• Caleb Williams still leads the way: Despite every quarterback in college football being eligible, Williams is still the first off the board.
• The top three WRs remain the same: Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze remain the top three receiver prospects even if everybody in college football was eligible, showing how spectacular the 2024 receiver class is.
• Draft and trade for yourself: Try PFF's Mock Draft Simulator — trade picks and players and mock for your favorite NFL team.
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The NFL is unique to other sports leagues in that players cannot enter it until they are three years removed from high school.
What if that rule changed and players could enter the draft after playing just one year of college football? Here’s how the top-10 quarterback prospects would shake out for the 2024 NFL Draft if everybody in college football was eligible to be selected.
Click below to see the nation's top players at every position.
QUARTERBACK
1. CALEB WILLIAMS, USC, CLASS OF 2024
Even with every quarterback in college football eligible, Williams would still easily be the first signal-caller off the board.
He’s earned 90-plus PFF grades in all three of his collegiate seasons and has top-tier traits for the NFL level, especially in terms of creation ability. While he might not be an Andrew Luck/Trevor Lawrence-level of prospect, he’s likely in that next tier of the best quarterback prospects over the last decade-plus.
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RUNNING BACK
1. OLLIE GORDON II, OKLAHOMA STATE, 2025
The reigning Doak Walker Award winner led the nation this past season with 1,732 rushing yards while placing second in rushing touchdowns (21) and yards after contact (1,056). The sophomore did all of that while only receiving 19 total carries over the first three games, averaging nearly 150 yards over the final 11 contests. Oklahoma State also finished just 103rd in team run-blocking grade (55.3), making his dominance even more impressive. Gordon was also relied on heavily in the Cowboys’ passing game, as his 330 receiving yards were the third-most by a Power Five running back in 2023.
While his long speed is only slightly above average and he’s an upright runner at 6-foot-1, Gordon’s elite vision and footwork allow him to gash defenses for big gains.
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WIDE RECEIVER
1. MARVIN HARRISON JR., OHIO STATE, 2024
Harrison is as complete of a wide receiver prospect as you’ll find. To start, he’s a physical marvel at 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds who’s hit nearly 22 miles per hour in GPS tracking. He’s also so technically advanced for the position, which shouldn’t be too surprising considering his father is one of the greatest receivers who’s ever lived.
Harrison is a once-in-a-decade type of talent who’ll likely become an elite NFL wideout sooner rather than later.
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TIGHT END
1. BROCK BOWERS, GEORGIA, 2024
As the greatest tight end in college football history, Bowers is the clear choice to top this list. He may even be the greatest tight end prospect in NFL draft history.
The three-time All-American and two-time John Mackey Award winner has no glaring weaknesses in his game, outside of his below-average size for the position. He’s a versatile chess piece with elite after-the-catch ability and strong hands, bringing reliable blocking to boot.
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OFFENSIVE TACKLE
1. JOE ALT, NOTRE DAME, 2024
Alt has everything you’d want in an offensive tackle prospect. He’s got absurd size for the position at 6-foot-9, 321 pounds with 34 ¼-inch arms. He’s also a fantastic athlete at that size, testing as over a 99th percentile athlete according to Kent Lee Platte’s relative athletic score. Then there’s the multiple years of elite production that he’s put on tape. His 93.1 PFF grade since 2022 leads all FBS offensive tackles.
Alt is one of the better tackle prospects in recent memory and is the best since Penei Sewell in 2021.
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INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINE
1. JACKSON POWERS-JOHNSON, OREGON, 2024
Powers-Johnson was far and away the best center in college football this past season. His 87.5 PFF grade was over four points higher than the next-closest FBS center. He also led the nation with an 85.2 PFF run-blocking grade while his 90.6 PFF pass-blocking grade paced all Power Five centers.
While JPJ will likely remain in the middle of the offensive line in the NFL, he’s more than capable of playing guard as well. In 2022, his 85.3 PFF grade was tied for third among all guards in the country. He’s a truly versatile interior offensive lineman with very few holes in his game.
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INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINE
1. MASON GRAHAM, MICHIGAN, 2025
Graham was excellent in his first year at Ann Arbor, leading all FBS true freshmen interior defensive linemen with an 80.3 grade. He took his game to a whole new level as a sophomore. He was the fourth-most valuable defensive tackle in the nation according to PFF’s wins above average metric and was sixth in that same group with a 15.9% pass-rush win rate. Graham was one of only two interior defensive linemen in the country to finish with top-10 grades as both a pass-rusher and run defender. The other was Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat.
The rising junior has a relentless motor combined with ridiculous agility that makes him nearly unblockable. Even if an offensive lineman gets a clean shot on him, he has great power at 6-foot-3 and 318 pounds to shed the block and find the ball carrier. Graham’s a nearly complete defensive tackle who’ll continue terrorizing Big Ten offenses on his way to likely becoming a high selection in the 2025 NFL Draft.
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EDGE DEFENDER
1. JAMES PEARCE JR., TENNESSEE, 2025
Pearce became one of the most fearsome pass-rushers in the country this past season. The sophomore’s 21.3% pressure rate ranked third among all edge defenders in the country, as was his 92.4 PFF pass-rush grade. Pearce ended the season as the fourth-most valuable Power Five edge defender according to PFF’s wins above average metric.
He has freakish explosiveness at 6-foot-5, 242 pounds and converts speed to power at an elite level. With the 2025 NFL Draft looking like it’ll have a weaker quarterback class, there’s a real chance that Pearce could be the No. 1 overall pick next year.
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LINEBACKER
1. HAROLD PERKINS, LSU, 2025
Perkins entered Baton Rouge as a top-10 recruit and proved why in his true freshman season. In 2022, he paced all Power Five linebackers with a 91.0 PFF pass-rushing grade and placed second among all FBS linebackers with 18 quarterback knockdowns (sack/hits).
The Tigers asked him to play more in an off-ball role as a sophomore and he responded with an 81.1 PFF coverage grade that was a top-15 mark among Power Five linebackers. While LSU would be wise to pin his ears back and allow him to rush the passer more as a junior, Perkins has proven that he’s versatile enough to do whatever’s asked of him at a high level.
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CORNERBACK
1. WILL JOHNSON, MICHIGAN, 2025
Johnson immediately lived up to the five-star billing that he had coming out of high school. As a true freshman in 2022, he posted a 91.1 PFF grade in man coverage that led all corners in the Power Five.
He followed that up by allowing just a 29.1 passer rating into his coverage as a sophomore, which was fifth among all cornerbacks in the country. On six targets against Marvin Harrison Jr. and Rome Odunze this past season, Johnson allowed just three catches while also coming down with an interception.
He has all the physical traits you’d want in a corner at 6-foot-2, 202 pounds with excellent speed, footwork and ball skills for the position. If he was eligible to be selected in 2024, he’d be the first corner off the board. In fact, he would’ve been the first one taken in 2023 as well. Johnson has the makings of a special cornerback prospect who’ll likely be a top-five pick next April.
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SAFETY
1. CALEB DOWNS, OHIO STATE, 2026
Downs is the only 2026 prospect who leads one of these all-eligible position rankings.
He entered Tuscaloosa as the highest-rated safety recruit since Derwin James Jr. in 2015 and immediately showed why. The true freshman was named a first-team PFF All-American and was second among Power Five safeties with 16 coverage stops. His 88.9 PFF coverage grade was third among that same group.
Downs has no glaring weaknesses in his game, which is pretty ridiculous considering he’s not even a year removed from his senior prom. He’ll surely be joining his older brother, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs, in the NFL in a couple of years. In fact, he’d likely be the first safety off the board next month if he was in this year’s class.
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