Contrasting Mel Kiper and Mike Mayock’s NFL Draft rankings

Mar 2, 2013, 3:14 PM UTC

USA TODAY Sports

ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper updated his famous big board earlier this week and it featured several notable changes.

Rocketing up Kiper's board is Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd. Previously eighth in Kiper's rankings, Floyd is now up to second overall behind only Georgia' Jarvis Jones. Other big risers in the top 10 are Eric Fisher (three from seven), Dion Jordan (four from nine) and Barkevious Mingo (12 to seven).

Of course, that means there were droppers. Because of his possible health issue, Star Lotulelei drops from fourth to eighth. Bjoern Werner plummeted from five to 11. There was no more precipitous drop than Texas A&M's Damontre Moore. Previously third in Kiper's rankings, Moore doesn't even make his top 25.

Mike Mayock of NFL Network doesn't do a big board. Sad face. Instead, he simply does a top five per position. Kiper also adjusted his positional rankings. Of note, he pushed Matt Barkley ahead of Geno Smith at quarterback. Mayock stuck with Smith as his top signal caller.

Kiper's running back rankings are a little odd. Gio Bernard was No. 1 in previous rankings and now out of the top five. In there are Montee Ball at two, Christine Michael at three and, strangest, Kerwynn Williams at five. But upon further look, it may not be so odd for Ball to be rated the second-best running back. Mayock has him there as well.

At wide receiver, Kiper pushed Tavon Austin all the way to the top of his wide receiver rankings, while Mayock has him third behind Cordarrelle Patterson and Keenan Allen. Both list Quinton Patton among their top five receivers.

In his offensive tackle rankings, Kiper vaulted Eric Fisher above Luke Joeckel while Mayock still has the Texas A&M product first. In his rankings update, Mayock actually didn't change his rankings on offensive linemen, quarterbacks or running backs.

Their rankings on defense are wildly different because Mayock decided to specify which players fit in 3-4 and 4-3 schemes. Notably, he doesn't regard Georgia's Jarvis Jones as a 3-4 linebacker despite playing the position in college. His top three 3-4 outside linebackers are Dion Jordan, Jamie Collins and Barkevious Mingo. You'll be hearing a lot about Collins in the next few weeks.

Kiper, meanwhile, still lists Jordan and Mingo as a defensive ends. Among his outside linebackers, Kiper has pushed Georgia’s Cornelius Washington up to the fifth spot. Washington did very little last season, but had an incredible combine. Good luck finding solid tape of Washington from last season.

Since Kiper has Floyd rated as his second-best player overall, he’s now his top defensive tackle. That’s the same for Mayock. Among defensive linemen, the big surprise from Mayock is that he considers Alabama’s Jesse Williams a 3-4 defensive end. Williams was a nose tackle in Alabama’s 3-4 system. Kiper’s only real surprise is pushing Missouri Southern’s Brandon Williams to the fifth spot.

The two draft gurus have a similar top three among cornerbacks with Dee Milliner at No. 1 for both. But after that, Mayock likes Blidi Wreh-Wilson and B.W. Webb. Kiper prefers Johnthan Banks and David Amerson. Their top four safeties are the exact same, led by Kenny Vaccaro. Kiper puts Earl Wolff of North Carolina State in the fifth spot while Mayock opted for Shamarko Thomas.

Find Mayock’s here. Check out Kiper’s position rankings here. Kiper’s content is ESPN Insider content. Conveniently, we planned on putting out new rankings next week. Look for those starting Tuesday.