The 2023 NFL Draft is approaching, and I’ve been watching a lot of tapes on the season. top odds To prepare for the three-day event at the end of April. This class has a lot to love across the board, but some guys always seem to stand out as my favorites every spring. This year, I stood out to five potential players and five sleepers who could potentially be picked on day two. These are the guys I would target if I were running an NFL team and guys that I think have a really good chance of being stars in the pros.
The first player on the list shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve watched me talk about two NFL draft quarterbacks over the past couple of months. I was at his pro day a few weeks ago, and I love his game. Here are my favorites in the class of 2023 and some people fell asleep to watch.
jump to:
I love players They sleep to watch
My favorite prospects
In my opinion, Stroud is a gem of a quarterback class. At 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds, he’s been one of the most accurate passers in college football the past two seasons, and he makes good decisions with the ball. He can win on a putt from the pocket, but also shows his mobility to escape the pass rush, get out of the pocket and win with his legs or arm. A lot of people will say we only saw this out-of-the-pocket creativity in one game last season – Ohio State’s loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff – but I think we’ll see it regularly at the next level. Don’t underestimate what Stroud can do there.
Give me a QB like Stroud, who respects his teammates, the drive to be great and the tools to play at the highest level. If he lands in the right place, he will prove a lot of people right. I think he could quickly become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
When you find a true three running back who can run indoors or out, has the dribbling you miss in the open field and shows the speed to go the distance, you take him. And you do it early in the draft. This is especially true when that same decline is a real third-rate threat as a receiver. Gibbs would be among the best linebackers in the NFL the moment he was drafted. I’d have him rammed over the edge into wide area runs, hit him on halfback screens and circle him in the face of safety and woe to linebackers. Because once Gibbs was in space, he was gone.
Sure, he’s only 5-foot-9 and 199 pounds, but he’ll put you at 199 pounds. He will dunk and lower his shoulder on you. Gibbs would be a really good pro as a recent do-it-all running back.
Wright’s move from left tackle to right tackle in 2022 may have turned a good college football player into a top 15 overall pick. And to take him a step further, his size, speed, aggression and physical style put him in mind to end up the best player in this draft class when all is said and done. I think Wright is going to be a professional player for his first three seasons. He has a lot of potential.
It’s a man’s mountain too. At 6-foot-5 and 333 pounds, he can dominate the running game, and keep defenders off the ball. As a pass guard, Wright has the speed to tackle nimble rushers and the strength to nail against bull runters. It’s an eraser. The NFL team he’s drafting can direct him at right tackle from day one (although he can play both sides).
Big angles with movement skills like Gonzalez don’t come around often. At 6-foot-1, 197 pounds, he has the quick feet and hands to be a very effective NFL cornerback. I love its style recognition, fluid hips and quick closure. And Gonzalez has the skills to finish the ball, breaking up seven passes and intercepting four passes last season.
The icing on the cake? Gonzalez is also fearless as a striker. Simply put, he is the complete package and has a high ceiling as a professional.
In short, this young man is simply explosive. I see it on tape, and Banks backs it up at the combine. He ran 4.35 in the 40-yard dash and jumped 42 inches vertical and jumped 11 ft 4 wide. His speed, speed and hitting ability when he decides to get rid of him are fantastic. Banks can do it all.
At 6-foot-1 and 197 pounds, he’s an ideal fit for a scheme that features covering journalist, as he can play on the line of scrimmage. This is where his aggressive chokes, patient feet, and exceptional ability to shadow and close on any road make him difficult to handle.
My favorite sleep
If I were a team in the NFL, I would do whatever was necessary to make sure that by the end of the draft, the overrun on my team would end. He fits in well as a 4-3 linebacker and special teams playmaker in the NFL today because of his height, agility, speed, and explosive hitting ability.
He entered college as a safety and made the switch to linebacker. And you can see the exceptional instincts and mentality of physical decline. The Overrun (6-foot-3, 229 lbs.) has closing speed on area and/or man-covering duties. I’m just as excited to see how he develops in the NFL as it is for any player this season.
Although he wasn’t a regular starter at LSU, this guy has all the tools to be a dominant defensive tackle in the NFL. His explosiveness is excellent, he has heavy hands, and he has very good lateral speed. Roy was always annoying when he was allowed to play on the edge guard or trick/move at the snap, rather than play style 0 (nose guard). The 6-foot-3, 305-pounder can play defensively to the next level if needed.
If Roy is drafted by a team that has good defensive line room and a stance coach, he will be a superstar in this draft.
Don’t let Reed’s size of 5-foot-11 and 187 pounds fool you into thinking he’s just a typical boy. This guy is playing big On the outside as an X or Z receiver, with feet to beat press coverage, acceleration to clear the pad and turn the defensive back, and body control to smoothly enter and exit breaks. And despite his build, Reid has the strength of play and hands to finish regularly in contested catch positions.
And that’s not even mentioning that he’s a dynamic gambling return specialist.
If the Spurs are knocked out in the second round – which it shouldn’t happen but could – the team will get a lot of value in the return of Tony Pollard. Spears has the kind of solidity, dribbling, stop/start acceleration and great playing ability that can spark an attack at any moment. Spurs (5-foot-10, 201 pounds) was the offensive star of this year’s Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Alabama, and there’s sure to be more of that once the NFL season rolls around.
A standout in track and field, Moss ran 13.85 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles in high school—a record for the state of Iowa. He also posted a 39-inch vertical and ran 4.45 in the 40-yard dash at the harvest. On the court, he’s comfortable in the press or out of coverage, with a super fluid movement style, quick feet, very good short zone acceleration and very good long run speed with the NFL’s best receivers in the deepest parts of the field. His instincts, pattern recognition, and finishing skills are all very good as well, helping him with 11 career interceptions and three picks.
Moss also shows that he has absolutely no hesitation as a run supporter or as a tackler when it comes to the physical side of the game. He will hit big on receivers and running backs when there are opportunities. I have no doubt he’ll make an immediate impact on defense subs or on special teams in his rookie season – and that’s just a starting point.