ESPN shakes up Top 50 player rankings for 2024 NFL Draft following Senior Bowl

ESPN shook up the top 50 player rankings for the 2024 NFL Draft after the Senior Bowl and there’s a new No. 1 player.

Spoiler alert, it’s not a quarterback now. ESPN’s Jordan Reid decided to put a pass catcher at the top of the heap in his new rankings.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the top 50 players going into the NFL Draft after the 2024 Senior Bowl.

1. Marvin Harrison Jr., WR – Ohio State

Harrison Jr. has the argument to be selected over someone like QB Caleb Williams. But, that depends upon who is at the top of the heap selecting first.

But still, the former Ohio State wide receiver has had a case to be the best player in college football all year. Now, Reid has him at the top, for now, as the best available prospect.

2. Caleb Williams, QB – USC

This one should surprise no one if you’ve been following the draft process leading into the upcoming spring. Although being No. 2 should be a little of a surprise. The former Heisman Trophy winner is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick, by someone. Perhaps the Chicago Bears at this point?

The USC star broke out as a freshman at Oklahoma before achieving superstardom with the Trojans as a sophomore. Sure, he wasn’t as good in 2023 but myriad factors sent USC packing early this year. Williams is surely the top prospect.

3. Drake Maye, QB – North Carolina

Maye has an argument to be the second best quarterback in this draft class. At least, that’s been the general consensus all season until as of late following Jayden Daniels’ Heisman season.

Maye has all of the tools and the prototypical size to succeed at the NFL. It’s a question of where he will go and how early he will be selected by a quarterback-needy team. Reid has him as QB2 following the Senior Bowl.

4. Joe Alt, OT – Notre Dame

Alt is expected to continue a lineage of Notre Dame linemen going to the NFL. He’s not the same level of athlete as Olu Fashanu (more on him later) and a few years older, but he’s got as strong a track record as any tackle in the draft.

That being said, Reid has Alt in the top five prospects overall, higher than other sets of rankings. Spoiler alert, Fashanu is in the top 10, but it looks like Alt turned some heads as of late.

5. Jayden Daniels, QB – LSU

Daniels might have the argument to pass Maye in this year’s draft after his Heisman campaign. The LSU quarterback always had dual threat abilities, but they were on a different level this past season.

Since the trend of a lot of these rookie quarterbacks to start right away, that might be the case for Daniels as well. It’ll remain to be seen how high he goes in the first round, but he might not last long.

6. Malik Nabers, WR – LSU

Don’t forget about Nabers, who had just as good, if not a better season catching passes than most. He was the main target for Daniels all year long, helping his quarterback win the Heisman.

He can run the entire route tree and can really stretch the field. Depending upon your evaluation, it might be a toss up between Nabers and the others.

7. Brock Bowers, TE – Georgia

Bowers is the top tight end in the draft class and it’s not even close. Overall, he’s one of the best players regardless of which side of the ball. He’s been a popular mock selection to the Los Angeles Chargers, which might be unfair with Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh right?

He can do it all as a pass catcher, a blocker and heck, a ball carrier. Bowers is a day one starter for whomever selects him in a couple of months.

8. Rome Odunze, WR – Washington

Odunze is the other wide receiver people need to talk about, other than Harrison Jr. Of course, this set of rankings has Nabers above him, but let’s forget about that for a second. He was a stud at Washington, helping the Huskies get to the national title game this season.

Odunze can run the entire route tree and he’s certainly NFL-ready for whoever selects him this spring. He was Michael Penix Jr.’s favorite target after all.

9. Olu Fashanu, OT – Penn State

Fashanu is big, can move and is young, all things NFL teams coveted that can’t be taught, either. However, he’s behind Alt in this set of rankings, but it’s pretty darn close.

Fashanu was actually draft eligible for the 2023 NFL Draft, but chose to come back to school as he would’ve been just 20 at the time of the draft. A year later, he’s still an enticing NFL prospect, and he just turned 21 in early December.

10. Dallas Turner, EDGE – Alabama

Turner is a demon off the edge and one of the best rushers we’ve seen in a few years.  Reid has him in the top 10, receiving more recognition.

He starred for Alabama and helped the Crimson Tide get back to the playoff this season. Like a lot of guys before him, he’s a day one starter and likely to be a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks.

No. 11 through 25

The next set of players featuring some big names on the list. Need some defense? Or pass catchers? Look no further than these guys.

11. Terrion Arnold, CB – Alabama
12. Laiatu Latu, EDGE – UCLA
13. Taliese Fuaga, OT – Oregon State
14. Jared Verse, EDGE – Florida State
15. Jer’Zhan Newton, DT – Illinois
16. JC Latham, OT – Alabama
17. Byron Murphy II, DT – Texas
18. Quinyon Mitchell, CB – Toledo
19. Tyler Guyton, OT – Oklahoma
20. Amarius Mims, OT – Georgia
21. Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB – Alabama
22. Troy Fautanu, G – Washington
23. Keon Coleman, WR – Florida State
24. Nate Wiggins, CB – Clemson
25. AD Mitchell, WR – Texas

No. 26 through 50

Yes, we get back into quarterbacks in this section of the rankings. But, the order of the next three might surprise you.

26. Jackson Powers-Johnson, C – Oregon
27. Cooper DeJean, CB – Iowa
28. Darius Robinson, EDGE – Missouri
29. Brian Thomas Jr., WR – LSU
30. JJ McCarthy, QB – Michigan
31. Jordan Morgan, OT – Arizona
32. Chop Robinson, EDGE – Penn State
33. Bralen Trice, EDGE – Washington
34. Edgerrin Cooper, LB – Texas A&M
35. Adisa Isaac, EDGE – Penn State
36. Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB – Missouri
37. Ladd McConkey, WR – Georgia
38. Bo Nix, QB – Oregon
39. Kingsley Suamataia, OT – BYU
40. Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE – Texas
41. Graham Barton, C – Duke
42. Xavier Worthy, WR – Texas
43. Chris Braswell, EDGE – Alabama
44. Kamari Lassiter, CB – Georgia
45. Michael Penix Jr., QB – Washington
46. T’Vondre Sweat, DT – Texas
47. Xavier Legette, WR – South Carolina
48. Kamren Kinchens, S – Miami
49. Troy Franklin, WR – Oregon
50. Tyler Nubin, S – Minnesota

Get this list together, keep track and see which of the top 50 actually go in the first 50 picks. The NFL Draft is scheduled to begin on April 25th in Detroit.