Tua Tagovailoa is the early leader for the top spot in next year's draft
The ink on the 2019 NFL Draft is barely dry but some of the attention has already shifted to next year's event. And while that partly may due to the anticipation of the draft taking place in Las Vegas, the players projected to headline the 2020 edition have a little something to do with this as well.
Defense may have dominated the 2019 draft, with seven of the top 10 picks coming from that side of the ball, but that's not the case looking at Athlon Sports' early top 50 prospects for the 2020 NFL Draft. The top two and four of the first five can all be found on the offensive side of the ball.
Tua Tagovailoa, the Heisman Trophy runner-up to this year's No. 1 overall pick, Kyler Murray, currently tops the list with Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert right behind him. Alabama, which led all schools with 10 draft picks this year, leads the way with eight in the top 50 for 2020 followed by defending national champion Clemson and Ohio State (three each). In fact, the Crimson Tide boast the same number of players on this list as the entire Pac-12 and more than the ACC (seven) and Big 12 (four).
This time last year, Dexter Lawrence was our No. 1 prospect and he went with the 17th pick to the New York Giants. Murray didn't even make the top 50, which only supports the notion that this list will change plenty between now and next April. But you have to start somewhere, right?
Early 2020 NFL Draft Prospect Top 50 Rankings
| Rank | Name | Position | School | Year |
| 1 | Tua Tagovailoa | QB |  |
Jr. |
| 2 | Justin Herbert | QB |  |
Sr. |
| 3 | Chase Young | DE |  |
Jr. |
| 4 | Jerry Jeudy | WR | |
Jr. |
| 5 | Andrew Thomas | OT |  |
Jr. |
| 6 | A.J. Epenesa | DE |  |
Jr. |
| 7 | Derrick Brown | DT |  |
Sr. |
| 8 | Grant Delpit | S |  |
Jr. |
| 9 | Trey Adams | OT |  |
Sr. |
| 10 | Bryce Hall | CB |  |
Sr. |
| 11 | Walker Little | OT |  |
Jr. |
| 12 | CJ Henderson | CB |  |
Jr. |
| 13 | Tee Higgins | WR |  |
Jr. |
| 14 | Javon Kinlaw | DL |  |
Sr. |
| 15 | Raekwon Davis | DE | |
Sr. |
| 16 | Laviska Shenault Jr. | WR |  |
Jr. |
| 17 | Isaiah Simmons | S | |
Jr. |
| 18 | Albert Okwuegbunam | TE |  |
Jr. |
| 19 | D'Eriq King | QB |  |
Sr. |
| 20 | Kenny Willekes | DE |  |
Sr. |
| 21 | Dylan Moses | ILB | |
Jr. |
| 22 | Jake Fromm | QB | |
Jr. |
| 23 | Kristian Fulton | CB | |
Sr. |
| 24 | Tarik Black | WR |  |
Jr. |
| 25 | Evan Weaver | ILB |  |
Sr. |
| 26 | Jonathan Taylor | RB |  |
Jr. |
| 27 | Tyler Biadasz | C | |
Jr. |
| 28 | Travis Etienne | RB | |
Jr. |
| 29 | Jaylon Johnson | CB |  |
Jr. |
| 30 | Paddy Fisher | ILB |  |
Jr. |
| 31 | Mekhi Becton | OT |  |
Jr. |
| 32 | Tommy Kraemer | G |  |
Sr. |
| 33 | Paulson Adebo | CB | |
So. |
| 34 | Najee Harris | RB | |
Jr. |
| 35 | Jalen Reagor | WR |  |
Jr. |
| 36 | Terrell Lewis | OLB | |
Jr. |
| 37 | Xavier McKinney | S | |
Jr. |
| 38 | Alaric Jackson | OT | |
Jr. |
| 39 | Jacob Eason | QB | |
Jr. |
| 40 | Malik Harrison | OLB | |
Sr. |
| 41 | Yetur Gross-Matos | DE |  |
Jr. |
| 42 | J.K. Dobbins | RB | |
Jr. |
| 43 | CeeDee Lamb | WR |  |
Jr. |
| 44 | AJ Dillon | RB |  |
Jr. |
| 45 | Collin Johnson | WR |  |
Sr. |
| 46 | Khalid Kareem | DE | |
Sr. |
| 47 | Essang Bassey | CB |  |
Sr. |
| 48 | Nick Coe | DE | |
Jr. |
| 49 | Henry Ruggs III | WR | |
Jr. |
| 50 | Grant Calcaterra | TE | |
Jr. |
