The rise of West Virginia's Tavon Austin is complete. Perhaps the most talked about prospect of the last few weeks is now atop NFL Network's Mike Mayock's top-five lists at wide receiver heading into next week's 2013 NFL Draft. Just as noteworthy: Austin is No. 12 on Mayock's big board.
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We unveiled Mayock's Top 100 players Friday on NFL.com, and the gap between Austin and the No. 2 receiver is eye opening: Tennessee wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson is all the way down at No. 30.
The perception of Patterson has changed more than perhaps any player throughout the draft process. Once seen as a potential top 10 pick, conventional wisdom has Patterson's stock much lower these days. Mayock said Thursday that he could see Patterson falling out of the top 20. Five more takeaways from Mayock's Top 100:
- Central Michigan's Eric Fisher isn't just Mayock's top offensive tackle. He's the No. 1 player on the entire board. It would not surprise me if Fisher, not Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel, goes No. 1 to the Kansas City Chiefs. Mayock has five offensive linemen in his top eight.
- Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson is seventh on Mayock's board. Richardson is part of a very deep defensive tackle crop. Utah's Star Lotulelei is No. 11.
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- Oregon's Kyle Long might not crack the top five among offensive tackles, but he's still No. 29 overall. That's ahead of prospects like Florida State offensive tackle Menelik Watson, Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant and Georgia linebacker Alec Ogletree, who lands at No. 44. (For comparison, NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah has Ogletree at No. 18.)
- West Virginia's Geno Smith is the highest-ranked quarterback at No. 21. Syracuse's Ryan Nassib moved up to No. 4 on Mayock's quarterback rankings, but still only ranks No. 50 overall. Mayock is not overly high on N.C. State's Mike Glennon (No. 81), who barely ranks ahead of Tennessee's Tyler Bray. (No. 86.)
- Ziggymania has reached NFL Films. Mayock ranks BYU defensive end Ziggy Ansah No. 9 overall.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
