When schools shut down, public gatherings dwindle, sporting events are canceled, and the world comes to a screeching halt, there's one thing that keeps moving forward.
Talent evaluation - and it stops for no one.
While numerous events have been postponed and suspended, the 2020 NFL Draft tentatively remains as scheduled for April 23 - 25. It's unclear whether this will change any time soon, but regardless, prospects will be drafted by all 32 NFL teams at some point.
Even though pro days are being canceled, NFL general managers, head coaches, and scouting departments have enough game tape and Combine metrics to give them plenty to evaluate. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah has been hard at work over the past week scrutinizing his list of prospects, and he's updated his top 50 players.
There isn't a ton of change, but there's some movement at the top; let's take a look at his top 10.
Chase Young, EDGE
Joe Burrow, QB
Isaiah Simmons, LB/S
Derrick Brown, DT
Jeff Okudah, CB
Mekhi Becton, OT
Tua Tagovailoa, QB
Javon Kinlaw, DT
CeeDee Lamb, WR
Jerry Jeudy, WR
Young has held down the top spot in all three of Jeremiah's top 50 lists, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. Young is easily the most NFL-ready prospect in this draft class and the expectations being placed on him aren't too much for him to handle.
After Young, that's when things get interesting. Even though Young is Jeremiah's top prospect, everyone around the NFL expects former LSU Tiger Joe Burrow to be the first player off the board. Burrow comes in at No. 2 on Jeremiah's list and has climbed one spot since the initial list was posted. I know that Young and Burrow are players unassociated with the Las Vegas Raiders – since they'll assuredly be off the board when pick No. 12 comes along - so let's move on to a couple of guys who could wind up in the Silver and Black.
Young is the most coveted defensive player in this draft, but behind him, it seems like everyone is clamoring over Isaiah Simmons, the former college teammate of Clemson legends and current Raiders Clelin Ferrell and Hunter Renfrow. I think I speak for all of Raider Nation when I say I'd be thrilled if Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden managed to snag him, but the odds of that happening would require some nifty trade negotiations, and I don't think that's in the cards. Simmons has jumped three spots in Jeremiah's ranking and that's probably where he deserves to be.
Further down the list, two wide receivers frequently linked to the Raiders finish out the top 10. CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy clock in at the No. 9 and No. 10 spots respectively, but you could flip a coin and would be happy getting either of them. They've dropped one spot each since list 1.0 came out, but no one is denying that they're top 10-caliber guys. The Raiders are in the market for a wide receiver and I don't expect them to get their WR1 in free agency, so it's likely one of these two guys end up as a future Raider.
You can view the full list, here.
View the top 25 free agents according to NFL.com analysts Gregg Rosenthal and Chris Wesseling. (Last updated Monday, March 29th)