NFL Draft Big Board – Top 25
By Keith Myers
The NFL combine is long gone, so it’s time for me to finally unveil my NFL Draft Big-Board. For those of you unfamiliar with the idea of a big-board, it is an ordered ranking of every player in the draft from the best, down to the players who’s playing days are now done.
You’ll notice that this is not the order that players will be drafted. Robert Griffin will go #2 in the draft, but he isn’t close to being the 2nd best player in the draft. He just barely made my top 10, and that was a very generous placement. Likewise, David Decastro of Stanford is #3 on my big board, but guards, even one as talented as DeCastro, never get picked in the top 10.
There might be a few surprises on here for those of you that look at other sites that cover the draft. The Lack of Dre Kirkpatrick in the top perhaps, or that I have Dont’a Hightower in the top 25. One thing that shouldn’t surprise anyone is the man in the #1 spot.
It will take me a few days to get all of this posted on here, once that is done, I’ll update all the position pages with the proper rankings.
The 12th Man Rising 2012 Big Board
1) Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
2) Matt Kalil, OT, USC
3) David DeCastro, OG, Stanford
4) Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU
5) Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma
6) Riley Reiff, OT, Iowa
7) Melvin Ingram, DE, South Carolina
8) Michael Brockers, DT, LSU
9) Johnathan Martin, OT, Stanford
10) Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor
11) Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina
12) Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama
13 )Courtney Upshaw, DE, Alabama
14) Luke Leuchly, ILB, Boston College
15) Flether Cox, DT, Mississippi State
16) Dentari Poe, DT, Memphis
17) Cordy Glen, OG, Georgia
18) Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame
19) Devon Still, DT, Penn State
20) Nick Perry, DE, Southern Cal
21) Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina
22) Ryan Tannehill, QB, Texas A&M
23) Whitney Mercilus, DE, Illinios
24) Zach Brown, OLB, North Carolina
25) Dont’a Hightower, ILB, Alabama