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2016 NFL Draft Big Board: Version 1.0 finds Joey Bosa consensus top-ranked prospect

We rank the top 50.

By Ed Valentine
Joey Bosa
Joey Bosa
Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Who are the top 50 prospects in the 2016 NFL Draft? Well, everyone who studies such things will answer that question differently. Our 2016 NFL Draft Big Board, version 1.0 of which appears below, is an effort to reach as much of a consensus about prospects as we possibly can.

We debuted this idea a season ago with Chris Pflum, Jesse Bartolis and "Invictus" contributing. Chris is back, of course, joined this time by Big Blue View contributors Alex Sinclair and Stephen Milewski. Each of their top 50 big boards is shown below, along with an overall score. Prospects are listed from 1-50 based on their overall score.

You can see that our trio of draft enthusiasts agree on the top two prospects -- Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa and Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey -- but have plenty of disparate views after that. It is why we believe the "consensus" board is the best way to give you a look at the prospects.

Here are a few things I found interesting while compiling the big boards from Chris, Alex, and Stephen.

  • Look at the No. 20 ranking of Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith. Stephen and Alex each have Smith as their No. 6 prospect while Chris left him entirely off his board (that is what the "51" signifies). When more medical information surfaces about Smith's knee I'm certain Chris will add him and his ranking will jump.
  • Chris ranks California quarterback Jared Goff No. 21, while Stephen and Alex have him at No. 4. Chris is apparently our curmudgeon when it comes to ranking prospects. Chris also left Memphis QB Paxton Lynch off his board with the plausible explanation that he hasn't studied Lynch yet.
  • Players about whom there seem to be wide disagreement include Eastern Kentucky DE Noah Spence, Clemson DE Shaw Lawson, Penn State De Carl Nassib, Ohio State linebacker Darron Lee, Louisville defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, and Florida outside linebacker Leonard Floyd.
  • The board is heavy on defensive players. Fourteen of the top 20 and 30 of the 50 play on the defensive side of the ball.

Rank Player Stephen Chris Alex Overall
1 Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio St. 1 1 1 3
2 Jalen Ramsey, DB, Florida St. 2 2 2 6
3 Laremy Tunsil, OT, Ole Miss. 3 3 5 11
4 Myles Jack, LB, UCLA 5 4 3 12
5 Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame 7 8 12 27
6 Jared Goff, QB, California 4 21 4 29
7 Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida 13 6 10 29
8 DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon 8 15 7 30
9 A'Shawn Robinson, DT, Alabama 9 10 11 30
10 Mackensie Alexander, CB, Clemson 18 7 9 34
11 Noah Spence, DE, Eastern Kentucky 10 5 25 40
12 Shaq Lawson, DE, Clemson 12 22 8 42
13 Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss 16 12 16 44
14 Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State 17 9 20 46
15 Jarran Reed, DT, Alabama 15 11 21 47
16 Reggie Ragland, LB, Alabama 14 24 13 51
17 Robert Nkemdiche, DT, Ole Miss 20 18 19 57
18 Carson Wentz, QB, N. Dakota St. 11 29 18 58
19 Andrew Billings, DT, Bayor 21 16 22 59
20 Jaylon Smith, LB, Note Dame 6 51 6 63
21 Eli Apple, CB, Ohio St. 30 14 29 73
22 Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, Oklahoma St. 31 25 23 79
23 Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor 24 34 24 82
24 Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio St. 19 31 33 83
25 Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville 23 13 51 87
26 Darron Lee, OLB, Ohio St. 28 45 14 87
27 Leonard Floyd, OLB, Georgia 27 17 44 88
28 Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan St. 25 28 36 89
29 Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio St. 22 32 37 91
30 Kevin Dodd, DE, Clemson 37 20 35 92
31 Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis 26 51 17 94
32 Austin Johnson, DT, Penn St. 29 51 15 95
33 Kenny Clark, DT, UCLA 34 39 28 101
34 Cody Whitehair, OG, Kansas St. 36 23 42 101
35 Braxton Miller, WR, Ohio St. 41 33 27 101
36 Carl Nassib, DE, Penn St. 51 19 32 102
37 Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech 39 51 26 116
38 Darian Thompson, S, Boise St. 40 26 50 116
39 Will Fuller, WR, Notre Dame 38 51 34 123
40 Vernon Butler, DT, Louisiana Tech 35 38 51 124
41 Ryan Kelly, OC, Alabama 46 27 51 124
42 Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama 32 46 48 126
43 Hunter Henry, TE, Arkansas 44 37 45 126
44 Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh 51 30 49 130
45 Vadal Alexander, OG, LSU 51 35 46 132
46 Su’a Cravens, LB/S, USC 42 40 51 133
47 Jerald Hawkins, OT, LSU 51 51 31 133
48 Jonathan Bullard, DE, Florida 33 51 51 135
49 William Jackson III, CB, Houston 51 41 43 135
50 Joshua Perry, LB. LSU 51 47 38 136

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