NFL.com - Brandt's 'Nifty 50'

[The Answer]

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/10091764

Brandt's nifty 50

By Gil Brandt NFL.com Senior Analyst (March 27, 2007) -- The draft is a culmination of many months of work. Scouts make their living going across the country and evaluating players for that big day. And one of the most unique things is that every team has a different opinion of who the best players in the draft are. Like I've always said, some people like strawberry ice cream, some people like vanilla. The tapes have been reviewed, the Combine is long gone, and most of the prospects have had their Pro Day workouts. Draft boards are beginning to solidify. A few weeks ago, we identified the top 35 prospects, plus four wild cards and a couple of additional quarterbacks. Now we're expanding the list. This is our first attempt to identify who we think will be the top 50 players picked. Of course, we don't expect to go 50-for-50. One thing we might see on Day 1 of the draft is that teams will reach for big defensive and offensive linemen, who are harder to find in the late rounds than, say, wide receivers. (New Orleans Saints wideout Marques Colston was the fourth-to-last player taken in the 2006 draft, and he finished tied for second in the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.) I've broken them down in tiers; 1-10, 11-20, 21 and up. For now, players are listed in alphabetic order within their tiers................... ~The Answer