SB Nation

The NFL Draft is all about potential. Teams aren’t interested in what college football’s best players have done in the past, but what they might do as a pro. That’s how players like Josh Allen, he of the 56 percent career completion rate, can be a top-three pick just for looking like an NFL prototype quarterback while former Heisman Trophy award winner Lamar Jackson may sit out the first round entirely. It’s a system that’s been in place for decades, and it’s tough to argue with the results. Troy Smith may have won a Heisman Trophy, but he wasn’t much of an NFL quarterback. Same with Eric Crouch and Jason White. Andre Williams was the NCAA’s top rusher in 2013, but has averaged just 3.3 yards per carry as a pro after sliding to the fourth round of the 2014 draft. Sometimes big college performances fail to translate. But what if the 2018 NFL Draft were based solely on college production rather than potential? Here’s a look at what this year’s selections could look like if teams based their picks on blind resume items (spoiler: while first-rounders Da’Ron Payne and Vita Vea just miss the cut, it’s great news for Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson):