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NFL Media’s draft guru Mike Mayock has released his latest positional rankings, and boy are they a doozy. Big names have flown up and down the board relative to last month’s iteration, most notably with Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers claiming the top safety spot over LSU’s Jamal Adams and Ohio State’s Malik Hooker. It should be noted, by the way, that Adams and Hooker are both seen as potentially generational safety prospects. If Peppers is indeed a better prospect than both of them, that would likely mean he is on track to be a top-five pick next month.
Not only was there big movement among the safeties, but Florida State running back Dalvin Cook fell from his previous number one ranking all the way down to number three, where he now trails Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey in Mayock’s estimation. Joe Mixon was removed from Mayock’s running back list all together (for obvious reasons), only to be replaced by his Oklahoma teammate Samaje Perine.
In the cornerback group, where the Texans are expected to look for talent early and often, Marshon Lattimore has replaced Sidney Jones (Achilles) as the top corner on the board, while Gareon Conley and Fabian Moreau made their first appearances in the top five (knocking out Tre’Davious White). In a cruel twist of fate, Moreau also just suffered a potentially serious pectoral injury while benchpressing yesterday, so he may not last on this list for long.
You can expect to see a full video breakdown on Tre’Davious White as part of our “Film Room” series tomorrow morning, but in the meantime you can check out last week’s episode on Gareon Conley below to get a better understanding of why he’s easily one of the five best cornerback prospects in this class. If either he or White are available for the Texans at the 25th overall pick, do not be shocked to see Rick Smith rush that card to the podium as fast as possible.
What do you think of Mayock’s latest rankings, BRB? Do you agree, disagree, or remain indifferent? We’ve still got over a month to go until the 2017 NFL Draft, so now is the time to air all of your media-related grievances. Have at it!