Our First Top 100

As the NFL gets ready to head to Indianapolis and the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine, it’s time to throw up our first top 100 players that will be available for the Draft in April.

This first list will not be in numerical order. We’ll need to tap our sources at the Combine and do a lot more research throughout the months of March and April before we put our draft board in order from the No. 1 player, to No. 100.

Right now, we’ll list them by position, in no particular order:

Offense (43)

Quarterback (6) – Cam Newton, Auburn; Blaine Gabbert, Missouri; Jake Locker, Washington; Christian Ponder, Florida State; Colin Kaepernick, Nevada; Ryan Mallett, Arkansas.

Running back (8) – Mark Ingram, Alabama; Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech; Mikel LeShoure, Illinois; DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma; Shane Vereen, California; Jordan Todman, Connecticut; Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State; Daniel Thomas, Kansas State.

Tight end (4) – Kyle Rudolph, Notre Dame; Luke Stocker, Tennessee; Lance Kendricks, Wisconsin; Lee Smith, Marshall.

Wide receiver (9) – A.J. Green, Georgia; Julio Jones, Alabama; Leonard Hankerson, Miami; Jon Baldwin, Pitt; Torrey Smith, Maryland; Titus Young, Boise State; Jerrel Jernigan, Troy; Greg Little, North Carolina; Randall Cobb, Kentucky.

Tackle (8) – Nate Solder, Colorado; Anthony Castonzo, Boston College, Tyron Smith, Southern California; Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin; Derek Sherrod, Mississippi State; Lee Ziemba, Auburn; Orlando Franklin, Miami; James Carpenter, Alabama.

Center/Guard (8) – Mike Pouncey, Florida; Rodney Hudson, Florida State; Danny Watkins, Baylor; Marcus Gilbert, Florida; John Moffitt, Wisconsin; Stefan Wisniewski, Penn State; Ben Ijalana, Villanova; James Kirkpatrick, TCU.

Defense (57)

Defensive tackle (11) – Nick Fairley, Auburn; Marvin Austin, North Carolina; Sione Fua, Stanford; Stephen Paea, Oregon State; Phil Taylor, Baylor; Corey Liuget, Illinois; Muhammad Wilkerson, Temple; Christian Ballard, Iowa; Kendrick Ellis, Hampton; Jarvis Jenkins, Clemson; Jerrell Powe, Mississippi.

Defensive end (13) – Sam Acho, Texas; Allen Bailey, Miami; Jeremy Beal, Oklahoma; Da’Quan Bowers, Clemson; Adrian Clayborn, Iowa; Marcell Dareus, Alabama; Cameron Heyward, Ohio State; Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue; Robert Quinn, North Carolina; J.J. Watt, Wisconsin; Aldon Smith, Missouri; Cameron Jordan; Pernell McPhee, Mississippi State.

Outside linebacker (9) – Akeem Ayers, UCLA; Bruce Carter, North Carolina; Mason Foster, Washington; Justin Houston, Georgia; Von Miller, Texas A&M; Martez Wilson, Illinois; K.J. Wright, Mississippi State; Mark Herzlich, Boston College; Brooks Reed, Arizona.

Inside linebacker (7) – Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina; Chris White, Mississippi State, Kelvin Sheppard, LSU; Mike Mohamed, California; Josh Bynes, Auburn; Greg Jones, Michigan State; Colin McCarthy, Miami.

Cornerbacks (10) – Prince Amukamara, Nebraska; Patrick Peterson, LSU; Jimmy Smith, Colorado; Brandon Burton, Utah; Aaron Williams, Texas; Curtis Marsh, Utah State; Brandon Harris, Miami; Curtis Brown, Texas; Johnny Patrick, Louisville; Rashad Carmichael, Virginia Tech.

Safeties (7) – Rahim Moore, UCLA; DeAndre McDaniel, Clemson; Quinton Carter, Oklahoma; Ahmad Black, Florida; Deunta Williams, North Carolina; Robert Sands, West Virginia; Tyler Sash, Iowa.