Consensus board vs. draft day: the full S class, charted.
The Steal
DeShon Elliott was ranked S7 on the consensus board (#97 overall) but lasted until pick 190, where the Baltimore Ravens took him in Round 6. A 93-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any S in the class. Behind him, Ronnie Harrison (+55) and Marcus Allen (+42) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Washington Commanders took Troy Apke at pick 109, 114 spots ahead of his #223 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Tre Flowers (107 spots) and Natrell Jamerson (78 spots).
The Cliff
After Terrell Edmunds went at pick 28, the next S didn't come off the board for 26 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 21 picks on S, 4 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 20.4 since 2018.
The Bet
The Los Angeles Chargers spent more draft capital on S than any other club: picks 17 and 119, 45% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Quin Blanding, ranked #147 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 256 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Minkah Fitzpatrick | S1 | #6 | +5 | Alabama | Miami |
| 17 | Derwin James | S2 | #7 | +10 | Florida State | LA Chargers |
| 28 | Terrell Edmunds | S9 | #105 | −77 | Virginia Tech | Pittsburgh |
| 54 | Jessie Bates III | S5 | #57 | −3 | Wake Forest | Cincinnati |
| 68 | Justin Reid | S4 | #43 | +25 | Stanford | Houston |
| 82 | Tracy Walker | S25 | #280 | −198 | Louisiana | Detroit |
| 93 | Ronnie Harrison | S3 | #38 | +55 | Alabama | Jacksonville |
| 95 | Tarvarius Moore | S13 | #154 | −59 | Southern Miss | San Francisco |
| 109 | Troy Apke | S21 | #223 | −114 | Penn State | Washington |
| 117 | Jordan Whitehead | S11 | #129 | −12 | Pittsburgh | Tampa Bay |
| 119 | Kyzir White | S6 | #90 | +29 | West Virginia | LA Chargers |
| 124 | Armani Watts | S8 | #104 | +20 | Texas A&M | Kansas City |
| 146 | Tre Flowers | S23 | #253 | −107 | Oklahoma State | Seattle |
| 148 | Marcus Allen | S10 | #106 | +42 | Penn State | Pittsburgh |
| 152 | Dane Cruikshank | S14 | #155 | −3 | Arizona | Tennessee |
| 154 | Siran Neal | S17 | #190 | −36 | Jacksonville State | Buffalo |
| 164 | Natrell Jamerson | S22 | #242 | −78 | Wisconsin | New Orleans |
| 184 | Marcell Harris | S | — | — | Florida | San Francisco |
| 190 | DeShon Elliott | S7 | #97 | +93 | Texas | Baltimore |
| 200 | Foyesade Oluokun | S | — | — | Yale | Atlanta |
| 222 | Jermaine Kelly | S | — | — | San Jose State | Houston |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Quin Blanding | S12 | #147 | — | Virginia | — |
| — | Godwin Igwebuike | S15 | #179 | — | Northwestern | — |
| — | Kameron Kelly | S16 | #184 | — | San Diego State | — |
| — | Damon Webb | S18 | #204 | — | Ohio State | — |
| — | Jeremy Reaves | S19 | #206 | — | — | — |
| — | Trayvon Henderson | S20 | #214 | — | — | — |
| — | Tray Matthews | S24 | #254 | — | — | — |
| — | Joshua Kalu | S26 | #292 | — | Nebraska | — |
| — | Stephen Roberts | S27 | #293 | — | Auburn | — |
| — | Cole Reyes | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Dominick Sanders | S | — | — | Georgia | — |
| — | George Odum | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jamar Summers | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kyle Queiro | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Mike Basile | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Sean Chandler | S | — | — | Temple | — |
| — | Steven Parker | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Travon Blanchard | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Trey Marshall | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Van Smith | S | — | — | Clemson | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.