NFL Draft 2013 Big Board: Rounding Up Top Experts' Final Rankings

NFL draft experts put together big boards every year to rank prospects entering the NFL draft. 

Unlike mock drafts, which are a collection of educated guesses based upon rumors and team needs, big boards more accurately measure how analysts grade players from an objective standpoint. 

In this column, five of the top draft experts on the web will be featured:

• Mel Kiper, Jr. (ESPN Insider protected)
• Todd McShay's Scouts Inc. 
• NFL.com's Mike Mayock
• CBSSports.com's Rob Rang
• Bleacher Report's Matt Miller

Four of the five have left tackle Luke Joeckel as their top-ranked player, and the consensus is that offensive linemen are the top players in this year's draft. 

After that, however, these men have different ideas about how the top of this year's class stacks up. Raw prospects like Barkevious Mingo are favored by Kiper, Jr., while Miller doesn't have Mingo on his board until No. 29.  

One thing that is consistent is that none of these experts have a particularly high grade on any of the quarterbacks in this year's draft. 

The 2013 class isn't generating the same hype we saw from last year's class, and a lack of elite quarterback prospects has everything to do with it. Most fans have a hard time getting excited about offensive linemen and defensive tackles.

That said, this class features fantastic depth. There isn't a lot of difference talent-wise between the prospect who will be drafted at, say, No. 15 and the one picked up with the first pick of Round 3. 

This depth will make the draft fun to watch after Round 1, provided you take an interest in this sort of thing to begin with. 

Without further ado, I present to you a quintuplet of big boards.

Note: Some lists are incomplete, as three of the experts provided big boards for the top 100 players. In those cases, you'll see the top 32 players, with a link provided should you be interested in the entire list. 

Mel Kiper, Jr. 

Rank	Player	Position	School
1	Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M
2	Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan
3	Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma
4	Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama
5	Dion Jordan	OLB/DE	Oregon
6	Barkevious Mingo	OLB/DE	LSU
7	Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah
8	Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida
9	Ezekiel Ansah	DE	BYU
10	Jarvis Jones	OLB	Georgia
11	Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina
12	Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame
13	Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama
14	Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri
15	Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia
16	Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas
17	D.J. Fluker	OT	Alabama
18	Manti Te'o	ILB	Notre Dame
19	Sylvester Williams	DT	North Carolina
20	Alec Ogletree	ILB	Georgia
21	Eddie Lacy	RB	Alabama
22	John Cyprien	S	Florida International
23	Zach Ertz	TE	Stanford
24	Datone Jones	DE	UCLA
25	Geno Smith	QB	West Virginia

Todd McShay's Scouts Inc.

Rank	Player	Position	School	Grade
1	Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M	96
2	Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan	96
3	Dion Jordan	OLB/DE	Oregon	95
4	Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah	95
5	Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida	95
6	Ezekiel Ansah	OLB/DE	BYU	95
7	Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama	95
8	Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma	95
9	Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama	95
10	Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina	94
11	Barkevious Mingo	OLB/DE	LSU	93
12	Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri	93
13	Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia	93
14	Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame	93
15	Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas	93
16	Alec Ogletree	ILB	Georgia	92
17	Sylvester Williams	DT	North Carolina	92
18	D.J. Fluker	OT	Alabama	92
19	Jarvis Jones	OLB	Georgia	91
20	Geno Smith	QB	West Virginia	91
21	D.J. Hayden	CB	Houston	91
22	Justin Pugh	OT	Syracuse	91
23	Manti Te'o	ILB	Notre Dame	91
24	Bjoern Werner	DE	Florida State	90
25	Datone Jones	DE	UCLA	90
26	Justin Hunter	WR	Tennessee	90
27	Kyle Long	OT	Oregon	89
28	Desmond Trufant	CB	Washington	89
29	Matt Elam	S	Florida	89
30	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee	89
31	Menelik Watson	OT	Florida State	89
32	Matt Barkley	QB	USC	88

Mike Mayock

For a full look at Mayock's big board, here's the link once again. Here are his top 32:

Rank	Player	Position	School
1	Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan
2	Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida
3	Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M
4	Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama
5	Dion Jordan	OLB/DE	Oregon
6	Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma
7	Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri
8	Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina
9	Ezekiel Ansah	OLB/DE	BYU
10	Barkevious Mingo	OLB/DE	LSU
11	Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah
12	Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia
13	Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame
14	D.J. Hayden	CB	Houston
15	D.J. Fluker	OT	Alabama
16	Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama
17	Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas
18	Eddie Lacy	RB	Alabama
19	Jarvis Jones	OLB	Georgia
20	Xavier Rhodes	CB	Florida State
21	Geno Smith	QB	West Virginia
22	Sylvester Williams	DT	North Carolina
23	Manti Te'o	ILB	Notre Dame
24	Justin Pugh	OT	Syracuse
25	Matt Elam	S	Florida
26	Bjoern Werner	DE	Florida State
27	Datone Jones	DE	UCLA
28	Eric Reid	S	LSU
29	Kyle Long	OG	Oregon
30	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee
31	Menelik Watson	OT	Florida State
32	Justin Hunter	WR	Tennessee

Rob Rang

For a full look at Rang's big board, here's the link once again. Here are his top 32:

Rank	Player	Position	School
1	Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M
2	Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan
3	Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida
4	Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama
5	Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah
6	Ezekiel Ansah	OLB/DE	BYU
7	Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina
8	Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama
9	Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma
10	Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri
11	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee
12	Jarvis Jones	OLB	Georgia
13	Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia
14	Desmond Trufant	CB	Washington
15	D.J. Fluker	OT	Alabama
16	Xavier Rhodes	CB	Florida State
17	Geno Smith	QB	West Virginia
18	Matt Barkley	QB	USC
19	Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame
20	Dion Jordan	OLB/DE	Oregon
21	Bjoern Werner	DE	Florida State
22	Barkevious Mingo	OLB/DE	LSU
23	Keenan Allen	WR	California
24	Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas
25	Robert Woods	WR	USC
26	Matt Elam	S	Florida
27	Jamar Taylor	CB	Boise State
28	D.J. Hayden	CB	Houston
29	Eric Reid	S	LSU
30	Damontre Moore	DE/OLB	Texas A&M
31	Datone Jones	DE	UCLA
32	Margus Hunt	DE	SMU

Matt Miller

For a full look at Miller's big board, here's the link once again. Here are his top 32:

Rank	Player	Position	School
1	Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M
2	Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama
3	Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan
4	Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida
5	Cornellius "Tank" Carradine	DE/OLB	Florida State
6	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee
7	Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah
8	Dion Jordan	OLB/DE	Oregon
9	Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri
10	Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas
11	Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia
12	Ezekiel Ansah	OLB/DE	BYU
13	Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma
14	Geno Smith	QB	West Virginia
15	Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama
16	Jarvis Jones	OLB	Georgia
17	Desmond Trufant	CB	Washington
18	Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina
19	Bjoern Werner	DE	Florida State
20	Johnthan Banks	CB	Mississippi State
21	Alec Ogletree	ILB	Georgia
22	Jonathan Cyprien	S	Florida International
23	Datone Jones	DE	UCLA
24	Arthur Brown	OLB	Kansas State
25	Alex Okafor	DE	Texas
26	Keenan Allen	WR	California
27	Jesse Williams	DT	Alabama
28	Manti Te'o	ILB	Notre Dame
29	Barkevious Mingo	OLB/DE	LSU
30	Xavier Rhodes	CB	Florida State
31	Zach Ertz	TE	Stanford
32	Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame

Biggest Takeaway: This Is the Year of the Trenches

The amount of talent and depth from players on both the offensive and defensive lines is staggering. 

Every expert's big board is loaded at the top with offensive linemen, defensive linemen and pass-rushing linebackers. 

Most teams picking near the top of the draft are in need of quarterback help. It won't surprise anyone to see one or more of the teams in the top 10 reach for a signal-caller, as it's nearly impossible to make it to the playoffs in today's NFL without a franchise quarterback.

That said, games are won and lost in the trenches.

The teams that are comfortable with making a non-sexy pick will end up with excellent players who will be cornerstones upon which to build an offense or a defense in the years to come. 

Follow me on Twitter @JesseReed78