When draft boards are constructed, NFL teams take one of two approaches. The first is to rank the draft’s top 32 players and give each a first-round grade, followed by the draft’s next 32 prospects, who garner second-round grades, and so on.
The second approach is to use a value chart, in which each prospect, based on film study, earns a grade depending on his play. If only 25 prospects grade out as first-round talent, only 25 receive first-round grades. This allows NFL teams to see the full value of the draft and not force first-round grades on prospects who aren’t worthy.
Here is the National Football Post’s second value chart of the draft season:
Tier 1 (Elite Prospects)
WR Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech (6-3, 214)
OT Eugene Monroe, Virginia (6-5, 315)
OT Jason Smith, Baylor (6-5, 300)
DT B.J. Raji, Boston College (6-1, 325)
OLB Aaron Curry, Wake Forest (6-2, 246)
Tier 2 (High First-Round Caliber)
QB Mark Sanchez, USC (6-3, 225)
QB Matthew Stafford, Georgia (6-3, 236)
DE Brian Orakpo, Texas (6-4, 260)
OLB/DE Everette Brown, Florida State (6-4, 252)
ILB Rey Maualuga, USC (6-2, 260)
DT Peria Jerry, Ole Miss (6-3, 295)
Tier 3 (First-Round Caliber)
RB Knowshon Moreno, Georgia (5-11, 208)
RB Chris Wells, Ohio State (6-1, 237)
WR Jeremy Maclin, Missouri (6-1, 200)
WR Percy Harvin, Florida (5-11,195)
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, Maryland (6-2, 206)
OT Michael Oher, Ole Miss (6-5, 320)
OT Andre Smith, Alabama (6-4, 340)
OT Eben Britton, Arizona (6-6, 310)
OT William Beatty, Connecticut (6-6, 310)
DE Robert Ayers, Tennessee (6-3, 273)
DE Aaron Maybin, Penn State (6-4, 248)
OLB Clay Matthews, USC (6-3, 246)
CB/FS Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State (6-0, 200)
CB Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest (5-9. 190)
FS/CB Sean Smith, Utah (6-3, 215)
Tier 4 (Late First Round/Early Second-Round Caliber)
WR Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina (6-1, 210)
WR Kenny Britt, Rutgers (6-4, 215)
TE Shawn Nelson, Southern Miss (6-5, 242)
TE Brandon Pettigrew, Oklahoma State (6-6, 260)
C Alex Mack, California (6-4, 314)
DE Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech (6-7, 260)
DE Jarron Gilbert, San Jose State (6-5, 287)
DE Tyson Jackson, LSU (6-4, 295)
DT Evander Hood, Missouri (6-3, 295)
DT Sen’Derrick Marks, Auburn (6-1, 295)
OLB Connor Barwin, Cincinnati (6-4, 255)
OLB Brian Cushing, USC (6-4, 243)
ILB James Laurinaitis, Ohio State (6-2, 240)
CB Darius Butler, Connecticut (5-11, 187)
CB Vontae Davis, Illinois (6-0, 205)
CB D.J. Moore, Vanderbilt (5-10, 184)
Tier 5 (Second-Round Caliber)
QB Josh Freeman, Kansas State (6-6, 248)
RB Shonn Greene, Iowa (5-11, 235)
RB LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh (5-11, 210)
WR Derrick Williams, Penn State (6-0, 200)
WR Juaquin Iglesias, Oklahoma (6-0 204)
TE Jared Cook, South Carolina (6-5, 242)
TE James Casey, Rice (6-4, 235)
OG Duke Robinson, Oklahoma (6-5, 335)
C Max Unger, Oregon (6-5, 305)
DE David Veikune, Hawaii (6-2, 255)
DT Ron Brace, Boston College (6-3, 326)
OLB Larry English, Northern Illinois (6-2, 254)
CB Asher Allen, Georgia (5-10, 198)
CB Coye Francies, San Jose State (6-0 179)
FS Louis Delmas, Western Michigan (6-0, 196)
SS William Moore, Missouri (6-1, 226)
SS Patrick Chung, Oregon (5-11, 210)
Tier 6 (Second-Round/Third-Round Caliber)
RB Donald Brown, Connecticut (5-10, 210)
WR Brian Robiskie, Ohio State (6-2, 200)
TE Chase Coffman, Missouri (6-6, 252)
OT Fenuki Tupou, Oregon (6-5, 332)
OT/OG Jamon Meredith, South Carolina (6-5, 304)
OG Herman Johnson, LSU (6-7, 382)
OG Andy Levitre, Oregon State (6-2, 318)
C Eric Wood, Louisville (6-5, 308)
C Antoine Caldwell, Alabama (6-5, 305)
DE Lawrence Sidbury Jr., Richmond (6-3, 267)
DE Paul Kruger, Utah (6-5, 265)
DT Mitch King, Iowa (6-2, 275)
DT Fili Moala, USC (6-5, 305)
OLB Clint Sintim, Virginia (6-3, 249)
CB Jairus Byrd, Oregon (6-0 200)
FS Sherrod Martin, Troy (6-1, 193)
SS Chip Vaughn, Wake Forest (6-2, 214)
Tier 7 (Third-Round Caliber)
QB Pat White, West Virginia (6-0, 192)
QB Nate Davis, Ball State (6-2, 218)
RB Rashad Jennings, Liberty (6-1, 232)
WR Brandon Tate, North Carolina (6-1, 195)
TE Cornelius Ingram, Florida (6-4, 245)
TE Travis Beckum, Wisconsin (6-3, 237)
OT Phil Loadholt, Oklahoma (6-8, 332)
OG Trevor Canfield, Cincinnati (6-5, 305)
OG Tyronne Green, Auburn (6-2, 309)
DT Dorell Scott, Clemson (6-3, 310)
DT Alex Magee, Purdue (6-3, 295)
DT Ricky Jean-Francois, LSU (6-3, 290)
OLB Tyrone McKenzie, South Florida (6-2, 235)
OLB Marcus Freeman, Ohio State (6-1, 238)
ILB Scott McKillop, Pittsburgh (6-1, 240)
CB Victor Harris, Virginia Tech (5-11, 195)
CB Kevin Barnes, Maryland (6-0, 189)
FS Rashad Johnson, Alabama (6-0, 190)
Tier 8 (Third-Round/Fourth-Round Caliber)
RB Jeremiah Johnson, Oregon (5-9, 208)
RB Andre Brown, N.C. State (6-0 224)
RB Glen Coffee, Alabama (6-0, 209)
WR Mike Thomas, Arizona (5-8 187)
OG Cornelius Lewis, Tennessee State (6-4, 324)
OG Kraig Urbik, Wisconsin (6-6, 323)
C Cecil Newton, Tennessee State (6-2, 295)
DT Corvey Irvin, Georgia (6-3, 289)
OLB Zack Follett, California (6-2, 238)
ILB Frantz Joseph, Florida Atlantic (6-2, 243)
ILB Darry Beckwith, LSU (6-1, 235)
CB Christopher Owens, San Jose State (5-10, 181)
CB Mike Mickens, Cincinnati (5-11, 184)
FS Derek Pegues, Mississippi State (5-10, 195)
FS Darcel McBath, Texas Tech (6-1, 198)
Tier 9 (Fourth-Round Caliber)
QB Graham Harrell, Texas Tech (6-2, 205)
QB Stephen McGee, Texas A&M (6-3, 216)
QB Rhett Bomar, Sam Houston State (6-2, 216)
RB Javon Ringer, Michigan State (5-9, 205)
WR Louis Murphy, Florida (6-3, 203)
WR Mike Wallace, Ole Miss (6-1, 199)
WR Kenny McKinley, South Carolina (6-1, 189)
OT Joel Bell, Furman (6-7, 315)
OG T.J. Lang, Eastern Michigan (6-4, 312)
OG Seth Olsen, Iowa (6-5, 304)
C Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas (6-5, 314)
DE Everette Pedescleaux, Northern Iowa (6-6, 305)
DE Kyle Moore, USC (6-5, 272)
DT Sammie Lee Hill, Stillman (6-4, 331)
DT Vance Walker, Georgia Tech (6-2, 295)
OLB Nic Harris, Oklahoma (6-3, 233)
OLB Victor Butler, Oregon State (6-2 241)
OLB Cody Brown, Connecticut (6-2, 242)
ILB Jasper Brinkley, South Carolina (6-2, 265)
ILB Gerald McRath, Southern Miss (6-3, 220)
CB Keenan Lewis, Oregon State (6-1, 208)
CB Joe Burnett, Central Florida (5-10, 192)
CB Cary Harris, USC (6-0, 187)
FS Brandon Underwood, Cincinnati (6-1, 192)
FS David Bruton, Notre Dame (6-2, 210)
SS Emanuel Cook, South Carolina (5-10, 205)
Tier 10 (Impact Late-Round Caliber)
RB Kory Sheets, Purdue (5-11, 203)
RB Devin Moore, Wyoming (5-9, 191)
FB Quinn Johnson, LSU (6-1, 260)
FB Conredge Collins, Pittsburgh (5-11, 232)
FB Tony Fiammetta, Syracuse (6-0, 238)
WR Deon Butler, Penn State (5-11, 168)
WR Quan Cosby, Texas (5-9, 191)
TE Davon Drew, East Carolina (6-4, 258)
C A.Q. Shipley, Penn State (6-1, 297)
C Alex Fletcher, Stanford (6-3, 302)
DE Phillip Hunt, Houston (6-1, 261)
DE Zach Potter, Nebraska (6-7, 279)
DT Myron Pryor, Kentucky (6-0, 310)
DT Roy Miller, Texas (6-1, 310)
OLB Lee Robinson, Alcorn State (6-2, 249)
SS Courtney Greene, Rutgers, (6-1, 211)
Comments
Add a CommentI completely agree with boomer. Great work! This is exactly why I read this site every day (if not multiple times a day). Mr. Bunting, keep up the great work and I look forward to your future contributions. Your insight and hard work are highly appreciated.
Wes your the man! Interesting Matthews has passed Cushing on your board. I loved what I saw from Clay last year and was loving the idea of the Raiders getting him with a 4th or 5th, but he has impressed me so much I'd be tempted to take him with the Raiders at 40 even though he wouldn't be the biggest need, I'd for sure take him if they acquired more picks.
Looks extremely consensus and cliche...I didn't learn anything and it looks like everyone else's big board.
John: who else has Matthew's over Cushing and Barwin over Cushing for that matter?
There is nothing "cliche" about it, Wes has Vontae Davis as a borderline first round pick, where everyone else has him as a top 15 selection.
Wes has Ayers as first round talent and Peria Jerry as a high first round talent most people have Ayers in the second and Jerry as a late first round guy
you tell me who else has all that? And thats just to name a few.
Thanks for posting this. Wanted to mention that you still list Everette Brown as 6'4 even though he came in under 6'2 in Indy.
Interesting to see Peria Jerry listed as high first round quality. I wonder if steady Teddy Thompson would consider him at #9 if Raji is gone? It seems unlikely that Ron Brace would fall to them in the second round and D-line is clearly the biggest need on the team.
So, how does one adjust this chart to the old Jimmy Johnson trade chart?
The tier ranking certainly seems to have more merit, regardless of the consensus on each player.
milltown, I think 9 is a little too high for Peria Jerry. The Packers need to move down in a bad way. Its not worth the cost for going up to top 5 for B.J. Raji. Expect a move down for Jerry, or Ron Brace may fall to them. DT is always a need for teams, but i think you've got a good shot at #41 at getting Brace.
I like to think the Packers couldnt pass up of Everette Brown of Brian Orakpo. Getting to the QB is really important in this league. However...(stream of consciousness if taking over)
The Packers are the only team in the NFC North will a pass heavy offense. Why would they go after a DE when they need to clog gaps and swallow up RB's? Why even go to the 3-4 (which has a greater emphasis of pass coverage than run stopping) when nobody else in that division passes the ball all that often? Minny would like to use Bernard Berrian (and Percy Harvin/Darrius Hayward-Bey) down the field, but Adrian Peterson is too good to pass up in play calling.
Maybe moving up for Raji isn't that bad an idea. He's a once in a generation DT. But at what cost to the Pack?
Just a thought.
Most people are moving Matthews ahead of Cushing his stock is on the rise.
Barwin is the only thing I can see were this guy is going out on a limb, so I hardly give him much credit for that.
Let's not forget, Wes had Andre Smith #1 overall not that long ago...good call after what he did with his agent and the work ethic concerns BEFORE the Combine.
If Brian Cushings is still on the board at #41 I think the Packers would be getting a heck of a deal.
I already read about this approach in NBA draft stories on sites like draftexpress, in the context of the approach a team takes towards the draft: drafting the best player available, or drafting for need.
This approach, if i'm not mistaken, is an attempt to combine both. Within the same tier, you pick the best fit for your team. But you never draft somebody for a lower tier when a player from a higher tier is still available.
Makes a lot of sense to me.
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01:38 PM
Absolutely great work! I would read this stuff all day. NO one else does it like you guys. I loved the intro as well, I knew it was a good day when the intro taught me something new.