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NFL draft evaluations are a year-round process.
To be better prepared for the April event, a working understanding of the class, its prospects and the trajectory of NFL squads should be formulated in the fall months long before the draft season is actually upon us.
Bleacher Report has you covered.
The site’s scouting department of Brandon Thorn, Brent Sobleski, Cory Giddings, Derrik Klassen and Nate Tice is already hard at work poring over game film, evaluating potential prospects and laying the groundwork for hundreds of scouting reports.
Let’s be honest. For some, the NFL season hasn’t gone as planned. Disappointment aside, the time is now to watch prospects, get to know them and become better informed. A fan can enjoy the season and keep an eye toward the future.
As the B/R scouts’ work continues, growing interest in the draft brings questions about who may be available, the overall talent pool and how the prospects have looked through the first five weeks of the collegiate season. The department gladly answered those inquires in this year’s first community mailbag.
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Who is the better prospect, LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. or Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton? — ljackson59
Stingley is the better Day 1 prospect. Both players are highly skilled, outstanding athletes who run around and make plays, but Stingley is a bit more refined in his position techniques.
He has the athletic ability and the speed needed to be a lockdown corner, which is what a large majority of teams want. He also shows the right physicality and aggression when playing the run. These are traits that few cornerbacks possess at once.
When looking at Hamilton, he has the length and athleticism that can’t be taught. His athleticism is apparent when he runs in the open field and is matched up against tight ends.
But my question about his game is how he’ll physically hold up when playing in the box or closer to the line of scrimmage. Though he has the length and size (6’4″, 220 lbs) to play close to the line of scrimmage, his play style best fits a second- and third-level defender.
Hamilton is clearly the best safety in this class. There are just a couple of things he may need to improve during his NFL preparation—his play strength being one of them.
Because of these questions, I believe Hamilton must be placed in a specific scheme that will highlight his traits, as opposed to Stingley, where his top traits should be highlighted across multiple schemes and defenses.
If Hamilton lands with an ideal fit and improves his play strength, he presents greater upside than Stingley. Currently, Stingley is the better of the two.
— Giddings
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Who is this year’s small school darling? — Dom_Betts
The prospect to highlight depends on a person’s definition of a small-school prospect.
If one believes anyone from a non-Power Five pipeline program is considered a small school, Liberty’s Malik Willis has the potential to be the first quarterback selected.
To be fair, the 2022 quarterback class is a bit of a mess. No single prospect has staked his claim to be this year’s top performer with the potential to become the No. 1 overall pick.
Willis is different in that he’s an ascending talent with the physical tools to succeed, though he’s far from a polished product. The Auburn transfer is an outstanding athlete with whip-like arm action. Through 15 games with the Flames, Willis posted 3,381 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, six interceptions, 1,362 rushing yards and 20 more scores.
The 6’1″, 225-pound signal-caller has all of the requisite natural gifts. However, little of what Willis is asked to do in head coach Hugh Freeze’s scheme translates to the NFL. His transition to the next level will be significant, and whichever organization invests a high-round pick in the Liberty quarterback must do so with with a plan to properly build around his skill set.
If the definition of a small-school prospect entails not playing at the FBS level, Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning is the name to know.
Penning might play at the FCS level, but he might ultimately be a ready-made first-round left tackle. The 6’7″, 321-pound fifth-year lineman plays with an excellent base, shows good movement skills and performs with a significant nasty streak.
Obviously, Penning’s level of competition will be brought into question since he’s not tested often. Thus, how he performs at the Senior Bowl could go a long way in determining just how high in the process he ultimately goes.
— Sobleski
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Do you really think any quarterback prospect will be selected among the top five picks next year? — atnickrossi
The real question is whether any of them deserve the top-five status. Right now, the answer is no.
Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler has dipped, while Liberty’s Malik Willis and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral have been the only upper-echelon quarterback prospects to help their stock so far this season.
But Willis and Corral still have many question marks. Can they do the things teams will ask of them as passers expected to work through NFL progressions and make professional-caliber throws, or are they just a bundle of traits? This year seemed like the draft for quarterback-hungry teams, as the 2022 crop has quite a few question marks with a significant need to project pro potential.
Do you think the Pittsburgh Steelers can find a franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft class? — bubbadeuce
They can certainly draft a quarterback. Whether they feel good about the player being a true franchise guy remains to be seen. There are tons of question marks regarding all of the prospects, with even those at the top requiring more projection than in a typical class.
If the Steelers do pursue a quarterback early in the process, it would be a home run swing-type bet based on what we’ve seen so far.
Who will be the first running back off the board? — aggiefan54
There are a few players near the top with similar size and skill sets, like Iowa State’s Breece Hall (6’1″, 220 lbs) and Texas A&M’s Isaiah Spiller (6’1″, 215 lbs). But UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet shows a truly different type of burst and explosiveness with his big-back size (6’1″, 220 lbs).
Charbonnet must continue to show refinement in the passing game and pass protection, but he has the traits that teams are looking for in a running back worthy of a top-50 pick.
— Tice
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Can/should a center, specifically Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum, be drafted in the top-12? — turnonthenews
A center can theoretically go inside the top 12 if he is a once-in-a-generation type of prospect on the level of someone like Quenton Nelson, which Linderbaum has a shot at being. Certain schemes value and feature centers more than others, so the top-12 valuation depends on the team.
Organizations like the San Francisco 49ers or New York Jets could see a center being valuable enough for consideration that high. Linderbaum has special physical traits and the rare combination of movement skills with power to suggest this range isn’t out of the question as long as he can sustain his current level of play and meet expectations in the draft process.
Where do you rank BYU’s James Empey among centers right now? — willfarris 24
I’ve watched Empey’s tape against the Utah Utes and came away impressed with how adept of a zone run-blocker he is in BYU’s outside zone-heavy scheme. Empey shows solid quickness and a keen understanding of how to position his body on combo blocks with timely releases to the second level.
He plays with good balance and the competitive toughness to strain and finish through contact. I want to see him tested more in pass protection before ranking him, but he looks to be an early Day 3 type of pick because of his looking undersized on film. He has the skill to warrant Day 2 consideration.
Who are the best OLinemen who will go Day 2? — jmann1212reborn
Ohio State’s Thayer Munford, N.C. State’s Ikem Ekwonu and Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning are a few of the best linemen who could be Day 2 picks.
Munford looks natural at left guard after playing multiple years at tackle, adding proven versatility to his profile along with his impressive play strength to contribute right away. Ekwonu’s best fit as a pro may be inside because of his thunderous power and his ability to create holes as a run-blocker, which will excite downhill run schemes. Penning is an under-the-radar name, but he has the ideal size and length and solid athletic ability, with a nasty streak to his game. This is one intriguing trio in the Day 2 range.
— Thorn
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Where will Florida defensive end Zachary Carter Be Drafted? — Av1Ad2
Carter is one of the trickier defensive linemen to figure out in this class. Some call him an end; others call him a defensive tackle.
At 6’4″ and 285 pounds, Carter has an Adrian Clayborn-esque tweener body type, and the Gators treat him as such. Carter plays both on the edge and 3-technique but not in the “just kick him inside on third down” kind of way. He will play either spot on any down depending on what front the coaching staff prefers to use at the time.
Carter has a nasty first step, some pop in his hand and quality bend for a player of his size. He does his best work when he can just fire off the ball and get into the backfield.
Though incomplete as a run defender, Carter presents plenty of desirable traits. His stock will continue to rise as long as he maintains his quality of play this season. But it could be tough for him to get into the first round as a tweener considering how loaded the top of this year’s edge class is.
It’s more likely Carter will hear his name called somewhere on Day 2, barring an outrageous performance at the NFL Scouting Combine.
— Klassen
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