2024 NFL Draft Prospects: YA BOY List

For the past several years, I have planted my flag on several NFL draft prospects that I believe I am higher on than consensus. It’s my “YA BOY” list. For the most part, I’ve kept my lists to myself, tweaking my process as an amateur scout. It’s now my fifth year of developing the list, and I feel like my process is refined enough to go public with it.

For transparency’s sake, I’ll start by providing you with the prior year’s lists, so that you’ll see both the good and the bad. You’ll notice that in earlier years, I focused a lot on Top 100 picks. As time has gone on, I’ve tried to take a deeper dive, and focus on players throughout the draft. Unfortunately, I don’t have my notes from prior years, so I don’t have a record of exactly why I chose the players that I did. Hopefully writing this article every year moving forward will provide context into my thinking at the time of each pick. But so that I can keep myself accountable, I present you with the YA BOYS from the past four years (forgive me for 2021, which was particularly brutal):

2020

  • Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina (Miss)

  • Michael Pittman, WR, USC (Hit)

  • Logan Wilson, LB, Wyoming (Hit)

  • Antoine Winfield, S, Minnesota (Hit)

  • Chase Claypool, WR, Notre Dame (Miss)

  • Lucas Niang, RT, TCU (Miss)

2021

  • Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State (Miss)

  • Odafe “Jayson” Oweh, DE, Penn State (Hit)

  • Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss (Miss)

  • Andre Cisco, S, Syracuse (Hit)

  • Kylin Hill, RB, Mississippi State (Miss)

  • Alex Kessman, K, Pitt (Miss)

  • Stone Forsythe, LT, Florida (Miss)

  • Jonathan Cooper, EDGE, Ohio State (Miss)

  • Israel Mukuamu, DB, South Carolina (Miss)

  • Aaron Banks, LG, Notre Dame (Miss)

2022

  • Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame (Hit)

  • Tariq Woolen, CB, UTSA (Hit)

  • Rachaad White, RB, Arizona State (Hit)

  • Desmond Ridder, QB, UC (Miss)

  • Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama (Miss)

  • David Bell, WR, Purdue (Miss)

  • Sam Williams, DE, Ole Miss (Push)

  • Logan Bruss, OG, Wisconsin (Miss)

  • Kolby Harvell-Peel, S, Oklahoma State (Miss)

2023

  • Lukas Van Ness, DE, Iowa - Projected Round 1, went 1.13 (Push)

  • Will McDonald IV, DE, Iowa State - Projected Round 1, went 1.15 (Miss)

  • Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa - Projected Round 2, went 2.03 (Hit)

  • Rasheed Rice, WR, SMU - Projected Round 3, went 2.24 (Hit)

  • John Michael “Jingleheimer” Schmitz, C, Minnesota - Projected Round 2, went 2.26 (Miss)

  • Kobie Turner, DT, Wake Forest - Projected Round 4, went 3.26 (Hit)

  • Jordan Battle, S, Alabama - Projected Round 3/4, went 3.32 (Hit)

  • Darius Rush, CB, South Carolina - Projected Day 3, went 5.03 (Miss)

  • Jordan McFadden, OL, Clemson - Projected Day 3, went 5.21 (Push)

  • Sean Tucker, RB, Syracuse - Projected Round 3, went undrafted (Miss)

  • Habakkuk Baldonado, DE, Pitt - Projected Day 3, went undrafted (Miss)

So, lots of busts on this list. But there were some screaming home runs too: Michael Pittman, Kyle Hamilton, Sam LaPorta, and Kobie Turner. And while you never want to miss, I really don’t think my hit rate is all that much worse than real-world NFL general managers.

So, if I haven’t scared you off with some of my bad picks of yesteryear, read on for my 2024 YA BOYS - the dudes I love in this draft class more than you do. Projected Round is taken from the Pro Football Focus Big Board. This column is intentionally written before the draft, so that my feelings on players are not influenced by landing spot.

  1. Taliese Fuaga, RT, Oregon State (Round 1, 13 overall)
    - 2nd Team All-American
    - Elite PFF grades: 88.2 overall, 90.9 RBLK, 79.2 PBLK
    - Elite Athlete: 9.71 Relative Athletic Score
    - Above the minimum threshold of 33” arms for a tackle
    - Outstanding highlights. Watch his reps from the Senior Bowl, focusing on his “signature move” where he holds up his right hand and yanks it away at the last moment as a defender lunges for it to get the defender off-balance

  2. Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon (Round 1, 29 overall)
    - 2nd Team All-American
    - Proven deep threat who averaged 17.1 YPC last season
    - PFF grade around 85
    - Yards per Route Run 3.32 (anything above 3.0 is Elite)
    - 4.41 speed
    - TD maker (14 trips to the end zone last year, 3rd in the nation)

  3. Jaylen Wright, RB, Tennessee (Round 3, 68 overall)
    - Young? Just 21 years old
    - Productive? Has a season of 1,000 Yards and a season of 10 TDs under his belt
    - Fast? 4.38 forty
    - Size? The bare minimum for most successful RBs is 210 lbs., and that’s exactly what he weighed at the combine
    - Speed score? Above the magic number of 112
    - Competition level? Played in the SEC
    - PFF grade? 91.0, with a zone grade of 88.8 and a gap grade of 85.0
    - Pass blocking? Good enough, with a grade of 72.0
    - Big play ability? 25% of his carries this year went for 10+ yards

  4. Malik Washington, WR, Virginia (Round 3, 90 overall)
    - 2nd Team All-American
    - 35.6% target share last year at UVa
    - 3.15 yards per route run
    - 91.1 PFF grade
    - 110 receptions, 1426 yards, 9 touchdowns, with a demonstrated ability to return kicks
    - The knock? He’s 5’85. But he’s a solid 191 lbs, so he’s pretty bulked up for his size. Great NFL slot potential.

  5. Cooper Beebe, LG, Kansas State (Round 3, 93 overall)
    - 1st team All-American
    - Top-22 graded guard per PFF for three straight years
    - 83.9 grade in 2023

  6. Jarrian Jones, NB, Florida State (Round 4, 113 overall)
    - 9.86 Relative Athletic Score
    - 4.38 forty
    - 90.1 PFF grade in 2023
    - Multi-skilled: The only player in the nation with a sack, tackle for loss, forced fumble, fumble recovery, and interception in the same game

  7. T’Vondre Sweat, DT, Texas (Round 4, 122 overall)

    - Unanimous 1st Team All-American
    - 91.7 PFF Grade
    - 2023 Outland Trophy winner
    - #1 run defender in the nation among defensive tackles
    - #2 DT in the nation in batted passes
    - Pass rush win rate > 15%
    - Size that you can’t teach: 6’45, 366 lbs
    - Watch him absolutely dominate in some of his Senior Bowl reps, bending other men backwards against their will

  8. Javon Foster, LT, Mizzou (Round 6, 179 overall)
    - 3rd Team All-American
    - Three-year starter as a left tackle in the SEC
    - Pterodactyl-like arms at 34.5”
    - Above-average PFF grades across the board: 84.8 overall, 86.5 RBLK, 80.9 PBLK

  9. Elijah Jones, CB, Boston College (Round 7, 225 overall)
    - 1st Team All-ACC
    - Nearly 6’2, so tall enough to match up with bigger receivers
    - 4.44 speed
    - 86.9 PFF grade in 2023
    - 9.74 Relative Athletic Score
    - 5 INTs in 2023, third-best in college football
    - Much better in man coverage than zone, so scheme fit will be critical
    - Taller, faster, and more athletic than projected first-round corner Terrion Arnold, but with a nearly identical PFF grade. The knocks are that he’s slender (185 lbs.), old for a rookie (24), and not a willing tackler

  10. Edefuan Ulofoshio, LB, Washington (Undrafted, 261 overall)
    - Third Team All American
    - Outstanding coverage grade (90.4 across 326 coverage snaps in 2024)
    - Experience at both the MIKE and WILL linebacker spots
    - Passer rating against him over the past 4 seasons: 57.1, 50.9, 58.3, 60.5
    - Size/speed combo: 236 lbs., 4.56 forty
    - Long arms for a linebacker at nearly 33”
    - Best Season PFF grade of 87.8
    - 450 special teams snaps
    - Team captain

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