In this episode, Santiago and Joe discuss the 2023 NFL Draft.
Contributors
Santiago Leon – @sleon
Joe Toscano – @joeybagovdonuts
Steelers projection draft picks at No. 17: CB Julias Brents from Kansas State, Jordan Addison from USC, CB Deonte Banks from Maryland, OT Broderick Jones from Georgia,
When is the 2023 NFL Draft?
- Round 1: Thursday, April 27, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
- Rounds 2 and 3: Friday, April 28, beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
- Rounds 4 through 7: Saturday, April 29, beginning at noon ET.
NOTES:
- The NFL announced in August that the Miami Dolphins will forfeit their 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-round pick following an investigation into whether the team violated league policies pertaining to the integrity of the game.
- The NFL announced on March 9 that the Houston Texans will forfeit their 2023 fifth-round pick due to a salary cap reporting violation from the 2020 league year.
- * denotes picks involved in trades that are not yet official.
- ** denotes picks involved in trades that are conditional.
Round 1
1) Carolina Panthers (from Chicago)
2) Houston Texans
3) Arizona Cardinals
4) Indianapolis Colts
5) Seattle Seahawks (from Denver)
6) Detroit Lions (from L.A. Rams)
7) Las Vegas Raiders
8) Atlanta Falcons
9) Chicago Bears (from Carolina)
10) Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans)
11) Tennessee Titans
12) Houston Texans (from Cleveland)
13) New York Jets
14) New England Patriots
15) Green Bay Packers
16) Washington Commanders
17) Pittsburgh Steelers
18) Detroit Lions
19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20) Seattle Seahawks
21) Los Angeles Chargers
22) Baltimore Ravens
23) Minnesota Vikings
24) Jacksonville Jaguars
25) New York Giants
26) Dallas Cowboys
27) Buffalo Bills
28) Cincinnati Bengals
29) New Orleans Saints (from San Francisco through Miami and Denver)
30) Philadelphia Eagles
31) Kansas City Chiefs
2023 NFL Prospects
QUARTERBACKS
- BRYCE YOUNG, ALABAMA
BIG BOARD RANK: 1
Young is the best playmaker at the quarterback position in the draft class. He can get you a bucket. Young earned a 92.2 grade in 2021 when he won the Heisman, and he followed it up with a 91.5 in 2022. - C.J. STROUD, OHIO STATE
BIG BOARD RANK: 6
Stroud put a stamp on his college tenure in a big way with the second-highest-graded game of his career against Georgia in the College Football Playoff. He has the accuracy and anticipation to thrive in the NFL. - WILL LEVIS, KENTUCKY
BIG BOARD RANK: 7
Levis fought to keep his head above water week in and week out against SEC competition. He’ll be battle-tested for the NFL. Levis played through turf toe for much of the 2022 season but earned a 90.6 overall grade when healthy under former Rams offensive coordinator Liam Coen in 2021. - ANTHONY RICHARDSON, FLORIDA
BIG BOARD RANK: 11
Richardson oozes ability. His highlight reel from his lone season as a starter rivals any you’ll see from a college prospect. He’s still a project, though, and finished with an 80.1 overall grade this past season. - HENDON HOOKER, TENNESSEE
BIG BOARD RANK: 47
Hooker is a gifted runner with an NFL-caliber right arm, and he made strides in each season as a starter. He just comes with some big red flags between his age (will be 25 as a rookie), a torn ACL in November and the gimmicky Tennessee offense. - TANNER MCKEE, STANFORD
BIG BOARD RANK: 81
McKee is already well-equipped to operate an NFL offense given what he was asked to do at Stanford. He’s one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the class, and he pairs that ability with lightning-quick processing. McKee’s career time to throw at Stanford was a swift 2.49 seconds. - DORIAN THOMPSON-ROBINSON, UCLA
BIG BOARD RANK: 149
DTR is experienced enough to feel confident that he’s a capable backup with developmental potential. - JAKE HAENER, FRESNO STATE
BIG BOARD RANK: 175
A small quarterback who has an injury history and question marks under pressure isn’t going to be coveted highly, but he could very well land a backup role early in his career. - CLAYTON TUNE, HOUSTON
BIG BOARD RANK: 176
There’s so much quarterback nuance to clean up in Tune’s game that it’s hard to see him starting anytime soon. - STETSON BENNETT, GEORGIA
BIG BOARD RANK: 181
Whichever team takes Bryce Young could be well served to take Bennett in the late rounds to run the same offense.
RUNNING BACKS
- BIJAN ROBINSON, TEXAS
BIG BOARD RANK: 8
Robinson has such an uncanny ability to stop and start for a 220-pounder. And when he is at top speed, good luck trying to tackle him. Robinson set the PFF college record with 104 broken tackles in 2022. - JAHMYR GIBBS, ALABAMA
BIG BOARD RANK: 34
Gibbs is a home run waiting to happen — not only on the ground but through the air. In three years between Georgia Tech and Alabama, Gibbs caught 103 passes for 1,215 yards and eight scores. - ZACH CHARBONNET, UCLA
BIG BOARD RANK: 50
Charbonnet is a well-built, elusive back with bell-cow potential. He earned top-three rushing grades in the FBS in each of the past two seasons. - DEVON ACHANE, TEXAS A&M
BIG BOARD RANK: 63
Achane has burners, quicks and contact balance — a rare combination. He broke 53 tackles on 196 attempts for an 89.8 rushing grade last fall. - TYJAE SPEARS, TULANE
BIG BOARD RANK: 84
Spears is a space player with big-time home-run potential. He’s a headache for linebackers in the open field. This past fall, he went for 1,587 yards on 231 carries with 19 scores and 1,052 yards after contact. - TANK BIGSBY, AUBURN
BIG BOARD RANK: 86
Bigsby was playing against a loaded hand more often than not behind Auburn’s offensive line. Of his 5.5 yards per carry this past season, 4.16 of them came after contact. - DEWAYNE MCBRIDE, UAB
BIG BOARD RANK: 98
McBride was the most dominant running back in college football over the past three seasons. In that span, he ran for 3,507 yards on 484 carries (7.2 yards per carry) and broke 175 tackles on 484 attempts. Unfortunately, he also fumbled nine times over that span. - ROSCHON JOHNSON, TEXAS
BIG BOARD RANK: 101
Johnson was stuck behind the best running back in the country, but when was called upon he was nearly as difficult to bring down as Bijan. He broke 46 tackles on 94 carries in 2022. - CHASE BROWN, ILLINOIS
BIG BOARD RANK: 106
Brown is an explosive and compact running back. He may struggle to see the field if his fumble issues persist, though. He coughed up five balls this season to tie for the national lead. - DEUCE VAUGHN, KANSAS STATE
BIG BOARD RANK: 109
Vaughn is tiny by running back standards, standing at 5-foot-5 and 179 pounds. He doesn’t run like it, though. He peaked with a 93.4 rushing grade in 2021 and went for 2,970 rushing yards across the past two seasons.
WIDE RECEIVERS
- JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA, OHIO STATE
BIG BOARD RANK: 9
Smith-Njigba missed almost the entire fall with hamstring issues but was Ohio State’s leading receiver in 2021 as a sophomore. That year, he caught 95 passes for 1,595 yards and nine scores. He provides the uncoachable route-running ability and ball skills that will always have a role in the NFL. - JORDAN ADDISON, USC
BIG BOARD RANK: 23
Addison was the Biletnikoff Award winner with Pittsburgh in 2021 before transferring to USC. He’s a crafty route runner with the kind of bend to run a full route tree. He caught 159 passes for 2,468 yards and 25 scores over the past two seasons. - QUENTIN JOHNSTON, TCU
BIG BOARD RANK: 25
Johnston is a force of nature at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds. He is your vertical route tree X receiver in this class. For his college career, Johnston averaged 18.8 yards per reception. - ZAY FLOWERS, BOSTON COLLEGE
BIG BOARD RANK: 33
Flowers is the best pure separator in the draft class. Defensive backs won’t be able to stick with him across on his route breaks unless they’re holding him. He racked up 1,077 yards and 12 scores this past season. - JOSH DOWNS, NORTH CAROLINA
BIG BOARD RANK: 38
Downs is a slot weapon that you can feed schemed-up targets to and watch go to work. He racked up 195 catches for 2,364 yards and 19 scores across the past two years. The only problem is that he’s probably never going to be much more than a slot at his size (5-foot-10, 175 pounds), with only 81 routes on the outside in his career. - TANK DELL, HOUSTON
BIG BOARD RANK: 45
Dell’s size — 5-foot-10, 165 pounds — won’t be for everyone, but he’s an easy separator with another gear to stride away from defenders. He had a monster 2022 campaign for Houston with 108 catches, 1,399 yards and 17 scores. - JALIN HYATT, TENNESSEE
BIG BOARD RANK: 55
Hyatt possesses elite juice to stretch the field. That helped him house 15 scores this past season. It was a massive breakout year, as he finished with 67 catches for 1,267 yards. - CEDRIC TILLMAN, TENNESSEE
BIG BOARD RANK: 61
Tillman is the most physical receiver in the draft class. He’s a safe bet as a possession receiver, as he dropped only five of his 104 career catchable targets. - RASHEE RICE, SMU
BIG BOARD RANK: 72
Rice has some of the best body control in the draft class. That shows with his work at the catch point (16 contested catches last fall) and after the catch (19 broken tackles). - MARVIN MIMS, OKLAHOMA
BIG BOARD RANK: 75
Mims is on the smaller side for the position but is the type of athlete who can make up for it. He went for more than 1,000 yards last season and averaged 19.5 yards per catch for his career.
Santiago Leon is the Founder and CEO of the Sports Cast. He covers NFL, NBA, and world soccer. He’s also founder of sleon productions, which he specializes in technology and serves clients with solutions to make their business grow.
