PFF updates top-75 draft board, ranks 1 OL surprisingly high

Earlier this week, Pro Football Focus — the company that claims they chart every play in every game — made an update to their 2024 NFL Draft big board. Draft analyst Trevor Sikkema broke down PFF’s top 75 prospects in an article, which highlighted some of their off-consensus decisions.

To put PFF’s rankings into perspective, let’s look at two positions that Green Bay Packers fans seem to have highlighted — offensive tackle and safety — and compare and contrast how PFF has these Day 1 and Day 2 prospects ranked relative to the consensus draft board.

Offensive Tackles

• #4 Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State (#6 on the consensus draft board)
• #7 Joe Alt, Notre Dame (#8)
• #21 Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State (#112, iOL)
• #26 JC Latham, Alabama (#14)
• #30 Amarius Mims, Georgia (#21)
• #47 Jordan Morgan, Arizona (#40)
• #51 Patrick Paul, Houston (#36)
• #69 Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma (#66)
• #72 Kingsley Suamataia, BYU (#30)

The biggest name missing on Pro Football Focus’ tackle board is Graham Barton of Duke, who is listed as the 29th overall prospect and the fifth tackle on the consensus draft board. PFF made the decision to move Barton preemptively to the interior offensive line category. Here’s what Sikkema had to say about Barton:

Barton plays left tackle for the Blue Devils but is on the shorter side in regard to length for an NFL offensive tackle. This might cause a shift to an interior position in the pros, but wherever he ends up, he has starting-caliber strength and skill.

For the most part, PFF’s tackle rankings are pretty chalk. A couple of exceptions are Taliese Fuaga (Oregon State) and Kingsley Suamataia (BYU). Fuaga is ranked as an interior offensive lineman and a borderline Day 2 selection on the consensus draft board, while PFF has him ranked as a first-round prospect. Below is PFF’s blurb on the bookend:

Fuaga is a true mauler of an offensive tackle. His dominance in the run game catches your eye first, as he displaces opponents and finishes them from the play. But he’s also well-versed in hand usage in pass protection, making for a well-rounded prospect.

Suamataia is a former five-star recruit by way of the Oregon Ducks, who is a little more of a developmental prospect than a proven product — so that’s probably the reason why PFF has him going about a round later than the consensus board projects.

Safeties

• #17 Kamren Kinchens, Miami (FL) (#20)
• #27 Tyler Nubin, Minnesota (#38)
• #44 Calen Bullock, USC (#47)
• #66 Rod Moore, Michigan (#106)

The big sticking point with PFF’s safety board is that they consider Iowa’s Cooper DeJean a cornerback prospect, which will probably be a highly-debated position once draft season really starts to ramp up. At the moment, DeJean is ranked as the top safety on the consensus draft board, despite the fact that he’s actually playing cornerback for the Hawkeyes.

Kinchens is about as versatile a safety as you’ll find in this draft. His athleticism gives him top-tier range in coverage as a single-high defender, but Miami also uses him in the box. He’s a scheme-versatile backend playmaker.

If DeJean isn’t the first safety drafted in April, it will be Kamren Kinchens of Miami, who has the chance to be the most hyped true-safety prospect since Derwin James back in 2018. PFF’s safety rankings are fairly chalk, though, they do like Rod Moore of Michigan a tick better than the consensus.