2017 NFL Draft: All-Prospect Team

With the regular season right around the corner, it's time to turn our attention from reviewing the 2016 NFL draft to looking toward the 2017 NFL draft. With spring games over, we have all of the film samples that we're going to get heading into the regular season. Between now and then, only injuries and coaches blowing smoke to the media will impact how prospects are viewed.

In an attempt to overview the top players at every position, we'll build a hypothetical All-Prospect team, much like an All-American list. Like a typical All-American list, we'll include one quarterback, two running backs, two receivers, a tight end, all five offensive line spots, two edge defenders, two interior defensive linemen, three linebackers, two cornerbacks and two safeties on the team. We'll go over who the best draft-eligible players are at each position and what they can bring to an NFL franchise next season.

Backfield

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• Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
• Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
• Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State

At this point in the draft process, Deshaun Watson is clearly the top quarterback in college, and there was reason to make that claim last season, too. During the national championship game, it was impossible to overlook Watson's talent and impact for the Clemson offense.

Some are going to worry about his health, as he's had a laundry list of injuries, including multiple to his knees, since his senior year of high school. But if he can prove that he can be healthy in 2016, it's hard to imagine anyone surpassing him for the top spot at the position. He's a dual-threat passer who can make difficult throws in the clutch, and in today's NFL, there's nothing more that you can ask for.

At 6'1” and 230 pounds, Leonard Fournette forces Southeastern Conference defenders to make business decisions on Saturdays, before football is technically their business. Halfway through the season, everyone would have told you that Fournette was going to win the Heisman, but a late-season push by the Alabama Crimson Tide and Derrick Henry forced him out of the race. Heading into 2016, he has to be considered one of the favorites for the award.

Dalvin Cook's combination of power and speed isn't comparable to Fournette's, but the Florida State back may finish the year as the top back of the bunch. This running back class may feature Fournette, Cook, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey, Georgia's Nick Chubb and Oregon's Royce Freeman, who all have a chance to be first-round picks. In an incredibly deep class, it's hard to select just two from the position, but Cook's potential as an every-down back pushes him to the top of the list.

Pass-Catchers

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• Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
• JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, USC
• O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama

Last season, the Clemson Tigers went to the national championship game and battled Alabama down to the wire, with a rebuilding defense and without their top offensive skill player. One reason for the weak 2016 receiver class was that Mike Williams, who was 2016 eligible, missed the vast majority of the regular season. 

The 6'4”, 220-pound pass-catcher has the potential to be a true No. 1 receiver in the NFL, and he's as close to a first-round lock as we're going to get at the position this season, even with the injury questions lingering. Williams sustained a fractured neck when he accidentally ran into a goal post after a touchdown, ending his true junior year after just one score. He may never be an in-prime Calvin Johnson, but he can be an Alshon Jeffery-type of impact player.

Finally draft-eligible, JuJu Smith-Schuster, who originally went just by JuJu Smith, has been a staple in college football for the past two seasons. In 2014, he was all over freshman All-American lists, and in 2015, he was an All-Pac-12 receiver. At 6'2” and 220 pounds, he's not a small wideout, but he has the quickness and breakaway speed of one. 

The last time we saw O.J. Howard, the Crimson Tide tight end scored twice while posting 208 receiving yards against Clemson in the national championship, easily his best performance to date. With his apparent breakout, expect the 6'6” target to be in more of Alabama's game plans in 2016.

Expect Howard to rise, too. Very few tight ends see volume touches in college, and those who do are regarded as special. Lane Kiffin, Alabama's offensive coordinator, is known for abusing one skill player over and over as his go-to, with Marqise Lee and Derrick Henry as the best recent examples. If Howard becomes “the guy” for Kiffin to lean on, he might be a record-breaking tight end.

Offensive Linemen

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• Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama
• Pat Elflein, OG, Ohio State
• Ethan Pocic, OC, LSU
• Dan Feeney, OG, Indiana
• Zach Banner, OT, USC

The best offensive lineman in college football is Cam Robinson of Alabama, and it's not particularly close. Though the narrative on him was that he had an “off year,” Robinson was still pancaking linebackers on the second level and blocking two men on the same play in the national championship. With the likes of Laremy Tunsil now gone, Robinson is the standard for edge defenders to square up against in the Southeastern Conference.

Ohio State had so many early declarations that three different sophomores left Columbus this past winter, almost equaling the combined total of the rest of college football for the 2016 draft class. With very little stability left in the program, Urban Meyer's Buckeyes will need to lean on veterans like Pat Elflein, who was a borderline Day 1 selection last season, as they move into a new era for the program.

Elflein is a 6'3”, 300-pound guard who helped pave the way for Ezekiel Elliott, the running back who took them to a national championship and was just drafted fourth overall by the Dallas Cowboys. Typically, if you find a great running back in college football, you can usually find an unheralded offensive lineman blocking for him, unnoticed by the naked eye but a next-level contributor in the eyes of a scout.

This is the case for Elflein, Ethan Pocic and Dan Feeney. While Elflein had Elliott, Ethan Pocic has Leonard Fournette and Feeney has had Tevin Coleman and Jordan Howard in recent seasons. Interior offensive linemen are crucial to the running game, and all three of the interior players who made this list are road-grade blockers, the most translatable trait from the college game to the NFL.

Last on this list is Zach Banner of USC. After Robinson, there may not be another first-round bookend in college football in a traditional sense. Someone will need to step up in 2016 to earn that second slot in the 2017 draft, and Banner has as good of a chance as anyone.

The son of former NFL offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy, Banner has football running through his veins. After flirting with the idea of going pro the last two seasons, Banner decided to finish his senior year at USC. The 6'9” bookend has all the potential in the world, but this next campaign is going to decide if he's going to head into the NFL as a young Trent Williams, or a Bruce Campbell.

Defensive Linemen

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• Carl Lawson, EDGE, Auburn
• Myles Garrett, EDGE, Texas A&M
• Malik McDowell, IDL, Michigan State
• Jonathan Allen, IDL, Alabama

What if I told you that the best pass-rusher in college football has only made one sack in the last two seasons combined? That's the case with Carl Lawson, Auburn's edge defender who dealt with a knee and hip issue in 2014 and 2015. When he's on, Lawson has a great step to contact, uses leverage well and knows how to play the small games inside pass-rushing. That's why he was able to win against Mississippi's Laremy Tunsil, the best offensive tackle to come out of the Southeastern Conference in years.

Still, it's within reason to question Lawson's ability to stay on the field, which is why many have Myles Garrett, the former super-recruit who is now at Texas A&M, as their top defender in the class. Garrett is a very talented pass-rusher, but his issues stem from lacking strong counter moves and being light for his 6'5” frame. As of now, he's similar to Anthony Barr, who was the third edge defender-type to come off the board in the 2014 draft and was converted to linebacker.

The best 5-technique in the class is Malik McDowell, who in his sophomore year at Michigan State looked like a young DeForest Buckner, who was just drafted in the top 10 by the San Francisco 49ers. At only 20 years old, he's listed as a 6'6”, 280-pound player. If your team is looking for a 3-4 defensive end, it's going to be hard to find a better athlete than McDowell.

Jonathan Allen doesn't truly play 3-technique, the under-tackle role you'd associate with Aaron Donald and Geno Atkins, but he does see some looks there and projects better inside in the NFL. Allen often lines up as a pass-rusher for Alabama, but at 283 pounds, he's going to have a hard time with explosiveness on the edge in the league. Think of him like a young Adrian Clayborn, before Clayborn's career was derailed by two major injuries in three seasons.

Linebackers

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• Tim Williams, SAM, Alabama
• Reuben Foster, MIKE, Alabama
• Jalen Reeves-Maybin, WILL, Tennessee

At Alabama, Tim Williams is used as a pass-rushing edge defender. With that said, players of his background typically move to linebacker. Athletes like Anthony Barr, Vic Beasley and Bruce Irvin, freak pass-rushers, have all moved to hybrid "Sam" linebackers in the last few years. While Williams is a special pass-rusher, the listed 230-pounder will likely need to move off the ball in base looks in the NFL.

Many thought that Reggie Ragland was the best inside linebacker in college football last season. He may not even have been the best inside linebacker on his own team. Ragland was a second-round pick, but when No. 10 on Alabama was flying all over the field, he was the sight to see.

That player is Reuben Foster, who was best known in his early career as the recruit who tattooed the Auburn logo on his arm, just to change his commitment to the University of Alabama. On the field, the 6'1”, 240-pound linebacker makes better decisions.

One of the more exciting defenders in the Southeastern Conference is Jalen Reeves-Maybin. At 6'3” and 230 pounds, with what you can assume is 4.6-second speed, he's the perfect Will linebacker prospect in terms of prototypical size. You want Will linebackers to be able to close from the backside of the play, racking up tackles, and Reeves-Maybin's 206 tackles over the last two years, including eight sacks and 25 tackles for a loss, check that box.

Secondary

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• Desmond King, CB, Iowa
• Jalen Tabor, CB, Florida
• Eddie Jackson, FS, Alabama
• Jamal Adams, SS, LSU

At only 5'11”, Desmond King isn't exactly the perfect height for a modern-day cornerback. With the reliance on Cover 3 schemes in 2016, you can expect teams to target longer cornerbacks who can match up with the basketball-like skills of starting outside receivers in the league. Still, King is one of the better short-zone cornerbacks in college football and matches up well in man-to-man situations with Big Ten receivers.

If King can repeat as one of the best corners in college football, he should receive the praise that Ifo Ekpre-Olomu did before his non-contact knee injury. King can be a top-20 pick in the NFL draft, despite his height.

In fact, Jalen Tabor's teammate, Vernon Hargreaves, was drafted 11th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past class, despite measuring in under 5'11” as a cornerback. Tabor, who is the other cornerback on this list, helped make the Florida duo the toughest in the nation. After earning All-SEC honors last year, his goals, as a No. 1 cornerback, should now be set on All-American lists and the first round.

For the most part, safety is an overlooked position in college football, as many NFL safeties actually have to transition from cornerback. There are two absolute stars who are eligible for the 2017 draft class, though.

The first is Eddie Jackson of Alabama, who surprised when he returned to the Crimson Tide after the 2015 season. A 6-footer, Jackson's knowledge and eyes were able to put him in position to make an interception in the national championship, one of the much-needed clutch plays for Alabama to walk away with a one-score win that day. Nick Saban's defense is very NFL-like, as the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers both run the Crimson Tide's Cover 3 Rip/Liz concepts often on Sundays. Jackson is talented, experienced and well coached.

While Jackson is more of a single-high safety, Jamal Adams of LSU can come downhill and attack the ball through a player. Just the little things he does, like taking on blocks from receivers, can be extremely violent. Think of him as Matt Elam, a former first-round pick, but 15 percent better in just about every attribute imaginable.