Consensus board vs. draft day: the full S class, charted.
The Steal
Jalen Mills was ranked S7 on the consensus board (#71 overall) but lasted until pick 233, where the Philadelphia Eagles took him in Round 7. A 162-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any S in the class. Behind him, Jayron Kearse (+99) and DeAndre Houston-Carson (+75) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Tennessee Titans took Kevin Byard at pick 64, 71 spots ahead of his #135 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Deon Bush (56 spots) and T.J. Green (43 spots).
The Cliff
After Keanu Neal went at pick 17, the next S didn't come off the board for 36 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 22 picks on S, 6 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 20.4 since 2018.
The Bet
The Las Vegas Raiders spent more draft capital on S than any other club: pick 14, 33% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Jeremy Cash, ranked #64 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 253 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Karl Joseph | S1 | #44 | −30 | West Virginia | Las Vegas |
| 17 | Keanu Neal | S4 | #55 | −38 | Florida | Atlanta |
| 53 | Su'a Cravens | S2 | #49 | +4 | USC | Washington |
| 57 | T.J. Green | S10 | #100 | −43 | Clemson | Indianapolis |
| 58 | Sean Davis | S8 | #80 | −22 | Maryland | Pittsburgh |
| 61 | Vonn Bell | S3 | #50 | +11 | Ohio State | New Orleans |
| 64 | Kevin Byard | S14 | #135 | −71 | Middle Tennessee State | Tennessee |
| 71 | Darian Thompson | S5 | #60 | +11 | Boise State | NY Giants |
| 98 | Justin Simmons | S9 | #92 | +6 | Boston College | Denver |
| 111 | Miles Killebrew | S11 | #108 | +3 | Southern Utah | Detroit |
| 124 | Deon Bush | S17 | #180 | −56 | Miami | Chicago |
| 129 | Derrick Kindred | S22 | #278 | −149 | TCU | Cleveland |
| 159 | K.J. Dillon | S13 | #131 | +28 | West Virginia | Houston |
| 167 | Marqui Christian | S | — | — | Midwestern St. | Arizona |
| 173 | Trey Caldwell | S | — | — | La-Monroe | Cleveland |
| 185 | DeAndre Houston-Carson | S12 | #110 | +75 | William & Mary | Chicago |
| 204 | Jordan Lucas | S19 | #241 | −37 | Penn State | Miami |
| 212 | Kavon Frazier | S18 | #238 | −26 | Central Michigan | Dallas |
| 219 | Will Parks | S | — | — | Arizona | Denver |
| 233 | Jalen Mills | S7 | #71 | +162 | LSU | Philadelphia |
| 244 | Jayron Kearse | S16 | #145 | +99 | Clemson | Minnesota |
| 245 | Clayton Fejedelem | S21 | #261 | −16 | Illinois | Cincinnati |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Jeremy Cash | S6 | #64 | — | Duke | — |
| — | Tyvis Powell | S15 | #139 | — | Ohio State | — |
| — | Elijah Shumate | S20 | #249 | — | Notre Dame | — |
| — | Trae Elston | S23 | #287 | — | — | — |
| — | Jordan Lomax | S24 | #294 | — | Iowa | — |
| — | Antonio Glover | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jamal Golden | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kent London | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Michael Caputo | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Mike Hilton | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | RJ Williamson | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tanner McEvoy | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tevin Carter | S | — | — | Utah | — |
| — | Trevon Stewart | S | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.