STANFORD, CA - OCTOBER 01: Andrew Luck #12 of the Stanford Cardinal in action against the UCLA Bruins at Stanford Stadium on October 1, 2011 in Stanford, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Every year, I put together a top prospect board for myself in preparation for the NFL Draft. (At least when I can, that is.) This year, I had to do a mad scramble over the past month to put this list together. After watching games that I missed - or re-watching games I'd already seen - my three full DirecTV DVRs are empty, and I'm ready to publish something in preparation for the 2012 NFL Draft on Thursday.
Players were graded using a draft system that Brian, kaisertown and I came up with a couple years ago. It's based on Dan Kadar's draft criteria, but simplified and streamlined for the purposes of producing a numerical grading system. It's not perfect, but no system is ever perfect.
There might be a couple shocker in my grades. That's alright in my view. I go by what I see, and only use other online opinions to check on my own work. Some players - Amini Silatolu in particular - were graded off video due to lack of game film (Silatolu missed the Senior Bowl with an injury). Overall, though, my grades are a reflection of what I've seen and my opinions of these players, all of whom I hope become great professionals. Continue after the jump to view my Top 150 for the 2012 NFL Draft.
Der Jaeger's Top 150 Players for the 2012 NFL Draft
| Rank | Name | School | Position | Grade |
| 1 | Andrew Luck | Stanford | QB | 4.9 |
| 2 | Robert Griffin III | Baylor | QB | 4.85 |
| 3 | Trent Richardson | Alabama | RB | 4.7 |
| 4 | Matt Kalil | Southern California | OT | 4.6 |
| 5 | Morris Claiborne | Louisiana State | CB | 4.5 |
| 6 | David DeCastro | Stanford | OG | 4.5 |
| 7 | Justin Blackmon | Oklahoma State | WR | 4.45 |
| 8 | Fletcher Cox | Mississippi State | DT | 4.45 |
| 9 | Luke Kuechly | Boston College | LB | 4.4 |
| 10 | Michael Floyd | Notre Dame | WR | 4.4 |
| 11 | Mark Barron | Alabama | SS | 4.35 |
| 12 | Riley Reiff | Iowa | OT | 4.3 |
| 13 | Cordy Glenn | Georgia | OT | 4.3 |
| 14 | Michael Brockers | LSU | DT | 4.3 |
| 15 | Stephon Gilmore | South Carolina | CB | 4.3 |
| 16 | Ryan Tannehill | Texas A&M | QB | 4.3 |
| 17 | Dontari Poe | Memphis | DT | 4.2 |
| 18 | Melvin Ingram | South Carolina | DE | 4.2 |
| 19 | Dont'a Hightower | Alabama | LB | 4.2 |
| 20 | Mike Adams | Ohio State | OT | 4.2 |
| 21 | Harrison Smith | Notre Dame | FS | 4.15 |
| 22 | Shea McClellin | Boise State | DE | 4.15 |
| 23 | Quinton Coples | North Carolina | DE | 4.1 |
| 24 | David Wilson | Virginia Tech | RB | 4.1 |
| 25 | Chandler Jones | Syracuse | DE | 4.1 |
| 26 | Nick Perry | USC | DE | 4.1 |
| 27 | Amini Silatolu | Midwestern State | OG | 4.05 |
| 28 | Kevin Zeitler | Wisconsin | OG | 4.05 |
| 29 | Coby Fleener | Stanford | TE | 4.05 |
| 30 | Kendall Reyes | Connecticut | DT | 4.05 |
| 31 | Courtney Upshaw | Alabama | OLB | 4.0 |
| 32 | Dre Kirkpatrick | Alabama | CB | 4.0 |
| 33 | Peter Konz | Wisconsin | C | 4.0 |
| 34 | Kendall Wright | Baylor | WR | 4.0 |
| 35 | Jeff Allen | Illinois | OT | 4.0 |
| 36 | Brandon Weeden | Oklahoma State | QB | 4.0 |
| 37 | James Brown | Troy | OT | 4.0 |
| 38 | Zebrie Sanders | Florida State | OT | 4.0 |
| 39 | Jonathan Martin | Stanford | OT | 4.0 |
| 40 | Brock Osweiler | Arizona State | QB | 3.95 |
| 41 | Trumaine Johnson | Montana | CB | 3.9 |
| 42 | Andre Branch | Clemson | DE | 3.9 |
| 43 | Lavonte David | Nebraska | LB | 3.9 |
| 44 | Janoris Jenkins | North Alabama | CB | 3.9 |
| 45 | Ronnell Lewis | Oklahoma | LB | 3.9 |
| 46 | Whitney Mercilus | Illinois | DE | 3.9 |
| 47 | Alshon Jeffery | South Carolina | WR | 3.9 |
| 48 | Brandon Brooks | Miami (OH) | OG | 3.9 |
| 49 | Josh Robinson | Central Florida | CB | 3.9 |
| 50 | Vinny Curry | Marshall | DE | 3.9 |
| 51 | Lamar Miller | Miami (FL) | RB | 3.9 |
| 52 | Mitchell Schwartz | California | OT | 3.9 |
| 53 | LaMichael James | Oregon | RB | 3.9 |
| 54 | Bobby Massie | Mississippi | OT | 3.9 |
| 55 | Ryan Broyles | Oklahoma | WR | 3.9 |
| 56 | Bobby Wagner | Utah State | LB | 3.9 |
| 57 | Cam Johnson | Virginia | LB | 3.9 |
| 58 | Kirk Cousins | Michigan State | QB | 3.85 |
| 59 | Doug Martin | Boise State | RB | 3.8 |
| 60 | Brandon Thompson | Clemson | DT | 3.8 |
| 61 | Mychal Kendricks | California | LB | 3.8 |
| 62 | Stephen Hill | Georgia Tech | WR | 3.8 |
| 63 | Mike Martin | Michigan | DT | 3.8 |
| 64 | Dwayne Allen | Clemson | TE | 3.8 |
| 65 | A.J. Jenkins | Illinois | WR | 3.8 |
| 66 | Zach Brown | North Carolina | LB | 3.8 |
| 67 | Mohamed Sanu | Rutgers | WR | 3.8 |
| 68 | Sean Spence | Miami (FL) | LB | 3.8 |
| 69 | Billy Winn | Boise State | DT | 3.8 |
| 70 | Isaiah Pead | Cincinnati | RB | 3.8 |
| 71 | Travis Lewis | Oklahoma | LB | 3.8 |
| 72 | Dwight Bentley | Louisiana-Lafayette | CB | 3.8 |
| 73 | Marquis Maze | Alabama | WR | 3.8 |
| 74 | Brandon Mosley | Auburn | OT | 3.8 |
| 75 | Rueben Randle | LSU | WR | 3.75 |
| 76 | Brian Quick | Appalachian State | WR | 3.75 |
| 77 | Shaun Prater | Iowa | CB | 3.75 |
| 78 | Alameda Ta'amu | Washington | DT | 3.75 |
| 79 | Devon Wylie | Fresno State | WR | 3.75 |
| 80 | Jake Bequette | Arkansas | DE | 3.75 |
| 81 | Jerel Worthy | Michigan State | DT | 3.7 |
| 82 | Alfonzo Dennard | Nebraska | CB | 3.7 |
| 83 | Orson Charles | Georgia | TE | 3.7 |
| 84 | Edwin Baker | Michigan State | RB | 3.7 |
| 85 | Chris Polk | Washington | RB | 3.7 |
| 86 | Josh Norman | Coastal Carolina | CB | 3.7 |
| 87 | Bruce Irvin | West Virginia | LB | 3.7 |
| 88 | Mike Harris | Florida State | CB | 3.7 |
| 89 | George Ilolka | Boise State | S | 3.7 |
| 90 | Matt Reynolds | BYU | OT | 3.7 |
| 91 | Omar Bolden | Arizona State | CB | 3.7 |
| 92 | Nick Foles | Arizona | QB | 3.7 |
| 93 | Jared Crick | Nebraska | DT | 3.7 |
| 94 | Casey Hayward | Vanderbilt | CB | 3.7 |
| 95 | Nick Toon | Wisconsin | WR | 3.7 |
| 96 | Nigel Bradham | Florida State | LB | 3.7 |
| 97 | Bernard Pierce | Temple | RB | 3.7 |
| 98 | Brandon Boykin | Georgia | CB | 3.65 |
| 99 | Marvin McNutt | Iowa | WR | 3.65 |
| 100 | Ben Jones | Georgia | C | 3.65 |
| 101 | Joe Adams | Arkansas | WR | 3.65 |
| 102 | Malik Jackson | Tennessee | DE | 3.65 |
| 103 | T.Y. Hilton | Florida International | WR | 3.65 |
| 104 | Trent Robinson | Michigan State | S | 3.65 |
| 105 | Ladarius Green | Louisiana-Lafayette | TE | 3.65 |
| 106 | Markelle Martin | Oklahoma State | S | 3.65 |
| 107 | Michael Egnew | Missouri | TE | 3.65 |
| 108 | Derek Wolfe | Cincinnati | DT | 3.65 |
| 109 | Dwight Jones | North Carolina | WR | 3.65 |
| 110 | Devon Still | Penn State | DT | 3.6 |
| 111 | Keenan Robinson | Texas | LB | 3.6 |
| 112 | Audie Cole | North Carolina State | LB | 3.6 |
| 113 | Jonathan Massaquoi | Troy | DE | 3.6 |
| 114 | Jarius Wright | Arkansas | WR | 3.6 |
| 115 | Josh Chapman | Alabama | DT | 3.6 |
| 116 | Terrell Manning | North Carolina State | LB | 3.6 |
| 117 | Josh Kaddu | Oregon | LB | 3.6 |
| 118 | Lucas Nix | Pittsburgh | OG | 3.6 |
| 119 | Jarrett Boykin | Virginia Tech | WR | 3.6 |
| 120 | Tony Bergstrom | Utah | OG | 3.55 |
| 121 | Mike Daniels | Iowa | DT | 3.55 |
| 122 | Mike Brewster | Ohio State | C | 3.55 |
| 123 | Brandon Hardin | Oregon State | S | 3.55 |
| 124 | Kyle Wilber | Wake Forest | LB | 3.5 |
| 125 | Trevor Guyton | California | DE | 3.5 |
| 126 | Patrick Edwards | Houston | WR | 3.5 |
| 127 | Vick Ballard | Mississippi State | RB | 3.5 |
| 128 | Kellen Moore | Boise State | QB | 3.5 |
| 129 | James-Michael Johnson | Nevada | LB | 3.5 |
| 130 | Adam Gettis | Iowa | OG | 3.5 |
| 131 | Jeff Adams | Columbia | OT | 3.5 |
| 132 | Joe Looney | Wake Forest | OG | 3.45 |
| 133 | Tommy Streeter | Miami (FL) | WR | 3.45 |
| 134 | DaJohn Harris | USC | DT | 3.45 |
| 135 | Senio Kelemete | Washington | OG | 3.45 |
| 136 | Ryan Miller | Colorado | OG | 3.45 |
| 137 | David Molk | Michigan | C | 3.4 |
| 138 | Chris Givens | Wake Forest | WR | 3.4 |
| 139 | Leonard Johnson | Iowa State | CB | 3.4 |
| 140 | Kelechi Osemele | Iowa State | OG | 3.4 |
| 141 | Jermaine Kearse | Washington | WR | 3.4 |
| 142 | Tyrone Crawford | Boise State | DE | 3.35 |
| 143 | Tom Compton | South Dakota | OG | 3.35 |
| 144 | DeQuan Menzie | Alabama | CB | 3.35 |
| 145 | Keshawn Martin | Michigan State | WR | 3.3 |
| 146 | Hebron Fangupo | BYU | DT | 3.3 |
| 147 | Cyrus Gray | Texas A&M | RB | 3.2 |
| 148 | Robert Blanton | Notre Dame | CB | 3.2 |
| 149 | Andrew Tiller | Syracuse | OG | 3.15 |
| 150 | Jeff Fuller | Texas A&M | WR | 3.1 |
As I did the evaluations, admittedly, some of my grades on players were a bit of a surprise to me. I was lower on Dre Kirkpatrick, for example, than I originally thought. I was a bit surprised with how high I had Harrison Smith, Shea McClellin, and Jeff Allen. That caused me go back and re-watch some games and confirm, or not confirm, what I thought I saw and annotated originally.
So there you have it. Good luck to the Buffalo Bills tonight. Paraphrasing the immortal words or Roy Hobbs: "Pick me out a winner, Buddy."
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