With draft week finally having arrived and all the positional boards now finished, it’s now time to try and bring them all together into an overall big board – while I am going to talk about how these players might or might not make sense for the Panthers, this isn’t a board based on their particular needs, but rather for an abstract team with needs at every position.
So what does the top of the 2019 draft class look like?
First Round Grades
Quinnen Williams. Photo Credit: Marvin Gentry/USA TODAY Sports
Quinnen Williams, 3-tech Alabama; 6’3 303lbs
There doesn’t appear to be a consensus #1 overall prospect around the NFL to this point – but for me, it is really hard to look beyond Quinnen Williams. He has excellent quickness and plays with good pad level, uses his hands excellently as a penetrator and one-on-one pass rusher – while his value will vary a bit between defensive schemes, every defense needs a 3-tech….and he is the best to come along for a few years.
Josh Allen, EDGE Kentucky; 6’5 262lbs
There’s not much of a gap between the next three prospects, but for me, Allen’s versatility and potential make him hard to pass on. He is a very good run defender and, as a pass rusher, has the speed to be a consistent threat around the edge – while he does flash inside moves, there is still room for improvement in this regard. Additionally, for teams that run a 3-4 defense, he is legitimately a very good coverage player with the ability to drop back into either zone or man coverage against tight ends and running backs. He might not be the second best player in this draft from day one, but his potential is remarkable.
Nick Bosa, EDGE Ohio State; 6’4 266lbs
Bosa might not be the generational talent that some are making him out to be, but in this class, he is still one of the very best players available. He is good enough around the edge to pose a threat to all but the best tackles and shows excellent hand usage to make the most of any mistakes by the blocker. He does need some work as a run defender, where he shows a nice ability to penetrate and create negative plays but struggles with his pad level and hand usage at the point of attack. Not perfect, but a very good player.
Jerry Tillery, iDL Notre Dame; 6’6 295lbs
Jerry Tillery might not be the elite athlete of a Quinnen Williams, Ed Oliver or Rashan Gary, but he is an excellent technician with enough athleticism to pose a real challenge for interior blockers. He uses his long arms well to prevent blockers from being able to get into his frame and combines good power with a wide range of pass rushing hand moves; as a run defender, he needs to be more consistent with his pad level – but when you can rush the passer as well as he can, there will be a lot of demand for your services.
Greg Little, OT Ole Miss; 6’5 310lbs
Greg Little isn’t perfect, but in a class very short of elite prospects his remarkable ceiling and lack of fundamental flaws are hard to ignore. He has elite foot speed and lower body flexibility and combines that with good footwork and hand usage; he needs to play with more discipline in order to make the most of his remarkable talent, but his ceiling is, to me, as high as any non-quarterback in this class.
Andre Dillard, OT Washington State; 6’5 315lbs
Dillard and Little are very close for me, and while Dillard doesn’t quite have the same hip flexibility and elite foot speed as Little, his hand usage is very well-developed and he rarely makes mistakes as a pass protector. His issues with lower body bend and shorter arms are going to make it difficult for him to ever be an amazing run blocker, but he is at least competent in this regard – any time you can offer quality left tackle play from day one, you are going to be seen as a very good prospect.
Brian Burns. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Mark Wallheiser
Brian Burns, EDGE Florida State; 6’5 249lbs
Brian Burns is a hard player to judge in some ways, as what he does well, he does better than anybody in the class, but his weaknesses aren’t things that can be totally ignored – it’s hard to think of players with his particular combination of skills that have had success in the NFL. That being said, he offers immediate value as an excellent edge rusher with a well developed set of inside moves that, with some coaching, could allow him to be one of the elite pass rushers in the NFL. That being said, he does have some issues as a run defender – 4-3 teams in particular will see his size as a concern – but if used in the right way in a 3-4 defense, he can be at least decent in this regard.
Daniel Jones, QB Duke; 6’5 221lbs
It’s always hard to evaluate college quarterbacks purely from tape, as the ability to process reads quickly and accurately – which is largely what separates the best NFL prospects – is very hard to disentangle from offensive scheme and coaching directives, but Jones can certainly make all the throws you want a quarterback to make and showed good and fast decision making at Duke despite a poor offensive line and limited offensive weapons. Given the value of the quarterback position, that’s hard to pass on; while Kyler Murray may go number one overall, like other evaluators around the league, I believe Daniel Jones is the #1 QB in this class.
Up Next: Second Round Grades
