NFL Insider: Draft Is Stocked With About 90 Starter-Caliber Players

That could make it even more likely top teams will be trading down.

Lamar Jackson #8 of the Louisville Cardinals throws a  pass against the Kentucky Wildcats during the game at Commonwealth Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky.  (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Lamar Jackson #8 of the Louisville Cardinals throws a pass against the Kentucky Wildcats during the game at Commonwealth Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Getty Images

In a conversation with SI’s Peter King, an NFL source who works for a team with a pick in the top half of Thursday night’s draft revealed that his club has a “starter” or “potential starter” grade on “about 90” players.

The team also has 15 players with first-round grades, 30 to 35 players with second-round and about 45 players with third-round grades.

If other teams in the league feel the same way, that’s incredibly significant because it means King’s source’s team’s pick will be a hot commodity as potential trade bait for other clubs, as will the picks of other teams with high selections and multiple needs.

Since Cleveland (who will presumably take a quarterback an No. 1), Denver and Indianapolis will all be set at quarterback by the time they draft at No. 4, 5, and 6, respectively, all of those teams are in prime position to trade down with a team that needs a signal-caller.

“Example: If the Bills want Denver’s pick at five, and I’m Broncos GM John Elway, I don’t want the 12th and 22nd picks in return,” King writes. “I want 12, 53, 56 and maybe 96, and I’d flip a lower pick back to Buffalo. That would get the Bills what they want, a quarterback. That would get Denver the kind of depth a deep second and third round could provide.”

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