Consensus board vs. draft day: the full S class, charted.
The Steal
Antonio Johnson was ranked S2 on the consensus board (#63 overall) but lasted until pick 160, where the Jacksonville Jaguars took him in Round 5. A 97-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any S in the class. Behind him, JL Skinner (+97) and Christopher Smith (+69) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Kansas City Chiefs took Chamarri Conner at pick 119, 124 spots ahead of his #243 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Jordan Howden (93 spots) and Marte Mapu (53 spots).
The Cliff
After Jerrick Reed II went at pick 198, the next S didn't come off the board for 26 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 20 picks on S, 2 of them in the first two rounds. That's right at the position's average of 20.4 since 2018.
The Bet
The Detroit Lions spent more draft capital on S than any other club: pick 45, 13% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Martez Manuel, ranked #162 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 259 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | Brian Branch | S1 | #15 | +30 | Alabama | Detroit |
| 47 | Jartavius Martin | S3 | #72 | −25 | Illinois | Washington |
| 66 | Sydney Brown | S4 | #77 | −11 | Illinois | Philadelphia |
| 76 | Marte Mapu | S10 | #129 | −53 | Sacramento St. | New England |
| 87 | Ji'Ayir Brown | S6 | #82 | +5 | Penn State | San Francisco |
| 95 | Jordan Battle | S5 | #79 | +16 | Alabama | Cincinnati |
| 119 | Chamarri Conner | S24 | #243 | −124 | Virginia Tech | Kansas City |
| 134 | Jay Ward | S12 | #150 | −16 | LSU | Minnesota |
| 145 | Jammie Robinson | S8 | #100 | +45 | Florida State | Carolina |
| 146 | Jordan Howden | S23 | #239 | −93 | Minnesota | New Orleans |
| 158 | Daniel Scott | S11 | #149 | +9 | California | Indianapolis |
| 160 | Antonio Johnson | S2 | #63 | +97 | Texas A&M | Jacksonville |
| 170 | Christopher Smith | S9 | #101 | +69 | Georgia | Las Vegas |
| 183 | JL Skinner | S7 | #86 | +97 | Boise State | Denver |
| 198 | Jerrick Reed II | S34 | #447 | −249 | New Mexico | Seattle |
| 224 | DeMarcco Hellams | S18 | #209 | +15 | Alabama | Atlanta |
| 234 | Jason Taylor II | S17 | #204 | +30 | Oklahoma State | LA Rams |
| 248 | Brandon Hill | S21 | #237 | +11 | Pittsburgh | Houston |
| 254 | Gervarrius Owens | S19 | #212 | +42 | Houston | NY Giants |
| 258 | Kendall Williamson | S37 | #471 | −213 | Stanford | Chicago |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Martez Manuel | S13 | #162 | — | — | — |
| — | Brandon Joseph | S14 | #174 | — | Notre Dame | — |
| — | Ronnie Hickman | S15 | #182 | — | Ohio State | — |
| — | Tanner McCalister | S16 | #202 | — | — | — |
| — | Quindell Johnson | S20 | #213 | — | — | — |
| — | Kaevon Merriweather | S22 | #238 | — | Iowa | — |
| — | Trey Dean III | S25 | #262 | — | Florida | — |
| — | Rashad Torrence II | S26 | #285 | — | Florida | — |
| — | Tyreque Jones | S27 | #309 | — | Boise State | — |
| — | Christian Izien | S28 | #314 | — | — | — |
| — | Alijah McGhee | S29 | #330 | — | — | — |
| — | Khoury Bethley | S30 | #379 | — | — | — |
| — | AJ Finley | S31 | #396 | — | — | — |
| — | Xavier Henderson | S32 | #426 | — | — | — |
| — | Kendall Smith | S33 | #428 | — | — | — |
| — | Bennett Williams | S35 | #448 | — | — | — |
| — | Christian Young | S36 | #453 | — | — | — |
| — | Lannden Zanders | S38 | #476 | — | — | — |
| — | Tykee Smith | S39 | #477 | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections derive from Jack Lichtenstein's Consensus Big Board, an aggregation of published analyst boards.