The time has come to move on to the 2024 NFL Draft cycle. As we turn the page to the next class, what does the initial 2024 NFL Draft Big Board look like? Which schools are most heavily represented, and who are the top prospects on the board? All those questions can be answered below.
2024 NFL Draft Big Board
The 2023 season has yet to be played, and the order will assuredly change somewhat through that action. But as it stands, there are already several potential blue-chip prospects lingering at the top of the 2024 NFL Draft class — among them a talented legacy WR, a complete OT, a mismatch-generating TE, and two traits-rich QBs.
Caleb Williams, QB, USC
Occasionally, a quarterback prospect comes along who is so heavily anticipated he’s penciled in as a No. 1 overall pick years before he even becomes eligible. Andrew Luck was such a prospect. Trevor Lawrence was such a prospect. And ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft cycle, Caleb Williams is in that rarified air.
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Williams is not a generational prospect — not yet. But after a Heisman-winning season that saw him amass 4,537 passing yards, 52 total touchdowns, and just five interceptions, the excitement around his potential is unbridled. Williams has uncommon creation capacity and arm elasticity at 6’1″, 215 pounds, and his competitive toughness shines through.
Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
The 2023 NFL Draft starved us of complete WR prospects, but luckily, the 2024 NFL Draft will make up for it. Even before his first year of eligibility, Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. looks like a blue-chip WR talent, in a similar vein to players like A.J. Green, DeAndre Hopkins, and Julio Jones before him.
Harrison was dominant in 2022, amassing 77 catches for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s a looming size threat at 6’4″, 205 pounds, and his catching instincts are predictably superb. But Harrison’s also an incredibly nuanced separator and smooth athlete for his size, who routinely places DBs in positions of conflict before capitalizing with his vice-grip hands.
Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT, Penn State
Forget OT1 in 2024 — Olumuyiwa Fashanu would have been OT1 of the 2023 NFL Draft had he declared as a redshirt sophomore. Fashanu ultimately chose to return and finish his college degree, but the delay won’t have any effect on his NFL interest. Barring a regression, Fashanu’s an elite tackle prospect with all the tools to be a dominating bookend blocker.
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At 6’6″, 308 pounds, Fashanu has excellent size, frame density, and length. For that size, he’s an explosive, high-energy athlete. He surges off the line as a run blocker and has the foot speed and flexibility to match rushers out of his kick. Beyond having all the tools, he’s abnormally refined for his age, and he has the core strength to wrestle rushers into submission.
Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
Right now, Williams is the unquestioned preliminary QB1 of the 2024 NFL Draft class. But if there’s a QB prospect who has the potential to challenge him for that title down the stretch, it’s North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
Maye himself was one of the nation’s best playmakers in 2022, throwing for 4,321 yards and 38 touchdowns while adding 698 yards and seven scores on the ground.
At 6’4″, 220 pounds, Maye has prototypical size and stature, but he’s an exceptional athlete at that size, with the short-area quickness and evasive capacity to extend plays in the pocket. He also has an enticing arm, with easy velocity generation and angle flexibility to layer throws to multiple levels.
Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
Brock Bowers could have been an early-round pick as a true freshman. Some guys just have it, and Bowers falls under that distinction. He caught 56 passes for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2021 before racking up 63 catches for 942 yards and seven scores a season later.
In the modern NFL, where move tight ends are becoming more and more valuable, Bowers has elite potential as a receiving threat. He has size and stifling play strength at 6’4″, 230 pounds, but Bowers is also an effortless accelerator with tremendous foot speed and leg churn in space. He instinctively contorts for high passes, and if he has space, he’s hard to catch.