First look at ranked 2027 MD/DE prospects - Part 1

With the end of the 2026 season coming to a close, I will be taking a first look at some of the Class of 2027 prospects currently ranked. Most of these prospects have more highlights available for evaluation and this is a good time to take a look at them before the next rankings update.   This is Part 1.    Jones' current highlights showcase him as a deep threat and a dangerous kick returner. He's a vertical threat who runs with easy, long strides and consistently gets separation. Jones does a good job of stemming and giving fakes to receivers to get leverage. His kick return touchdowns show his vision, burst, and sideline speed. Jones also does a good job of both tracking the football and fighting through tackles. Looking forward to seeing checking out his finished season highlights, Hoping to see more routes showcased on film.     Murray is a two-way lineman who plays both offensive tackle and defensive tackle. I'm impressed with his power at the point of attack and his motor. He plays through the whistle and shows the ability to finish blocks on offense. Murray is a disruptor on the defensive ball as well. He has strong hands and knows how to use leverage to win early in the rep and control the lineman he's going against. Murray can work on being more consistent with his explosiveness off the line on defense. Would like to see him increase pop on initial contact.     Tucker is a creative route-runner with good body control and natural adjustment skills. There's a couple of routes on his highlights where he makes an adjustment to get open. Despite not being the biggest, he competes well through contact and shows strong concentration when catching contested ball. Tucker is impressive when it comes to manipulating defensive backs with fakes and leverage. He has some good short-are quickness as well. Tucker will definitely want to work on adding weight and strength. Would like to see more footage of him running an expanded route tree.     Hitaffer completed 82-of-155 passes (59%) for 1,270 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions this past season. His highlights show that he can make high-difficulty thoughts, showing great touch and timing on several fade balls. Hitaffer also has good mobility and elusiveness that allows him to extend plays. There's a few times where he is poised under pressure, delivering pass completions downfield with defenders closing in. Hitaffer is also an effective ball faker, which helps create bigger windows. Looks solid in the redzone. Would like to see him improve that touchdown-to-interception ratio.     Stramanak is a highly productive middle linebacker with good instincts, zone awareness, and downhill physicality. He made 89 total tackles (49 solo, 16 tackles for a loss), sacked the quarterback four times, hurried the quarterback another six times and intercepted three passes during his junior-year campaign. I like how Stramanak diagnoses plays quickly and plays fast. Several of his tackles on his highlights show him playing behind the opponent line of scrimmage or near the line of scrimmage. Stramanak's is an instinctive zone defender as evidenced by his three interceptions. He takes clean and efficient angles to make tackles. Would like to see more evidence of his top-end speed, sideline-to-sideline type plays.

With the end of the 2026 season coming to a close, I will be taking a first look at some of the Class of 2027 prospects currently ranked. Most of these prospects have more highlights available for evaluation and this is a good time to take a look at them before the next rankings update.