The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Joel Klatt ranks his Top 50 Prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt reveals his Top 50 prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft. Klatt breaks down which player ended up #1 on his list as players like Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter vie for the top spot. He considers whether Quarterbacks Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders should both be ranked in the Top 10 while also examining how close the 3rd best QB is to them. Klatt believes the two premier Tight Ends in the Class (Penn State's Tyler Warren and Michigan's Colston Loveland) are 2 of the best players in the entire Draft which is reflected in his ranking. Ohio State lands 6 players inside his Top 50 but are any above the 4 Michigan players also in the list? The Joel Klatt Show: Big Noon Conversations was nominated for a Webby Award in the “Podcasts – Limited Series & Specials” Category! And we need our fans to vote at:  https://vote.webbyawards.com/publicvoting#/2025/podcasts/limited-series-specials/interviewtalk-show All you need is an email account and it takes less than two minutes to vote. We appreciate the support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jason Graham is an excellent defensive tackle, but he's more than that. He's a game rucker. If you watch the game against Ohio State, he, along with his running mate Kenneth Grant, were the reason that they beat Ohio State. This guy can take control of a game from the defensive tackle position, which I haven't seen at the college level since in Domenu. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. Believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. Hey, welcome into the program, everybody. This is the Joel Clatt show. I am Joel Clatt in this show. is brought to you by Hampton, by Hilton.

We thank them for their support as always. We are cruising to the end of April here where we will get to the 2025 NFL draft. And so I have not done a top 50 prospects list. I want to get that out there so that we have about a month to go, a little under a month to go. So that's what we're going to do today. My 50 best players available in the NFL draft. But before we do that, just remember, hey, go rate review us wherever you're listening to this podcast. If you're watching on YouTube, thank you very much.

Subscribe to the channel. Hit the notification button below and do all the things, comment and everything. And then wherever you like to social media, we're there. We're like the three amigos. We are there. And you can follow us at Joel Clatio there. Let's get into it because we've got to get through all 50 players. So let's rock.

We're going to go 50 to 1. And I'm going to start with my 50th player. I love this guy. Xavier Watts, the safety from Notre Dame. Two-time All-American Safety. He's got great production. 13 interceptions over the last two seasons. That was the most in college football.

So, you know, he's got great instincts. He's got great ball skills. There was a reason that defense was so good. There was a reason why they were playing for a national championship. And Xavier Watts was a big reason why. I really like him as a player, and I think he's going to translate well into the National Football League. At number 49, a guy that I might be a little higher on than most. And listen, truth be told, is probably because proximity bias, I got to see him a ton over the last couple of years.

But I've got Jack Sawyer, defensive end edge player from Ohio State. I thought that when his best was needed, he was at his best. And that's not a trait that everybody has. You know, there are edge rushers that they would get what I would call like garbage numbers, right? You're up big and all of a sudden you get a sack here or there. But when you talk about like crunch time moments, in particular last year, was phenomenal. Even in a game that they lost, think of the interception he had inside the five-yard line against Michigan. That was an incredible play. Think about Texas driving in that

close ball game in the national semifinal. What does he do? Strip sack himself scoop, score? I mean, come on, right? So he's got a knack for those big moments. And if you're watching YouTube, you're seeing that interception against Michigan right there. I thought that that was going to seal the game. I thought the Buckeyes were going to go down and score. They didn't end up doing that because of a couple of players that you'll see more of later in this list. At number 48, I've got Jalen Newell, the wide receiver from Iowa State. Listen, he tested really well, and his game is solid. 439, 41.5 vert, 11.2 broad jump.

That's incredible. Played about, I would say, like two-thirds of his snaps out of the slot, but he also can line up outside. It's not just quick passes all the time. he still has the ability to get down the field nine catches of 40 or more yards. So he's got that home run ability. I really like him. And he's one of those guys that you might not have heard a lot of in college.

And yet he's going to get maybe in the right fit with a creative offensive play caller and really do some damage in the NFL. All right. The corner from Florida State, Azarié Thomas, 6-1, great length, 200 pounds, This is a guy that I like. I think that there are a number of good corners, but in particular, Thomas's length, again, when you give me a guy that can be in the top 50 that has 6-1 length,

then I'm in because as we know at the next level, that is such an attractive trait from a physical standpoint. At number 46, Carson Swessinger, the linebacker from UCLA. It's interesting because you guys can't see this at home, but we have some folks from USC here in the studio, They're like, there's this class and they're, they wanted to come in and like watch a taping. So they're in the studio. And I happened to mention to him like, hey, there's not one USC player in the top 50.

I know that's a little bit of a spoiler. And then I said, but there is a UCLA player. And none of them better than I. They were just like, yeah, makes sense. So that's how you know where the Trojan stand right now with Swessinger from UCLA, tackle machine, man, finishing the top five in the country in tackles last year over 11 per game. Good instincts. I had him in their game at Penn State. I thought that he was really good. So he's at 46. Forty-five, Trey Amos, the corner from Ole Miss.

Again, Troy is, excuse me, Trey is a guy that I think a lot of people because of his length are going to like. At 44, let's go back to Iowa State and go Jaden Higgins, excuse me, the wide receiver from Iowa State. He's the bigger of the two players. It's kind of why I like him is that big frame. when you get into the NFL, and in particular when you get into games late in the season, and more specifically when you get into games in the playoffs, big frame targets tend to win. And so when you can give me a big frame, you know, and Higgins, Higgins, excuse me, I keep wanting to say Higgins. Higgins has that. He's four, 215 pounds. He and Nuel were one of two teammate duos over 1,000 yards last season.

The other two was Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Abuka. So they were doing some damage there for Iowa State. At 43, Nick Scorton, he was on the edge for Texas A&M. Remember, he transferred from Purdue. He was also a finalist for the Lot Impact Trophy, so I got to spend some time with him. I hosted that award show in Las Vegas. Really love his story. He grew up and played high school football right there near college station and basically

went home for this last year and did really well. At 42, I've got Maxwell Hirsten, the corner from Kentucky. He is blazing fast. You talk about makeup speed. He ran 4-28 at the Combine, 39 and a half invert. He led the SEC in interceptions two years ago, and he had five that year. So Maxwell's got the ball skills. He's got the makeup speed.

He's in my top 50 at 42. And then 41, Donovan Ezeruka from Boston College. So on the edge, he's one of the more productive players in the country. and he didn't do that at a place where he got a lot of attention. So he was second in the country to Mike Green. He had 16 and a half sacks. So he knows how to get to the quarterback. And again, like those types of players,

I'm just going to value guys that produce. You know, yes, we can talk about traits. And there are both types of players in this top 50 list where they're, I'm going to bet on the come, if you will, with their traits. But then there are other guys that just produce, produced. Donovan is one of those guys from Boston College. Now we get into 40, so the top 40. Benjamin Morrison, the corner from Notre Dame. Final season was cut short due to that hip injury, but he's been outstanding, really, his entire career. He played right away. He was a freshman

All-American. And so to me, guys that can do that at one level can do it at another. I think He can contribute early in his career in the NFL. At 39, an interior offensive lineman that really no one has heard of, but you will as we kind of move along in the next month and get closer to the NFL draft. Gray Zabel, he's played at North Dakota State. And obviously, that program has been so good for so long. And they had another fantastic year. FCS player in the top 50, you know, like every year we're going to get one,

maybe at max two of these guys. stable is mine from last year. He played left tackle last season, but he's played all over the line. So he's versatile, and that's obviously attractive for NFL scouts. At 38, Caleb Johnson, the running back for Iowa. So he played, and I talked about this when I rated my running backs, he played in an NFL offense, okay?

And it wasn't just, well, he runs zone and outside zone and power. Yeah, there's a difference. when you're doing those things, and you don't have the quarterback run attached to it, and you don't have the RPO specifically, the run-pass option attached to it. What Caleb Johnson had to do was run against what I would call plus boxes. So there were extra defenders in the box

when they were running the football at Iowa, because guess what you didn't have to defend when you're playing Iowa? The pass. So he produced at a high level against plus boxes, and that's exactly what he will have to do at times in the NFL, and he was able to do that very well. So Caleb Johnson there at 38. At 37, I've got Mason Taylor, the tight end from LSU.

Son of Jason Taylor, great bloodlines, or excuse me, nephew of Zach Thomas, son of Jason Taylor, 6-5, pass-catching tight-end, great bloodlines. Like, let's go. I'm in with this. this is a guy that I felt like was better every time that I got to evaluate him in his college career. That trajectory should continue. He's still fairly young. Again, this is maybe higher upside than some others on this list.

But I really like Mason Taylor a lot. At 36, where are we at 36. Donovan Jackson, the guard from Ohio State. So he was already an All-American Guard. and then they dealt with injuries, specifically Josh Simmons at tackle, and Donovan had to move out to tackle. And he was tremendous.

He played tackle for the entire stretch run for Ohio State. When they turned into the Death Star Supernova and they were beating Oregon, what was it, like 34 or nothing at one, but like Donovan's playing left tackle. He played left tackle against Penn State. He played left tackle throughout the playoffs. So this versatility and his leadership ability and his overall mentality up front, I think, is going to be attractive. So I've got him at 36.

At 35, I've got Luther Burden, the wide receiver from Missouri. It was a little bit of a down year as far as expectation goes, because a lot of us thought that he was going to have a huge year. It didn't pan out, you know, over the top for Burton like many of us thought it could have. But he's an explosive player. I think he's going to be best out of the slot. He's a 4-440 guy. You go back just a couple of years. He had 1,200 yards and 9 touchdowns.

So the production is there. 34, the tackle from Oregon, Josh Connerly. I like Connerley. I think that he's a really good player. Oregon was the number one team in the country until they faced the Death Star Supernova in the Rose Bowl. Connerly did a nice job for them. At 33, Omarion Hampton.

So here's the thing with Hampton. I've been slow on the, uptake with Hampton. But I will say this, the more I watch him, the more I like him. Okay. And again, I didn't call ACC games. So maybe this is just, maybe this is my bias of not really being around him. But every time I watch his film, I'm like, man, I really like this guy. I think he's a really good player. He's a two-time All-American. Back-to-back 1500-yard years. he caught it 67 times over the last two seasons, so he can be a guy that threatens you out of the backfield.

And as you know, as you know, that is my number one attribute for a running back to succeed in the NFL is the ability to be a threat out of the backfield. So Hampton at 33. And truth be told, probably should have been higher. This was one of the ones that I wrestled with the most at 33. There was just some players that I was like, you know, like I've got a couple of running backs higher than Hampton,

and I might be the only one. But again, I'll just preface this by saying, like, if you're going to say I had proximity bias with some of these players, that could be accurate. Because every time I watch Hampton, I'm like, dang, man, this guy is a really good player. At 32, I'm going to go Jackson Dart. Quarterback Ole Miss.

He's an interesting one to rank. I think he's pretty clearly the third best quarterback. So the question then becomes, where does Shadur go? which then creates kind of a ceiling and floor for Jackson Dart. So then like what happens to him late in the first round? Could he sneak into the first round? Maybe. I think that a big question that's going to be floating around,

and I've heard it a little bit, a big question that's going to be floating around is, is that offense going to translate? There are so many easy throws in Lane's offense. Lane's a great offensive coordinator. I would love to play for Lane. I would love to play for Lane. Now, his tweet game is strong.

I had to shut him down a little bit, you know, at one point during the playoffs. However, playing quarterback for this guy, he gets you easy completions, which I love. Does it translate? You know, we'll see. I think Jackson has the physical abilities, but, you know, it remains to be seen. The best thing that can happen to him if someone like burns the Florida tape. I mean, am I right? I think we all know why.

I think we all know why. At 31, here we go. This is where I think I'm going to get accused of proximity bias. I've got Quinchon Judkins running back for Ohio State at 31 ahead of Hampton. Here's my main argument is that if Judkins is the primary back for any school, he's rated over Hampton. But he wasn't because he shared carries with Trayvion Henderson. So when you watch Judkins, this guy has it all. speed, power, great blocker, can catch it out of the backfield.

He's a team guy. Incredible conversation that you can have with Judkins just about his mentality, how he approaches the game. I think he's going to be an excellent pro. And again, I've got him rated above Hampton because he shared time. I think that that's hurting his stock and I'm not going to allow it to hurt his stock. At 30, I've got Walter Nolan, defensive tackle from Ole Miss. I think he's one of the more talented players, and he has been for a long time ever since he was a high school player. Remember, he was the number one player in the country coming out of high school. He ended up transferring from A&M to Old Miss for his final season, but Nolan's a really good player. At 29, Josh Simmons, the tackle from Ohio State. So Simmons got hurt against Oregon earlier this year. He's been getting better and better. And from everything that I have heard and seen, Simmons is moving well, and the recovery from that engine.

is starting to, I think, alleviate some of the concerns that some might have from an injury perspective. So his stock, I believe, is rising. This is a reflection of that. I have them in my top 30. At 28, I've got Malachi Stark's. You cannot go wrong putting a Georgia defender in the top 30 in your top 50 list. Not many players can walk onto campus for Kirby Smart and start right away. This guy played three years for the Bulldogs. He started all but one game. during his time there. And Kirby used him all over. So he can cover in the slot as a nickel.

He can play back. He's a versatile player. And as I rate defenders, the more versatile and hybrid you can be, the better value that you have. And someone's going to fall in love with Malachi Stark. I really, really like him as a player. At 27, Derek Harmon, the tackle from Oregon,

defensive tackle. Started his career at Michigan State, finished his final season at Oregon. He made a huge impact last year for Oregon. led all interior linemen, all defensive interior linemen in quarterback's pressures last season, and did it by a wide margin. It wasn't Mason Graham. It wasn't Kenneth Grant.

It was Derek Harmon. So he's disruptive. He can get after the quarterback. When you look at him and his ability to get upfield fast, he does that in spades. He's very good. And I like Derek Harmon a lot. At 26 from Tennessee on the edge, James Pierce, I thought he was a potential guy could be in like the top 10 before the season.

Didn't quite have the season that most hoped for, although he was second in the SEC in quarterback pressures. This is a guy that you're going to have to bet on traits and you're going to have to bet on upside, that that upside is going to show itself in later years. He's 6.5, 245 pounds, and he ran 447. The athleticism jumps off the tape. Again, would have loved to have seen a little bit more production from him

in particular last year. Shemar Stewart on the edge for Texas A&M. same conversation as Pierce, a guy that you're drafting traits and upside, maybe more so than production, only four and a half sacks in his career at A&M, but he did lead A&M and quarterback pressures. It's the age-old question.

Are you drafting for production? Are you drafting for potential? Someone's going to have to make that call on Pierce and on Stewart, but if you just look at their traits and if you just look at their potential, high ceiling players, maybe low floor, but high ceiling players. So that's Stewart at 25. Now we get into the top 25.

All right, here we go. Mike Green, edge from Marshall. So he's everything that Stewart and Pierce aren't. This is why I have Mike Green ahead of those other two. Mike Green, he won't blow you away physically. And that's probably why he ended up at Marshall. So the measurables aren't there, but guess what is there? Production led the country in Sacks was 17 and just 13 games.

His head coach, Charles Huff. I remember preparing for the game when Marshall and Ohio State were playing. And Charles Huff was incredible in those meetings. And we talked a lot about Coach Huff's time at Alabama, the players that had made the biggest impacts on him, and then a lot on his own team. And Mike Green was the only guy that he was adamant. he was like, oh, yeah, he would have started at Alabama for sure.

The only reason he's here is because he doesn't have the traits. He doesn't have the measurables. But you saw the production, and he certainly practiced well, and that's why Charles Huff loved him at Marshall. So number 23, here's another one of those players. I've got Trayvion Henderson up there at 23. If you watch Trayvion Henderson during the playoffs, and really for the entirety of the year,

this guy was just a different player. He was possessed. He was fast, partly because he was fresh and sharing carries with Quincyon Judkins. Yeah, that's absolutely the case. But he was tough. Nobody blocked better than Trayvion Henderson. He catches it incredibly well out of the backfield. And once he does, he turns into a home run threat.

His jump cut ability and ability to be at full speed is really unparalleled. I think he's the second best back in the, the draft. Judkins and Henderson are both hurt because they shared the spotlight with one another. But because of that, if you look past it, this is why I've got them above Hampton. And Henderson is a guy, I'm telling you, man, he's got the speed. I think he's going to make someone a lot better. Think of what he did to Texas and Oregon in the playoff. Those home run, one was a run against Oregon, the other was that screen pass against Texas. Man, he can take it the distance. All right, number 22.

All right, Matthew Golden, the wide receiver from Texas. He emerged this season. If you've heard me talk about the wide receivers, he emerged as their number one threat. I really love that ability for him to transfer in and become the number one threat as the season progressed. And then when they needed plays, not only early, but late in the season specifically and specifically like the Arizona State game, they went to Matthew Golden and he was big in those games. I really like, and he ran 429. He's not a huge guy, 5-11, 190, but he can fly.

And so I've got him there at 22. At 21, I've got his teammate, Kelvin Banks Jr. He started from day one at Texas and Sark's rebuild of that offensive line. He was a cornerstone of that offensive line. He struggled a little bit against Georgia and both of the matchups that they lost, one in Austin and one in the SEC championship game. I think that's why I don't have him all the way up in my top 15. When I do another mock, he's probably going to slide just a little bit

because of that. But Banks is 21. At 20, I've got Nick and Manwari, the safety from South Carolina. Great workout guy and a physical player in particular near the line of scrimmage. 438 in the 40, a 43-inch vert, 116 in the broad jump. He's going to be a force in the box as a safety. It's a little bit of a specialty. I wish I could have rated him higher, but because of that specialty, I've got

him at 20. At 19, I've got a Mecca Abuka, wide receiver, Ohio State. One of the best people I've been around in my tenure covering this sport. Ameca is a tremendous leader. He's a great human being, and he is an excellent wide receiver. Whatever NFL franchise gets this guy in their locker room will not be disappointed. Ameca Abuka is going to make his next team better, period. Great route runner, excellent hands, terrific without the ball, understanding how to pace his routes, communicate with his route structure. Remember, played for Brian Hartline, and this guy is the best position coach in college football. Look at the wide receivers in the National Football League that have played for Brian Hartline and specifically Ohio State. Every one of these guys produces,

and Ameca is going to do that. And you get this guy that's just an incredible human being. So again, he's a guy that I root for. Blake Corm was like this at Michigan. a Mecca, Abuca for Ohio State. These are guys that I just, listen, they're going to make your team better. And Abuka is in my top 20. At 18, I've got Tyler Booker, the guard from Alabama. I think he's a really solid player. And then at 17, I'm going to go inside on the defensive side,

defensive tackle for Michigan, Kenneth Grant. So Grant is a huge, huge behemoth of a guy. And I think that this is both production and upside. his teammate Mason Graham might get the line share of the credit, and he will because he's yet to come on this top 50 list. However, Grant, 10 years from now, we might look back and be like, man, he might have been the best player in this draft.

I think he's got that type of potential. I think he's young, and he doesn't even know how good and how dominant he can be. His physical attributes are off the charts, and he's fast, he's explosive, he uses his hands well. He plays both the run and can get after the passer. This is a really good defensive tackle draft, partly because of Kenneth Grant. 16. Teterow McMillan, wide receiver for Arizona.

Didn't have the season that a lot of us anticipated, but listen, as a wide receiver, you're kind of reliant on a lot of other things going well, and those things did not go well for Arizona. But remember I talked about big frames. This is why I loved Higgins at Iowa State. This is why I love McMillan at Arizona. He is a guy that I think will succeed late in the season and in the playoffs. He can be a true number one. He understands body control, boxing out, all these different attributes that I think are really strong.

At 15, Armand Mimbu, the offensive tackle for Missouri, he's a riser. As I watch more and then as I talk with people around the league more, This guy is rising through this process. He's having a great process. Will not shock me if he's selected in the top 13 picks in the draft. He's tested really well, really between him and Will Campbell for the first offensive tackle. I'm going to go with Will Campbell, but Membu is getting there. Jihad Campbell, the linebacker for Alabama, played on the edge.

He played in the middle. He's versatile. He's a hybrid player during his career. excellent athlete. And when you can put a guy like that on the field who can play a lot of different places, cover a lot of different players, then that's attractive.

And that's certainly going to be attractive for his next team. 13. Jada Barron, the corner from Texas. Barron's a really solid player now. Thorpe Award winner, he ran 439. He's fast. He can cover well. He's a big reason why that secondary was able to transition to a secondary that became a strength versus the season prior

when they were a weakness. So I've got him at 13. At 12, I've got Mikel Williams on the edge from Georgia. He showed he can be dominant in those games against Texas. Huge games in those matchups, and those matchups were against NFL offensive linemen like Kelvin Banks against that. That's why Banks kind of falls back,

and Williams rises up the board. At 11, I've got Ashton Genty, running back from Boise. He's my top running back in the class, and some people have him all the way in their top five. I struggled with that a little bit. Not that I don't love Genty because I do. There are just other players that I liked a little bit more.

Listen, his vision and balance are unparalleled. His balance through contact is really good. He can catch it, although he wasn't asked to a lot, in particular last year. I think that's primarily because they wanted to get that Barry Sanders rushing mark, so they wanted to hand it to him more times. than they wanted to throw it to him. But Genty is an excellent player and a guy that I really love.

Cam Ward, number 10, quarterback Miami. I think he's probably going to be the number one pick in the draft. He's my number 10 overall player. Great year at Miami. He was good at Washington State after transferring from junior college, but a really great year at Miami. Gunslinger, not afraid to push it down the field, good talent with his arm.

And one of the things that I like about him and that I like about Shudor, who's going to be upcoming here in this top 10, is they played behind bad offensive lines in college, and they still succeeded. That's going to be similar to what they had to do in college at times. And so, you know, to me, that's a great trait to have, and he's at number 10.

Sorry, I'm dealing with a little bit of a cold, so. Will Johnson, corner from Michigan. If his injuries, well, let's just say if he wasn't injured, he'd be in my top four. So this is moving him down for me. This is him sliding because of the turf toe. He's got a hamstring now in this process. If he's healthy, he could be a top two, three corner in the league in five years. Great ball skills.

Nine interceptions in his career, took three of those. to the house. Two this year just before he got hurt. He's been playing since he was a young kid at Michigan as a freshman. He had that pick against Purdue that you're watching right now on YouTube. I love his mentality. He's tough. He tackles well on the edge. So Will Johnson is a guy that I think is excellent. At eight, I've got Shudor. So there's Shudor Sanders at number eight. I've got him over Cam Ward because I think that he is more polished when it comes to just controlling the game from the pocket. Tam is very talented and he might have higher upside and higher upside potential because of kind of that gunslinger mentality. But when you look at Shudor Sanders and you actually

evaluate like what he was able to do when the pocket was clean, what he was able to do when it wasn't clean. I think what you see is equal parts surgeon and magician. And he hurt you in both areas. You know, he's accurate down the field. The ball is on time and on target. He allows his guys to make plays. He throws the most catchable and the most accurate ball in the draft. I think he's an excellent player. And there's a reason why Colorado went from a one-win team to a nine-win team and was top 25. And it's not all just their coach, although that helps. It was primarily because of their quarterback. Shador Sanders. Dion came to Boulder, but Shadur came to play. All right. And on the field, he made them what they were as a nine-win

team and then the top 25. At number seven, Will Campbell, the offensive tackle for L.A. he's my top tackle in the draft. People have made a big deal about his arm length, 32 and 5 eighth inches at the combine. Mysteriously, they grew at his pro day. How about that? What did you get on like the stretcher? Just like he just sat there and hung from the pull-up bar? That's why not, right?

They were 33 at LSU's pro day. The strength coach is like, yeah, 33. All right. So anyways, there's been a lot of talk about it. Let's not overthink it. Let's watch the tape. Let's watch him pass that. let's see his athleticism, his quickness, his footwork, and all of those reasons,

I've got him inside the top 10. He's my top tackle in the draft, and he's number seven overall. At number six, I've got Jalen Walker, the linebacker at Georgia. Potential game record. He can line up at linebacker. He can line up on the edge. Again, like Jihad Campbell, versatile, hybrid. You've heard me say that now a few times, and the best defenders have to be that way because of the ways that offenses are attacking out of multiple sets out of the same personnel group. So all of those things are why I like Jalen a lot. All right, let's get into the top five here.

Number five, Tyler Warren. Okay, most people have Tyler Warren above Colston Loveland. But I'm going to have Colston Loveland above Tyler Warren. This is not a knock on Tyler Warren. I think Tyler Warren immediately makes his next. next team better, and in particular in the red zone. He was the most creative player in college football. They could snap it to him.

They could throw it to him. They could hand it to him. It didn't matter. He was sensational. He's got great athleticism. He's smooth with the ball on his hands. He catches it well. Now, what they didn't ask him to do a lot of is be a polished route runner.

Okay? And for those reasons, at number four, I'm going to go with Colston Loveland. Both players are going to be fantastic players and fantastic tight ends. But Colston Loveland is a guy that when you look at what he does as a route runner, it's really good. Loveland is a guy that you can line up as a wide receiver. You can line them up in the slot. You can line them up as an inline tight end.

And he will win and separate. So you don't have to scheme for him, but he can win one-on-one matchups for you. that's a little bit of a difference. See, Warren, they scheme for you, can be creative with him, and you can exploit space in that way. Colston creates his own space, and that's why I've got Colston Loveland ahead of Tyler Warren,

although they're both in my top five, and this is what I hate about this process. Somebody in the comments is going to be like, what's your problem with Tyler Warren? Nothing. He's in my top five. I love him. I love him. But you've got to differentiate at some point, and that's why or how I differentiated between

those two. All right, top three. Mason Graham. Number three, Mason Graham is an excellent defensive tackle, but he's more than that. He's a game rucker. If you watch the game against Ohio State, he, along with his running mate Kenneth Grant, were the reason that they beat Ohio State. This guy can take control of a game from the defensive tackle position, which I haven't seen at the college level since in Domenon, Sue. Like, he's that good. He rushes the passer. He stops the run. He splits the run. He splits, It doesn't matter how many guys you have blocking him. He still wins.

He doesn't just eat up blocks. He destructs blocks. He is as good as I've seen in a long time. He's been one of my favorites to watch on tape for a long time. Very unassuming. Got a really stellar high school wrestling background. That's one of the reasons why he plays with such great leverage and in particular with his hands.

So Mason Graham at number three. All right. So here we go. Top two. I've got it number two, Abdul Carter, Edge from Penn State. I've loved Abdul Carter since he was a freshman. This guy is so good. He also is another one of these versatile players.

You can line him up all over your defense, and he can be an impactful, disruptive player everywhere that he lines up. I think he can have as big of an impact as Michael Parsons at the next level. Carter is an unbelievable player. An athlete, think about what he did against Notre Dame. with basically one arm. He had seven pressures and was a game record. Now, they didn't win, but this guy was not the reason why.

And you look at some of the ways that he was impacting the game as a pass rusher. And then also as an off-the-ball linebacker, it's really uncanny. Good ball skills, great athlete. So he's my number two player. And I think that you can move him all over the field. That leaves us with number one. My number one player is Travis Hunter. No other player can you say he's a top two corner in the draft and a top two wide receiver in the draft.

This guy is one of one. I think that we do him a disservice by trying to knock his game. His instincts are second to none in this draft on either side of the ball. I think that he can and will play on both sides. I believe that you play him as a corner primarily and then as a, number three wide receiver, slot wide receiver, he can get 20 to 30 snaps per game and really impact the game on the offensive side. Because you're going to want that athlete on the field as much as possible. We have not seen anybody like him since I've been doing this, certainly,

and I can't even really remember. Maybe there are other guys that could have done this, but man, to actually go out there and do this and play 120 snaps at the level that he did, pretty remarkable, pretty remarkable. So Travis Hunter is my number one. player available in this year's NFL draft. Okay, a couple of things just from letting you guys know. The Webby's Big Noon Conversations is nominated for a Webby Award in the podcast interview talk show category. So thank you for your support.

And truth be told, we've got an amazing staff here. They do an incredible job. And I'm thrilled for them that we're getting this nomination. And we need you. We need you and they need you to go and. vote. Okay, so here's what you need to do. All you need is an email account. It takes less than two minutes of your time. I'm going to tweet it out. The show will tweet it out. The link to vote is in the episode description. So we've got it right here. And it's in our social channels. Voting

ends April 17th. So please go out there and vote for us as your favorite and the best Webby podcast interview talk show category. So that's exciting. You can also, by the way, go subscribe. I've got a little golf project out there, three and two golf on YouTube. my buddy and I, Shane Bacon, we're going around playing club champions at different clubs. You can subscribe to that as well. I would very much appreciate it. And during the off season, you can, you know, watch us go play golf, which is fun. And that's what people on YouTube do these days.

Anyways, thank you for your support, as always. And as we roll along towards the draft, we're going to have another mock draft. And I'll have a couple of other lists, including some interviews or try to get Daniel Jeremiah on the program for our annual conversation before the draft. and before we get to Green Bay at the end of April. That'll do it for me. I'll see you next Monday with another episode of The Jewel Clash Show.