clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2018 NFL Draft big board: Scouting reports and grades on every player I did breakdowns on

By SamuelRGold
NCAA Football: Oklahoma Pro Day Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Over the weeks leading up to the NFL Draft, I posted fourteen video breakdowns discussing some of the prospects in this draft. At the end of each of my breakdowns, I posted a poll asking you, the reader here at FieldGulls, to predict the career of each of the players. Based on your responses, I thought it would be interesting to create a relative big board on what the average reader thinks.

Methodology

I assigned a nominal point value to each of the descriptions and then calculated a weighted average based on the number of responses. Note: There is a large disparity between certain prospects. For example, Shaquem Griffin garnered over 2,000 votes while the average number of votes for the other thirteen polls was slightly under 400. With that being said, here is the breakdown of the points I assigned to the polls at the end of each of my videos:

  • Elite = 10 points
  • Good, but not great = 7 points
  • Meh = 4 points
  • Bust = 1 point

FieldGulls’ Reader Rankings

Here are the results of the weighted grading scale and the links to my scouting reports.

  1. Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State University - Grade: 8.8 (Link to my breakdown video)
  2. Vita Vea, NT, Washington - Grade: 8.5 (Link)
  3. Derwin James, LB/S, Florida State - Grade: 8.2 (Link)
  4. Anthony Miller, WR, Memphis - Grade: 7.2 (Link)
  5. Derrius Guice, RB, LSU - Grade: 7.0 (Link)
  6. Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama - Grade: 6.9 (Link)
  7. Shaquem Griffin, LB, Central Florida - Grade: 6.7 (Link)
  8. Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA - Grade: 6.7 (Link)
  9. Sam Darnold, QB, USC - Grade: 6.5 (Link)
  10. D.J. Moore, WR, Maryland - Grade: 6.4 (Link)
  11. Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma- Grade: 6.4 (Link)
  12. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville - Grade: 6.3 (Link)
  13. Akrum Wadley, RB, Iowa - Grade: 6.1 (Link)
  14. Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming - Grade: 5.7 (Link)

Notes

  • The player with the highest percentage of “Elite” scores was Saquon Barkley with 65%.
  • The player with the highest percentage of “Good, but not great” scores was Shaquem Griffin with 64%.
  • The player with the highest percentage of “Meh” scores was Akrum Wadley with 34%.
  • The player with the highest percentage of “Bust” scores was Josh Allen with 17%.
  • The player with the highest vote total was Shaquem Griffin with 2,056 votes.
  • The player with the highest positive rating (“Elite” or “Good, but not great”) was Vita Vea with 96.6%.
  • The player with the highest negative rating (“Meh” or “Bust”) was Josh Allen with 50.4%.

My Observations

Based on this data, I think it’s safe to assume that the majority of the voters believe that Vita Vea is the “safest” pick in this draft. On the other hand, Josh Allen was voted most likely to fail or not live up to expectations in the NFL.

Another interesting observation I made while looking into the data was that Saquon Barkley received a higher percent of “Elite” status grades when compared to Vita Vea (65% to 55%), but more people thought that he’d bust (2.1% vs 0.9%).

The final thing I noted in this analysis was that the average FieldGulls’ reader and I actually shared the same ranking of the top five quarterbacks. I too have Josh Rosen with the highest grade, Sam Darnold in second place, Baker Mayfield in third place, Lamar Jackson in fourth place, and Josh Allen in fifth place. The only difference between these grades and my own personal grades is that I think there should be a bigger disparity between Mayfield and Jackson. Personally, I gave Mayfield an early-to-mid first round grade, while I gave Lamar Jackson a late second round grade. Based on the ratings above, it’s clear that the average reader doesn’t believe there is a large difference between these players.

Follow me on Twitter @SamuelRGold and support me on Patreon.

More From Field Gulls