/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45145600/usa-today-8140074.0.jpg)
It is time to begin getting serious about looking ahead to the 2015 NFL Draft. We gave you weekly mock drafts throughout the NFL regular season, mostly to help you learn the names and to begin the discussion. Today, we unveil version 1.0 of the 2015 Big Blue View NFL Draft Big Board.
Our trio of draft connoisseurs, 'Invictus,' Raptor22,' and Jess Bartolis each contributed their individual top 100 big boards. Yours truly tabulated the results and compiled our consensus Big Board. If a player was selected by one or two, but not all of our analysts, that player received a value of 101 whenever he was not on a list. Below, you can see the overall Big Board and how each of our draftniks ranked players on their own. Our No. 1 prospect entering the draft process is currently USC defensive tackle Leonard Williams.
2015 Big Blue View NFL Draft Big Board 1.0
Rank | Player | ‘Invictus’ | Jesse | ‘Raptor’ | Overall |
1 | Leonard Williams, DT, USC | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
2 | Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
3 | Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
4 | Shane Ray, DE, Missouri | 5 | 6 | 4 | 17 |
5 | Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon | 2 | 15 | 1 | 18 |
6 | Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford | 6 | 16 | 8 | 30 |
7 | Devante Parker, WR, Louisville | 9 | 14 | 7 | 30 |
8 | Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa | 8 | 7 | 17 | 32 |
9 | Shawn Oakman, DE, Baylor | 16 | 6 | 10 | 32 |
10 | Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin | 20 | 9 | 11 | 40 |
11 | Kevin White, WR, WVU | 18 | 10 | 13 | 41 |
12 | Jameis Winston, QB, FSU | 35 | 1 | 6 | 42 |
13 | La'el Collins, OT, LSU | 7 | 32 | 7 | 46 |
14 | Shaq Thompson, OLB, Washington | 10 | 27 | 9 | 46 |
15 | Dante Fowler Jr., DE, Florida | 12 | 18 | 12 | 47 |
16 | Landon Collins, S, Alabama | 13 | 12 | 30 | 55 |
17 | Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson | 14 | 26 | 18 | 58 |
18 | Trae Waynes, CB, MSU | 11 | 29 | 22 | 62 |
19 | Danny Shelton, DT, Washington | 19 | 11 | 32 | 62 |
20 | T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh | 15 | 36 | 15 | 66 |
21 | Eddie Goldman, DT, FSU | 25 | 23 | 19 | 67 |
22 | Alvin Dupree, DE, Kentucky | 23 | 17 | 29 | 69 |
23 | Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia | 27 | 5 | 42 | 74 |
24 | Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State | 28 | 34 | 20 | 82 |
25 | Benardrick McKinney, LB, Miss. State | 29 | 37 | 21 | 87 |
26 | Nate Orchard, DE, Utah | 17 | 50 | 31 | 98 |
27 | Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M | 30 | 28 | 41 | 99 |
28 | P.J. Williams, CB, FSU | 39 | 35 | 26 | 100 |
29 | Cody Prewitt, S, Ole Miss | 24 | 64 | 16 | 104 |
30 | Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State | 32 | 38 | 35 | 105 |
31 | Duke Johnson, RB, Miami | 33 | 48 | 24 | 105 |
32 | A.J Cann, OG, South Carolina | 31 | 46 | 33 | 110 |
33 | Marcus Peters, CB, Washington | 46 | 13 | 52 | 111 |
34 | Cam Erving, C, FSU | 55 | 30 | 28 | 113 |
35 | Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami | 37 | 19 | 58 | 114 |
36 | Malcolm Brown, DT, Texas | 43 | 25 | 49 | 117 |
37 | Eric Kendricks, ILB, UCLA | 42 | 42 | 38 | 122 |
38 | Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska | 53 | 47 | 25 | 125 |
39 | Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon | 57 | 20 | 48 | 125 |
40 | Shilique Calhoun, DE, MSU | 40 | 52 | 36 | 128 |
41 | Devin Funchess, WR, Michigan | 38 | 51 | 43 | 132 |
42 | Sammie Coates, WR, Auburn | 75 | 21 | 40 | 136 |
43 | Ty Sambrailo, OT, Colorado State | 45 | 57 | 37 | 139 |
44 | Denzel Perryman, ILB, Miami | 47 | 55 | 39 | 141 |
45 | Danielle Hunter, DE, LSU | 34 | 73 | 27 | 143 |
46 | Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame | 21 | 22 | 101 | 144 |
47 | Tevin Coleman, RB, Indiana | 51 | 41 | 54 | 146 |
48 | Markus Golden, DE, Missouri | 64 | 24 | 60 | 148 |
49 | Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma | 26 | 31 | 101 | 158 |
50 | Lorenzo Mauldin, OLB, Louisville | 41 | 68 | 51 | 160 |
51 | Hroniss Grasu, C, Oregon | 36 | 84 | 50 | 170 |
52 | Gerod Holliman, S, Louisville | 22 | 61 | 94 | 177 |
53 | Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB, Oregon | 44 | 59 | 76 | 179 |
54 | Josue Matias, OG, FSU | 71 | 43 | 66 | 180 |
55 | Clive Walford, TE, Miami | 70 | 65 | 46 | 181 |
56 | Mike Davis, RB, South Carolina | 60 | 101 | 23 | 184 |
57 | Carl Davis, DT, Iowa | 58 | 72 | 62 | 192 |
58 | D'haquille (Duke) Williams, WR, Auburn | 54 | 39 | 101 | 194 |
59 | Tyrus Thompson, OT, Oklahoma | 48 | 67 | 80 | 195 |
60 | Jay Ajayi, RB, Boise State | 76 | 66 | 53 | 195 |
61 | Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota | 101 | 40 | 55 | 196 |
62 | Tre' Jackson, OG, FSU | 80 | 53 | 65 | 198 |
63 | Hauoli Kikaha, OLB, Washington | 65 | 80 | 57 | 202 |
64 | Ty Montgomery, WR, Stanford | 86 | 45 | 71 | 202 |
65 | Laken Tomlinson, OG, Duke | 56 | 101 | 47 | 204 |
66 | Spencer Drango, OT, Baylor | 69 | 54 | 82 | 205 |
67 | Derron Smith, S, Fresno State | 73 | 101 | 34 | 208 |
68 | DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon | 50 | 58 | 101 | 209 |
69 | Anthony Harris, S, UVA | 52 | 101 | 61 | 214 |
70 | Reese Dismukes, C, Auburn | 49 | 100 | 67 | 216 |
71 | Mario Edwards, DE, FSU | 82 | 33 | 101 | 216 |
72 | Rashad Greene, WR, FSU | 84 | 69 | 69 | 222 |
73 | Kurtis Drummond, S, MSU | 98 | 79 | 45 | 222 |
74 | Paul Dawson, LB, TCU | 78 | 101 | 44 | 223 |
75 | Nick O'Leary, TE, FSU | 79 | 63 | 83 | 225 |
76 | Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA | 72 | 56 | 101 | 229 |
77 | T.J. Yeldon, RB, Alabama | 101 | 44 | 85 | 230 |
78 | Eric Striker, OLB, Oklahoma | 66 | 74 | 92 | 232 |
79 | Trey Flowers, DE, Arkansas | 74 | 99 | 59 | 232 |
80 | Arie Kouandjio, OG, Alabama | 83 | 76 | 77 | 236 |
81 | Ronald Darby, CB, FSU | 77 | 76 | 84 | 237 |
82 | Owamagbe Odighizuwa, DE, UCLA | 59 | 82 | 101 | 242 |
83 | Gabe Wright, DT, Auburn | 62 | 101 | 81 | 244 |
84 | Ramik Wilson, LB, Georgia | 101 | 87 | 56 | 244 |
85 | Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State | 101 | 49 | 101 | 251 |
86 | Nelson Agholor, WR, USC | 81 | 101 | 70 | 252 |
87 | Senquez Golson, CB, Ole Miss | 88 | 101 | 68 | 257 |
88 | Eli Harold, DE, UVA | 63 | 94 | 101 | 258 |
89 | Jalen Collins, CB, LSU | 68 | 91 | 101 | 260 |
90 | Durrell Eskridge, S, Syracuse | 95 | 101 | 64 | 260 |
91 | Preston Smith, DL, Mississippi State | 101 | 60 | 101 | 262 |
92 | Josh Harper, WR, Fresno State | 61 | 101 | 101 | 263 |
93 | Jordan Jenkins, OLB, Georgia | 89 | 101 | 74 | 264 |
94 | Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State | 101 | 62 | 101 | 264 |
95 | Jesse James, TE, Penn State | 101 | 101 | 63 | 265 |
96 | Javorius (Buck) Allen, RB, USC | 85 | 101 | 78 | 266 |
97 | Jordan Phillips, DT, Oklahoma | 101 | 88 | 79 | 268 |
98 | Quinten Rollins, CB, Miami (Ohio) | 67 | 101 | 101 | 269 |
99 | Ben Koyack, TE, Notre Dame | 97 | 101 | 73 | 271 |
100 | J.J. Humphries, OL, Florida | 101 | 70 | 101 | 272 |
NFL teams don't rank players the way the media does in these big boards. They tend to use 'rows,' delineating players in different categories. We can't exactly match the way an NFL team does it, but here is a stab at our own prospect tiers.
Tier 1
(Players who received top 10 grades from each of our analysts)
Leonard Williams, DT, USC
Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
Shane Ray, DE/OLB, Missouri
Interesting here that Jesse's disdain for Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, whom he ranked No. 15, keeps the probable first overall pick in the draft out of our first tier.
Tier 2
Jerry Reese always says there are probably only 25 players who are considered obvious first-round picks in most drafts.So, Tier 2 lists the remaining players in the top 25.
Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
Devante Parker, WR, Louisville
Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
Shawn Oakman, DE, Baylor
Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
Kevin White, WR, WVU
Jameis Winston, QB, FSU
La'el Collins, OT, LSU
Shaq Thompson, OLB, Washington
Dante Fowler Jr., DE, Florida
Landon Collins, S, Alabama
Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson
Trae Waynes, CB, MSU
Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh
Eddie Goldman, DT, FSU
Alvin Dupree, DE, Kentucky
Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State
Benardrick McKinney, LB, Miss. State
Quarterback Jameis Winston is in Tier 2, and I'm sure that 'Invictus' ranking him No. 35 will get your attention.
Tier 3
Numbers 26-50. If our Big Board is accurate you would expect all of these remaining guys to be selected by the end of Round 2.
Nate Orchard, DE, Utah
Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M
P.J. Williams, CB, FSU
Cody Prewitt, S, Ole Miss
Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State
Duke Johnson, RB, Miami
A.J Cann, OG, South Carolina
Marcus Peters, CB, Washington
Cam Erving, C, FSU
Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami
Malcolm Brown, DT, Texas
Eric Kendricks, ILB, UCLA
Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska
Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon
Devin Funchess, WR, Michigan
Sammie Coates, WR, Auburn
Ty Sambrailo, OT, Colorado State
Denzel Perryman, ILB, Miami
anielle Hunter, DE, LSU
Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame
Tevin Coleman, RB, Indiana
Markus Golden, DE, Missouri
Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma
Lorenzo Mauldin, OLB, Louisville