LB, DB & ST Prospect Comps (2023)

One of the most controversial aspects of the draft process is making NFL Draft Prospects Comparisons. Most people want them as they help conceptualize what a prospect is or could become. The main issue with comparisons is not setting up WHAT you are comparing. Is it a ceiling? Floor? NFL comparison? NCAA comparison? Prospect Comparison? This is an important question to answer when looking at a Comp including these WR Comps and TE Comps.

For me, I am not an NFL expert in terms of where players have gone and what they have become. Instead, I compare this year’s prospects to my scouting reports of the past. Watching players often does remind me of past prospects I have scouted. So, with my experience analyzing the NFL Draft for 17 or so years, I’ll share those connections I’ve made. 

Now a key is that these comps are NOT NFL COMPARISONS. I am comparing the players as NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS only. So even if they are compared to a high pick NFL “bust” doesn’t mean they will be a bust, but is a compliment.

Here is a general order of what I loo for when making comparisons:

1. Draft Capital (Placing players approximately where they will go in the draft or at least around where I evaluate them)

2. Size/Athleticism (This leads into #3, but getting a similar size and athletic comparison usually fits to show similar upsides and fits)

3. Scouting Reports (Almost all my comps will come from 2004 or later when I started scouting the draft. I go back to my old Scouting Reports/Notes and often these comps fit like a glove to match up near exactly)

4. Play Style (Sometimes a general feel for how a player plays just reminds me of someone else. If the pull is strong enough, I’ll use it as the comp)

5. Comps from trusted sources (If I get REALLY stuck, I’ll look up some comps or ask people I trust to fill it out)

Below are the NFL Draft Prospects Comps I’ve created for the 2023 NFL Draft class. Once again, these are PROSPECT COMPARISONS comparing these players to prospects from the past, not NFL futures.

QB/RB Comps | WR/TE Comps | OL/DL/EDGE Comps | LB/DB/ST Comps

• LB
• DB
• Special Teams

LB Player Comps (2023)

First Name	Last Name	School	Prospect Comparison
Drew	Sanders	Arkansas	Kyle Van Noy, BYU (2014)
Yasir	Abdullah	Louisville	Antwan Barnes, FIU (2007)
Jeremy	Banks	Tennessee	Leon Joe, Maryland (2004)
Micah	Baskerville	LSU	Marcus Freeman, Ohio State (2009)
Jack	Campbell	Iowa	Leighton Vander Esch, Boise State (2018)
SirVocea	Dennis	Pittsburgh	Omar Gaither, Tennessee (2006)
Jalen	Graham	Purdue	Jordan Glasgow, Michigan (2020)
Nick	Hampton	Appalachian State	Drue Tranquill, Notre Dame (2019)
Daiyan	Henley	Washington State	Kwon Alexander, LSU (2015)
Nick	Herbig	Wisconsin	Micah Kiser, Virginia (2018)
Shaka	Heyward	Duke	Devante Bond, Oklahoma (2016)
Cam	Jones	Indiana	Tanner Vallejo, Boise State (2017)
Ventrell	Miller	Florida	Tony Steward, Clemson (2015)
Isaiah	Moore	NC State	Jordan Beck, Cal Poly (2005)
Anfernee	Orji	Vanderbilt	Malcolm Smith, Southern Cal (2011)
DeMarvion	Overshown	Texas	Thomas Howard, UTEP (2006)
Ivan	Pace Jr.	Cincinnati	Cole Holcomb, North Carolina (2019)
Owen	Pappoe	Auburn	Jatavis Brown, Akron (2016)
Noah	Sewell	Oregon	Raekwon McMillan, Ohio State (2017)
Trenton	Simpson	Clemson	Jordyn Brooks, Texas Tech (2020)
Noah	Taylor	North Carolina	Max Valles, Virginia (2015)
Charlie	Thomas	Georgia Tech	Brandon Watts, Georgia Tech (2014)
Henry	To'o To'o	Alabama	Jordan Hicks, Texas (2015)
Dorian	Williams	Tulane	Emmanuel Acho, Texas (2012)
Dee	Winters	TCU	Clint Session, Pittsburgh (2007)
First Name	Last Name	School	Prospect Comparison

DB Player Comps (2023)

First Name	Last Name	School	Prospect Comparison
Alex	Austin	Oregon State	Anthony Brown, Purdue (2016)
Deonte	Banks	Maryland	Ronald Darby, Florida State (2015)
Jakorian	Bennett	Maryland	Jamar Taylor, Boise State (2013)
Mekhi	Blackmon	Southern Cal	Alterraun Verner, UCLA (2010)
Kyu	Blu Kelly	Stanford	Chevis Jackson, LSU (2008)
Lance	Boykin	Coastal Carolina	Josh Gattis, Wake Forest (2007)
Julius	Brents	Kansas State	Kevin King, Washington (2017)
Myles	Brooks	Louisiana Tech	Byron Maxwell, Clemson (2011)
Cam	Brown	Ohio State	Orlando Scandrick, Boise State (2008)
Arquon	Bush	Cincinnati	EJ Biggers, Western Michigan (2009)
Kei'Trel	Clark	Louisville	Perry Nickerson, Tulane (2018)
Chamarri	Conner	Virginia Tech	Jason Shivers, Arizona State (2004)
Emmanuel	Forbes	Mississippi State	Dexter McDougle, Maryland (2014)
Mekhi	Garner	LSU	Chris Cook, Virginia (2010)
Christian	Gonzalez	Oregon	Jalen Ramsey, Florida State (2016)
Tre'vius	Hodges-Tomlinson	TCU	Steve Williams, Cal (2013)
Anthony	Johnson	Virginia	Xavier Woods, Louisiana Tech (2017)
Anthony	Johnson Jr.	Iowa State	Antoine Bethea, Howard (2006)
Nic	Jones	Ball State	Jeremy Harris, New Mexico State (2013)
Jaylon	Jones	Texas A&M	Chris Gamble, Ohio State (2004)
Darrell	Luter Jr.	South Alabama	Stanley Wilson, Stanford (2005)
Cameron	Mitchell	Northwestern	Jamar Taylor, Boise State (2013)
Riley	Moss	Iowa	Bryant McFadden, Florida State (2005)
Clark	Phillips III	Utah	Josiah Scott, Michigan State (2020)
Joey	Porter Jr.	Penn State	AJ Terrell, Clemson (2020)
Eli	Ricks	Alabama	Josh Norman, Coastal Carolina (2012)
Kelee	Ringo	Georgia	Jimmy Smith, Colorado (2011)
Darius	Rush	South Carolina	Eric Rowe, Utah (2015)
Terell	Smith	Minnesota	Terrell Thomas, Southern Cal (2008)
Cam	Smith	South Carolina	Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie, Tennessee State (2008)
Tyrique	Stevenson	Miami (FL)	Drayton Florence, Tuskegee (2003)
DJ	Turner	Michigan	Fabian Moreau, UCLA (2017)
Carrington	Valentine	Kentucky	Kendall Sheffield, Ohio State (2019)
Garrett	Williams	Syracuse	Cam Sutton, Tennessee (2017)
Devon	Witherspoon	Illinois	Kyle Fuller, Virginia Tech (2014)
Rejzohn	Wright	Oregon State	Blidi Wreh-Wilson, UConn (2013)
Jordan	Battle	Alabama	Donte Nicholson, Oklahoma (2005)
Brian	Branch	Alabama	Jimmie Ward, Northern Illinois (2014)
Sydney	Brown	Illinois	Shamarko Thomas, Syracuse (2012)
Ji'Ayir	Brown	Penn State	DaJuan Morgan, NC State (2008)
Trey	Dean	Florida	Antonio Allen, South Carolina (2012)
DeMarcco	Hellams	Alabama	Tanard Jackson, Syracuse (2007)
Ronnie	Hickman	Ohio State	Bacarri Rambo, 2013 (Georgia)
Brandon	Hill	Pittsburgh	Marqui Christian, Midwestern (2016)
Jordan	Howden	Minnesota	Colin Branch, Stanford (2003)
Antonio	Johnson	Texas A&M	Ronnie Harrison, Alabama (2018)
Tyreque	Jones	Boise State	Tyler Sash, Iowa (2011)
Brandon	Joseph	Notre Dame	Micah Hyde, Iowa (2013)
Jartavius	Martin	Illinois	Tavon Wilson, Illinois (2012)
Kaevon	Merriweather	Iowa	Terrell Burgess, Utah (2020)
Gervarrius	Owens	Houston	Eddie Jackson, Alabama (2017)
Jammie	Robinson	Florida State	Logan Ryan, Rutgers (2013)
Daniel	Scott	Cal	Juan Thornhill, Virginia (2019)
JL	Skinner	Boise State	George Iloka, Boise State (2012)
Chris	Smith II	Georgia	Ahmad Black, Florida (2011)
Jason	Taylor II	Oklahoma State	Earl Wolff, NC State (2013)
Rashad	Torrence II	Florida	TJ Rushing, Stanford (2006)
Cory	Trice	Purdue	Marcus McCauley, Fresno State (2007)
Jay	Ward	LSU	Mykkele Thompson, Texas (2015)
First Name	Last Name	School	Prospect Comparison

Special Teams Player Comps (2023)

First Name	Last Name	Position	School	Prospect Comparison
Anders	Carlson	K	Auburn	David Kimball, Georgia (2004)
B.T.	Potter	K	Clemson	Nate Freese, Boston College (2014)
Jack	Podlesny	K	Georgia	John Potter, Western Michigan (2012)
Chad	Ryland	K	Maryland	Ryan Succop, South Carolina (2009)
Jake	Moody	K	Michigan	Dustin Hopkins, Florida State (2013)
Christopher	Dunn	K	NC State	Nick Folk, Arizona (2007)
Alex	Ward	LS	UCF	Tyler Schmitt, San Diego State (2008)
Brad	Robbins	P	Michigan	Brad Nortman, Wisconsin (2012)
Bryce	Baringer	P	Michigan State	Riley Dixon, Syracuse (2016)
Michael	Turk	P	Oklahoma	Donnie Jones, LSU (2004)
Adam	Korsak	P	Rutgers	Sam Koch, Nebraska (2006)
Paxton	Brooks	P	Tennessee	Logan Cooke, Mississippi State (2018)
First Name	Last Name	Position	School	Prospect Comparison

See more Comps here

For more on NFL Draft Prospects check these out:

Mock Drafts

Shane P. Hallam Mock Draft

Brian Bosarge Mock Draft

NFL Draft Rankings

Follow Shane on twitter @ShanePHallam for more NFL Draft content and Mock Draft.