ESPN, Todd McShay update Top 32 NFL Draft prospect rankings

As we enter the final two weeks of college football’s regular season, decisions about entrance into the 2023 NFL Draft are on the verge of being made. The top prospects across the country, especially the ones outside the CFP, have but a pair of regular season games and potentially some form of postseason appearance between them and their pro football dreams. With that in mind, who is evaluated as the best of the best with the year winding down?

ESPN’s Todd McShay released his updated 2023 NFL Draft Rankings on Thursday featuring his 32 best players who could hear their names called this spring. For him, Alabama remains a dominant force come draft season as he has a pair of Crimson Tide stars atop his list.

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1. OLB Will Anderson Jr. – Alabama Crimson Tide
2. QB Bryce Young – Alabama Crimson Tide
3. QB CJ Stroud – Ohio State Buckeyes
4. DT Jalen Carter – Georgia Bulldogs
5. DE Myles Murphy – Clemson Tigers
6. DT Bryan Bresee – Clemson Tigers
7. OT Olumuyiwa Fashanu – Penn State Nittany Lions
8. RB Bijan Robinson – Texas Longhorns
9. CB Kelee Ringo – Georgia Bulldogs
10. DE Tyree Wilson – Texas Tech Red Raiders
11. OT Paris Johnson Jr. – Ohio State Buckeyes
12. OT Peter Skoronski – Northwestern Wildcats
13. QB Will Levis – Kentucky Wildcats
14. TE Michael Mayer – Notre Dame Fighting Irish
15. WR Jordan Addison – USC Trojans
16. WR Quentin Johnson – TCU Horned Frogs
17. CB Christian Gonzalez – Oregon Ducks
18. CB Joey Porter Jr. – Penn State Nittany Lions
19. S Brian Branch – Alabama Crimson Tide
20. DE Lukas Van Ness – Iowa Hawkeyes
21. RB Jahmyr Gibbs – Alabama Crimson Tide
22. CB Cam Smith – South Carolina Gamecocks
23. WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba – Ohio State Buckeyes
24. S Antonio Johnson – Texas A&M Aggies
25. G O’Cyrus Torrence – Florida Gators
26. OLB Nolan Smith – Georgia Bulldogs
27. DE Jared Verse – Florida State Seminoles
28. OT Broderick Jones – Georgia Bulldogs
29. ILB Trenton Simpson – Clemson Tigers
30. CB Clark Phillips III – Utah Utes
31. OLB BJ Ojulari – LSU Tigers
32. OLB Andre Carter II – Army Black Knights

Will Anderson Jr. and Bryce Young will go down as Nick Saban’s next two greats as they’re near locks to go in the Top-10, if not Top-5, in this draft. However, McShay has two more Tide players near the top of this draft with Brian Branch just inside of the Top-20 and Jahmyr Gibbs just outside of it.

If you think you’re seeing a lot of familiar faces at similar schools, don’t worry. You are. Georgia tied with the Crimson Tide for first with four selections while Ohio State and Clemson tied with three. It’s not only that those four schools have the most names in McShay’s ranking. It’s that they have the cream of the crop with all four of those schools having two players featured within the first 11 picks.

Liking defense could mean you’ll be excited for the upcoming NFL Draft too. Of McShay’s 32 selections, six are defensive linemen, five are linebackers, and five are corners. That means, in total, we see 18 of his picks are prospects who could be playing for NFL defenses by as early as next year.

With several big games, bowl season, and the CFP left, plenty of football is still left to be played. However, these are a lot of the names we’ve seen all season long and, regardless of what order they’re selected, they’re near guarantees to be the names we see atop of the draft boards come late April in Kansas City.