After a couple of weeks of the college season, here’s an update on our 2019 NFL Draft Watch List that we published a couple of weeks or so ago. It’s worth noting that the majority of the “big” schools have started the season with non-conference matchups against “lesser” opponents so it’s difficult to make adjustments to the individual player rankings at this stage.
Firstly, here’s some updates on some of the players we noted had injury concerns coming into the season:
Potential 1st Round Draft pick Washington OT Trey Adams has undergone season ending back surgery. This is the second serious injury blow for Adams who missed the back end of the 2017 season with an ACL injury. It is possible that he will be back in college for the 2019 season. For the time being I’ve left him on the players by school list below, but removed him from his previous no.15 position.
Ohio State ILB Tuf Borland (currently ranked as a potential 2nd Round Draft pick) was previously listed with an injury. He returned for a handful of plays for the OSU season opener and is expected to increase his playing time as the season goes on. I’ve removed the note regarding his injury.
UCLA TE Caleb Wilson (currently ranked as a potential 3rd Round Draft pick) was previously listed with an injury. He returned successfully for the season opener and I’ve therefore removed the note regarding his injury.
Alabama OLB Terrell Lewis (currently ranked as a potential 4th Round Draft pick) underwent surgery for a torn ACL. He is not officially ruled out for the season, so he remains on the list below but I’ve removed him from his previous no. 122 position.
USC OLB Porter Gustin (currently ranked as a potential 3rd Round Draft pick) returned from surgery for a torn meniscus to play in the season opener. I’ve removed the note regarding his injury.
Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald (currently ranked as a potential 3rd Round Draft pick) returned from the ankle injury he suffered last year. He was suspended for the season opener (for violation of team rules) but played in week 2. I’ve removed the note regarding his injury.
Northwestern QB Clayton Thorson (currently ranked as a potential 3rd Round Draft pick) returned from his ACL injury to start the season opener against Purdue. I’ve removed the note regarding his injury.
North Carolina TE Brandon Fritts (currently ranked as a potential 2nd to 3rd Round Draft pick) is probably out for the season due to an ACL injury. He remains on the list below but I’ve removed him from his previous no. 89 position.
Here’s some other player related updates:
Potential Top 5 overall pick DT Ed Oliver (Houston) has re-iterated that he will forgo his final year of college eligibility (2019) and will definitely declare for the 2019 NFL Draft.
Florida’s Cece Jefferson (currently ranked as a potential 4th Round Draft pick) has been suspended for academic reasons. At the time of writing, he has missed the Gators’ first two games of the season.
Main Ranking Updates:
With the three players dropping out of the top 150 as noted in the injury updates (above), everybody from positions 16-88 on the previous list move up 1 slot, everybody from positions 90-121 move up 2 slots and everybody from 123-150 move up 3 slots.
3 new players enter the Top 150 (at positions 148-150) – S Deionte Thompson (Alabama), CB Ken Webster (Mississippi), CB Amani Oruwariye (Penn State)
At this stage, I have made no other changes to the order of the Top 150. Two games into the season, felt too early to make such changes.
Other Updates:
I have updated/corrected some positions from my previous list - mainly based on where NFL scouts are projecting players to play in the pros and corrected 2 transcription errors (from my master spreadsheet to the blog)
The Top 25 schools list has been updated with the latest AP rankings.
To ease finding a school on the list, I have combined all of sections (that were in the previous version) after the Top 25 schools into a single alphabetical list.
Ok, on with the list…
AP TOP 25 SCHOOLS (after Week 2)
1. Alabama
DL Raekwon Davis* (8), OT Jonah Williams* (9), ILB Anfernee Jennings* (19), RB Damien Harris (32), OC/OG Ross Pierschbacher (48), ILB Mack Wilson* (79), DT/DE Isaiah Buggs (91), ILB Christian Miller* (147), S Deionte Thompson (148), OLB Terrell Lewis* (Unranked due to injury – surgery for torn ACL)
2. Clemson
DE Clelin Ferrell* (3), DT Dexter Lawrence* (14), DT Christian Wilkins (23), OT Mitch Hyatt (36), DE Austin Bryant (41), ILB Kendall Joseph (47)
3. Georgia
CB DeAndre Baker (7), WR Terry Godwin (126)
4. Ohio State
DE Nick Bosa* (1), DT Dre’Mont Jones* (16), WR Parris Campbell (37), ILB Tuf Borland* (44), RB Mike Weber* (92), OT Isaiah Prince (96)
5. Oklahoma
WR Marquise Brown* (43), OG Ben Powers (70), RB Rodney Anderson* (75), OT Bobby Evans* (76)
6. Wisconsin
ILB T.J. Edwards (25), OG Beau Benzschawel (39), OT David Edwards* (49), OG/OC Michael Deiter (53), NT Olive Sagapolu (131)
7. Auburn
QB Jarrett Stidham* (35), OT Prince Tega Wanogho Jr.* (90), WR Darius Slayton* (98), DT Derrick Brown* (111)
8. Notre Dame
CB Julian Love* (26), DT Jerry Tillery (38),ILB Te’von Coney (54),OG/OT Alex Bars (107), TE Alize Mack (110), OG/OC Sam Mustipher (130)
9. Stanford
RB Bryce Love (21),OG/OT Nate Herbig* (51), WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (74),TE Kaden Smith* (78), CB Alijah Holder (80, returning from knee injury), OT Jesse Burkett (95)
10. Washington
OT Kaleb McGary (62), RB Myles Gaskin (66), QB Jake Browning (85), S Taylor Rapp* (124), OT Trey Adams (Unranked due to injury - out for the season)
11. Penn State
OG/OC Connor McGovern* (46), WR Juwan Johnson* (88), DE Shareef Miller (105), QB Trace McSorley (123), CB Amani Orunwariye (150)
12. Louisiana State (LSU)
CB Andraez “Greedy” Williams* (6), LB Devin White* (17), OG Garrett Brumfield (86)
13. Virginia Tech
DT Ricky Walker (109)
14. West Virginia
QB Will Grier* (56), WR David Sills V (93), WR Gary Jennings Jr. (117)
15. Texas Christian (TCU)
WR KaVontae Turpin (83)
16. Mississippi State
Edge Montez Sweat (31), DT Jeffery Simmons* (42), QB Nick Fitzgerald (57)
17. Boise State
QB Brett Rypien (106)
18. Central Florida
None
19. Michigan
DT/DE Rashan Gary* (4), LB Devin Bush Jr.* (63), Edge Chase Winovich (68), CB Lavert Hill* (82), SS Khaleki Hudson* (99), S Tyree Kinnel (118), QB Shea Patterson* (137)
20. Oregon
QB Justin Herbert* (13),DE Jalen Jelks (127)
21. Miami, Fla
Edge Joe Jackson* (20),WR Ahmmon Richards* (30),FS Jaquan Johnson (67), CB Michael Jackson (81),ILB Shaquille Quarterman* (104), RB Travis Homer* (128)
22. Southern California (USC)
ILB Cameron Smith (45), SS Marvell Tell III (50), TE Tyler Petite* (55),CB Iman Marshall (61), OLB Porter Gustin* (72)
23. Arizona State
WR N’Keal Harry* (23)
24. Oklahoma State
RB Justice Hill* (58)
25. Michigan State
DT Raequan Williams* (112), TE Matt Sokol (119),S David Dowell* (129)
ALL OTHER SCHOOLS WITH TOP 150 RATED PLAYERS, LISTED ALPHABETICALLY
Arkansas – ILB Dre Greenlaw (140)
Boston College – DE Zach Allen (29), S Lukas Dennis (33), Tommy Sweeney (71)
Brigham Young (BYU) – DE/DT Corbin Kaufusi (115)
Buffalo – WR Anthony Johnson (10), ILB Khalil Hodge (94), QB Tyree Jackson* (113)
Cal-Davis – WR Keelan Doss (144)
California-Los Angeles (UCLA) – TE Caleb Wilson* (65)
Cincinnati – DT Marquise Copeland (52)
Florida - OT Martez Ivey (60), DE Jabari Zuniga (121), DE Cece Jefferson (125, currently suspended)
Florida Atlantic - RB Devin Singletary* (87)
Florida State - DE Brian Burns* (24), DT Demarcus Christmas (64), RB Jacques Patrick (120)
Houston – DT Ed Oliver* (2)
Iowa - TE Noah Fant* (12)
Iowa State - RB David Montgomery* (28), WR Hakeem Butler* (114)
James Madison – CB Rashad Robinson (136)
Kansas – LB Joe Dineen Jr. (102)
Kansas State - OT Dalton Risner (27)
Kentucky - OLB Josh Allen (15), TE C.J. Conrad (69), CB Derrick Baity* (122)
Louisiana Tech – OLB/DE Jaylon Ferguson (134)
Maryland – OT/OG Damien Prince (116)
Mississippi – WR A.J. Brown* (5), OT Greg Little* (34), CB Ken Webster (149)
Missouri – QB Drew Lock (11), DT Terry Beckner Jr. (97)
Nebraska – WR Stanley Morgan Jr.* (84)
North Carolina – TE Brandon Fritts (Unranked due to injury - torn ACL likely out for season)
North Carolina State - QB Ryan Finley (18), WR Kelvin Harmon* (101)
North Dakota State – QB Easton Stick (145)
Northern Illinois – DE Sutton Smith* (89), OT Max Scharping (103)
Northwestern - QB Clayton Thorson (77)
South Carolina - WR Deebo Samuel (40), WR Bryan Edwards* (73)
South Florida – TE Mitchell Wilcox* (135)
Temple – S Delvon Randall* (141)
Texas – WR Collin Johnson* (59), OLB/DE Breckyn Hager (146)
Texas A&M - ILB Otaro Alaka (139)
Texas-El Paso (UTEP) – FB Winston Dimel (142)
Texas Tech – ILB Dakota Allen (108)
Troy - WR Deondre Douglas (133)
Utah - LB Chase Hansen (138)
Wake Forest – FS Cameron Glenn (143)
Washington State – S Jalen Thompson* (132)
Wyoming – DE Carl Granderson (100)
The following FBS Schools currently have no players on this 2019 NFL Draft “Top 150 Watch List” - Air Force, Akron, Alabama-Birmingham, Appalachian State, Arizona, Arkansas State, Army, Ball State, Baylor, Bowling Green, California, Central Michigan, Coastal California, Colorado, Colorado State, Connecticut, Duke, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Florida International, Fresno State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kent State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Marshall, Massachusetts, Miami (Ohio), Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Navy, Nevada, Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), New Mexico, New Mexico State, North Carolina-Charlotte, North Texas, Ohio, Old Dominion, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rice, Rutgers, San Diego State, San Jose State, South Alabama, Southern Methodist (SMU), Southern Mississippi, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas-San Antonio (UTSA), Texas State, Toledo, Tulane, Tulsa, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan–
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