Here are the NFL draft best-case scenarios for Auburn football's top 5 prospects

AUBURN — Mock drafts are often feast or famine.

Sometimes, the consensus projection of a players' draft stock is right on the money with what NFL front offices think. Other times, amateurs and hopeful prognosticators are way off in a direction — either way too high or way too low on a player.

But that's the fun of draft season.

Auburn football has about a dozen former players who are eligible to be picked in the 2024 NFL Draft, which begins with Round 1 on Thursday (7 p.m. CT), continues with Rounds 2-3 on Friday (6 p.m. CT) and ends with Rounds 4-7 on Saturday (11 a.m. CT).

Here are the best-case scenarios for Auburn's top five NFL hopefuls:

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Nehemiah Pritchett draft projection: Best-case scenario

The absolute best-case scenario for cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett would be sneaking into the second round, though that may be a stretch given where the latest mock drafts have him going; landing within the top 75 seems like a more realistic scenario to shoot for.

Pritchett has good size for an outside corner at 6-foot, 190 pounds, and his arm length of 31⅝ inches is longer than six of Pro Football Focus' top 10 cornerbacks.

DJ James draft projection: Best-case scenario

Perhaps a bit smaller and leaner than Pritchett, fellow cornerback DJ James will likely be a mid-round pick. A goal to strive for: Get selected in the top 100 by a team looking for a CB with versatility. James can play on the boundary — he did that in college — but his weight has NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein pondering a move to the slot.

"A thin frame combined with questionable long speed could push James inside, where his pattern-matching and short-area athleticism should work to his advantage," Zierlein wrote via NFL.com. "James plays with excellent body control and disciplined footwork and is rarely out of position in coverage. He's instinctive with short-area twitch but has generated a little less ball production than expected for his traits."

Jaylin Simpson draft projection: Best-case scenario

A third defensive back who the Tigers enjoyed in the secondary last season, safety Jaylin Simpson was often the heart and voice of a defense that finished No. 4 in points allowed per game at 21.9. Simpson's size, like James, may cause some concerns, but the edge he plays with makes up for what he lacks in stature.

Simpson's best-case scenario seems to be early in the fourth round, a few spots below where James may end up.

Marcus Harris draft projection: Best-case scenario

Marcus Harris isn't small to the average person − 6-foot-2, 286 pounds in bigger than most of the population − but along the defensive line, his frame is on the lighter end. That doesn't mean he can't use it to his advantage, though; Harris logged a career-best seven sacks in 2023, showing his speed and limberness could be an asset in rushing the quarterback.

An ideal spot for Harris is likely early in the fifth round.

Justin Rogers draft projection: Best-case scenario

Transferring in to Auburn from Kentucky last offseason, Justin Rogers doesn't have the production of Harris, but he does have the physical size and traits to be a hole-plugging piece in the middle of a defensive line. With 78 career tackles in four seasons, Rogers' stock isn't through the roof, but those traits that made him the No. 52 overall player in the Class of 2020 still exist.

Anything above the seventh round feels like the best-case scenario for Rogers.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn's NFL draft prospects: Best-case scenarios for 5 players