Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison headline RJ Young’s top 10 NFL Draft prospects

It’s officially NFL Draft season, and it’s safe to expect many teams to draft based on need. But who are the best players — regardless of fit — in the 2024 draft class?

On the latest edition of “The No. 1 College Football Show with RJ Young,” host RJ Young provided his top 10 prospects for the 2024 NFL Draft.

1. USC QB Caleb Williams

2023 stats: 3,633 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 11 rushing touchdowns, five interceptions, 170.1 passer rating, completed 68.6% of his passes

RJ’s take: “He [Williams] has what Kyler [Murray] has, what Patrick Mahomes has [that being] an ability to make plays when plays are dead. I’m telling you, plays are supposed to be coffin and nailed and that dude spins out of them, finds somebody down the field, makes an impossible throw. It is the kind of talent you can’t teach anybody, and he is confident enough to believe he can pull it off. And he’s coming out of a system that really does give the quarterback a lot of free rein to do what he thinks he needs to [do] to get the team into the best play.”

2. Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

2023 stats: 67 receptions, 1,211 receiving yards, 14 receiving touchdowns

RJ’s take: “Last year, when he [Harrison] was the offense, he rose to the occasion, won their first Biletnikoff Award since Terry Glenn in 1995, was a Heisman finalist at the wide receiver position, and there is no catch at 6-foot-4, 205 [that] Marvin Harrison Jr. can’t make.”

3. Georgia TE Brock Bowers

2023 stats: 56 receptions, 714 receiving yards, six receiving touchdowns 

RJ’s take: “Brock Bowers is a game-wrecker. He is big, he is fast, he is strong, and he will make his quarterback right. … I think that that guy can do anything he wants on a football field, and I don’t know that there’s a whole lot of people that can match up with him; it’s a nightmare.”

4. UNC QB Drake Maye

2023 stats: 3,608 passing yards, 449 rushing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, nine rushing touchdowns, nine interceptions, 149.0 passer rating, completed 63.3% of his passes

RJ’s take: “There’s a part of me that believes he is perhaps the best-polished quarterback in this NFL Draft class. And you look at his size, you look at his arm talent, you look at his ability to move. The way that I’m talking about Jayden Daniels is what Drake Maye has shown at UNC for his entire career. He can make it happen with his feet. He can also pick you apart through the air. You give him a couple of wide receivers that know what they’re doing and let him cook with the offense. It’s just in those crunch time moments, I’m not sure if he’s got it just yet.”

5. LSU WR Malik Nabers

2023 stats: 89 receptions, 1,569 receiving yards, 14 receiving touchdowns

RJ’s take: “That was one of the guys that you had to absolutely take away for Jayden Daniels to not be successful, to not win the Heisman trophy, and nobody could do it with any sort of regularity. I think this dude in particular is the Zay Flowers of this particular draft class. I think that if you lined him up in the slot, he can do anything you want. I think he can lead your team in receptions.”

6. Notre Dame OT Joe Alt

Career highlights: Unanimous All-American, 33 career starts

RJ’s take: “I think this is the most polished offensive tackle in this draft. There are some things that you can not like about Joe Alt, but they all have to do with things he doesn’t really have control over, like being big and tall, which means his center of gravity is not gonna be that low. But I don’t see that being the real impediment that others do because he’s got great feet, he’s got great hands, and we know what kind of offensive linemen come out of Notre Dame, and that dude is on the shortlist of one of the best that they are going to have in the draft the last five years. I think that’s easy.”

7. UCLA EDGE Laiatu Latu

2023 stats: 13.0 sacks, 49.0 combined tackles, two interceptions

RJ’s take: “Lot of teams could use his particular skill set. If you see that the man can absolutely line up against a tight end and maybe hold his own, that’s easy money there because he does everything else you want an outside linebacker/defensive end-type to do, he puts people on the ground, he wreaks havoc in the backfield. It’s just can he run with that tight end for that comeback?”

8. Iowa DB Cooper DeJean

2023 stats: Two interceptions, five passes defended, 41.0 combined tackles

RJ’s take: “The drawback for Cooper DeJean is the injury that he suffered in the middle of the year, but as far as being the most athletic and capable corner, safety, defensive back in this draft, I don’t think there’s anybody that can hold a candle to him … it’s a guy that can run punts back, who can play will linebacker if you wanted him to, corner, safety, strong safety, in the middle of the box.”

9. Washington WR Rome Odunze

2023 stats: 92 receptions, 1,640 receiving yards, 13 receiving touchdowns

RJ’s take: “They {Washington] showed up to the National Championship Game 14-0 in large part due to him. If not for another wide receiver, I think we’re talking about Rome Odunze being the Biletnikoff Award winner and a no-doubt first-round pick, and at nine I think that’s what he is.”

10. LSU QB Jayden Daniels

2023 stats: 3,812 passing yards, 1,134 rushing yards, 40 passing touchdowns, 10 rushing touchdowns, four interceptions, 208.0 passer rating, completed 72.2% of his passes

RJ’s take: “Given what we know about the quarterback position in the NFL, it’s really difficult for me to see a guy who was able to put what he did in 2023 on film and overlook him precisely because there are guys that stuck on film in 2022 that weren’t so great in 2023 that still might actually get drafted before him, so it’s really about doing your work and doing your due diligence if you’re gonna go get a Jayden Daniels, but he passes all of the character studies that you want.”

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