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

The Georgia Bulldogs won the National Championship last season behind the strength of one of the best defenses in the history of college football. The Bulldogs’ defense sent eight players to the NFL via the draft, with five of them coming off the board in the very first round of the event. Would you believe me if I told you that they didn’t even lose the best player from the title-winning team? Allow me to make the case for defensive tackle, Jalen Carter.

Jalen Carter shared time with Jordan Davis, Travon Walker, and Devonte Wyatt, three first-round picks, on the defensive line in 2021. Even with that being the case, Carter ranked third on the team in quarterback pressures with a stunning 33. He also ranked third in tackles for loss (8.5), showing that he could easily keep pace with the NFL trio. There are still a few potential first-rounders on the roster, but Carter is the man among men in 2022. He is going to continue disrupting the pocket from the interior and tracking down ball carriers at various different angles. In the NFL, he will be the type of building block that you build an entire defense around. Carter is well-positioned to go inside of the top five by the time next April gets here.

It is impossible to name one of these guys without mentioning the other, so let’s just combine them. CJ Stroud earned the starting role heading into the 2021 season, and even though there were ups and downs early on, he eventually found his comfort zone and dominated. Stroud is built like a franchise quarterback, and his best trait is the anticipation that he throws with. It is similar to what made Mac Jones so special during the 2020 season. Stroud’s arm is livelier than Jones’, which makes the Buckeye an even more interesting prospect. The two also share some of the same knocks. Chief among them is their perceived lack of mobility. Again, Stroud has the upper hand as a prospect here because his athletic profile is better than that of Mac Jones. I don’t want to sell Jones short, as he led the New England Patriots to the playoffs as a rookie. This is more of a ringing endorsement for Stroud. Assuming he progresses in 2022, the Ohio State signal-caller will be on the short list of potential No. 1 overall picks.

The other thing that evaluators can hold against Stroud is that he has been surrounded by such a star-studded supporting cast. This is the same thing that Jones dealt with when wide receiver DeVonta Smith won the Heisman trophy. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to have a Smith-type campaign this upcoming season. The shifty wide receiver is already coming off of an incredible sophomore year, recording over 1600 yards and 95 receptions, all the while sharing snaps with 2022 first-round picks, Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave. The wide receiver corps is still just as loaded, but this time JSN will be the one that the offense runs through. If the Rose Bowl game last season is any indication, Smith-Njigba could be hoisting the Heisman Trophy in a few short months. Ohio State has had at least one player off the board before No. 12 overall since the 2015 NFL Draft, but I’d be stunned if these two are still on the board after pick No. 5.