As the 2022 college football season is about to begin this Saturday, here is my first top 50 2023 NFL draft prospects rankings. Did your favorite player on Tik Tok or one who has a cool NIL deal make the list? Maybe, maybe not, but as we know, the NFL Draft is a marathon. A lot will change with these rankings between today and come draft night, but here are the initial players I would recommend paying attention to, as we start this exciting upcoming college football season.
1. Will Anderson Jr, EDGE, Alabama
2. Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia
3. Bryce Young, QB, Alabama
4. Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas
5. Bryan Bresee, DT, Clemson
6. Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami-FL
7. Kayshon Boutte, WR, LSU
8. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State
9. Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame
10. Noah Sewell, LB, Oregon
11. Nolan Smith, Georgia
12. Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia
13. CJ Stroud, QB, Ohio State
14. Broderick Jones, OT, Georgia
15. Paris Johnson jr, OT, Ohio State
16. Kyu Blu Kelly, CB, Stanford
17. Isaiah Foskey, EDGE, Notre Dame
18. Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern
19. Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson
20. Quentin Johnston, WT, TCU
21. Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida
22. Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina
23. Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama
24. Jordan Battle, SAF, Alabama
25. Tucker Kraft, TE, South Dakota State
26. BJ Ojulari, EDGE, LSU
27. Zion Nelson, OT, Miami-FL
28. Clark Phillips III, CB, Utah
29. Eli Ricks, CB, Alabama
30. Cooper Beebe, IOL (but plays OT), Kansas State
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31. Siaki Ika, DT, Baylor
32. Nick Herbig, LB, Wisconsin
33. Will Levis, QB, Kentucky
34. Tyree Wilson, EDGE, Texas Tech
35. Myles Murphy, EDGE, Clemson
36. JL Skinner, SAF, Boise State
37. Antonio Johnson, SAF, Texas A&M
38. Jordan Addison, WR, USC
39. Jaren Hall, QB, BYU
40. O’Cyrus Torrence, IOL, Florida
41. John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota
42. Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College
43. Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina
44. Tank Bigsby, RB, Auburn
45. Cam Latu, TE, Alabama
46. Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland
47. Layden Robinson, IOL, Texas A&M
48. Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah
49. Jaheim Bell, TE, South Carolina
50. Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA
Key Week 1 matchups to watch between current top 50 prospects by the end of September 2022:
Oregon vs Georgia, Saturday, September 3rd, 3:30 pm EST, ABC.
Players to watch: Oregon LB Noah Sewell; Georgia DT Jalen Carter, OT Broderick Jones, CB Kelee Ringo, EDGE Nolan Smith.
Key matchup: Georgia’s running game led by Jones vs Oregon’s run defense led by Sewell.
Utah vs Florida, Saturday, September 3rd, 7:00 pm EST, ESPN.
Players to watch from the top 50: Florida DT Gervon Dexter; Utah CB Clark Phillips III, TE Dalton Kincaid
Key matchup: Will Florida allow DT Dexter to be more of a pass-rusher with the new coaching staff? And how will a solid TE like Kincaid help in the running and passing game for the UTES to steal one on the road?
Notre Dame vs Ohio State, Saturday, September 3rd, 7:30 pm EST, ABC.
Players to watch from the top 50: Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer, EDGE Isaiah Foskey; Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, OT Paris Johnson jr, QB C.J. Stroud
Key matchup: Foskey vs Johnson jr. How disruptive will Foskey be matching up against Johnson jr in order to affect Stroud in the passing game? Don’t be surprised if Stroud uses Smith-Njigba as a security blanket against pressure quite often in this game to offset Foskey’s potential disruption.
Next week, I will post a positional rankings article highlighting the top 5 players for each position and give you a short breakdown of why each player made the list. Stay tuned and happy college football season!
