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2012 NFL Draft Position Rankings: College Football's New Best Of The Best
January 19, 20112012 NFL Draft Position Rankings: College Football's New Best Of The Best
Waving goodbye is never easy.
Parting ways with the people we've grown accustomed to over time is something that always seems to present a challenge for us humans.
For sports fans, and in this case college football fans, saying goodbye just happens to be an annual right of passage.
After each and every season, the sport of college football loses most of its star power to the professional ranks, and each summer we are presented with the task of finding out which up and coming players are worthy of carrying the torch.
This year, we wave goodbye to many great young athletes who spent the last four months filling our Saturdays with thrills.
A.J. Green, Patrick Peterson, Cam Newton, Mark Ingram—the list of big superstar names who are exiting the college game is way too long as usual.
Now that the season has concluded, all of them will be leaving us for the bright and shiny pastures of the National Football League.
So now, once again, it's time to find the new names that will fill our Saturdays with excitement in 2011.
While many eligible underclassmen made the decision to jump ship early for the millions the NFL has to offer, there were some stellar, established stars such as Stanford QB Andrew Luck, Oregon RB LaMichael James and Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd, just to name a few, who made the decision to stick on the college circuit for one more year.
Let's take a very preliminary look at some of the top NFL prospects that the college game will have to offer next season.
Quarterbacks
Top 10 Seniors
1. Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State
2. Nick Foles, Arizona
3. Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State
4. Kirk Cousins, Michigan State
5. Kellen Moore, Boise State
6. Dominique Davis, East Carolina
7. Ryan Lindley, San Diego State
8. John Brantley, Florida
9. Jordan Jefferson, LSU
10. Steven Threet, Arizona State
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Andrew Luck, Stanford
2. Matt Barkley, USC
3. Landry Jones, Oklahoma
4. Geno Smith, West Virginia
5. Darron Thomas, Oregon
Running Backs
Top 10 Seniors
1. Cyrus Gray, Texas A&M
2. Brandon Bolden, Ole Miss
3. Doug Martin, Boise State
4. Isaiah Pead, Cincinnati
5. Montel Harris, Boston College
6. Vick Ballard, Mississippi State
7. Boom Herron, Ohio State
8. Marc Tyler, USC
9. Jeff Demps, Florida
10. Bobby Rainey, Western Kentucky
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Knile Davis, Arkansas
2. LaMichael James, Oregon
3. Trent Richardson, Alabama
4. Chris Polk, Washington
5. Bryce Brown, Kansas State
Wide Receivers
Top 10 Seniors
1. Michael Floyd, Notre Dame
2. Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma
3. Greg Childs, Arkansas
4. Jeff Fuller, Texas A&M
5. Kendall Wright, Baylor
6. Juron Criner, Arizona
7. DeVier Posey, Ohio State
8. Chris Owusu, Stanford
9. Jarrett Boykin, Virginia Tech
10. Marquis Maze, Alabama
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State
2. Erik Highsmith, North Carolina
3. Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina
4. Rueben Randle, LSU
5. Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers
Tight Ends
Top 10 Seniors
1. Michael Egnew, Missouri
2. Ladarius Green, Louisiana Lafayette
3. George Bryan, North Carolina State
4. Deangelo Peterson, LSU
5. Coby Fleener, Stanford
6. David Paulson, Oregon
7. Kevin Koger, Michigan
8. Anthony Miller, Cal
9. Brian Linthicum, Michigan State
10. Ryan Deehan, Colorado
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Jake Stoneburner, Ohio State
2. Dwayne Allen, Clemson
3. Philip Lutzenkirchen, Auburn
4. D.C. Jefferson, Rutgers
5. Ryan Griffin, UCONN
Offensive Tackles
Top 10 Seniors
1. Kelechi Osemele, Iowa State
2. Nate Potter, Boise State
3. Al Netter, Northwestern
4. Mike Adams, Ohio State
5. Levy Adcock, Oklahoma State
6. Matt Reynolds, BYU
7. Andrew Datko, Florida State
8. Bradley Sowell, Ole Miss
9. Anthony Parker, Western Michigan
10. Blake DeChristopher, Virginia Tech
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Jonathan Martin, Stanford
2. Matt Kalil, USC
3. Tanner Hawkinson, Kansas
4. Riley Reiff, Iowa
5. D.J. Fluker, Alabama
Interior Offensive Lineman
Top 10 Seniors
1. Mike Brewster, Ohio State
2. Ryan Miller, Colorado
3. Ken Plue, Purdue
4. Jermarcus Hardrick, Nebraska
5. Rokevious Watkins, South Carolina
6. Joel Foreman, Michigan State
7. Chris Jacobson, Pitt
8. William Vlachos, Alabama
9. Trevor Robinson, Notre Dame
10. Cordy Glenn, Georgia
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Barrett Jones, Alabama
2. David DeCastro, Stanford
3. Jonathan Cooper, North Carolina
4. Peter Konz, Wisconsin
5. Omoregie Uzzi, Georgia Tech
Defensive Tackles
Top 10 Seniors
1. Jared Crick, Nebraska
2. Tydreke Powell, North Carolina
3. Alameda Ta'amu, Washington
4. Jaye Howard, Florida
5. Billy Winn, Boise State
6. Mike Martin, Michigan
7. Mike Daniels, Iowa
8. Travian Robertson, South Carolina
9. Kheeston Randall, Texas
10. Josh Chapman, Alabama
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Jerel Worthy, Michigan State
2. Kawann Short, Purdue
3. Marcus Forston, Miami
4. Jacobbi McDaniel, Florida State
5. Jamarkus McFarland, Oklahoma
Defensive Ends
Top 10 Seniors
1. Quinton Coples, North Carolina
2. Bruce Irvin, West Virginia
3. Adrian Robinson, Temple
4. Jake Bequette, Arkansas
5. Vince Browne, Northwestern
6. Armond Armstead, USC
7. Shea McClellin, Boise State
8. Adewale Ojomo, Miami
9. Kendall Reyes, UCONN
10. Frank Alexander, Oklahoma
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Brandon Jenkins, Florida State
2. Devin Taylor, South Carolina
3. Donte Paige-Moss, North Carolina
4. Cameron Meredith, Nebraska
5. Kapron Lewis-Moore, Notre Dame
Outside Linebackers
Top 10 Seniors
1. Travis Lewis, Oklahoma
2. Zach Brown, North Carolina
3. Emmanuel Acho, Texas
4. Nigel Bradham, Florida State
5. Lavonte David, Nebraska
6. Keenan Robinson, Texas
7. Sean Spence, Miami
8. Audie Cole, North Carolina state
9. Danny Trevathan, Kentucky
10. Greg Williams, Pitt
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Demetrius Hartsfield, Maryland
2. Ronnell Lewis, Oklahoma
3. Nico Johnson, Alabama
4. Cornelius Washington, Georgia
5. Michael Mauti, Penn State
Inside Linebackers
Top 10 Seniors
1. Courtney Upshaw, Alabama
2. Garrick Williams, Texas A&M
3. D.J. Holt, Cal
4. Tank Carder, TCU
5. Korey Williams, Southern Miss
6. Jerry Franklin, Arkansas
7. James Michael-Johnson, Nevada
8. Derek Earls, Arizona
9. Chris Marve, Vanderbilt
10. Will Ebner, Missouri
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Manti Te'o, Notre Dame
2. Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State
3. Shayne Skov, Stanford
4. Dont'a Hightower, Alabama
5. Devon Kennard, USC
Cornerbacks
Top 10 Seniors
1. Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska
2. Janoris Jenkins, Florida
3. Omar Bolden, Arizona State
4. Coryell Judie, Texas A&M
5. Chase Minnifield, Virginia
6. Shaun Prater, Iowa
7. Brandon Boykin, Georgia
8. Tashaun Gipson, Wyoming
9. Keith Tandy, West Virginia
10. Donnie Fletcher, Boston College
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Josh Robinson, Central Florida
2. Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina
3. Jayron Hosley, Virginia Tech
4. Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama
5. Cliff Harris, Oregon
Safeties
Top 10 Seniors
1. Mark Barron, Alabama
2. Delano Howell, Stanford
3. Kenny Tate, Maryland
4. Lance Mitchell, Oregon State
5. George Iloka, Boise State
6. Brandon Taylor, LSU
7. Charles Mitchell, Mississippi State
8. Aaron Henry, Wisconsin
9. Harrison Smith, Notre Dame
10. Sean Cattouse, Cal
Top Five Underclassmen
1. Janzen Jackson, Tennessee
2. DeVonte Holloman, South Carolina
3. Robert Lester, Alabama
4. Vaughn Telemaque, Miami
5. Jon Lejiste, South Florida