:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59505749/usa_today_9618991.0.jpg)
With the 2018 NFL draft just a matter of days/hours away, it’s time we unveiled the official Big Blue View Big Board.
We decided to build on last year’s experiment with a 2-axis big board, ranking players by position and round, rather than a from 1 to (however many are ranked). This method is roughly similar to the one used by many NFL front offices, including the New York Giants.
In a slight change from last year, and in a nod to the shift in the Giants’ defensive philosophy, we have have made a couple changes on that side of the board. First, we condensed “true” defensive linemen (4-3 defensive ends, 3-4 defensive ends, and defensive tackles) together. Then we grouped smaller defensive ends and bigger outside linebackers together in the EDGE category, and combined all off-ball linebackers (inside and outside) together.
We understand that a board with the horizontal element this one has will be difficult to read on many mobile devices. We apologize for that, but have no real way to condense it. Without further ado, here’s the big board!
Big Blue View Big Board
| Grade | Quarterback | Offensive Tackle | Interior Offensive Line | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Running Back | Defensive Line | Edge | Linebacker | Safety | Cornerback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | Quarterback | Offensive Tackle | Interior Offensive Line | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Running Back | Defensive Line | Edge | Linebacker | Safety | Cornerback |
| Top 10 | |||||||||||
| 1st Round | Derrius Guice (LSU) | Maurice Hurst (DT, Michigan) | Harold Landry (Boston College) | Justin Reid (Stanford) | |||||||
|
|
Connor Williams (Texas) | Will Hernandez (OG, UTEP) | Joshua Jackson (Iowa) | ||||||||
| James Daniels (OC, Iowa) | Courtland Sutton (SMU) | Carlton Davis (Auburn) | |||||||||
| Isaiah Oliver (Colorado) | |||||||||||
| 1st - 2nd Round | James Washington (Oklahoma State) | Harrison Phillips (DT, Stanford) | Josh Sweat (Florida State) | Ronnie Harrison (Alabama) | |||||||
| Anthony Miller (Memphis) | Dallas Goedert (North Dakota) | Ronald Jones II (USC) | Rasheem Green (DT, USC) | Kemoko Turay (Rutgers) | |||||||
| Christian Kirk (Texas A&M) | Taven Bryan (DT, Florida) | ||||||||||
| 2nd Round | Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State) | Austin Corbett (OG, Nevada) | Deon Cain (Clemson) | Mike Gesicki (Penn State) | Nick Chubb (Georgia) | Sam Hubbard (DE, OSU) | Lorenzo Carter (Georgia) | Malik Jefferson (Texas) | Marcus Allen (Penn State) | Anthony Averett (Alabama) | |
| Kyle Lauletta (Richmond) | Chukumwa Okorafor (Western Michigan) | Equanimeous St. Brown (Notre Dame) | B.J. Hill (DT, NC State) | Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (Oklahoma) | Josey Jewell (Iowa) | Donte Jackson (LSU) | |||||
| Jamarco Jones (OSU) | Tyrell Crosby (OG, Oregon) | D.J. Chark (LSU) | Nathan Shepard (DT, Fort Hayes State) | Uchenna Nwosu (USC) | |||||||
| Brian O'Neill (Pittsburgh) | |||||||||||
| Braden Smith (OG, Auburn) | |||||||||||
| 3rd Round | Luke Faulk (Washington State) | Geron Christian (Louisville) | Martinas Rankin (G/T, Mississippi State) | Dante Pettis (Washington) | Mark Andrews (Oklahoma) | Kerryon Johnson (Auburn) | Deadrin Senat (DT, USF) | Fred Warner (BYU) | Micah Kiser (Virginia) | Jessie Bates (Wake Forest) | Tavarus McFadden (Florida State) |
| Mike White (Western Kentucky) | Alex Cappa (Humboldt State) | DaeSean Hamilton (Penn State) | Christopher Herndand (Miami FL) | Royce Freeman (Oregon) | Jalyn Holmes (DE, OSU) | Genard Avery (Memphis) | Shaquem Griffin (Central Florida) | Terrell Edmunds (Virginia Tech) | Duke Dawson (Florida) | ||
| Orlando Brown (Oklahoma) | Michael Gallup (Colorado) | Trenton Thompson (DT, Georgia) | Jeff Holland (Auburn) | Darius Leonard (South Carolina State) | Dane Cruikshank (Arizona) | Kevin Toliver II (LSU) | |||||
| Tyquan Lewis (DE, OSU) | Hercules Mata'afa (Washington State) | Holton Hill (Texas) | |||||||||
| Tim Settle (DT, Virginia Tech) | Arden Key (LSU) | Quenton Meeks (Stanford) | |||||||||
| Duke Ejiorfor (DE, Wake Forest) | |||||||||||
| 4th Round | Chase Litton (Marshall) | Brandon Parker (NC A&T) | Mason Cole (OC, Michigan) | Allen Lazard (Iowa State) | Durham Smythe (Notre Dame) | John Kelly (Tennessee) | Foloronso Fatukasi (DT, UConn) | Jerome Baker (Ohio State) | Jordan Whitehead (Pittsburgh) | Tony Brown (Alabama) | |
| Riley Ferguson (Memphis) | Joseph Noteboom (TCU) | Scott Quessenberry (OC, UCLA) | Simmie Cobbs (Indiana) | Mark Walton (Miami, FL) | R.J. McIntosh (DT, Miami (FL)) | Jack Cichy (Wisconsin) | Troy Apke (Penn State) | Avonte Maddox (Pittsburgh) | |||
| Sean Welsh (OG, Iowa) | Marcel Ateman (Oklahoma State) | Skai Moore (South Carolina) | Kyzir White (West Virginia) | ||||||||
| Wyatt Teller (OG, Virginia Tech | |||||||||||
| 5th Round | Nyheim Hines (NC State) | ||||||||||
| Jaylen Samuels (NC State) | |||||||||||
| Dimitri Flowers (H-Back, Oklahoma) |
Notes
- If you are having trouble viewing the big board here, user “The FlyingHellfish” went ahead a created an open spreadsheet doc, which you can view using THIS LINK
- The Top-10 quarterbacks are listed in alphabetical order.
- Bradley Chubb is listed as both a defensive lineman and an EDGE because we feel he has the ability to play in any system, as both a true 4-3 DE and a stand-up pass rusher.
- We only included the fringe or grey area between the first and second rounds for simplicity’s sake. These are players who could (or should) go in either the end of the first or top of the second based on things like medical evaluations or team and scheme fit. In reality, this blurring happens between all rounds.
- This is a true consensus big board. We consulted each other on all the rankings, though perhaps unsurprisingly, there were few we really differed on.