2023 NFL Draft: The Most Intriguing Prospect on Each Top 25 Team in the Preseason AP Poll

Continuing the trend of transfers that found a new home, Will Levis is next up. He began his career as a highly-touted recruit at Penn State. After losing a quarterback battle to Sean Clifford, Levis began looking elsewhere for other opportunities. He found the Kentucky Wildcats and the rest is history. Levis assumed the starting quarterback role immediately for the Wildcats in 2021, posting these stellar numbers through the air: 66% completion, 2826 passing yards, and 24 passing touchdowns. The 6’3, 222-pound signal-caller also got his nose dirty as he housed nine touchdowns on the ground. He lost his play caller, Liam Coen, to the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, so he will have to prove that 2021 wasn’t a product of Coen. In the event Levis repeats his success or improves upon it, there’s going to be a lot of traction for him being an early day one pick.

Jalen Catalon surprised many when he elected to return to the Arkansas program for his fourth season on campus. Catalon played extremely well in 2021, with his best performances coming against the Georgia Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels. Unfortunately, Catalon suffered season-ending hand and shoulder injuries and was forced to miss the remainder of the season for the Razorbacks. Despite only appearing in six games, he proved to be an impact player and had momentum heading into the 2022 NFL Draft. After testing the waters, he returned to school to clinch his first-round status. Catalon is rangy and an imposing figure in the secondary. He is a team leader and by all accounts is one of the toughest players in the entire nation. He needs to put the injury talk to rest. If he succeeds, then it’d be surprising if he’s not a top-32 selection in next year’s draft.

While running back and offensive line are the primary positions that Wisconsin typically sends to the league, let’s not forget about the defensive side of the ball. It has been a while since the Watt’s terrorized the Big Ten, but there’s another Badger that is starting to hear his name mentioned in the same breath. Nick Herbig may have a long way to go before he reaches the mythical status that the Watt’s have earned, but there’s a real path for Herbig to go in round one, just like JJ and TJ before him. As the key pass rusher on one of the best defenses in the nation in 2021, Herbig recorded an astounding 14.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Herbig seemingly never runs out of gas and possesses above-average play strength. He needs to clean up some sloppy habits while in pursuit of the quarterback, but the arrow is pointing up.

One of the most unique players (and names) of the entire 2023 NFL Draft class is Pittsburgh’s Habbakkuk Baldonado. Baldonado jumps off the tape when you turn his film on. He has such a quick first step and is the prototypical build for a high-end pass rusher in the NFL. Baldonado recorded nine sacks for the Panthers last season and he enters 2022 as the unquestioned No. 1 pass rusher on the depth chart. The exciting part about Baldonado is that he has true every down player potential. Some guys merely project as passing down players, but Baldonado has shown a strong ability to diagnose the run play and bring down ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage. These traits should translate to the league extremely well assuming he continues improving.

Tyler Van Dyke arrived on the Miami campus as a heralded four-star recruit. He ranked as the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in his class, and his commitment elicited a positive response from the Hurricane faithful. The quarterback only appeared in late-game duties in 2020, but following an injury to incumbent starter D’Eriq King, Van Dyke assumed the role as the starter a couple of games into the 2021 season. He never looked back. Van Dyke averaged nearly 300 passing yards across his 10 games as the starter, with a stellar 25:6 TD:INT ratio. For Van Dyke to rise up draft boards, he must display more accuracy in his second season at the helm. If he’s able to add a few points to his completion percentage, he has the physical traits to translate into a starter in the NFL. Miami could be a sneaky playoff pick for many.