NFL Draft prospects: Ranking Top-50 heading into the 2024 NFL Combine

The 2024 NFL Draft will begin on Thursday, April 25 in Detroit, Michigan. The latest class of college prospects will learn their initial NFL fates as they are drafted into the league. The first round usually is the focal point for fans as players are expected to have an instant impact. Still, there is plenty of talent and production that can come in the second round as well.

With that in mind, below, we are going to take a look at the top 50 prospects. This is not a mock draft and players are not listed in the order that we predict they will be drafted. These rankings are purely based on talent and performance in college and are not affected by potential team fit. The rankings were completed ahead of the NFL Combine, so drill results could result in some player’s rise and fall ahead of the Draft.

You know we have reached draft season when reports keep rolling out about how quarterbacks not expected to be considered in the first two rounds are now expected to be top picks. It feels reminiscent of the 2022 draft class, where five quarterbacks were mocked in the first round, and only one (Kenny Pickett) went in the first two rounds, and his career so far has called into question whether that should have even happened. All of that to say, I’m not overthinking it, and Caleb Williams, out of USC, is the top player in the 2024 draft class.

Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. is a consensus No. 2 pick for the class and should be the first non-quarterback drafted, barring some horrid performance at the Combine. He leads a talented wide receiver class consisting of Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze, Keon Coleman, Brian Thomas Jr., Troy Franklin, Ladd McConkey, and Adonai Mitchell.

It will be interesting to see how draft day shapes out as this is a very top-heavy class for offensive tackles, cornerbacks, and EDGE rushers. There are nine offensive tackles, eight cornerbacks, and six EDGE rushers in the top 50 prospects. Notre Dame’s Joe Alt figures to be the first offensive tackle drafted and is expected to increase the distance between himself and the rest of the class at the Combine. Cornerbacks will flip-flop up until the point they are drafted. The class is deep, and the latter part of the first round should be where the majority of them are taken. The EDGE rushers listed should start hearing their name called around the 10th pick, but it wouldn’t be surprising if all six end up starting in Week 1, wherever they land.