SparkScouting’s first updated 2027 NFL Draft Top 100, published October 26, sorts the class into six grade tiers and attaches an NFL comparison to every name. It is the writer’s first board since the summer, and it is built on film rather than reputation: “Reputation might get a prospect onto the watchlist,” the board says, “but the film determines where he belongs.”
Only two prospects get the top “blue chip” grade: Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, compared with Andre Johnson, and Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore, compared with Patrick Surtain II. Thirteen more are graded as first-rounders, led by Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons (Brian Burns) and South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart (Jadeveon Clowney).
The quarterbacks are where this board most disagrees with the rest of the draft world. Drew Mestemaker is an early-second-round grade and a Derek Carr comparison, Darian Mensah gets the same grade and a Teddy Bridgewater comparison, and Arch Manning drops to the mid-to-late second round, compared with Sam Darnold. We lined the board up against the daily consensus board built from 64 analyst boards as of Monday, November 2.
The first three tiers, against the consensus
Here are the 33 prospects Spark grades as blue-chip, first-round or early-second-round players. The comparison is Spark’s, and the last column is each player’s rank on the 64-board consensus.
| Player | Pos. | School | Spark tier | NFL comparison | Consensus rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah Smith | WR | Ohio State | Blue chip | Andre Johnson | 1 |
| Leonard Moore | CB | Notre Dame | Blue chip | Patrick Surtain II | 4 |
| Colin Simmons | EDGE | Texas | First round | Brian Burns | 3 |
| Dylan Stewart | EDGE | South Carolina | First round | Jadeveon Clowney | 5 |
| Nick Marsh | WR | Indiana | First round | Jordy Nelson | 21 |
| KJ Bolden | S | Georgia | First round | Reggie Nelson | 25 |
| Charlie Becker | WR | Indiana | First round | Michael Floyd | 8 |
| Jordan Seaton | OT | LSU | First round | Tyron Smith | 6 |
| Cam Coleman | WR | Texas | First round | A.J. Green | 13 |
| Ellis Robinson IV | CB | Georgia | First round | William Jackson III | 16 |
| Trey’Dez Green | TE | LSU | First round | Jimmy Graham | 22 |
| Jadan Baugh | RB | Florida | First round | Arian Foster | 19 |
| Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa | LB | Notre Dame | First round | Tremaine Edmunds | 39 |
| Will Echoles | DT | Ole Miss | First round | Christian Wilkins | 12 |
| Chris Cole | LB | Georgia | First round | DeMarvion Overshown | 18 |
| Anthonie Knapp | IOL | Notre Dame | Early second | Jake Matthews | 53 |
| Ryan Wingo | WR | Texas | Early second | DJ Moore | 60 |
| Jordan Ross | EDGE | LSU | Early second | Harold Landry | 64 |
| Kingston Lopa | S | Cal | Early second | Jayron Kearse | 41 |
| Yhonzae Pierre | EDGE | Alabama | Early second | Yannick Ngakoue | 24 |
| Cayden Green | IOL | Missouri | Early second | Alijah Vera-Tucker | 40 |
| Greg Johnson | IOL | Minnesota | Early second | Graham Glasgow | 20 |
| Elijah Paige | OT | USC | Early second | D’Brickashaw Ferguson | 68 |
| Isaac Brown | RB | Louisville | Early second | De’Von Achane | 89 |
| Reed Harris | WR | Arizona State | Early second | Joe Jurevicius | 47 |
| Faletau Satala | S | BYU | Early second | Kyle Hamilton | 101+ |
| Clev Lubin | EDGE | Louisville | Early second | Yaya Diaby | 62 |
| Trevor Goosby | OT | Texas | Early second | Kolton Miller | 10 |
| Austin Simmons | QB | Missouri | Early second | Jordan Love (left-handed) | 36 |
| Drew Mestemaker | QB | Oklahoma State | Early second | Derek Carr | 2 |
| Darian Mensah | QB | Miami (FL) | Early second | Teddy Bridgewater | 7 |
| Jelani McDonald | S | Texas | Early second | Jevon Holland | 57 |
| Melvin Siani | OT | Texas | Early second | Terron Armstead | 52 |
The order inside each tier is Spark’s. Faletau Satala, a BYU safety compared with Kyle Hamilton, is not in the consensus top 100.
Chris Cole and Greg Johnson lead the risers
The biggest riser is Georgia linebacker Chris Cole, who goes from outside the summer Top 100 to No. 16. Spark calls him “a complete defensive weapon” because of his range, closing speed and ability to play both in coverage and as a pass rusher, and compares him with DeMarvion Overshown. The consensus now has Cole 18th. We broke down his 66-yard fumble return against Florida in our college Week 9 prospect report.
Minnesota interior lineman Greg Johnson goes from unranked to No. 23, where Spark says he “has firmly entered my first-round grade conversation” but still “sits with an early-second-round grade.” The writer likes his strength and his ability to move between guard and center, and compares him with Graham Glasgow. The consensus has him 20th, close to where Spark has him.
Mestemaker and Simmons enter the board
Missouri’s Austin Simmons lands at No. 29 and Oklahoma State’s Mestemaker at No. 30, both unranked in the summer. Spark likes Simmons’s arm talent, his willingness to attack the middle of the field and his ability to create outside the structure, and he compares him with a left-handed Jordan Love. Mestemaker gets credit for solid arm strength, pocket confidence and the same willingness to test the middle, but both come with a warning that processing speed and NFL concepts are still unfinished, and that either could return to school.
That puts Spark far from the pack on Mestemaker. He is No. 2 on the consensus board and was the choice of 17 of 25 scouts and executives in the midseason QB1 survey, while Spark has him 30th. Simmons is 36th on the consensus, not far from Spark’s 29th.
The quarterbacks who fall
The fallers are all quarterbacks, plus two defenders. NC State’s CJ Bailey goes from No. 5 to unranked, and Oregon’s Dante Moore, whose season ended with a concussion, from No. 16 to unranked. Manning falls from No. 11 to No. 43 and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers from No. 8 to the mid-to-late second round.
On Manning, Spark says the arm talent, mobility and flashy throws are all still there, but so are “inconsistent post-snap decisions, questionable reads, and uneven pocket management.” The question, it adds, is whether a quarterback can consistently make NFL-caliber decisions. The consensus still has him ninth. Notre Dame’s CJ Carr and Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss share his mid-to-late-second-round tier, with the consensus at 14th and 11th.
Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone drops from No. 10 to No. 49 as Spark asks for more “down-to-down impact”, and Texas A&M edge rusher Anto Saka falls out of the Top 100 after sitting at No. 17 in the summer. Stone is 28th on the consensus board.
Where Spark is higher, and lower, than everyone else
Spark is more bullish than the consensus on Indiana receiver Nick Marsh and Georgia safety KJ Bolden, both in the first-round tier, ahead of Charlie Becker, with the consensus at 21st and 25th. Notre Dame linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is a first-round grade here and 39th on the consensus, and a group of early-second-round players, among them Isaac Brown, Elijah Paige, Jordan Ross, Ryan Wingo and Anthonie Knapp, is ranked anywhere from 53rd to 89th on the consensus.
The cooler grades are mostly at the top of the consensus board. Texas tackle Trevor Goosby (10th on the consensus) and Mensah (seventh) are early-second grades, Utah tackle Zereoue Williams (29th) and Tennessee defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam (23rd) are third-rounders, and Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton, 15th on the consensus, is a third-round grade here as well.
Spark also has Kentucky tackle Lance Heard and USC quarterback Jayden Maiava in the mid-to-late second round. For where the rest of the draft world stands, see our 13-mock consensus and Mel Kiper’s updated big board, and for how the quarterbacks have played, see our Week 9 quarterback report.
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