Here is my first big board for the 2017 draft. It is what a big board should be: a ranking of top prospects by overall desirability. It is in no way meant to be aligned with the draft order or indicative of my anticipated drafting order. Simply put, this is how I am stacking the top 50 players in the draft.

• 26. Charles Harris, EDGE/MISSOU
• 27. Garrett Bolles, OT/UTAH
• 28. Adoree’ Jackson, CB/USC
• 29. Gareon Conley, CB/OSU
• 30. Caleb Brantley, INTERIOR/UF
• 31. Mitchell Trubisky, QB/UNC
• 32. Tre’Davious White, CB/LSU
• 33. Malik McDowell, INTERIOR/MSU
• 34. Takkarist McKinley, EDGE/UCLA
• 35. Haason Reddick, EDGE/TEMPLE
• 36. Curtis Samuel, WR/OSU
• 37. Zach Cunningham, LB/VANDY
• 38. DeMarcus Walker, EDGE/FSU
• 39. TJ Watt, LB/WISC
• 40. Patrick Mahomes, QB/TTU
• 41. Quincy Wilson, CB/UF
• 42. Jalen Tabor, CB/UF
• 43. Kevin King, CB/WASH
• 44. Chidobe Awuzie, CB/COLO
• 45. Obi Melifonwu, S/UCONN
• 46. D’Onta Foreman, RB/TEXAS
• 47. Budda Baker, S/WASH
• 48. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR/USC
• 49. Raekwon McMillan, LB/OSU
• 50. Marcus Maye, S/UF

• 1. Myles Garrett, EDGE/A&M
• 2. Jonathan Allen, INTERIOR/BAMA
• 3. Jamal Adams, S/LSU
• 4. Mike Williams, WR/CLEM
• 5. Solomon Thomas, EDGE/STAN
• 6. Leonard Fournette, RB/LSU
• 7. Reuben Foster, LB/BAMA
• 8. Christian McCaffrey, RB/STAN
• 9. OJ Howard, TE/BAMA
• 10. Cam Robinson, OT/BAMA
• 11. John Ross, WR/WASH
• 12. Corey Davis, WR/WMU
• 13. Malik Hooker, S/OSU
• 14. Marshon Lattimore, CB/OSU
• 15. Tim Williams, EDGE/BAMA
• 16. Forrest Lamp, OG/WKU
• 17. Marlon Humphrey, CB/BAMA
• 18. Dalvin Cook, RB/FSU
• 19. Deshaun Watson, QB/CLEM
• 20. Derek Barnett, EDGE/TENN
• 21. Taco Charlton, EDGE/MICH
• 22. Ryan Ramcyzk, OT/WISC
• 23. David Njoku, TE/MIA
• 24. Jarrad Davis, LB/UF
• 25. Jabrill Peppers, S/MICH

From my perspective, this seems to be an exciting draft class with some obvious areas of strength and weakness when it comes to depth in certain positions. The quarterbacks, for one, are not plentiful, although the few top options are promising. I consider both Deshaun Watson and Mitchell Trubisky to solid mid-first round options for teams interested in drafting a QB. Defensive backs are the clear deepest position in the draft while the edge defenders are the strongest. It is definitely an excellent opportunity for teams looking to upgrade on defense. The offensive line may be the single weakest position in this draft, with only one interior lineman making my top 50. Finally, there is the surprising promise of the running backs, three of which made the top 18 here. Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey and Dalvin Cook are all deserving of top-20 selections and the recent successes of first round RBs Todd Gurley, Melvin Gordon and Ezekiel Elliott may have kicked open the door for the former trio.

If I had to break the big board into tiers, the separations would probably have to be after Cook at #18 and Curtis Samuel at #36. I consider tier 1 to be a lineup of outstanding prospects that are remarkably even after Myles Garrett at the top. If your team winds up with any of these players, they have made a promising selection. However, the talent balance from #2 to #18 could lead to teams in the top 10 looking to trade back and an above average amount of unpredictability on draft night.