Consensus board vs. draft day: the full S class, charted.
The Steal
Xavier Watts was ranked S3 on the consensus board (#48 overall) but lasted until pick 96, where the Atlanta Falcons took him in Round 3. A 48-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any S in the class. Behind him, Jaylen Reed (+33) and R.J. Mickens (+31) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The New England Patriots took Craig Woodson at pick 106, 91 spots ahead of his #197 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Marques Sigle (74 spots) and Dante Trader Jr. (69 spots).
The Cliff
After Nick Emmanwori went at pick 35, the next S didn't come off the board for 29 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 19 picks on S, 3 of them in the first two rounds. That's below the position's average of 20.4 since 2018.
The Bet
The Baltimore Ravens spent more draft capital on S than any other club: pick 27, 25% of their total draft investment.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Malaki Starks | S1 | #16 | +11 | Georgia | Baltimore |
| 35 | Nick Emmanwori | S2 | #30 | +5 | South Carolina | Seattle |
| 64 | Andrew Mukuba | S5 | #72 | −8 | Texas | Philadelphia |
| 82 | Kevin Winston Jr. | S4 | #67 | +15 | Penn State | Tennessee |
| 93 | Jonas Sanker | S7 | #113 | −20 | Virginia | New Orleans |
| 96 | Xavier Watts | S3 | #48 | +48 | Notre Dame | Atlanta |
| 106 | Craig Woodson | S12 | #197 | −91 | Cal | New England |
| 118 | Billy Bowman Jr. | S6 | #96 | +22 | Oklahoma | Atlanta |
| 122 | Lathan Ransom | S8 | #117 | +5 | Ohio State | Carolina |
| 130 | Malachi Moore | S9 | #148 | −18 | Alabama | New York Jets |
| 155 | Dante Trader Jr. | S14 | #224 | −69 | Maryland | Miami |
| 160 | Marques Sigle | S15 | #234 | −74 | Kansas State | San Fransisco |
| 187 | Jaylen Reed | S10 | #154 | +33 | Penn State | Houston |
| 200 | Rayuan Lane III | S18 | #325 | −125 | Navy | Jacksonville |
| 214 | R.J. Mickens | S11 | #183 | +31 | Clemson | LA Chargers |
| 225 | Kitan Crawford | S16 | #237 | −12 | Nevada | Arizona |
| 230 | Dan Jackson | S17 | #288 | −58 | Georgia | Detroit |
| 232 | Hunter Wohler | S13 | #202 | +30 | Wisconsin | Indianapolis |
| 256 | Trikweze Bridges | S19 | #402 | −146 | Florida | LA Chargers |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Donovan McMillon | S | — | — | Pitt | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.