Draft boards are built over a year in the NFL, not in the weeks crammed between the combine and the start of the first round.
And while there are no real «sleepers'' invited to the combine or Senior Bowl, a draft riser climbs the charts through the season and into the pre-draft process. He gets somebody's attention and forces an adjustment, or three, to the grade he carried when the college football season began.
With the start of the 2023 NFL draft approaching on April 27 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC, ESPN App), let's take another look at some of the players in this draft class who have gained the most ground. Last year's list included Troy Andersen (No. 58 pick), Jelani Woods (No. 73 pick) and Joshua Williams (No. 135 pick).
Here are some of the top risers for this year's draft, with a lineman leading the way.
Scouts Inc. ranking: 17
How far he climbed boards: Wright is the body-of-work riser. Scouts had a third-round grade on him, at best, in August. They thought he had been inconsistent at the Vols' left tackle in 2021. So, in a lot of databases, he opened the season as a Day 2 or even early Day 3 pick. Now, he sits solidly with a first-round grade and is expected to be among the first tackles off the board.
Turning point: Sept. 1, when Wright lined up at right tackle in the Vols' season opener against Ball State. After the 2021 season at left, he went back to the right side. And the confluence of time, experience, work and the positional return — he played right tackle and right guard in 2019, right tackle in 2020 — resulted in Wright playing with better footwork and technique this past fall.
Check out the best highlights that contributed to Tennessee OT Darnell Wright's career in college.
Why he rose: There are still
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