabama |
| 19 (Atlanta) | Connor Cook | QB | 3 | Michigan State |
| 20 (New York-J) | Leonard Floyd | OLB | 3 | Georgia |
| 21 (Minnesota) | Andrew Billings | DT | 3 | Baylor |
| 22 (Seattle) | Kenny Clark | DT | 4 | UCLA |
| 23 (Kansas City) | Jack Conklin | OT | 4 | Michigan State |
| 24 (Pittsburgh) | Corey Coleman | WR | 3 | Baylor |
| 25 (Washington) | Shaq Lawson | DE | 4 | Clemson |
| 26 (Houston) | Jarran Reed | DT | 5 | Alabama |
| 27 (Green Bay) | Jonathan Bullard | DE | 6 | Florida |
| 28 (Denver) | Jonathan Allen | DE | 5 | Alabama |
| 29 (Cincinnati) | Germain Ifedi | OT | 5 | Texas A&M |
| 30 (Arizona) | Tre’Davious | CB | 4 | LSU |
| 31 (Carolina) | Derrick Henry | RB | 2 | Alabama |
| 32 (Atlanta) | Michael Thomas | WR | 2 | Ohio State |
Many of these player are alumni of the USA Football program and already have football cards, including autographs and memorabilia in Upper Deck USA Football products. In addition, SAGE and Leaf will have early product releases prior to the 2016 NFL Draft.
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