2013 NFL Draft Positional Rankings (Offense)

These are my personal rankings by position.  Will start with the offensive side of the ball.  Defense to follow.

-QB-
1. Geno Smith, West Virginia.
2. Matt Barkley, USC
3. EJ Manuel, Florida State
4. Tyler Bray, Tennessee
5. Tyler Wilson, Arkansas
6. Mike Glennon, North Carolina State
7. Ryan Nassib, Syracuse
8. Matt Scott, Arizona
9. Zac Dysert, Miami (OH)
10. Sean Renfree, Duke
11. Brad Sorensen, Southern Utah
12. Landry Jones, Oklahoma
13. Ryan Griffin, Tulane
14. Matt Brown, Illinois State
15. Colby Cameron, Louisiana Tech

Four games into the college season, Geno Smith was my #1 pick and Heisman winner.  Much is made about his 2nd half struggle, but that "struggle" was still 18:6 TD to INT ratio.  Still had 5 of 7 games over 65% completion, a pair of 350 yard games, and still put up over 30 points 5 times.  I think he's still a top 10 caliber pick.  Bray has the most arm talent in this draft.  Needs a good QB coach.  Like him better than Glennon for the big QBs.  Wilson, I still like for his JR tape.  Arkansas was a disaster this past season and he's still the guy that looked like a top 5 pick going into the 2012 season.  Not a fan of Landry Jones.  Statuesque QBs with mediocre arms don't last long in the NFL.  Never really saw it with Jones, especially when he gets pressure anywhere near him. 

-RB-
1. Eddie Lacy, Alabama
2. Giovanni Bernard, North Carolina
3. Jonathan Franklin, UCLA
4. Andre Ellington, Clemson
5. Le'Veon Bell, Michigan State
6. Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina
7. Joseph Randle, Oklahoma State
8. Mike Gillislee, Florida
9. Montee Ball, Wisconsin
10. Christine Michael, Texas A&M
11. Kenjon Barner, Oregon
12. Stepfan Taylor, Stanford
13. Kerwynn Williams, Utah St
14. Michael Ford, LSU
15. Jawan Jamison, Rutgers
16. Latavius Murray, Central Florida
17. Ray Graham, Pittsburgh
18. Knile Davis, Arkansas
19. Zac Stacy, Vanderbilt
20. Theo Riddick, Notre Dame

Not a fan of Montee Ball.  Too much wear and tear.  Doesn't appear big enough, fast enough, shifty enough to do in the NFL anywhere near what he did in Madison.  Same can be said for Stepfan Taylor.  Franklin could be the best RB of this group.  Really like his all-around game  If Lattimore is close to what he was coming out of HS, he's easily the best in this group, but I doubt that will happen.

-WR-
1. Justin Hunter, Tennessee
2. Tavon Austin, West Virginia
3. DeAndre Hopkins, Clemson
4. Cordarelle Patterson, Tennessee
5. Robert Woods, USC
6. Keenan Allen, California
7. Markus Wheaton, Oregon State
8. Quinton Patton, Louisiana Tech
9. Terrance Williams, Baylor
10. Da'Rick Rogers, Tennessee Tech
11. Kenny Stills, Oklahoma
12. Stedman Bailey, West Virginia
13. Ryan Swope, Texas A&M
14. Marquise Goodwin, Texas
15. Aaron Dobson, Marshall
16. Cobi Hamilton, Arkansas
17. Chris Harper, Kansas State
18. Aaron Mellette, Elon
19. Josh Boyce, TCU
20. Marquess Wilson, Washington State

Hunter was my #1 all offseason.   Only reason he's not a consensus #1 is because of the ACL tear, but his explosiveness really came back the 2nd half of last year with 6 plays over 50 yards.  He's an AJ Green/Sidney Rice (with Favre throwing him the ball) type of talent.  Austin takes #2 simply because he's amazing.  I see NFL OCs able to use his speed and open field ability more than a few years ago.  Too dynamic to slight for his size.  Lots of talent in this group.  Stills, Bailey and Swope have flat out produced at big time programs.  Hopkins, Wheaton and Woods are Day 1 NFL ready WRs.  Not a huge fan of Keenan Allen, bad 40 confirmed my concerns with him.  Looks the part, but doesn't have the big time talent of the guys ahead of him. 

-TE/FB-
1. Tyler Eifert, Notre Dame
2. Zach Ertz, Stanford
3. Gavin Escobar, San Diego State
4. Travis Kelce, Cincinnati
5. Vance McDonald, Rice
6. Jordan Reed, Florida
7. Dion Sims, Michigan State
8. Nick Kasa, Colorado
9. Lonnie Pryor, Florida State
10. Chris Gragg, Arkansas

Eifert frankly passed Ertz for me at the combine.  Better athlete, better blocker.  Clear #1.  Players 3-6 can all really get open and all can run after the catch.  Best TE class in a long time, IMO.  Kasa has great upside as a former DE.  

-OT-
1. Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M
2. Eric Fisher, Central Michigan
3. Lane Johnson, Oklahoma
4. Justin Pugh, Syracuse
5. DJ Fluker, Alabama
6. Kyle Long, Oregon
7. Terron Armstead, Arkansas Pine Bluff
8. Menelik Watson, Florida State
9. Jordan Mills, Louisiana Tech
10. Reid Fragel, Ohio State
11. Brennan Williams, North Carolina
12. Garrett Gilkey, Chadron State
13. Xavier Nixon, Florida
14. Vinston Painter, Virginia Tech
15. Chris Faulk, LSU

Pugh and Long are OGs for a lot of people, but I think you have to start them at OT.  Pugh has T-Rex arms, but is just a football player.  As Mayock would say, "let him prove he's not a tackle before you write him off as a guard".  Long is the opposite.  He's long and athletic.  He needs some work, but he has football in his blood, and I think he has the ability to protect the edge with his athletic ability and nastiness.  The players ranked 7-10 all have big upside.  All have little big time experience at tackle, but are among the top athletes at their position.  

-Interior OL (OC/OG)-
1. Chance Warmack, Alabama
2. Johnathan Cooper, North Carolina
3. Larry Warford, Kentucky
4. Travis Frederick, Wisconsin
5. Brian Schwenke, California
6. Barrett Jones, Alabama
7. Alvin Bailey, Arkansas
8. Brian Winters, Kent State
9. Dallas Thomas, Tennessee
10. Hugh Thornton, Illinois
11. David Bakthari, Colorado
12. Khalid Holmes, USC
13. David Quessenberry, San Jose State
14. Earl Watford, James Madison
15. Eric Herman, Ohio

Another strong group.  Warford is one of my favorite players in this draft.  If he moved better in space, he'd be ahead of Warmack.  But he doesn't let anything thru him though.  Holds his ground well, forces defenders around him in pass protection.  Frederick and Bailey are guys that had huge seasons in 2011.  Frederick looked like a 1st rounder at LG before moving to C in 2012.  Bailey was the best lineman on a big-time offense before the team fell apart this past season.  Both could be steals.  8-10 could play OT, but not going to do it well.  Best suited inside.  Watch out for all the small school guys.