The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Joel Klatt ranks his Top 50 Prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt ranks his top 50 prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft. How high does Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza land on the list as an overall prospect? He also discusses his evaluation of Alabama QB Ty Simpson as his QB2 and how high he should be on his Big Board. Does Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love top the list? How many Ohio State players crack his Top 5 with prospects like Arvell Reese, Caleb Downs, Sonny Styles and Carnell Tate in the Draft? Klatt reveals 3 Wide Receivers inside his Top 15 players including a WR that flew under the radar for much of the College Football season. 0:00-1:22 Intro1:23-2:35 Player 502:36-2:42 Player 492:43-3:06 Player 483:07-3:27 Player 473:28-3:41 Player 463:42-4:21 Player 454:22-4:56 Player 444:57-5:33 Player 435:34-5:55 Player 425:56-6:28 Player 416:29-7:17 Player 407:18-7:41 Player 397:42-8:23 Player 388:24-9:00 Player 379:01-9:30 Player 369:31-9:50 Player 359:51-10:15 Player 3410:16-10:28 Player 3310:29-11:32 Player 3211:33-12:12 Player 3112:13-12:35 Player 3012:36-12:54 Player 2912:55-13:24 Player 2813:25-14:05 Player 2714:06-14:45 Player 2614:46-15:27 Player 2515:28-16:21 Player 2416:22-16:55 Player 2316:56-17:19 Player 2217:20-18:06 Player 2118:07-18:36 Player 2018:37-19:10 Player 1919:11-19:28 Player 1819:29-20:08 Player 1720:09-20:53 Player 1620:54-21:17 Player 1521:18-22:24 Player 1422:25-22:54 Player 1322:55-23:56 Player 1223:57-24:36 Player 1124:37-25:10 Player 1025:11-25:53 Player 925:54-26:36 Player 826:37-27:27 Player 727:28-28:06 Player 628:07-29:12 Player 529:13-30:17 Player 430:18-31:06 Player 331:07-32:10 Player 232:11-35:31 Player 1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The top 50 players available in the NFL draft, did he get his foot down? Omar Cooper, yes, he did back of the end, so that's what I'm talking about. Every single one of these Ohio State receivers goes into the league and they're ready made to produce right away. I know some people will say like, you can't draft a running back that high in the first round. Well, maybe you can if it's a talent like this. Number one player on the big board. This has to do with his play and his value at this position. A day like today is why we love college football.

Hey, welcome into the program. This is a Joel Clat show. I'm Joel Clad. This show is brought to you by graduate by Hilton. We thank them for their support as always. A big one here today. We are unveiling our top 50 list here at the Joel Clad show. That's right. The top 50 players available in the NFL draft. It's my big board and it's coming straight at you. Hey, just remember, if you haven't subscribed on YouTube, you need to go do that. The show is better on YouTube. So go do that right now. Also hit that notification button. And then if you haven't followed us on social, media. We are everywhere that you like to social media. Wherever you like to social media, you can follow us there at Joel Kladscho out there on social. Let's go. It's going to be 50 to one. Let's get into it right away. At number 50 is a guy that I really loved, really loved during the course of the last couple of years. And the only reason that he's not really the top corner in the draft and a first, for sure, first round pick is his size. That's DeAngelo Ponds from Indiana. So he's going to be number 50 and he measured. at 5'8. If he was any taller, if he was six foot with the way he played, there's no doubt

he'd be a top 15 pick, but he's 5.8, even though he's explosive and his vert was 43 and a half at the combine, which was exceptional, he's going to get in here at number 50. Now, just remember, this was one of the best defenses in college football at Indiana. And the entire schematics of what they did under Bryant Haynes, the defensive coordinator, revolved around not an interior player, not a defensive lineman or a pass rusher. It revolved around structurally DeAngelo Pons. They would roll away for him, create numbers everywhere else on the field, and allow him to kind of take away half the field.

That's how good he is. I think he's excellent. I think he could play in the slot as well. So a little bit of a value pick right there. He's going to be number 50 on my big board. Some other corners here that I'm going to get through here as we're kind of deep into this 50. Corner Brandon Cise from South Carolina,

Twitchy athlete. I like him a lot. He was at North Carolina State before going to South Carolina. At 48, I've got corner Kiante Scott from Miami, slot corner who played safety at times. I think that versatility is always good and valuable. Everyone's going to remember that pick six from Ohio State when he jumped the route, took it back for six.

That was clearly his legendary play on their run to get to the national championship game. He's an older guy, by the way, will turn 25 by the time the season starts. At 47, let's go to the edge. Remember those are always valuable guys. Malachi Lawrence from Central Florida, UCF. I like Malachi Lawrence a lot. Athletic player. He's 6'4.

He's 253 pounds. He ran 4'5 in the 40 with a 40-inch vert. So that type of explosiveness is always going to be valuable on the edge. So he gets in here at 47. At 46, another corner, Chris Johnson from San Diego State, good size. Really love his length. He's 6 foot, 193 pounds. He's a really good player.

so watch out for Chris Johnson here in the top 50. At 45, a guy that I'm a bit higher on than some of the others out there, and that's Trayton Stukes. He's a safety from Arizona, and he was exceptional. That Arizona defense was one of the best in the country this last year, got to prep for that Arizona defense, getting ready for the Holiday Bowl, as they took on SMU. Now, Trayden didn't play along with some of the other veteran players from that secondary,

but that was one of the best past defenses in all of college football. and Trayton Stoakes was really the leader. They raved. The coaching staff raved about his leadership ability, his ability to go and make plays. They were a ball hawking secondary. So Stoaks is a guy that I would pay attention to here in the top 50. Another one that I thought just had a really solid career.

And then eventually at the end of his career became the number one on his team. And that's an outside wide receiver, Jeremy Bernard at Alabama. Listen, Bernard is a solid player. And again, he moved around quite a bit, and his career at Michigan State. Then he was at Washington, followed DeBoer into Alabama. Great hands, only four drops in his career. And as this process goes along,

I'm starting to hear his name quite a bit in NFL circles. So they're liking what they see. I like what I see on film. So Jeremy Bernard at 44. At 43 is the second running back I have on the entire big board. It happens to be, yes, a backup running back, but only because he backed up one of the best players in the country. and Jeremiah Love, this is Judarian Price at Notre Dame.

So the top two running backs in my top 50, both from Notre Dame. He averaged six yards per carry in his career in South Bend, had 280 total carries in three seasons. So he is not worn out. He's 5-11, 200 pounds, really good player, big play threat, just like his teammate love, five rushing touchdowns of over 40 yards. So Judarian Price, really good player there.

At 42, Zion Young from Missouri on the edge. Powerful guy. Six, six, great length on the edge. 262 pounds. He had 16.5 tackles for loss, which was second in the SEC. Love his ability to get after it on the outside. He also had six and a half sacks for Missouri. So Zion Young at 42. At 41, on the edge, R. Mason Thomas from Oklahoma.

Remember, this Oklahoma defense for Brent Venables was outstanding. I know they lost that home playoff game to Alabama, but boy, that was a defensive-led team. Offense did not do really anything the second half of the season. He is a productive player over the last couple of years for Venables. Consider it a little undersized, but I love his production. He's 6-2-240 pounds. That didn't stop him 15 and a half sacks in 23 games over two years. Great production.

So I like R Mason Thomas right there. At number 40, here's a guy. I keep saying this. Everybody that I was a teammate with at Colorado is rolling their eyes because we used to make fun of these types of terms, but our coaches would say, hey, sometimes this guy is just a football playing Jesse, and that's exactly what Jacob Rodriguez is,

the linebacker from Texas Tech. This guy was outstanding, outstanding. Butkus type of guy. He was in there fighting for the ball, at or near the line of scrimmage, a ton. He has a nose for turnovers, great instincts, terrific leader. he could be the captain of a defense. I really love what this guy was able to do. In fact,

not just in the conversation for the Buckets, he won the Buckets Award, best linebacker in college football, great production, Jacob Rodriguez at number 40. At 39, I'm going to go with another linebacker. And this is a player that I just felt like was a bit twitchier with a higher upside than Rodriguez. So he gets one slot higher. That's Anthony Hill from Texas, started all three years for the Longhorns. He was a five-star recruit, All-American, his last couple of years at Texas, really good player and a guy that I could see have a really solid NFL career. At 38, a guy that I thought was going to be higher on this list, but during the draft process, he slipped just a little bit. That's Caden MacDonald, the defensive tackle from Ohio State.

Now, listen, he was a real key to what they were able to do with Matt Patricia, the defensive coordinator. Remember, they played a lot of what I would call odd defense, odd meaning that you play with a true nose tackle. that true nose tackle was Cade MacDonald. He's twitchy, he's powerful, he's big, he can solidify the interior of that defensive line, and even from a tackle position, he can get production in the backfield. Tackles for loss, sacks.

I like Cade McDonald a lot, 330-pound run stuffer with some athleticism. You bet, sign me up for a guy like that. At 37, all right, here we go, pronunciations. As you know, when I called Cooper DeGine, DeJon, last week on my mock draft. Pronunciations are not my strong suit. So here we go.

We ready? Max I Hanachor. That's right. I got it. The tackle from Arizona State. He's been a riser in this process after a really strong week at the senior bowl. Didn't start playing football until junior college.

He was born in Nigeria, moved to the U.S. when he was 13. So I think there's a lot of potential with a high ceiling for Max Ionachor. I think he's a really good player. He checks in at 37. At 36, let's go back down to Texas Tech. Remember that defense was solid.

Interior, you've got to build a defense inside out, front to back. Well, front to back, Lee Hunter, defensive tackle for Texas Tech was outstanding. All-American this past year, big body in the middle of that line, 320 pounds. And a lot like Caden McDonald, he had explosiveness and athleticism and can get in the backfield and disrupt. So a guy that can do that from the interior is always going to be valuable. Lee Hunter at 36. Corner from Clemson at 35, Avion Terrell, younger brother of the Falcons Corner, AJ Terrell.

I think this guy's got great bloodlines. He's got good athleticism. Again, I think some of these Clemson guys could have been higher on this list if they would have reached expectations last year as a team. But for now, he's 35. At 34, another one of those Clemson players, T.J. Parker on the edge, his 2025 season didn't quite live up to the expectations of what he did. did in 2024 when he was a true sophomore and he had 11 sacks in that season. But he's still

6'4. He's still 265 pounds. And again, you look at what he was able to do in 2024. If that translates to the NFL, this guy's going to be a heck of a player. Another corner on the board at 33, Colton Hood from Tennessee. Really strong player out of Tennessee. They had two really good corners with Jermad McCoy and Colton Hood. I like Hood right here at 33. At 32, here we go, we get into a quarterback finally. Ty Simpson is going to check in at 32. Now, he kind of falls all over the place on a lot of these big boards that you see, you know, all these people doing big boards. I'm a Ty Simpson fan. I know his size is going to turn some people away, but if you watch him play, the film suggests that he plays a lot bigger than his actual frame. And the reason is, is that he

makes really strong, accurate, intermediate, intermediate, and deep level throws, in particular outside the numbers. When you can do that, do I really care about your size? He's a battler. This guy is a warrior in there. I mean, some of those games that he played, Georgia on the road, Oklahoma on the road in the playoff, he was exceptional. And in a lot of respects, an Alabama team that kind of struggled this year, if you, I think that it's safe to say, he was a real bright spot and was the reason that they were winning football games a lot of the time. So Ty Simpson, leadership, big throws, all those things I really love. at the quarterback position.

So he's at 32. At 31, KC. Concepcion, the wide receiver from Texas, A&M, dynamic guy, right? Lots of speed, lots of short area quickness. I think he can be a guy that you look up in a couple of years and you're like, okay, this guy is a smart, point guard style quarterback's best friend. So Casey Concepcion, as the league has,

I don't want to say moved away from the big frame wide receiver, but certainly we've seen more value pop up with these guys with short area quickness that can operate in the middle of the field. He can play outside and inside, but I certainly think he can do that on the inside there at wide receiver. So he's 31. At 30, C.J. Allen from Georgia, really good linebacker, really good linebacker. And again, I don't know if you can go wrong with Georgia defenders, right?

I mean, they run an NFL style of scheme. You know they're going to come in and be smart. you see all of these guys that have been in the league in the last two, three, four seasons, they've succeeded. And I think C.J. Allen will be another one of those at 30. At 29, let's go back, interior defensive line, Peter Woods from Clemson. Came into last year, I thought he could be a top 10 pick. But again, like all of these Clemson players, they fell short of expectation as a team.

So he's going to fall down the draft board just a little bit. So Peter Woods is going to be inside of my top 30, but at 29. at 28 offensive tackle Caleb Lomu from Utah, really good player. And he's going to be the second Utah offensive lineman inside of the top 30. This is a guy that I think can be a really, really strong contributor. And I would not be shocked if he could be versatile and play in and out. I think the same could be said for Spencer Fano, who I'll get to a little bit later in this top 50. He's the other Utah tackle that's inside of this top 30, but Lomu is at 28.

At 27, Caleb Banks. Okay, so we've talked about Caleb Banks a little bit, the Devens of Tackle from Florida. They just don't build guys like this, okay? And his frame and his size is just going to be enticing. He's 6-6-327 pounds. I mean, like, come on, 35-inch arm length, 85 wingspan, which is over 8 feet.

The challenge for him is going to be matching his athletic profile with the production. And to be fair, this last year, he lost a ton of time. got derailed by a foot injury, he broke his foot, so he doesn't have a ton of film. But I'm telling you, the traits are going to be hard to pass up here. So he's inside of my top 30 here at 27. 26, a guy I really like it. I got to be honest, during this process, you know, you're like, shouldn't this guy be higher?

You can make an argument he should be higher. Keldrick Falk, Edge, Auburn. He's only 20 years old, fascinating player. and production, I think it probably should have been higher for his build and athleticism. I could see his impact in the NFL be greater than what his impact was at Auburn. They had a ton of transition at Auburn over the last few years, trying to get themselves back on solid footing. He's a really good player.

I've got him at 26. Another edge player, and this is why Falk had to slip to 26, is I just couldn't put him higher than Cassius Howell from Texas A&M. He doesn't have off the charts body type or any of those traits, but man, you just couldn't block this guy at A&M. He was terrific in production, and I'm always going to go to the tape over traits. Now, traits can get you drafted. There's no doubt.

Falk is that way. Caleb Banks is that way. But then you've got to go to the production. What are you on film? When you're playing the game, are you disruptive? Do you impact positively for the defense? Cassius Hal does that. at A&M. So he checks in right here at 25.

24, we get to some wide receivers. How about Denzel Boston from Washington? This guy is a dynamic guy now. I really like Denzel Boston. He's a big body receiver, 6-4, and the traditionalists will tell you in the NFL, you need that big body in particular when you get into the cold weather months,

you get into the playoffs, and somebody that can win those contested situations. The windows in the playoffs in particular, and as you get deeper into the playoffs, They are so small. And you've got to have a strong, big body wide receiver that can go win in those moments. I think Boston is one of those guys. By the way, he doesn't, well, he doesn't really even have a 40 time.

He hasn't run a straight line 40. So you can question his overall speed. But what you can't question is his quickness. He was excellent when you looked at the shuttle, third fastest time among all receivers. So like, listen, that's something. It's about creating space and catching the ball. He can do both of those things. At 23, I'm going to go with Jordan Tyson from Arizona State.

I thought that this guy was outstanding on the outside. Great wide receiver. Highlight reel when he's on the field. He can go up and get it again, that contested situation. He's excellent there. The knock is going to be his injury history. I'm hearing some of those murmurs of like, will he even be on the field? He did not run at the combine because he's still working his way back from a hamstring injury,

blew out his knee when he was at Colorado before he transferred to Arizona State. but Tyson, when healthy, is an elite-level prospect. At 22, the tackle from Alabama, Caden Proctor, really good player. Monstrous human being. He's six, seven, guys. Come on, measured in at 352. He's athletic. Again, like Caleb Banks on the defensive side,

they just don't make them like this, you know? And when you can draft traits and you can see it on the field, that's a good thing. So Caden Proctor are in there at 22. Getting closer to the top 20 here. 21. Safety, Dylan Thinemann from Oregon. Now, this is a guy that is rising up draft boards.

I didn't think that he had a great season at Oregon. His tape is actually better from his first two years in college football when he was at Purdue. So he's best when he's in a free safety mode and he can play center field. But he's so smart and athletic that Oregon tried to play him a little bit like Caleb Downs played at Ohio State at or near the line of scrimmage as more of a roamer in that situation,

made that incredible pick if you're watching YouTube in overtime on Drew Aller against Penn State in that thrilling game. But this is a guy that is fast and he is physical. Three years of starting experience. He was a freshman All-American before going to Oregon. So I like Dylan Thineman. Someone's going to really like him in the NFL. Now we get into the top 20. Here we go.

Edge, Akeem Mesidor from Miami. Listen, guys, turn on the videotape, right? This guy was a game wrecker along with his teammate, Ruben. Bain. Big frame. He's 6.3, 260 pounds. Super productive for the hurricanes, goes inside and outside so he provides a little versatility. He is going to be 25 years old on draft day. He began his career at West Virginia before going down to Miami and having that solid season last year. At 19, small school guy from Toledo, Emmanuel McNeill Warren, the safety from Toledo, really active player. His tape is littered with plays on

the ball. Okay, so if you want a guy that's going to be impactful and around the football at the safety position, McNeil Warren is your guy, hits, picks, all of that. We've seen small school guys succeed in the league. Quignon Mitchell was his teammate. Now he's with the Eagles. He's been a great player. So Emmanuel McNeil Warren is inside of the top 20 at 19. At 18, tackle from Clemson Blake Miller. Miller's a solid prospect now. And he played a ton of football, super experienced guy at right tackle over 50 starts for Davo at Clemson and he's 6,7, 320 pounds. Yeah, sign me up. Sign me up for experience right there.

At 17, a guy that's been rising up draft boards, and we should have probably seen this because of his experience and his position value. Left tackle, Georgia, Monroe Freeling, really talented guy. Only one year as a starter at Georgia, but it is the top left tackle specifically in the draft, could benefit, by the way, him greatly, in particular when the Browns are selecting at six. Remember in my mock draft, and if you haven't looked at the mock draft, go back and watch that mock draft on YouTube. But this is a guy with ideal length at left tackle and his value at left could get him drafted a little bit sooner than maybe the big board would suggest.

At 16, interior offensive linemen, Vanya Yoenya, Yawainya from Penn State, super athletic and powerful guy, really powerful guy on the interior. Someone is going to get a steal with him, and in particular because I don't know if you're going to value these interior linemen probably like you should, but someone that needs an interior alignment is going to get

the best interior alignment in this draft, and that is Ewania. He is really good. He's the only interior guy in the top 50. I love this. You've got to watch YouTube because they put him in motion and they got creative with him with his athleticism at Penn State. Really love him. He can be a left guard, right guard for 10, 12 years in the NFL. Stay on the O line at

15. Let's go Spencer Fano, the tackle from Utah. Now, I think he also provides some versatility. Some believe he could go down and play guard. I'm one of those. I think that he could go and do both. This is a really good player. One of the things that's going to be a knock on him is that he struggled a little bit against Texas Tech and their elite defensive line in that matchup with the Red Raiders in Salt Lake earlier this year. That was a game that Gus and Jenny and I called. So that's going to be a knock on him just a little bit, in particular at a straight tackle spot.

But again, position, versatility. I think that helps him. At 14, this is a guy, I'm just going to be higher on this guy than most. Did he get his foot down? Omar Cooper, yes, he did back of the end. So that's what I'm talking about. One of my favorite players in the draft, I thought he was the best wide receiver in the Big Ten,

and maybe in the country with the ball in his hands after the catch, maybe, you know, I don't know, Zachrod Branch would have something to say about that and rightly so. But listen, Omar Cooper was out saying, there's the play right there. Did he get his foot down? Absolutely. He did great body control. He can work the middle of the field. Great hands, smart player.

Omar Cooper is a guy that I think could be a real value add on the interior of a passing game for someone in the NFL. And when you see guys like JSN, Jackson Smith, and Jigba, do what he was able to do. you get the right fit, the right offense, the right quarterback. That's exactly what Omar Cooper could do. Really powerful lower half. That's what you want when you're talking about those slot wide receivers. At 13, a guy that's going to have some injury concerns. Could he be the top corner in the draft?

Yes. Could he fall down the draft and maybe even outside of the first round? However unlikely that is, it could happen because of the injury concerns Jermad McCoy, the corner from Tennessee. He had that ACL injury. So we just haven't seen him in quite a bit. If he hadn't torn his ACL, though, I'm telling you, his 24 tape was outstanding. Did not squash those concerns at the combine.

He did not run, but he is planning to work out at his pro day, so we'll see how that goes. At number 12, I'm telling you, man, someone is going to love this guy. It will not shock me at all. If we're talking about in a few years, one of the best tight ends in the National Football League is Kenyon Sadiq from Oregon. One of the things I love about Sadiq is his athleticism. So he provides a weapon for a quarterback in particular in the Reds, zone. That's exactly what he did for Dante Moore at Oregon last year. But, but as Dan Laining

very accurately put it to me, go watch a blocking cut up of this guy. This guy works hard regardless of down and distance, regardless of situation. He's a devastating blocker. And so that versatility means that you can be, I would say, versatile with what your offense is, your schematics are, in particular from a personnel grouping standpoint. So I really love Sadiq from that aspect. Great athlete. He's 6-3, 240 pounds. 439 in the 40. Come on. That's ridiculous. 43.5 vert, nasty blocker. He's inside of my top 15. He's 12 overall. Number 11, tape don't lie. Ruben, Ruben Bain is a game wrecker. This guy is awesome, man. Dominated everybody he lined up against this year. What I love most about Ruben Bain is that it did not matter

the down and distance, the game's situation. This guy was 100% all the time. All the time. Against the run, the pass. His motor does not stop. It does not stop. Love Bain. I know, I know.

There's some concern about his length and in particular his arm length. If he falls, someone's going to get an absolute steal. He's my number 11 player in the draft. Number 10, my top corner in the draft, Mansoor Delane from LSU, All-American out of LSU. Do it all corner. What I love about him is he's not afraid to be physical,

both in the passing game and he'll come up and be a great tackler. I think every great corner has to be willing to step in there and get physical on the edge, and he absolutely has that. He's also very smooth in coverage. Mansour Delane, I think certainly is going to get selected in the top 10. I would be pretty surprised if Bain or Delane get past the chiefs, which I believe is the ninth pick. My number nine player in the draft, however,

is Mackay Lemon slot receiver from USC. Again, I keep talking about this value. I don't think you have to be the prototypical big body wide receiver in order to create a lot of value at wide receiver. You get a guy that understands football like Mackay Lemon does and you can create a threat on offense. He's got the best spatial awareness in the draft at the wide receiver position. He just understands coverage,

He understands space. He knows how to get himself open. He's reliable with the football. And he's really tough, man. This guy will go into traffic and he will catch the football over the middle of the field, create big plays after the catch.

Really love Mackay Lemon. He's inside of my top 10. At number eight, Francis Maui Noah. Maui Noah is my top tackle available in the draft. Beast on the right side. There's been some questioning about his past blocking ability, whether he can move laterally and maybe play left tackle. People think he's probably more a right.

tackle, which is what he played at Miami. What you don't have any questions about is his ability to just own the line of scrimmage. That was evident in that run in the playoff toward the national championship game. They won the line of scrimmage on the defensive side with Mesidor and Bain. They won it on the offensive side with Maui Noah. I thought he was terrific. He was a five star out of high school, started right away from Mario Cristobal at Miami, and this guy plays angry. I really love his game. Number seven, my top receiver in the draft, Cornell Tate from Ohio State. Outstanding downfield threat. You talk about contested catch situations. This guy is terrific. He got overshadowed because of the absolute beast on the

other side of the field and Jeremiah Smith. But man, Tate is outstanding and he's a technician, which is what you would expect from Ohio State. He's a smooth route runner. He's 6'2. He's 195 pounds. He's got good speed, he's got good quickness, and because he comes out of that tree, you know he will produce. Every single one of these Ohio State receivers goes into the league, and they're ready made to produce right away, right away. And he's absolutely one of them. There's no doubt in my mind.

Carnel Tate, easily a top 10 pick. He's my number seven player on the big board. At number six, value, value, value, edge players, David Bailey from Texas Tech, game wrecker off the edge. He led the power four in sacks, tackles for loss, in his one year at tech. He had three years at Stanford. He goes to tech, and he was outstanding. Leads them to a Big 12 championship, leads them into a playoff spot.

They really, I don't want to say exceeded, but they matched their expectations, which were sky high, and all of that investment on the defensive line paid off, none more so than David Bailey. He was outstanding, and I think he's got a real chance to be the top people. pure edge rusher in the draft. At number five, a guy that has rocketed up draft boards. Now, he was already high. Many people before the Combined had this guy inside of the top 15.

Now I've got him inside of my top five. He is number five overall in that sunny styles, the linebacker for the Buckeyes at Ohio State. Perfect linebacker for today's game because of his versatility. Remember, his first year starting at Ohio State as just a youngster. He played safety. Then he moves down to linebacker. He's their captain, Block O,

Nobody had more respect in that locker room than Sunny Stiles. Smart player. He can cover out of the backfield, terrific tackler, and he runs like crazy. I mean, his 40 was one of the great combines in history, he's 6, 5, 245 pounds, ran 446 with a 43 and a half vertical jump. That's insane, insane. And because of that, you pair that with all the intangibles, and he's certainly going to get taken, at least in my estimation, in the top 10.

I don't think that you can let this guy go because again, he's going to be the focal point of your defense for years to come. He'll be a captain of face of your franchise on the defensive side. I would say the same about this next player. My number four player is not going to get selected likely in the top five, even though he should based on his impact on the field. The safety from Ohio State, Caleb Downs. I don't think there is a better pure defender in this draft. Caleb Downs is outstanding. Now, would the NFL decision makers love to see him be a little bit bigger?

Yeah, probably. But man, again, just look at the tape. Watch him play and impact the game in every single area, coverage, blitzing, at the line of scrimmage, deep down the field. He does it all. And one of the things that I loved about him was our conversations. He is as smart as anybody that I've covered in college football. Matt Patricia will back that up.

They got to talk about things that normal college players would never, ever talk about from a schematic standpoint. His intangibles are off the charts. He's a great tackler in particular for his size. So again, his size might not get him drafted all that high. Someone's going to get a steal. And this is a guy that I think can absolutely be an all pro at some point in his career in the NFL. And number three, a guy with just an enormous ceiling, Arvel Reese from Ohio State, my top defensive player on the board. I think he's just scratching the surface. One year as a starter, and it was an outstanding year. And here's the thing. He was playing basically two positions a lot of the time, because he was an off the ball linebacker, as the

lineup would tell you. But then they used him off the edge as a pass rusher, a blitzer on the interior, got great bend, great athleticism. If Stiles wasn't putting together one of the great combines that we've ever seen in history, Arvel Reese would have been the one that was coming up huge. So three straight buckhies here inside of the top five. Styles, Downs, Reese. Reese is outstanding. And again, upside, upside, upside. He's only started one year.

I think this is a type of guy that can be a game wrecker in the NFL. I think he's going to be great. At number two, can't get this guy out of my head, man. Jeremiah Love. Jeremiah Love is so good. And when we think about these offenses that are excelling in the NFL, every one of them, or maybe not every one of them, but a lot of them have a back that can do multiple things.

So here's the thing that I love about, Jeremiah love. He can run between the tackles and hit a home run. He can beat you outside and hit a home run. He can catch it really well and hit a home run. He can get physical yards. He does it all. He can be on the field all three downs. This is a type of guy that can easily make your offense better. I don't think he gets outside of the top six in this draft. I really don't. I think that the Titans would be a great selection for him inside of the top five. Get Cam Ward a little bit of help. He's my number two overall player on the board, and I know some people will say, like, you can't draft a running back that high in the first round. Well, maybe you can if it's a talent like this. And he's also got a great

mentality, got to meet him and talk with him when I hosted the Doke Walker Award earlier this year. Outstanding guy, outstanding player. My number one player on the big board, this has to do with his play and his value at this position is Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback from Indiana. 6-5-2-25, so he checks that box. Oh, did he play great in crunch time? Yes. Yes, yes, he did. It's not enough for me for a quarterback to be good on base downs. You better be locked up and play great when your best is needed. That's exactly what Fernando Mendoza did in every single big moment last season,

and almost all of them were away from home. At home, he was just killing folks like Illinois. But when he went on the road against Iowa, comes back, last minute drive, puts a ball in the end zone. On the road against Oregon, comes back, fourth quarter drive, puts the ball in the end zone. Penn State. Second and forever. Crowds going crazy. Right down the field, finds Omar Cooper, and they win the game on the road at Penn State. Against Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game.

Big play after big play after big play, including third and fourth down, great back shoulder throws, great timing, great accuracy. He throws with leverage down the field. That's my number one trait for a quarterback. When you're throwing the ball in the intermediate parts of the field or outside the numbers, does your guy have a better chance than the defender at the football? And absolutely the case with Fernando Mendoza. Great leverage player, terrific intangibles, solid leader, face of the franchise, Fernando Mendoza is my top player available in this year's NFL draft. So there's the top 50, as I see it. Just a couple of quick notes. What's fascinating to me about college football is the cyclical nature, right? So we've seen

this sport transition, and there's been a lot of talk about this, obviously, in particular with the Big Ten winning three straight national championships. But listen, for a decade, the SEC owned not only college football in general winning national championships, but the NFL draft. And for for 10 years, no other conference had more first round draft picks than the SEC for 10 straight years. That's likely going to end this year. In fact, when you look at it, it's actually quite shocking.

I only have three SEC players in my top 20 overall. Now, I can see the comments down below. Oh, Clatt, you're a Big Ten guy. Go check out Daniel Jeremiah's top 50. Go check out Todd McShay's top 50. They have it almost identical, very similar to the way I have it. The balance of power is certainly shifted. The SEC has been so dominant championships and draft.

And that's starting to turn a little bit, starting to turn a little bit. I think that the Big Ten likely is going to have the most first round draft picks this year and just a quick note about the first round and how it relates to college football. So there we go. There's my top 50 list. Remember, go back and check out the mock draft. We did that awesome all college football mock draft. That was one of my favorite exercises.

I know you kind of had to think along with me there. But if you haven't checked that out, go back and check that one out on the YouTube page. And as we get closer to the NFL draft, we'll have more content coming up. I'll have my final mock draft before the draft. That's coming up in the next couple of weeks. So be aware of all of that. Subscribe to the YouTube channel. And until then, we will see you next week with more content here at the Joel Fletcher.