D2 Top 20 NFL Prospects for 2023 NFL Draft

[Josh Buchanan]

Here is my early top 20 D2 prospects.

Rank	Pos	Jsy	First Name	Last Name	School	Projection
1	QB	2	Tyson	Bagent	Shepherd	4th-5th
2	DE	12	Caleb	Murphy	Ferris State	5th-6th
3	WR	1	Keilahn	Harris	Oklahoma Baptist	6th
4	OT	70	BJ	Wilson	Quincy (IL)	6th
5	OT	77	Quinton	Barrow	Grand Valley State	PFA
6	OG	76	Brent	Laing	Minnesota Duluth	PFA
7	RB	1	Emanuel	Wilson	Fort Valley State	PFA
8	OG	76	Joey	Fisher	Shepherd	PFA
9	OT	73	Blake	Larson	Augustana (SD)	PFA
10	OLB	22	Maalik	Hall	Southeastern Oklahoma State	PFA
11	WR	11	Danny	Kittner	University of Mary (ND)	PFA
12	WR	17	David	Durden	West Florida	PFA
13	OT	70	Michael	Jerrell	Findlay (OH)	PFA/FA
14	OT	72	Gottlieb	Ayedze	Frostburg State (MD)	PFA/FA
15	CB	21	D.J.	Stirgus	Missouri Western State	PFA/FA
16	DT	94	Zach	Howard	Northwest Missouri State	FA
17	RB	20	Jamar	Thompkins	Valdosta State	FA
18	RB	8	Toriano	Clinton	Indianapolis (IN)	FA
19	DE	18	Deshawn	McCarthy	East Stroudsburg	FA
20	RB	30	Seth	McGill	Valdosta State	FA

[KleShreen]

Quinton Barrow is going to be an NFL starter, IMO.

[GoneBlastin]

Is Matt Armendariz on the radar? There are (or were) centers from the RMAC starting in the NFL this year.

[Irishlaker]

Quinton Barrow is going to be an NFL starter, IMO.

Indeed. But does he forego his last year if he's projected as a PFA at this point?

[Gliac_fan10]

Quinton Barrow is going to be an NFL starter, IMO.

Down the road I would agree. I think he will be on a practice squad for a year or two, he will need some work in an NFL weight room/training table to get his body to that point. But he defiantly has the feet, hands, athleticism and length to be an NFL starter.

[KleShreen]

Indeed. But does he forego his last year if he's projected as a PFA at this point?

I would assume that's already been decided since nearly everything coming out of GV about him calls him a senior even though he's technically a junior.

[togthorn]

Is Matt Armendariz on the radar? There are (or were) centers from the RMAC starting in the NFL this year.

I talked to Matt’s dad last Saturday and Matt has a job after he’s done at Mines . I don’t know if that means if he will pursue an opportunity in football or not.

[Josh Buchanan]

Quinton Barrow is going to be an NFL starter, IMO.

I have seen 1 game of him this year and a couple scouts I spoke to said PFA, which was where I had him anyway. It would not be shocking if he got drafted though since he has size and moves pretty well. I think Shrine and NFLPA Bowl invite him for sure. It will be interesting to see if he gets in Senior Bowl. I would guess he is 50/50 for them.

[Josh Buchanan]

Is Matt Armendariz on the radar? There are (or were) centers from the RMAC starting in the NFL this year.

Yes. Estimated 6'2, 305 pounds. I would guess camp body or tryout as of now. My top 20 are the ones most likely to get drafted at this point.

[Josh Buchanan]

Indeed. But does he forego his last year if he's projected as a PFA at this point?

He has 3 choices to make. Come out and be late round or PFA, come back to Grand Valley, or hit the portal and be at a FBS in spring. If I'm him I come back to Grand Valley because he could help himself and move up. Is there any buzz he might enter portal though?

[Josh Buchanan]

I would assume that's already been decided since nearly everything coming out of GV about him calls him a senior even though he's technically a junior.

That could be it but I have seen some schools just take a stance on how they label eligibility and don't go case by case. UNI listed Penning at a junior last year but he was never staying.

[Josh Buchanan]

Here is updated top 25.

Rank	Pos	First Name	Last Name	School	Projection
1	WR	Keilahn	Harris	Oklahoma Baptist	5th-6th
2	QB	Tyson	Bagent	Shepherd	5th-6th
3	OLB	Caleb	Murphy	Ferris State	6th
4	OT	BJ	Wilson	Quincy (IL)	6th
5	OT	Joey	Fisher	Shepherd	6th
6	OG	Brent	Laing	Minnesota Duluth	6th-7th
7	OT	Quinton	Barrow	Grand Valley State	PFA
8	OG	Gottlieb	Ayedze	Frostburg State (MD)	PFA
9	RB	Emanuel	Wilson	Fort Valley State	PFA
10	DE	Deshawn	McCarthy	East Stroudsburg	PFA
11	OT	Blake	Larson	Augustana (SD)	PFA
12	OLB	Maalik	Hall	Southeastern Oklahoma State	PFA
13	CB	Darrious	Gaines	Western State (CO)	PFA
14	WR	David	Durden	West Florida	PFA
15	DT	Zach	Howard	Northwest Missouri State	PFA/FA
16	WR	Danny	Kittner	Mary (ND)	PFA/FA
17	OT	Michael	Jerrell	Findlay (OH)	PFA/FA
18	RB	TJ	Cole	Ouachita Baptist	PFA/FA
19	CB	D.J.	Stirgus	Missouri Western State	PFA/FA
20	RB	Jamar	Thompkins	Valdosta State	FA
21	RB	Toriano	Clinton	Indianapolis (IN)	FA
22	RB	Seth	McGill	Valdosta State	FA
23	RB	Darius	Hagans	Virginia State	FA
24	OG	James	Walker	Southeastern Oklahoma State	FA
25	DE	Josh	Pryor	Bowie State (MD)	FA

I will expand and update later this month.

[KleShreen]

Here is the updated top 30.

Rank	Pos	First Name	Last Name	School	Projection
1	OLB	Caleb	Murphy	Ferris State	5th-6th
2	QB	Tyson	Bagent	Shepherd	5th-6th
3	WR	Keilahn	Harris	Oklahoma Baptist	6th
4	OT	BJ	Wilson	Quincy (IL)	6th
5	OG	Brent	Laing	Minnesota Duluth	7th
6	OT	Joey	Fisher	Shepherd	7th-PFA
7	OT	Quinton	Barrow	Grand Valley State	PFA
8	RB	Emanuel	Wilson	Fort Valley State	PFA
9	OT	Blake	Larson	Augustana (SD)	PFA
10	OLB	Maalik	Hall	Southeastern Oklahoma State	PFA
11	CB	Darrious	Gaines	Western State (CO)	PFA
12	WR	David	Durden	West Florida	PFA
13	OT	Michael	Jerrell	Findlay (OH)	PFA
14	OT	Gottlieb	Ayedze	Frostburg State (MD)	PFA
15	RB	TJ	Cole	Ouachita Baptist	PFA
16	CB	D.J.	Stirgus	Missouri Western State	PFA
17	WR	Danny	Kittner	Mary (ND)	PFA
18	DT	Zach	Howard	Northwest Missouri State	PFA
19	RB	Jamar	Thompkins	Valdosta State	PFA
20	DE	Deshawn	McCarthy	East Stroudsburg	FA
21	RB	Toriano	Clinton	Indianapolis (IN)	FA
22	RB	Seth	McGill	Valdosta State	FA
23	RB	Darius	Hagans	Virginia State	FA
24	OG	James	Walker	Southeastern Oklahoma State	FA
25	DE	Josh	Pryor	Bowie State (MD)	FA
26	DE	Charlie	Cleveland	Tiffin (OH)	FA
27	DT	Brian	Holiday	Northwestern Oklahoma State	FA
28	WR	Jalen	Sample	Minnesota State-Mankato	FA
29	CB	A.J.	McGhee	Minnesota State-Mankato	FA
30	SS	Eli	Weber	Augustana (SD)	FA

I will expand and update again at end of November.

Do you know anything about the injury to Toriano Clinton? It sounds like it was something relatively significant. Was curious if it might impact his pro prospects in any way.

[Josh Buchanan]

Do you know anything about the injury to Toriano Clinton? It sounds like it was something relatively significant. Was curious if it might impact his pro prospects in any way.

I know he has missed 3 games but not sure on details yet.

[Josh Buchanan]

Latest D2 top 30.

Rank	Pos	First Name	Last Name	School	Projection
1	WR	Keilahn	Harris	Oklahoma Baptist	5th-6th
2	QB	Tyson	Bagent	Shepherd	5th-6th
3	OG	Gottlieb	Ayedze	Frostburg State (MD)	5th-6th
4	OLB	Caleb	Murphy	Ferris State	6th
5	OT	BJ	Wilson	Quincy (IL)	6th
6	OT	Joey	Fisher	Shepherd	6th
7	OG	Brent	Laing	Minnesota Duluth	6th-7th
8	OT	Quinton	Barrow	Grand Valley State	PFA
9	RB	Emanuel	Wilson	Fort Valley State	PFA
10	DE	Deshawn	McCarthy	East Stroudsburg	PFA
11	OT	Blake	Larson	Augustana (SD)	PFA
12	OLB	Maalik	Hall	Southeastern Oklahoma State	PFA
13	CB	Darrious	Gaines	Western State (CO)	PFA
14	WR	David	Durden	West Florida	PFA
15	DT	Zach	Howard	Northwest Missouri State	PFA/FA
16	WR	Danny	Kittner	Mary (ND)	PFA/FA
17	OT	Michael	Jerrell	Findlay (OH)	PFA/FA
18	RB	TJ	Cole	Ouachita Baptist	PFA/FA
19	CB	D.J.	Stirgus	Missouri Western State	PFA/FA
20	RB	Jamar	Thompkins	Valdosta State	FA
21	RB	Toriano	Clinton	Indianapolis (IN)	FA
22	RB	Seth	McGill	Valdosta State	FA
23	RB	Darius	Hagans	Virginia State	FA
24	OG	James	Walker	Southeastern Oklahoma State	FA
25	DE	Joshua "Josh"	Pryor	Bowie State (MD)	FA
26	DE	Charlie	Cleveland	Tiffin (OH)	FA
27	DT	Brian	Holiday	Northwestern Oklahoma State	FA
28	WR	Jalen	Sample	Minnesota State-Mankato	FA
29	CB	A.J.	McGhee	Minnesota State-Mankato	FA
30	SS	Eli	Weber	Augustana (SD)	FA

I may have 1-2 more names to really push up by end of this month but getting close.