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Texas Aims to Shatter NFL Draft Record, Todd McShay's Final Rankings

by:RT Young•about 9 hours
Matthew Golden
Matthew Golden (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

The Ringer’s Todd McShay has released his final big board and mock NFL draft heading into Thursday’s first round. McShay has always been my go-to draft guy. For one, he watches college football in real time, constantly evaluating teams and prospects through an NFL lens. So many “draft people” are watching games after college careers end, evaluating without context.

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I also like McShay because he once argued with my Kansas City Chiefs fan friend outside a tailgate and gave him the business. 

My buddy told McShay he didn’t like who he was forecasting the Chiefs should select that upcoming spring.

“I’m not getting into a debate with a dude who is dressed like Lebowski,” McShay shot back.

My friend who was dressed like The Dude since we were headed to a Halloween party wasn’t deterred. They argued for ten straight minutes. I don’t think either of them ended up being right.

Some notable notes from his mock and big board…

—The overcorrection to the overcorrection on Kelvin Banks seems to be happening. Banks has slid on many mocks due to paralysis by analysis. Steve Sarkisian even addressed the talk about Banks potentially being a guard on Tuesday. “Yeah I don’t get it. Whoever gets him is probably going to get a guy that’s probably going to play 10–12 years in the NFL.” McShay is one of those detractors and ranked Banks 35th overall. But he mocked him sixth to Tom Brady and the Las Vegas Raiders due to his high character. Teams don’t need to overthink this.

—Colorado’s Travis Hunter is tough to handicap since he plays both ways. He’s number one on McShay’s overall board, but after him, Texas stars Jahdae Barron and Matthew Golden rank as his top pure corner and wide receiver, respectively. He has Barron mocked 24th to Minnesota, while Golden goes 25th to his hometown Houston Texans.

—McShay has long been critical of Quinn Ewers, mainly citing his inability to “drive” the football downfield with force because of injuries and mechanics. In his final big board, Ewers is 153rd overall and the eighth-ranked quarterback, behind Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard. Woof.

You can check out all of Todd McShay’s analysis on the NFL Draft over on the McShay Report. 

-Other Longhorns on McShay’s final Top 300:

If all of those names, Ewers, and the three likely first-rounders end up being drafted, Texas would have 14 players selected. That would shatter the school’s seven round draft record of 11 selections set just last year. But to break 2022 Georgia’s record of 15, they’d need two bubble players such as David Gbenda, Gavin Holmes, or Silas Bolden to hear their names called. Gbenda recently had a great workout at the Houston Texas local prospect day and I know there’s increasing confidence from his team he could hear his name called late. Fingers crossed.

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Eric Nahlin wrote this morning that players are sticking around in Austin because they know they’ll be developed for the league by Sark and his staff. Thursday night will hammer that point home for all to see.

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