Consensus board vs. draft day: the full S class, charted.
The Steal
Geno Stone was ranked S10 on the consensus board (#146 overall) but lasted until pick 219, where the Baltimore Ravens took him in Round 7. A 73-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any S in the class. Behind him, Antoine Brooks Jr. (+41) and Alohi Gilman (+20) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Las Vegas Raiders took Tanner Muse at pick 100, 92 spots ahead of his #192 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on L'Jarius Sneed (89 spots) and Julian Blackmon (67 spots).
The Cliff
After Daniel Thomas went at pick 157, the next S didn't come off the board for 29 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 24 picks on S, 5 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 20.4 since 2018.
The Bet
The Carolina Panthers spent more draft capital on S than any other club: picks 64 and 152, 24% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
J.R. Reed, ranked #155 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 255 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | Xavier McKinney | S1 | #21 | +15 | Alabama | NY Giants |
| 37 | Kyle Dugger | S6 | #58 | −21 | Lenoir-Rhyne | New England |
| 44 | Grant Delpit | S2 | #25 | +19 | LSU | Cleveland |
| 45 | Antoine Winfield Jr. | S3 | #34 | +11 | Minnesota | Tampa Bay |
| 64 | Jeremy Chinn | S5 | #51 | +13 | Southern Illinois | Carolina |
| 68 | Ashtyn Davis | S4 | #50 | +18 | California | NY Jets |
| 70 | Brandon Jones | S9 | #130 | −60 | Texas | Miami |
| 85 | Julian Blackmon | S11 | #152 | −67 | Utah | Indianapolis |
| 100 | Tanner Muse | S15 | #192 | −92 | Clemson | Las Vegas |
| 104 | Terrell Burgess | S7 | #87 | +17 | Utah | LA Rams |
| 127 | K'Von Wallace | S8 | #112 | +15 | Clemson | Philadelphia |
| 134 | Jaylinn Hawkins | S23 | #263 | −129 | California | Atlanta |
| 138 | L'Jarius Sneed | S17 | #227 | −89 | Louisiana Tech | Kansas City |
| 152 | Kenny Robinson | S16 | #218 | −66 | West Virginia | Carolina |
| 157 | Daniel Thomas | S24 | #271 | −114 | Auburn | Jacksonville |
| 186 | Alohi Gilman | S14 | #166 | +20 | Notre Dame | LA Chargers |
| 198 | Antoine Brooks Jr. | S13 | #157 | +41 | Maryland | Pittsburgh |
| 199 | Jordan Fuller | S20 | #235 | −36 | Ohio State | LA Rams |
| 205 | Josh Metellus | S18 | #230 | −25 | Michigan | Minnesota |
| 216 | Kamren Curl | S26 | #284 | −68 | Arkansas | Washington |
| 219 | Geno Stone | S10 | #146 | +73 | Iowa | Baltimore |
| 236 | Vernon Scott | S | — | — | TCU | Green Bay |
| 243 | Chris Jackson | S | — | — | Marshall | Tennessee |
| 249 | Brian Cole II | S22 | #245 | +4 | Mississippi State | Minnesota |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | J.R. Reed | S12 | #155 | — | Georgia | — |
| — | Shyheim Carter | S19 | #231 | — | Alabama | — |
| — | Jalen Elliott | S21 | #244 | — | Notre Dame | — |
| — | Jared Mayden | S25 | #275 | — | — | — |
| — | Chris Miller | S | — | — | Baylor | — |
| — | Myles Dorn | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Rodney Clemons | S | — | — | SMU | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.