The NFL Draft holds a fascination for just about everyone in the football business, which is one reason why the corner of the football world that Mel Kiper Jr. pioneered is now almost its own subset of social media and the Internet at large. This is why, last year, we tracked the progression of several of the most popular draft prognosticators to figure out which ones were willing to make bold projections and go their own way, as well as sifting out which ones

	Things are looking up for Alabama's Deionte Thompson, one of nine players all seven draft services we surveyed agree will go in the first round.

struggled versus which ones did the best in our post-draft review in the April 27 Friday Wrap.

 

This year, we're back on the case. Our first look was in July. With Thanksgiving here and the end of college football's regular season drawing near, we thought it was time for another check. As always, the seven writers and their respective services are Tony Pauline of Draft Expert; Pro Football Focus'  Steve Palazzolo;  Dane Brugler of The Athletic (formerly of NFL Draft Scout); Bleacher Report's  Matt Miller; ESPN's  Todd McShay;  Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated; and  Charlie Campbell of Walter Football. Here's what we found.

 

The nine players all seven draft prognosticators agree will go in the first round (in no certain order) are Kentucky OB Josh Allen, Ohio St. DE Nick Bosa, Ole Miss WO A.J. Brown, Oregon QB Justin Herbert, Ole Miss OT Greg Little, Houston DT Ed Oliver, Alabama FS Deionte Thompson, LSU IB Devin White and LSU DC Greedy Wiliams. Only Allen is a senior.

 

In July, five players included in the first round by all seven services - Georgia DC DeAndre Baker; Clemson DT Dexter Lawrence; Missouri QB Drew Lock; Georgia; OT Jonah Williams, Alabama; and Clemson DT Christian Wilkins - no longer enjoy such unanimity. Of the five, Lock has suffered the hardest fall as he's only listed by two now (Breer/SI and Walter Football both have him as the No. 9 pick).

 

The presumptive No. 1 pick - by a long shot - is Bosa. Only Breer doesn't have him as the top pick. No other player gets that kind of consensus, though six of seven services see Oliver and (Greedy) Williams as top-10 picks.

 

	Mississippi WO A.J. Brown is a good bet to go in the first round according to seven reputable draft services.

The widest span among players everyone rated as a first-rounder relates to Brown, who is No. 10 as seen by Pauline, but the last pick in the draft if you ask Bleacher Report's Matt Miller. Second-most goes to Thompson, who's seen as the No. 5 pick by Miller, but just the 25 ^th pick by Walter Football.

 

Several services made bold moves. As always, Pro Football Focus is in a class by itself, rating six players as first-rounders that no one else had. Highest is Kansas St. OT Dalton Risner, the No. 12 pick by PFF. Other PFF outliers: Buffalo WO Anthony Johnson (25), Wisconsin OC Tyler Biadasz (28), Notre Dame IB Te'Von Coney (29), Texas A&M TE Jace Sternberger (30) and Washington SS Taylor Rapp (31). Also, McShay has Florida OT Jawaan Taylor as the No. 10 pick; none of the other services have him in the first round.

 

Other players rated as first-rounders by only one service include Mississippi St. SS Johnathan Abram (30 by McShay); Michigan DE Chase Winovich (No. 26 by Miller); Oregon OB Jalen Jelks (32 by Breer); and Alabama DC Trevon Diggs (16), Oklahoma OG Cody Ford (23) and Auburn DC Jamel Dean (32) by Walter Football.

 

There's plenty more to review. Want to have your own look at the results? Click here to check out today's report. Meanwhile, here's a look at what else we saw, heard, read and said in the world of football this week.

 

The ITL Scouting Department: Before this year, there was no service (that we know of) willing to offer a top-to-bottom look at a college team's roster and offer draft projections on all seniors and talented juniors for about a hundred dollars. We changed that this year, however. For $125 plus tax, we'll assign a scout who will watch 2-3 of a team's exposures and tell you where every senior falls in the draft order, from potential first-rounder to camp body. And the best part is that we can turn around our report in 2-3 days. Wouldn't that kind of peace of mind come in handy? And for $200, we can have two scouts complete reports on a school, "cross-checking" each other to make sure you get the best results. Of course, as always, we can get you a detailed report on any player in college football for $100 (plus tax) in the same time frame, giving you the player's draft projection, strengths and weaknesses, and a legitimate look at the chances of any player being drafted or signed. Reach out today and let's get started making sure you don't waste your money and, more importantly, your time over the next six months.

 

Rosters are set: If you have a client who's entertaining a career in the WWE, tell him to kick back and enjoy the Christmas season.The December tryout in Orlando is full, but we'll have information on the next scheduled camp for aspiring wrestlers, set for March, in the coming weeks. Got questions? Want to get someone considered for the next camp? Let us know.

 

The ITL Trainers Board: This year, we're working harder to give our combine prep partners the edge over the competition. That's why we've spent the past two weeks filming quick interviews with more than 20 of our trainers for our ITL Trainer Talk series, and we'll begin rolling them out this week (we've still got a little work to do, but you can preview them on our YouTube page). We've also moved the ITL Combine Marketplace out from behind the wall, and while we're still buffing out the edges and polishing things up a bit, we're really close to having a site that any player, parent or agent can review to get the latest on pricing and services for the best trainers in the business. Here's a peek at our progress. There's more work to do, but we hope to have it ready for the last week of the college football season. Soon, we'll be sending out a form our trainers can fill out so we can help them tell the world about their expertise and success in past draft classes. More to come!

 

It's official!: Congratulations to the 2019 College Gridiron Showcase as it is the first-ever all-star contest to partner with a major sports analytics company! This week, Sports Info Solutions (SIS) and CGS co-founders Craig Redd and Jose Jefferson made it official, and SIS has already provided its first deliverable for the '19 roster selection process. We'll have more on how SIS and the CGS form a cohesive team and spotlight the players the game invites based on analytical analysis in the coming weeks. In the meantime, congratulations, guys.

 

Succeed in Football: Today, in our weekly blog, we passed along details on the 2019 CGS Scouting Workshop Presented by Inside the League. Actually, we didn't talk about this year's event as much as we provided three clips from last year's event. Whether you want to learn more about the scouting industry, you want to confirm the things you've always believed, you want to hear about some of the controversial players in the league, or you just want a good laugh, make sure to check out the three segments from last year's seminar, which include AAF San Antonio scouting director Bob Morris and NFLPA Collegiate Bowl scout Danton Barto. Do it now. We'll wait. You won't be sorry, we promise.

 

The ITL Rising Contract Advisors Newsletter: This week, we looked at the all-star game invitation process and made a few suggestions on Year 1 as an agent. On Monday, we had one of the most important editions of our series as we laid out goals for Year 1. Job 1: Make sure you sign at least one player in this draft cycle. Tuesday and Wednesday were dedicated to a discussion of all-star games, their value and their selection processes. Then, on Thursday, we looked at the relative ability of four different sources (scouts, analytics, #DraftTwitter and the player himself) to evaluate a player. Who do you trust? How do you know what's right? We have a few ideas on what to believe and how to "cross-check" your sources. Next week, we'll have even more nuggets on the draft process and we'll look at how to do the work of player representation as efficiently as possible. Remember: if you're an ITL client and in your first year as an agent, you are eligible to receive our newsletter. Make sure to let us know if you're not.

 

Moving the Chains: If you're the parent of a 2019 NFL Draft prospect (or hope you are), you're going to need to know everything you can about the process. What does the all-star process look like? What happens if your son changes his mind about a game? How much can an agent really do to help your son? What if he doesn't get an invitation to the combine? What if he doesn't even have a pro day? And what about all these other leagues, like the CFL, the AAF and the coming XFL? There's so much to know and no one to tell you the truth, with no agenda . . . until now. Isn't it worth risking $12.95 and a few hours of your time to learn the truth about what it takes to make it through the draft process? We think so. Check out Moving the Chains: A Parent's Guide to the NFL Draft Process here.

 

Rep Rumblings: This week, we had three reports sprinkled in among our Know Your Scouts updates. On Monday, we looked at the pace of all-star invitations as compared to last year and what it all means. We also passed along a little of what we've been hearing on the recruiting front. Wednesday, we dug into the first Senior Bowl invitees and made a few observations, while also passing along the latest buzz on prospects and where they're headed, agent-wise. We also had updates on the respective scouting lineups for the Rams and Raiders, and had the latest leaning (regarding contract advisor preference) by a top Pacific Northwest prospect. Finally, on Thursday, we looked at the NFL GM movement (in and out) that could be ahead this postseason, plus we had a correction from a previous report and a handful of player-agent whispers. It was another week of news and info you can only find at Inside the League. Check out all our reports this year by clicking here.

 

Next week: Thanksgiving is here! Of course, in the world of football, that doesn't mean as much as in the civilian world. Plenty of top prospects will hold final meetings during the Thanksgiving break, while there are three NFL games on the slate plus two college games on Thursday (in addition to seven more, including a few big rivalry games, on Black Friday). Here at Inside the League, the week will look a lot like most others. We'll lead things off Monday with Rep Rumblings, then we'll have our Agents by Total Clients list on Tuesday, followed by our October-to-November Agent Changes on Tuesday. We'll also wrap up our Know Your Scouts series this week, rolling out the Seahawks, Steelers, Texans, Titans and Vikings after a vigorous week of catching up (we've updated the Panthers, Patriots, Raiders, Rams, Ravens, Redskins and Saints since last Tuesday). Our daily 'classroom' for new agents won't stop, either, as we'll have four more editions of the ITL Rising Contract Advisors Newsletter. We'll delve more into the all-star process and probably talk a little more about our favorite combine prep trainers as we cruise toward the end of November. We'll also be back with our weekly blog, Succeed in Football, and we'll continue promoting and sharing the news of our combine prep partners through our ITL Trainer Talk series and revved-up website. And just around the corner is the ITL All-Star Grid and the ITL Signings Grid. Grab a seat at the table and join us at Inside the League. We've got plenty to fill your plate.