• Caleb Williams: He has earned 90.0-plus PFF grades in each of the past three seasons while posting a big-time throw rate of 6.2% throughout his college career.
• Marvin Harrison Jr.: He earned an 82.6 PFF receiving grade against man coverage and averaged 3.44 yards per route run in 2023.
• PFF’s 2024 NFL Draft Guide now available: Our latest draft guide is loaded with more than 600 pages of PFF-exclusive advanced stats, grades and analysis on some of the top 2024 draft prospects.
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With the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine in the books, we are full steam ahead with draft season at PFF. Just like the athleticism results from the combine, PFF grades alone don’t tell the full story on how a player projects at the next level. That’s why Trevor Sikkema’s big board isn’t simply a ranking of which players earned the best PFF grades in 2023. Those grades give a good indication of production, though, so here we are taking a look at how each of the top 20 players on the PFF big board graded in 2023.
QB Caleb Williams, USC
PFF Grade: 90.3
Williams’ production throughout his college career has been easy to see, and his PFF grades back up the eye test. He has earned 90.0-plus PFF grades in each of the past three seasons while posting a big-time throw rate of 6.2% throughout his college career.
WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State
PFF Grade: 89.9
Harrison looks certain to be the first wide receiver off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft. He earned an 82.6 PFF receiving grade against man coverage and averaged 3.44 yards per route run in 2023.
QB Drake Maye, North Carolina
PFF Grade: 90.7
Maye earned elite grades in each of the past two seasons, and his statistical profile has everything you look for in a potential franchise quarterback. His 7.5% big-time throw rate and 1.9% turnover-worthy play rate were among the best prospects at the position this year.
WR Malik Nabers, LSU
PFF Grade: 92.9
Nabers was the highest-graded wide receiver in all of college football in 2023 and, like Harrison, has everything you look for in a prototypical No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL. His 3.64 yards per route run last season was the best mark in this class.
TE Brock Bowers, Georgia
PFF Grade: 84.4
An injury hindered Bowers in the second half of the 2023 season, causing him to miss time and not look like the same player when he came back, but having a prospect whose worst season in terms of PFF grade is 84.4 is no bad thing. He earned elite PFF grades above 90.0 in both 2021 and 2022.
OT Joe Alt, Notre Dame
PFF Grade: 90.7
Alt ticks the boxes for what teams are looking for in a franchise left tackle. He earned an 86.5 PFF run-blocking grade and a 91.2 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2023. Additionally, he was impressive in both zone and gap concepts in the run game and on true pass sets in the passing game.
CB Cooper DeJean, Iowa
PFF Grade: 77.4
DeJean was better in 2022 than 2023, earning an 88.5 PFF grade in his best season in college. Whether or not he winds up as a cornerback or safety in the NFL seems like it’s still up for debate, but his production both in coverage and against the run gives him the chance to be a future star in the league.
WR Rome Odunze, Washington
PFF Grade: 89.8
Odunze has the size teams covet and is coming off his best season in college. He dropped just 3.2% of the catchable targets he saw and recorded a 75% catch rate on the contested targets. He’s not just a contested catch styler player though, earning an 89.5 PFF receiving grade versus man coverage.
CB Nate Wiggins, Clemson
PFF Grade: 82.5
Wiggins solidified his standing as one of the premier cornerbacks in this draft class with a blazing 4.28-second 40-yard dash time at the combine in Indianapolis and saw his PFF grade improve every season in college. He earned 74.0-plus PFF coverage grades in both man and zone coverage in 2023.
OT Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State
PFF Grade: 88.2
Fuaga’s arm length being a concern is one of the takeaways from the combine, but he has two years of production as one of the best tackles in college football. He earned an 80.0 PFF pass-blocking grade and a 90.9 PFF run-blocking grade in 2023.
DI Byron Murphy II, Texas
PFF Grade: 91.1
Murphy has all the tools to be a disruptive interior pass-rusher at the next level, and he improved his PFF grade every year in college. He earned a 92.0 PFF pass-rushing grade on true pass sets and had a 19.6% pass-rush win rate in 2023.
CB Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo
PFF Grade: 91.5
The only real knock on Mitchell that anyone can have at this stage is that he didn’t face the same level of competition as Wiggins and Terrion Arnold on a weekly basis. He’s now impressed on the field in college, at the Senior Bowl, and athleticism-wise at the combine this past week in Indianapolis.
OT Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State
PFF Grade: 78.8
Fashanu’s overall grade is dragged down simply because his 70.0 PFF run-blocking grade is just good. He is an elite pass blocker though, earning an 88.4 PFF pass blocking grade, including 82.0 on true pass sets, in 2023.
CB Terrion Arnold, Alabama
PFF Grade: 88.4
Not only is Arnold impressive in coverage, where he earned an 84.9 PFF coverage grade in 2023, but he was also very good against the run, earning a 90.6 PFF run-defense grade. From 471 coverage snaps in 2023, he allowed 41 receptions and had five interceptions.
EDGE Dallas Turner, Alabama
PFF Grade: 81.6
Turner blew up the combine in Indianapolis this past week and was an elite pass-rusher in his final season in college. He won 19.6% of his pass-rush reps in 2023 and earned a 90.7 PFF pass-rushing grade versus true pass sets.
EDGE Jared Verse, Florida State
PFF Grade: 84.4
An elite pass-rusher, Verse earned a 90.8 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2023, including a 90.9 PFF grade versus true pass sets. He won 21.8% of his pass-rush reps last season and has a similar size profile to Will Anderson Jr., who was drafted with the third overall pick in last year’s NFL draft.
C Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon
PFF Grade: 84.3
One of the cleanest prospects in this draft, Powers-Johnson is unlikely to fall much, if any, below his ranking here in the actual draft. He earned an 85.2 PFF run-blocking grade and a 90.6 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2023.
EDGE Laiatu Latu, UCLA
PFF Grade: 96.3
Latu‘s biggest concern is his medical history due to a serious neck injury in his past. If his medicals check out though, his production is good enough to warrant being drafted as high as in the top-10. He won 26.2% of his pass-rush reps in 2023 and earned a 94.5 PFF pass-rushing grade versus true pass sets.
OT JC Latham, Alabama
PFF Grade: 81.9
Getting better every season of his college career, Latham earned a 79.6 PFF run-blocking grade and an 81.7 PFF pass-blocking grade in his final season at Alabama. Better on zone concepts as a run blocker, where he earned an 86.1 PFF run blocking grade, he can be a Day 1 starter at right tackle in the NFL.
DI Johnny Newton, Illinois
PFF Grade: 84.9
Newton’s production dipped in 2023, after a 2022 season that saw him earn a 91.5 PFF grade, but recently we learned that was likely due to an injury that limited him in the second half of the 2023 season. Despite that injury, he still earned an 84.0 PFF pass-rushing grade this past season.
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