NFL Draft 2024: Ranking all 11 position groups right now

CLEVELAND, Ohio — With the vast majority of teams in the NFL in offseason mode, it’s time to look forward to the 2024 NFL Draft, which will be from Apr. 23-25.

For the third year in a row, the Browns don’t have a first-round pick. But this is the last of the first-round picks going to the Texans in the Deshaun Watson trade.

They have seven picks right now, five of which come in the final three rounds.

We’re still early in the draft cycle with the Senior Bowl and NFL combine still to come among other big events. But we have an idea of where this year’s class is strong and where it lacks either top-end talent or depth.

Here are how the 11 position groups in this year’s draft stack up.

1. Wide receiver
It seems like every year, we’re talking about the wide receiver class being very good in an NFL draft. This year might be one of the best ever, and that’s saying something.

The headliner is Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., who may be the best receiver prospect in a draft in quite some time. With few, if any, weaknesses, the only thing that will keep him from going possibly in the top three is that he doesn’t play quarterback.

This class also features a pair of potential top-10 picks in Washington’s Rome Odunze and LSU’s Malik Nabers. Add in about a dozen or more who could go within the first 75 picks, and this is a receiver class that we could be talking about in five years as one of the greats.

2. Quarterback
We’ve spent the past calendar year talking about how special USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye are. They’ve both proven they’re franchise caliber prospects at the position and should go first and second in some order.

But behind them, a third top prospect has emerged in Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels from LSU. QBs could easily go with the first three picks as they did in 2021.

Three other quarterbacks could sneak into the first round or at worst go early in the second in Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.

3. Offensive tackle
Keeping up with the theme of this being a great year to need offense, the third-ranked position is on that side of the ball. Two offensive tackles are looking like top-10 locks right now in Notre Dame’s Joe Alt and Penn State’s Ola Fashanu.

But even beyond those two, this year’s class is deep. In fact, most of those players in the second and third tier will be at the Senior Bowl.

Between Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga, Washington’s Troy Fautanu, Oklahoma’s Tyler Guiton and Houston’s Patrick Paul among others, the Senior Bowl will be a showcase for a slew of offensive tackles who should go within the first two rounds.

4. Cornerback
We finally get to the defense in these rankings, and the top position right now on that side of the ball is at corner. It’s not as deep as a year ago, when it was second only to edge rusher.

The Alabama duo of Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold stand out as two of the top names in the group. Iowa’s Cooper DeJean has been a name people have talked about for a while, and 6-2 Clemson corner Nate Wiggins is also getting a lot of first-round hype.

Other players can sneak into the first round including Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo.

But like with edge rusher, the depth of this position was hurt by a potential first-round pick from Ohio State staying in school as Denzel Burke did not opt into the draft.

5. Edge rusher
2023 felt like the year of the edge rusher. Will Anderson Jr. was the first one off the board at third overall, but later picks like Byron Young of the Rams and YaYa Diaby also made havoc in opposing backfields right away.

2024 just doesn’t feel as deep nor as strong at the top. UCLA’s Laiatu Latu, Alabama’s Dallas Turner and Florida State’s Jared Verse all have the chance to get into the top 10, and Penn State’s Chop Robinson isn’t too far behind.

But after Bralen Trice of Washington, there’s a clear gap to the next group of edge rushers. It’s a step back for the position after a couple of years at the top of these rankings.

A reason why is because the duo of Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau from Ohio State, both of whom could have been first-round picks, chose to stay in school.

6. Defensive tackle
Although the edge rushers took a step back in 2024, the interior defensive linemen have stepped forward to pick up some of the slack. Even without a top-five talent in Jalen Carter, this is a deep defensive tackle group.

Illinois’ Jer’Zahn Newton is the clear leader of this class. But the depth is where this position group really stands out.

Between the Texas duo of T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II, the NFL bloodlines of Michigan’s Kris Jenkins and others including Leonard Taylor III of Miami, there will be plenty of defensive tackles worth taking at the very end of Day 1 into the second round and beyond.

7. Interior offensive line
Including Peter Skoronski, there were just six interior offensive linemen who went in the first three rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft. This group might not have a first-round pick, but the depth at the top should be better.

It will help the depth of the position if you consider Graham Barton of Duke an interior lineman as opposed to left tackle, where he played all of his snaps in college over the last three seasons.

The highlights of this class include a pair of talented centers in Zach Frazier from West Virginia and Jackson Powers-Johnson from Oregon. Kansas State guard Cooper Beebe also has the potential to be a high-level player in the NFL.

8. Tight end
Outside of Marvin Harrison Jr., the most exciting skill player in this year’s draft might be Georgia’s Brock Bowers. He was a difference maker on two national championship teams for the Bulldogs and should be the first tight end to go in the top 10 since Kyle Pitts in 2021.

After Bowers, there is a massive dropoff to the next group. Texas’ Ja’Tavion Sanders should go early in Day 2, and Ohio State’s Cade Stover could sneak into the late third round.

It’s not a deep tight end group. But the presence of Bowers puts it ahead of other positions in similar situations.

9. Safety
Safety was another position hit hard with a top prospect opting to stay in school rather than go pro as Andrew Mukuba passed up the NFL for now and transferred from Clemson to Texas.

But there are two safeties clearly at the top of this group who may get into the first-round conversation in Miami’s Kameron Kinchens and Minnesota’s Tyler Nubin.

One of the biggest wild cards at the position is Miami’s James Williams. The 6-5 Williams is a former five-star recruit should pop at the NFL combine and could rise up the rankings as a result.

10. Running back
This year’s running back class lacks a first-round talent like Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs from a year ago. There are might not be a surefire top-50 pick.

But there are some good backs who will go on Day 2. Among the best are Florida State’s Trey Benson and Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen.

One of my early favorites who might not go until late in Day 2 is Notre Dame’s Audric Estime, who has pro-ready size at 227 pounds and is an analytics darling.

11. Linebacker
Jack Campbell of the Lions was the only off-ball linebacker to go within the first two rounds in last year’s draft. But it would be an absolute shocker if one goes in the first round or even in the top 45.

Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper is probably the best of the bunch because of his speed and coverage ability. If you’re big into NFL bloodlines, keep an eye on Clemson’s Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who could compete with Cooper to be the first linebacker off the board.

Other depth options including Michigan’s Junior Colson are intriguing. But overall, this is not a group with top-end talent or a lot of depth.