Cover 3 is a weekly feature column written by PewterReport.com’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat writer Trevor Sikkema published every Tuesday. The column, as its name suggests, comes in three phases: a statistical observation, an in-depth film breakdown, and a “this or that” segment where the writer asks the reader to chose between two options.

Or, at least, that’s what it usually is. But, this week, since it’s draft week, we’re going to do things a little bit different.

In this week’s Cover 3, I’m giving you all my final “Big Board” plus all of my positional rankings for the 2018 NFL Draft. As some of you may know, not only do I cover the Buccaneers for Pewter Report year-round, but I also host an NFL Draft podcast five days a week, 52 weeks out of the year. This draft stuff isn’t just something I study because it’s an element of my Buccaneers coverage — although that is certainly part of it. Researching, evaluating and enjoying the journey these kids go on from being college students to professionals in their field of football is something I really do love, and is actually how I got my start in this business.

This week truly is a second Christmas week to me. Later this weekend we’ll finally get some clarity on the speculation we’ve been reading about and determining for ourselves for the past four months — and even beyond that for those crazy enough to care about the draft year-round. It’s a weekend full of “Oh my gosh, there’s no way they just did that,” and of course some “I told you so” phrases from all who pay attention. We here at Pewter Report will be doing a live streaming videocast for all three days of the draft, so you can be sure to hear some of those and more from us as the draft unfolds.

Below is my final big board of the Top 100 players in this draft class, in order, based on the talent of the individual. Now, did I get to all 1,000 eligible prospects? Of course not. But, I did my best to get to as many of the players I believed will have an impact on the league for foreseeable future. This is not Bucs-specific, but it certainly can be used as a baseline to judge which players were good choices (from my point of view) if they become Buccaneers. In addition to my Top 100, on the next two pages I also have my positional rankings with some commentary on a few of the highlights from that positional group. Fit does matter for some of these players, and i’ll explain that a bit as we go through each position.

So, picture this as me throwing off the curtain. Here’s my Top 100 players in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Big Board: Top 100

Quenton Nelson, OG, Note Dame Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia Derwin James, S, Florida State Bradley Chubb, DE, N.C. State Derrius Guice, RB, LSU Minkah Fitzpatrick, S/CB, Alabama Harold Landry, DE/OLB, Boston College Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA Nathan Shepherd, DT, Fort Hays State Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State Isaiah Wynn, OG, Georgia Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia Jaire Alexander, CB, Louisville Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan Sony Michel, RB, Georgia Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama Will Hernandez, OG, UTEP Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame Josh Sweat, DE, Florida State Vita Vea, DT, Washington Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville Frank Ragnow, C, Arkansas Taven Bryan, DT, Florida Ronald Jones, RB, USC Connor Williams, OT, Texas Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota State Billy Price, C, Ohio State Shaquem Griffin, LB, UCF Sam Darnold, QB, USC Justin Reid, S, Stanford Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama Da’Ron Payne, DT, Alabama Isaiah Oliver, CB, Colorado Anthony Miller, WR, Memphis Duke Ejiofor, DE, Wake Forest James Daniels, C, Iowa Bo Scarbrough, RB, Alabama Fred Warner, LB, BYU Sam Hubbard, DE, Ohio State Austin Corbett, OG, Nevada Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU Mike Gesicki, TE, Penn State D.J. Moore, WR, Maryland Lorenzo Carter, OLB, Georgia Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State Mike Hughes, CB, UCF Kemoko Turay, DE/OLB, Rutgers Leighton Vander Esch, LB, Boise State Desmond Harrison, OT, West Georgia John Kelly, RB, Tennessee Tyrell Crosby, OG, Oregon Antonio Callaway, WR, Florida Kyzir White, S, WVU Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, DE/OLB, Oklahoma Jalyn Holmes, DT, Ohio State Jessie Bates, S, Wake Forest Quenton Meeks, CB, Stanford Dante Pettis, WR, Washington Genard Avery, DE/OLB, Memphis Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma Kerryon Johnson, RB, Auburn Derrick Nnadi, DT, Florida State Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA DaeSean Hamilton, WR, Penn State Ronnie Harrison, S, Alabama Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming Mark Andrews, TE, Oklahoma Brian Allen, C, Michigan State Hayden Hurst, TE, South Carolina Josh Adams, RB, Notre Dame Deshon Elliott, S Texas Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn Kentavius Street, DE, N.C. State Wyatt Teller, OG, Virginia Tech Jamarco Jones, OT, Ohio State Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M Duke Dawson, CB, Florida Malik Jefferson, LB, Texas Tyquan Lewis, DE, Ohio State Braden Smith, OG, Auburn Mark Walton, RB, Miami Chukwuma Okorafor, OT, Western Michigan Andrew Brown, DT, Virginia Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State Foley Fatukasi, DT, Uconn Trenton Thompson, DT, Georgia Arden Key, DE, LSU M.J. Stewart, CB, UNC Ian Thomas, TE, Indiana Equanimeous St. Brown, WR, Notre Dame Kolton Miller, OT, UCLA Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon Nyheim Hines, RB, N.C. State Brian O’Niell, OT, Pittsburgh B.J. Hill, DT, N.C. State Auden Tate, WR, Florida State

The strongest position groups in the draft are interior offensive tackle, running back and linebacker. I also found myself really liking some of the safety players in this class, too – didn’t expect that as much.

Click to the next page to see me breakdown each position.