After a single year as a professional football player, 2014 NFL Draft picks begun to separate themselves a little from their original selection spots. Mike Sando of ESPN took a look at the top 25 prospects from the 2014 NFL Draft and ranks them out as if he was creating his draft board from scratch.
After one of the most productive rookie seasons from a linebacker in Baltimore, it is no shock that Ravens' linebacker C.J. Mosley comes ranked at number 5 overall. Sando goes on to analyze the placement of Mosley at this spot, which is pretty spot on analysis.
Mosley looks like the latest top-notch linebacker in Baltimore after a rookie season in which he led the team in tackles while also collecting five pass breakups, three sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble.
Ranked above Mosley is Khalil Mack (1), Aaron Donald (2), Odell Beckham Jr (3), and Sammy Watkins (4). It makes sense that the NFL's defensive rookie of the year would be ranked highly at number 2, but having Khalil Mack at the top spot is a little confusing when you consider Mosley's placement. Some could argue that Mack has a higher cieling than Mosley, but that is certainly debatable at this point in their careers and after their rookie seasons. You could even make an argument that Mack had a better season because he was on a worse defense than Mosley, which could be a point in Mack's favor. However, with Mosley jumping over former second round pick Arthur Brown and not only starting, but excelling on a top ranked defense would be a great counter argument to the idea that Mosley was indeed the better player in 2014 despite the defense's ranking. Obviously, if the Ravens' defense carried Mosley throughout the season and disguised several weaknesses, I could personally buy into the argument, but apparently the people that chose the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year award were swayed by Oakland's defensive ranking as they awarded Mosley the second position by a wide margin.
Looking at the rest of the rankings, I'm guessing that Sando and the NFL evaluators that he asked for help on this might be taking into account each player's original draft position in their analysis. Even with the top 5 being in question, each of those players do indeed belong there. Unlike the top 5 ranking, guys like Jadeveon Clowney who was unable to stay healthy, and Eric Ebron who had fewer yards than guys like Zach Ertz, Niles Paul, and even Owen Daniels; make me question the final rankings of each player and what Sando was thinking.
What are some players that are ranked either too high or too low for your liking?