2012 NFL Draft defensive end rankings: Quinton Coples No. 1 for now

by Dan Kadar on Sep 18, 2011 8:01 AM EDT in 2012 NFL Draft

It's still early in the college football season, but now is as good of a time as any to update individual position rankings for the 2012 NFL Draft.

The top player in this class continues to be Quinton Coples, but that's largely due to what he did last season. In UNC's two games against FBS teams, Coples has been mostly non-existent. He got more pressure against Virginia on Saturday, but was neutralized the week before against Rutgers. One player to keep an eye on is Vinny Curry of Marshall. He plays with more pop than most people realize.

Note: The position rankings aren't currently in line with the site's top 200. After each position ranking is released, a new top 200 will be published.

1. Quinton Coples | 6'6, 285 pounds | DE | North Carolina - Prospect notes | Profile

2. Donte Paige-Moss | 6'4, 260 pounds | DE/OLB | North Carolina * - Prospect notes

3. Brandon Jenkins | 6'3, 245 pounds | DE | Florida State * - Prospect notes

4. Vinny Curry | 6'4, 252 pounds | DE | Marshall - Prospect notes

5. Devin Taylor | 6'6, 250 pounds | DE | South Carolina * - Prospect notes

6. Bruce Irvin | 6'2, 235 pounds | DE/OLB | West Virginia - Prospect notes

7. Andre Branch | 6'5, 260 pounds | DE | Clemson - Prospect notes

8. Jacquies Smith | 6'4, 250 pounds | DE | Missouri - Prospect notes

9. Nick Perry | 6'3, 250 pounds | DE | Southern California *

10. Jake Bequette | 6'5, 271 pounds | DE | Arkansas - Prospect notes

11. Vince Browne | 6'5, 265 pounds | DE | Northwestern - Prospect notes

12. Melvin Ingram | 6'2, 276 pounds | DE/DT | South Carolina

13. Alex Okafor | 6'4, 260 pounds | DE | Texas *

14. Jonathan Massaquoi 6'2 251 pounds | DE/OLB | Troy - Prospect notes

15. Chandler Jones | 6'5, 247 pounds | DE | Syracuse *

16. Cam Johnson | 6'4, 265 pounds | DE | Virginia

17. Julian Miller | 6'6, 260 pounds | DE | West Virginia

18. Shea McClellin | 6'3, 258 pounds | DE | Boise State

19. Broderick Binns | 6'2, 261 pounds | DE | Iowa

20. Jack Crawford | 6'5, 273 pounds | DE | Penn State

21. Frank Alexander | 6'4, 255 pounds | DE | Oklahoma

22. Malik Jackson | 6'5, 270 pounds | DE | Tennessee

* denotes underclassman

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I’ve watched Coples, Paige-Moss, Jenkins, Curry, Irvin, Taylor, Ingram and Miller VERY intently so far this year and i have to say that by far the most impressive was Devin Taylor. I think his incredible athleticism combined with his frame makes him a physical freak and of all the afore mentioned ends I felt like Taylor had the best motor, made the best effort in pursuit and had the greatest activity level. And I thought his quickness, burst, shiftiness and redirection skills make him a very dangerous edge rusher. Against Georgia I counted 6 QB hits in the first 3 quarters.

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by d-jackfan10 on Sep 18, 2011 4:43 PM EDT reply actions

I need to go back and re-watch the SoCar games. I was mostly watching them for other players. It should be noted, these rankings are a combination of what I think the players will be as pros, and how they looked last year as well as this year.

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by Dan Kadar on Sep 18, 2011 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions