2024 NFL Draft: These 9 prospects should rank high on your watch list

Quarterbacks will dominate the conversation around the 2024 NFL Draft. USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye are worthy of being the first two players picked, with Williams considered the best QB to enter the draft since Trevor Lawrence.

It’s a fair assessment of Williams, too. He’s equal parts processor and gunslinger who many will compare to Patrick Mahomes in the run-up to April.

Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is the favorite to be the first non-quarterback selected. In an era that values wideouts as much as any position in the sport, Harrison’s prototype build, production, and bloodlines make him a must-have for teams that want that alpha receiver in the passing game.

A lot can change between now and the start of the 2024 NFL Draft, but smart money says Williams, Maye, and Harrison Jr. will be the first three picks. But then what? What could the next cluster of players drafted in the first round look like?

League sources close to Bears Talk provided a handful of names who should rank high on your summer scouting list. Some of these names may be familiar to you. Some won’t be. They all have a Day-2 grade or higher inside the league as the 2023 college season approaches.

Check it out.

Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT, Penn State

Widely regarded as a top-10 prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft, Fashanu shocked the league when he decided to return to Happy Valley for another year. Now, he’s a likely top-five pick.

The OT1 ranking is Fashanu’s to lose this season. At 6-foot-6, 321 pounds, and length for days, all he’s missing is more reps and experience. He’ll get that in 2023.

Curtis Jacobs, LB, Penn State

Jacobs appearing on this list may be a bit of a surprise. It was to me. But the NFL loves him and views him as a fringe-first-round prospect right now.

Jacobs was a five-star prospect out of high school (247 Sports) and has enjoyed modest production as a Nittany Lion. He had a career-best 7.5 tackles for loss and four sacks in 2022. He’s a shade under 6-foot-2 and 237 pounds with above-average speed.

We’ll see if this preseason grade holds for Jacobs, who could be a surprising 2024 draft riser (for anyone who doesn’t read this post, of course).

McKinnley Jackson, DL, Texas A&M

Jackson isn’t the first (or second, or third, or fifth) name you’ll see in rankings of 2024 NFL Draft defensive linemen, but that could change very soon.

Jackson has a first-round grade inside the league after totaling 37 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and two sacks in eight games last season. He’s short (just under 6-foot-2) but stout at 325 pounds. He fits the trend of short-statured quick penetrators who tend to go higher in the NFL Draft than we expect in the summer months.

Patrick Paul, OT, Houston

Paul is a popular name at or near the top of offensive tackle rankings right now, so it should come as no surprise that he’s on this list.

But he’s really high on NFL boards as the summer marches on.

Paul isn’t far behind Fashanu and may be the biggest contender to overtake him as the OT1 this year, although I think that’s a longshot.

Now entering his third season as Houston’s left tackle, Paul will bring a wealth of experience and an ideal physical makeup to the league.

Jordan Morgan, OT, Arizona

Morgan enters his third season as the starting left tackle for the Wildcats. He should be a lock to participate in the 2024 Senior Bowl as one of the top players at the All-Star event.

Morgan earned a near-elite 89.4 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus in 2022, placing him squarely on the NFL’s radar as one of the top pass protectors in the 2024 draft class. He’s considered a first-rounder right now.

Josh Newton, CB, TCU

Newton stands just under 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds with 4.45 speed. He had three interceptions in his first season with the Horned Frogs after beginning his career at Louisiana Monroe.

Newton is an ascending player whose year-over-year improvement has caught the eye of NFL teams. His 82.5 coverage grade in 2023 was the best of his four-year college career.

Jared Verse, Edge, Florida State

This one shouldn’t be a surprise for NFL Draft fans. Verse is the top edge rusher in the 2024 NFL Draft, a storyline that will continue throughout the early part of the 2023 college season.

The bigger takeaway is this: Verse could be the top defensive prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft. And if that happens, he’ll be an example of a player who bets on himself and wins.

Verse returned to college instead of entering the 2023 NFL Draft. It was viewed as a surprising decision at the time. But if he goes as high as where NFL teams are projecting him right now, he’ll have the last laugh.

Gabe Hall, DL, Baylor

There are some differing opinions on Hall, but he’s worth listing here. Some scouts view Hall as a fringe first-round pick, while others view him as a Day-3 guy. Perhaps that can be said about most prospects, but Hall has a chance to prove those first-round scouts right.

At 6-foot-5 and 295 pounds, Hall had four sacks in 2022 and nine over the last two seasons. He’s flashed interior pass-rush ability, a trait that NFL teams covet.

Blake Corum, RB, Michigan

Corum won’t appear at the top of most NFL draft analysts’ running back rankings, but he has a big grade entering the 2023 season.

Corum enjoyed a remarkable year in 2022, finishing with 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns. A knee injury knocked him off his NFL track last year, but he’ll be 100% recovered and ready to chase the RB1 tag this year.

What may surprise some fans is how big Corum is. He’s short (5-foot-7) but not small. He tipped the scales at 219 pounds this spring.

Corum won’t be a first-round pick. But if he stays healthy and produces like last year, a top-50 selection is within reach.