2017 NFL Draft: Top 100 Big Board, version 1.0

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: if you’re an NFL enthusiast who’s tantalized by the question of who you’re favorite team might take in the 2017 NFL Draft, you should stop paying attention to Mock Drafts, and instead be paying attention to “Big Boards.”

If i’ve said it a thousand times, i’ll say it a thousand more: NFL Mock Drafts, especially at this point in the offseason, and almost entirely meaningless. If basically every single team in the NFL is far from certain as to what they’re going to do with their first round pick, how can we expect the so-called “experts,” media talking heads, beat reporters, or even bloggers (like myself) to have any idea what those teams might do? You have about the same odds as getting a pick right — or wrong — as you do with picking the lottery numbers on a given evening.

Instead of wildly speculating what a team is going to do eight weeks from now, especially when their team needs are likely to significantly change between now and then, “Big Boards” — a comparative ranking of every single draft-eligible prospect — gives us FAR more tangible to discuss. Simply put, it’s your stake in the ground, stating: “all things being equal, I think this prospect is better than this prospect.” You’re making determinations and arguments based off of YOUR own evaluations and projections, instead of someone else’s.

Once again: Big Boards are NOT the same as a mock draft. Yes, I do think the Cleveland Browns should — and will — take Myles Garrett. But, just because I have a player ranked #2 or #3 on the big board, it doesn’t mean that I think the San Francisco 49ers or Chicago Bears are going to draft those guys. As a reminder:

• Big Boards = My comparative rankings of the top prospects in the 2017 NFL Draft.
• Mock Drafts = Wild, baseless, sure-to-be-hilariously-wrong speculation about who each team will take in the NFL Draft.

With all that being said, here’s my first Big Board for the 2017 draft season…