Top 2024 NFL Draft Prospects to Replace Stars Who Could Change Teams in Free Agency
With Thanksgiving only a couple of weeks away, we're getting close to the end of the NFL regular season, meaning the offseason chatter is starting to begin.
For some teams near the bottom of the league's standings, discussions about free agency and the draft have already begun.
Those talks are primarily centered around which players are leaving or hitting the open market and who might replace them. So, who should teams target in the NFL draft as replacements?
Here, we'll dive into six of the top 12 free agents from B/R's Free-Agency Big Board and suggest prospects from the upcoming draft class who could replace those potential departing players.
The prospects selected all at least rank in the top three for their position on B/R's NFL draft big board, share a similar skill set to their counterparts and/or would be a good scheme fit with each team.
For this exercise, we will assume any impending free agent isn't retained by their current team in the offseason.
Jaylon Johnson: Kool-Aid McKinstry
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Jaylon Johnson free agent rank: 9th overall, CB1
Kool-Aid McKinstry NFL draft rank: 13th overall, CB1
Johnson has patrolled the Chicago Bears' secondary over the last four years and become one of the NFL's best young cornerbacks due in part to his high-level athleticism to be sticky in coverage or close quickly when wideouts do catch the ball.
The 24-year-old is also effective in both man and zone coverage, drawing similarities between him and how B/R's NFL draft scout Cory Giddings described McKinstry's skill set.
"A long-armed cornerback who shows the versatility to play from man and zone coverage," he wrote. "He has good lateral movement when in press and quickly gets in phase in the hip pocket to go along with the top-end speed to carry receivers deep. He also does a good job sinking hips and getting out of breaks for size.
"McKinstry is calm with the ball in the air, although inconsistent with getting his head around, he plays the ball well when able to locate it."
At 6'1" and 195 pounds, McKinstry also has a similar frame as the 6'0" and 196-pound Johnson. Additionally, they have comparable ball production in college as the Utah product logged 21 passes defended in 37 games and the Alabama star has 22 in 38.
Granted, Johnson has better hands and intercepted more passes in college—seven to two— but Chicago could swap out one athletic corner with good ball skills for another by targeting McKinstry in the draft.
Mike Evans: Keon Coleman
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Mike Evans free agent rank: 12th overall, WR2
Keon Coleman NFL draft rank: 7th overall, WR2
While Marvin Harrison Jr. would be the simple solution/easy pick for Tampa Bay to replace Mike Evans in the draft since the Ohio State star is the best receiver prospect in a while, the Buccaneers likely won't be drafting high enough to take him.
However, Evans and Coleman also share a lot of similarities.
Part of what makes Evans such a tough cover is that he's 6'5" and 231 pounds, so he can come down with contested catches and is fast enough to win down the field. That's a big part of how he's racked up 87 touchdown catches while averaging over 15 yards per grab during his 10-year career.
While Coleman isn't quite as big at 6'4" and 215 pounds, he also possesses the unique ability to bring in 50/50 balls and create explosive plays on deep targets. That's why he's averaging 13.4 yards per catch and has 10 touchdowns this season, which B/R's NFL draft scout Derrik Klassen seems to think will translate over to the next level.
"Coleman has all the contested catch ability you can imagine [for someone with his frame] and is an explosive threat every time he touches the ball," Klassen wrote. "He's a quick, concise route-runner relative to his size, too."
That last statement can be said about Evans as well, making the Seminole a good option for Tampa Bay to replace the organization's all-time leading receiver.
Chris Jones: Leonard Taylor III
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Chris Jones free agent rank: 1st overall, DT1
Leonard Taylor III NFL draft rank: 19th overall, DT2
Quality interior pass-rushers are hard to come by in the NFL, which is a big reason why Chris Jones is widely expected to be one of the most coveted free agents available this March after he and the Kansas City Chiefs couldn't agree on a long-term contract.
Since entering the league in 2016, Jones' 70.5 sacks are the fourth-most among all defenders regardless of position and trail only Aaron Donald when it comes to defensive tackles, according to StatMuse.
Part of the reason why the eight-year pro has been so productive is he has a great get-off, exemplified by his 1.68-second 10-yard split time at the NFL Combine, which ranks in the 86th percentile for the position, per MockDraftable.
While we don't have that level of data on Leonard Taylor III yet, getting off the ball quickly is his calling card as well.
Jones and Taylor III are also similar in that they're athletic enough to win with a few finesse moves as pass-rushers while also showcasing the strength to win with power.
Additionally, they can play the same position as both are best as 3-techniques in even fronts, and both can get penetration against the run with how fast they are off the line.
Where the 6'3" Taylor falls short—literally and figuratively—of the All-Pro is the latter has more length at 6'6". However, Kansas City will be hard-pressed to find another interior pass-rusher who is as effective as Jones, so the Miami product might be its best and most realistic option of doing so via the draft.
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Danielle Hunter: Laiatu Latu
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Danielle Hunter free agent rank: 4th overall, Edge2
Laiatu Latu NFL draft rank: 10th overall, Edge1
Hunter has made a name for himself in the NFL with his unique physical profile. He has great size and strength at 6'5" and about 265 pounds and is a top-tier athlete, earning a 9.88 out of 10 Relative Athletic Score at the combine in 2015. That's helped him win with power and finesse as a pass-rusher, racking up 82 career sacks in eight seasons.
A lot of those same statements are also true of Latu.
The UCLA player also stands at 6'5" and 265 pounds and has showed impressive quickness and athleticism en route to logging 21.5 sacks in two seasons with the Bruins.
Like Hunter, that helps give him a handful of finesse moves to defeat offensive tackles as a pass-rusher and makes him hard to stop when turning speed to power with a one-arm stab move.
While Hunter was a more natural fit as a hand-in-the-ground defensive end in even fronts, Latu can play in that scheme as well. The latter has the strength at the point of attack and block recognition to set the edge as an end against the run, which is another way he could fill his predecessor's shoes in Minnesota.
Devin White: Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
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Devin White free agent rank: 8th overall, LB1
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. NFL draft rank: 24th overall, LB1
Coming out of LSU and in the NFL, Devin White's calling card has been his ability to affect the passing game.
He's a good athlete to help match up with running backs and tight ends in coverage and has a unique skill set as a pass-rusher for an off-ball linebacker. The latter is how he's accumulated 22.5 career sacks and what makes him so effective as a blitzer.
Meanwhile, Trotter is also a high-level athlete who can put pressure on the quarterback with 11.5 sacks over the last two years at Clemson. Much like White, he has plenty of speed to close quickly on quarterbacks.
Trotter's athleticism also shows up in coverage as he has the movement skills to tighten throwing windows and make plays on the ball in the air, with nine passes defended and four interceptions over these last two seasons. Comparatively, White also had nine pass breakups during his final two years in college, but he did only nab one pick during that span.
The two are similar in size as well, with Trotter standing at 6'0" and 230 pounds compared to White at 6'0" and 237 pounds, making the former an interesting draft target to seamlessly replace the latter in Tampa Bay.
Kirk Cousins: Bo Nix
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Kirk Cousins free agent rank: 10th overall, QB1
Bo Nix NFL draft rank: 60th overall, QB3
Cousins has made a name for himself in the NFL by being a "jack of all trades, master of none" type of quarterback. He has decent accuracy and can push the ball down the field when he needs to, but he will miss throws and can struggle with the consistency of his arm strength.
While he doesn't get as much credit for it, the 12-year pro is also a solid rusher with nearly 1,000 career rushing yards and nearly 20 rushing touchdowns.
That description is pretty similar to how B/R's NFL draft scout Derrik Klassen views Nix's game.
"Nix's 6'2", 217-pound frame clears the bar for what you want and his arm can threaten every blade of grass on the field," he wrote. "Nix is a serious athlete for the position, too. Not only can he scramble effectively, but he can be used as a weapon in the QB run game a little bit."
In the early stages of Cousin's career, Washington used him in a similar role as he had 109 carries for 323 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns from 2015 to 2017.
"However, Nix is still a bit too inconsistent for someone with so much experience," Klassen continued. "Nix's footwork can unravel at times and he can be prone to leaving yards on the field by not seeing things come open."
The two quarterbacks are even similar in size as Cousins is 6'3" and 205 pounds while Nix stands at 6'2" and 213 pounds. Also, the latter's accuracy has dramatically improved over the years and he's threatening Mac Jones' NCAA record with a 77.7 completion percentage this season.
So, if Minnesota is looking to replace its starting quarterback in the draft, the Oregon product would represent a fairly seamless transition.
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