Happy 2024 NFL Draft week! To celebrate here at The Draft Network, we released our final Top 100 Big Board on Monday morning. Our scouts have spent countless months and hours scouting 250-plus prospects, culminating in a collaborative top 100.
I've identified a handful of players that I believe were ranked too high in the latest (and final) TDN100 update.
KEON COLEMAN, WR, FLORIDA STATE (NO. 17)
Keon Coleman is among the most divisive prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. The pre-draft conversation points remind me a little of Quentin Johnston's process last year, with believers touting size and downfield ability as reasons for belief and naysayers pointing to change of direction and long speed concerns as reasons for pause. For what it's worth, Johnston's rookie season did not meet expectations.
Coleman is a big-bodied receiver with the strength and confidence to dominate contested-catch situations. Coleman, who produced nearly 700 receiving yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns in 2023, looked like a potential top-five selection at times during the season. Cracks in the evaluation began showing as the progress went forward.
The 4.61 40 at the NFL Combine matters in historical terms as an all-time 17th-percentile result according to MockDraftable. Coleman's Reception Perception profile is aligned with the concerns, showcasing below-average results on multiple route concepts, particularly ones that require change of direction. Other reasons for apprehension include Coleman's yards per route run, which clocks in at just 1.25, 2.07, and 1.74 through three full seasons of play. Is he Tee Higgins or N’Keal Harry? I’d let someone else take that risk.
The 2024 NFL Draft features a deep class of receiver prospects. There are way too many exciting pass-catchers who create separation more efficiently and are far superior athletes for me to agree with Coleman as the No. 17 overall prospect.
JONAH ELLISS, EDGE, UTAH (NO. 90)
Jonah Elliss was a productive and athletic edge rusher at Utah. He utilized first-step quickness to produce a career-high 12 sacks this past season after combining for just 4.0 quarterback takedowns across 2021 and 2022. Elliss generated consistent pressure on passing downs.
However, I have questions regarding his next-level potential. Elliss features a lean frame with below-average lower-body strength and flexibility. The official measurements feature 15th-percentile height (6-foot-2), 11th-percentile weight (248), 32nd-percentile wingspan (79 1/4”), and 29th-percentile arm length (33 inches), per MockDraftable. Those are historically poor size-related metrics Elliss must overcome.
I don't see three-down potential on tape. Elliss possesses the athleticism and motor to eventually develop into a situational rusher. There are several of those prototypes that can be drafted in the fourth-to-fifth-round range. There are also injury concerns present. Elliss isn't a top-100 prospect.
SEDRICK VAN PRAN, OC, GEORGIA (NO. 59)
Sedrick Van Pran isn't a bonafide top-100 prospect in my books. He's just a borderline top-five-ranked center in the 2024 NFL Draft. How many centers do we anticipate being drafted in the opening 59 picks, which is where the latest TDN100 update has placed him?
Jackson Powers-Johnson, Zach Frazier, and Graham Barton (who *could* play center) easily clear Van Pran as a prospect. And then there are other contenders to round out the top five overall players at the position such as Tanor Bortolini, Dylan McMahon, and Beaux Limmer. Van Pran is approximately 50 spots too high for my liking.
