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College football coaches love tracking the NFL draft, not only the players they helped develop but others they recruited or faced in recent years. The coaches paid close attention to the events in Detroit last weekend. They also bring a distinct perspective to draft evaluation, after recruiting many of the top players, coaching them and game-planning for them.
I spoke with head coaches and assistants from every power conference after the draft to gather insight on the players, the teams, the hits and the misses. Here's an evaluation of the 2024 class through the eyes of college coaches (note: coaches are listed according to their roles during the 2023 season):
Jump to a section:
Biggest takeaways from Round 1
Coaches dish on defenders who dropped
Defensive draft | QB Rattler, LB Wilson tumble
Top schools: Michigan, Texas, USC, LSU, Oregon
First-round takeaways: The Penix pick, QB output, run on offensive linemen
The top of the draft unfolded mostly as predicted, as USC quarterback Caleb Williams went No.