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 ESPN Insider: Top 32 prospects of past five years (not including 2014 NFL Draft)

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PostSubject: ESPN Insider: Top 32 prospects of past five years (not including 2014 NFL Draft)   ESPN Insider: Top 32 prospects of past five years (not including 2014 NFL Draft) EmptyFri Jun 20, 2014 2:17 pm

espn insider

Top 32 prospects of past five years
How do this year's best stack up? We rank the highest grades since 2010

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Note: This doesn't include the 2014 Draft.

Updated: April 26, 2014, 5:41 PM ET
By Todd McShay | ESPN Insider

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The premise of this project is not to identify the best NFL players to be drafted in recent seasons, but instead to identify the 32 best prospects to come out in the past five years. In other words, if I had to rank all of the players I've evaluated in the past five draft classes with zero benefit of knowing what they went on to become in the NFL, what would that ranking look like?

This includes the 2014 class, so part of this is about seeing how guys like Jadeveon Clowney, Greg Robinson, Khalil Mack and Sammy Watkins compare to the top prospects of previous years.

I developed this ranking by ordering my final player grades for each of the past five years. This required a little after-the-fact subjectivity, as comparing guys with the same grades from different seasons can be tricky, but I put myself on the honor system and tried to do my best to remember how I felt about prospects at the time they were coming out.

Here is my Top 32 of the past five draft classes, including each prospect's grade and notes from the scouting reports from when they were coming out.

1. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford (2012)
Grade: 99

Then: I gave Luck the highest grade of any player I've ever evaluated, as he was as close to a can't-miss prospect as you could get. "Rare grasp of the offense. ... Ideal mental and physical toughness. ... Short-to-intermediate anticipation and accuracy are outstanding. ... Other QB prospects are faster and more dangerous but few have better pocket presence."

Now: Luck was selected No. 1 overall in 2012 and is entering his third season as the Colts' starting quarterback and coming off back-to-back postseason appearances. He's been a top-11 finisher in ESPN Total QBR each season, and looks well on his way to becoming a star quarterback at the NFL level.

2. Von Miller, OLB, Texas A&M (2011)
Grade: 98

Then: Miller was my top-ranked player in the 2011 class. "An explosive speed rusher off the edge. ... Closing burst is exceptional and is relentless getting to QB. ... Possesses explosive power in the upper body [and] very good overall range [versus the run]."

Now: Miller was the No. 2 overall pick by the Broncos in 2011, and he got off to an excellent start to his career, recording a combined 30 sacks, eight forced fumbles and one interception through his first two seasons. He was suspended six games to begin the 2013 season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy and was then lost to a season-ending torn ACL in December.


To read Todd McShay's complete list of his top 32 NFL draft prospects of the past five years, sign up to be an ESPN Insider.
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1) Andrew Luck - 99
2) Von Miller - 98
3) Jadeveon Clowney - 98
4) Sam Bradford - 98
5) Robert Griffin III - 98
6) Gerald McCoy - 98
7) Ndamukong Suh - 98
8) A. J. Green - 97
9) Patrick Peterson - 97
10) Marcell Dareus - 97
11) Greg Robinson - 97
12) Eric Berry - 97
13) Morris Claiborne - 97
14) Luke Keuchly - 96
15) Julio Jones -96
16) Matt Kalil - 96
17) Russell Okung - 96
18) Robert Quinn - 96
19) Khalil Mack - 96
20) Luke Joeckel - 96
21) Sammy Watkins -96
22) Trent Richardson - 96
23) Eric Fisher - 96
24) Tyron Smith - 95
25) Joe Haden - 95
26) Star Lotulelei - 95
27) Earl Thomas - 95
28) Dez Bryant - 95
29) Dee Milliner - 95
30) Cameron Jordan - 95
31) Aldon Smith - 95
32) Chandler Jones -95

Honorable mentions

These players all earned grades of 95 in my rankings, but were rated slightly below the 95s who cracked our Top 32 here. They are listed alphabetically below.

Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska (2011); Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU (2013); Mark Barron, S, Alabama (2012); Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State (2012); Fletcher Cox, DE, Mississippi State (2012); Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida (2013); Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma (2013); Dion Jordan, DE, Oregon (2013); Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M (2014); Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech (2010); C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson (2010); Chance Warmack, G, Alabama (2013); Trent Williams, OT, Oklahoma (2010)

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PostSubject: Re: ESPN Insider: Top 32 prospects of past five years (not including 2014 NFL Draft)   ESPN Insider: Top 32 prospects of past five years (not including 2014 NFL Draft) EmptyFri Jun 20, 2014 2:38 pm

My top 32 over the same period:

1. LB Von Miller (99)
2. QB Robert Griffin III (99)
3. QB Andrew Luck (99)
4. DE Jadeveon Clowney (98)
5. WR AJ Green (98)
6. SAF Eric Berry (98)
7. DT Ndamukong Suh (98)
8. CB Patrick Peterson (97)
9. DT Gerald McCoy (97)
10. OT Jake Matthews (97)
11. WR Dez Bryant (97)
12. DE Barkevious Mingo (97)
13. LB Khalil Mack (97)
14. DT Star Lotulelei (97)
15. OG Greg Robinson (97)
16. DE Quinton Coples (97)
17. OT Luke Joeckel (97)
18. WR Justin Blackmon (97)
19. QB Sam Bradford (97)
20. OT Matt Kalil (97)
21. OG/C Jonathan Cooper (96)
22. DT Sheldon Richardson (96)
23. LB Luke Kuechly (96)
24. WR Julio Jones (96)
25. QB Jake Locker (96)
26. CB Morris Claiborne (96)
27. OT Trent Williams (96)
28. OG Mike Iupati (96)
29. DE Ryan Kerrigan (96)
30. DE Chandler Jones (95)
31. DT Fletcher Cox (95)
32. DE JJ Watt (95)
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