1. Andy McKenzie--Senior (Sr.)--Quarterback, Minnesota
2. Seth Phillips--Sr.--Half Back, Ohio State
3. Jonathan Bell--Sr.--Quarterback, LSU
4. Jonathan Babcock--Sr.--Quarterback, Michigan
5. Chris Moore--Sr.--Defensive End, LSU
6. Nathan Smith--Junior (Jr.)--Quarterback, Illinois
7. Ramon Allen--Jr.--Defensive Tackle, Texas
8. Dominic Craft--Sr.--Quarterback, FSU
9. Brad Scott--Sr.--Quarterback, Iowa
10. Blake Smith--Sr.--Defensive Tackle, LSU
11. Jason Davis--Sr.--Quarterback, Penn State
12. Cory Boyd--Sr.--Free Safety, Minnesota
13. Greg Mitchell--Sophomore (So.)--Left Tackle, Oklahoma State
14. Larry Clayton--Sr.--Defensive End, Michigan
15. Jon Washington--Sr.--Half Back, Georgia
16. Jimmy Flowers--Sr.--Middle Line Backer (MLB), Penn State
17. Tate Payne--Sr.--Quarterback, Georgia
18. Alex Graham--Sr.--Half Back, Alabama
19. Kyle Williams--Sr.--Tight End, Indiana
20. Vernon McFadden--Sr.--Half Back, Utah
21. Brett Thompson--Sr.--Quarterback, Michigan State
22. Chris McKnight--Sr.--Half Back, Wisconsin
23. Jermaine Siegel--So.--Defensive End, Miami
24. Caleb Wilson--Sr.--Wide Receiver, Ohio State
25. Jonathan Starks--Sr.--Outside Linebacker (OLB), Minnesota
26. Robert Jackson--Jr.--Quarterback, Purdue
27. J.B. Allen--So.--Tight End, Louisville
28. Vince Cox--Sr.--Cornerback, Michigan State
29. Greg Kelly--So.--Defensive End, Minnesota
30. Jeremy Jones--Sr.--Half Back, Louisville
31. Johnny Parrish--So.--Strong Safety, Washington State
32. Stewart Thomas--So.--Wide Receiver, Army
33. Jake Patton--Sr.--Running Back, Iowa
34. Terrance Johnson--Sr.--Wide Receiver, Minnesota
35. Julian Robinson--Sr.--Cornerback, San Diego State
36. Martin Parker--Sr.--Wide Receiver, Minnesota
37. Jeff Jenkins--Sr.--Wide Receiver, Syracuse
38. Donnell Jackson--Jr.--Free Safety, LSU
39. Brian Weaver--Sr.--Defensive Tackle, Minnesota
40. Steve Sullivan--So.--Wide Receiver, Oklahoma State
41. Jacob Scott--Sr.--Tight End, Syracuse
42. Joey Williams--Sr.--Left Guard (LG), Minnesota
43. William Logan--So.--LG, Texas A & M
44. Eric Johnson--Sr.--Half Back/Fullback, Nebraska
45. Micha Stewart--So.--Right Guard (RG), Ohio State
46. David McClellan--Sr.--Cornerback, Minnesota
47. Marcus Jackson--Sr.--Tight End, Michigan
48. Matt Howell--Sr.--OLB, Syracuse
49. Zach Turner--So.--Left Tackle, Minnesota
50. Nick Owens--Sr.--Half Back, Alabama
51. Matt Pierre--Jr.--Half Back, Minnesota
52. John Holland--Sr.--Quarterback, Ohio State
53. Pat Burton--Sr.--Half Back, Boise State
54. Jason Davis--Sr.--Quarterback, Penn State
55. Morris Washington--Jr.--OLB, Purdue
56. TJ Jackson--So.--Half Back, Minnesota
57. Frank Lowery--Jr.--Quarterback, Michigan
58. LeRoy Scott--Jr. (?)--MLB(?), Ohio State
59. Beau Hill--Jr.--Half Back, Baylor
60. Jeff Mooney--Sr. (?)--OLB(?), Ohio State
61. Lawrence Roe--Sr.--Tight End, Utah
62. Cody Gaines--So.--MLB, Texas Tech
63. Dwayne Ostrander--Sr.--Defensive Tackle, Michigan State
64. Zach Henley--Jr.--Half Back, Northwestern
65. Drew Robinson--Jr. (?)--Strong Safety, Indiana
66. Matthew Willis--Sr.--RG, Maryland
67. Alex Dykes--Sr.--OLB, Northwestern
68. Shawn Montgomery--So.--Defensive Tackle, Navy
69. Adrian Hartmann--Sr.--Half Back, Ohio State
70. Jason Harper--Jr.--Defensive End, Minnesota
Minnesota Players Missing the Cut: Reggie Carter (77), Tony Hunter (81), Chauncy Thornton (87), Daniel Jones (89), Joe Bennett (97), Ronnie Osbourne (114), Calvin Hall (120)
*Notes on Methodology: This is an Early Season Top 70 Big Board as current through the Indiana game of Season 8. It will likely change, especially after the Michigan game. There will be movement up and down the board, including potentially some of your favorite Minnesota players. Thus a player currently ranked 50 might drop.
Moreover, limitations (size, scheme fit) factor into the Big Board but they will factor even more heavily into player draft projections. Consequently a player #32 on the Big Board might well be mocked to the 3rd or 4th Round if he is too small, has inconsistent production and has fallen off in his senior year.
Also draft predictions and scouting profiles for Minnesota players are closer to what you would expect from a scouting player profile/draft prediction. We're using the same criteria to evaluate these Minnesota players (as opposed to all the players overall) as scouts to do for potential draft picks.You'll see this if/when you read through the Andy McKenzie scouting profile. He's being graded on the same qualities real scouts would use for real players--arm strength, mobility, accuracy, footwork, and progression/reads. We can't do this for the Big Board because we're not getting to see every player, so we have to rely on other criteria.
Therefore rankings for the Big Board are compiled through 4 main elements:
1. Overall game rankings of the players (e.g. Andy McKenzie is a 99, this is not the only component to his #1 ranking but it factors in heavily)
2. Post-season Awards (All-American, Freshman All-American, major award winners, etc.)
3. Actual Cane gameplay (e.g. How players perform on the field in game as witnessed. For example some of the Iowa players might rise up the board slightly given their play. For out of conference players, like Jonathan Bell or Dominic Craft both their overall rankings and the game updating their performance when they won Player of the Week factors in. Obviously Minnesota players are graded heavily on actual Cane gamplay. That's the whole point of the series, it matters.)
4. Conference. While this is the least of the measurements and not determinitive, it does factor in. When the SEC was dominant in terms of National Championships in college football from 2006-2013, the performance of the conference did factor somewhat into player talent evaluation. In game the B1G (Big Ten) has been the strongest conference. This factors in. It does not prevent players from other schools or conferences (e.g. Oklahoma State has multiple players) from having players on the list.(Maybe an even better way to put this: The Eastern Michigan game. Had there been a player that popped out at me, he would have been evaluated and placed on the board accordingly. Great players come from small schools all the time. But if no player pops out at me, all things being equal, a starting Strong Safety at Michigan is going to rank higher on the Big Board than a starting Strong Safety at Eastern Michigan, barring rankings, awards or some other distinguishing factor.)
Please feel free to comment and/or point out any mistakes. There will probably be some. Apologies for any repetition, but please feel free to point that out as well.
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