NFL draft confidential: College coaches’ surprises, sleepers

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. 1 to the Chicago Bears, followed by quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (LSU) to the Washington Commanders and Drake Maye (North Carolina) to the New England Patriots. The big surprise came at No. 8, when the Atlanta Falcons drafted Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. despite having signed free agent Kirk Cousins to a $180 million contract.

After injuries hindered his promising career at Indiana, Penix starred at Washington, showcasing a strong arm and willingness to hit all corners of the field from the pocket.

“I was surprised,” a power-conference coach said. “It makes a lot of sense when you think about how hard it is to have a good quarterback flow in your organization, having that guy ready to roll. The way he threw at his pro day and the way he ran, I felt he was gaining a lot of momentum. I thought, ‘Somebody’s going to take him in the first round and probably in the first 15 picks.’