The creation of a Big Board in any NFL facility is a painstaking creation brought about by multiple people. Area scouts report to scouting directors, who in turn speak with coaching staffs and general managers regarding the best college prospects. Team needs and best players available are considered on sliding scales per organization, and then, finally, there’s a list (or a series of lists) of the top potential draft picks in any room.
What we’ve done at Touchdown Wire to assemble our top 50 prospects of the 2021 NFL draft class has a different methodology, but relies on a lot of research. Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield started the process by compiling extensive scouting reports on the top players at every position, including tape study and advanced metrics from Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions. Then, the final Big List of 50 players based on pure talent and positional value. Which is what you see here.
If you want to know who wrote which reports, you can tell the song by the singer. This year, Mark and Doug split up the position reports thusly:
Mark: Quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends, edge rushers, linebackers, cornerbacks.
Doug: Running backs, offensive tackles, interior offensive linemen, interior defensive linemen, safeties.
Without further ado, here are Touchdown Wire’s Top 50 prospects in the 2021 NFL draft.
Note: The percentiles in parentheses listed next to pro day data are compared to all historical athletic testing (combine and pro day) at the respective position of the player. Kudos to Pro Football Focus, and their Pro Day Schedule and Results Tracker, for this.
