Consensus board vs. draft day: the full S class, charted.
The Steal
Nick Cross was ranked S6 on the consensus board (#81 overall) but lasted until pick 96, where the Indianapolis Colts took him in Round 3. A 15-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any S in the class. Behind him, Kyle Hamilton (+10) and Jaquan Brisker (+10) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Washington Commanders took Percy Butler at pick 113, 97 spots ahead of his #210 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Dane Belton (84 spots) and Delarrin Turner-Yell (80 spots).
The Cliff
After Tycen Anderson went at pick 166, the next S didn't come off the board for 45 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 17 picks on S, 6 of them in the first two rounds. That's below the position's average of 20.4 since 2018.
The Bet
The Cincinnati Bengals spent more draft capital on S than any other club: picks 31 and 166, 43% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Verone McKinley III, ranked #122 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 262 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Kyle Hamilton | S1 | #4 | +10 | Notre Dame | Baltimore |
| 31 | Daxton Hill | S2 | #26 | +5 | Michigan | Cincinnati |
| 32 | Lewis Cine | S3 | #33 | −1 | Georgia | Minnesota |
| 37 | Jalen Pitre | S5 | #41 | −4 | Baylor | Houston |
| 48 | Jaquan Brisker | S4 | #38 | +10 | Penn State | Chicago |
| 62 | Bryan Cook | S7 | #87 | −25 | Cincinnati | Kansas City |
| 79 | JT Woods | S10 | #133 | −54 | Baylor | LA Chargers |
| 96 | Nick Cross | S6 | #81 | +15 | Maryland | Indianapolis |
| 97 | Kerby Joseph | S8 | #96 | +1 | Illinois | Detroit |
| 113 | Percy Butler | S16 | #210 | −97 | Louisiana | Washington |
| 114 | Dane Belton | S14 | #198 | −84 | Iowa | NY Giants |
| 152 | Delarrin Turner-Yell | S20 | #232 | −80 | Oklahoma | Denver |
| 166 | Tycen Anderson | S11 | #161 | +5 | Toledo | Cincinnati |
| 211 | Quentin Lake | S22 | #244 | −33 | UCLA | LA Rams |
| 253 | Russ Yeast | S | — | — | Kansas State | LA Rams |
| 254 | Elijah Hicks | S | — | — | California | Chicago |
| 259 | Nazeeh Johnson | S | — | — | Marshall | Kansas City |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Verone McKinley III | S9 | #122 | — | Oregon | — |
| — | Smoke Monday | S12 | #190 | — | Auburn | — |
| — | Yusuf Corker | S13 | #197 | — | Kentucky | — |
| — | Leon O'Neal Jr. | S15 | #199 | — | Texas A&M | — |
| — | Markquese Bell | S17 | #211 | — | Florida A&M | — |
| — | Sterling Weatherford | S18 | #223 | — | — | — |
| — | Bubba Bolden | S19 | #227 | — | Miami | — |
| — | Juanyeh Thomas | S21 | #241 | — | Georgia Tech | — |
| — | Kolby Harvell-Peel | S23 | #281 | — | Oklahoma State | — |
| — | Reed Blankenship | S24 | #285 | — | — | — |
| — | Adrian Frye | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Antwan Collier | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Brad Hawkins | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Christian Morgan | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Daniel Wright | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Greg Eisworth II | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Isaiah Pola-Mao | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Ja'Von Hicks | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jaylan Foster | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Joey Blount | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Keith Gallmon | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Nasir Greer | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Nolan Turner | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Qwynnterrio Cole | S | — | — | Louisville | — |
| — | Tre Sterling | S | — | — | — | — |
| — | Will Adams | S | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.