NFL draft preview: Offense dominates composite top 100 ranking

The 2024 NFL draft is largely about offense.

A review of the consensus among national draft analysts shows that eight of the top-10 ranked players in the draft are on the offensive side of the ball. And 19 of the top 30 and 30 of the top 50 are on offense.

That is the perspective of a composite of draft rankings compiled by The Buffalo News. The ranking combines the top-100 listings by CBSSports.com, ESPN’s Matt Miller, NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice and FoxSports’ Rob Rang.

Receivers are expected to dominate the first two rounds. Four of the top 13 players in the draft are wideouts, as are 10 of the top 50.

It is a good year to get offensive tackles and offensive linemen, in general. There are seven offensive linemen in the top 30, and 12 in the top 50.

Here’s a look at players from UB or with ties to UB and Western New York who could be taken in late rounds of the NFL draft, or could join teams as undrafted free agents or training-camp invitees.

Running backs need not bother with Day 1 of the draft Thursday. This is expected to be the first draft since 2014 in which no running back is picked in the top 50. On the composite list, there are no RBs in the top 60.

Linebackers also are bit players this year. There are none in the top 32, only two in the top 50 and only three in the top 100.

(Click on list to view full 100.)