Ranking the top 10 NFL practice squad classes: Lions, Eagles, Bills lead the way

The last thing NFL teams have to do before the start of the regular season is set up their practice squads. And now, that effort is nearly complete across the league. That means it’s time to rank practice squads, a part of the roster that has grown in importance over the past five years.

I will still release the practice squad power rankings in a week, on the Friday before Week 1. For this article, I am ranking full practice squads.

LB Shaq Quarterman, EDGE Andrew Farmer, S Tony Jefferson, RB Isaiah Spiller, OG Carson Barnhart, TE Luke Benson, TE/FB Tucker Fish, CB Matt Hankins, DT Christopher Hinton, LB Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, WR Cornelius Johnson, CB Robert Kennedy, OT Alex Leatherwood, EDGE Tre’Mon Morris-Brash, DT CJ Okoye (International Player Pathway)

Starting with the club’s practice squad, buoyed primarily by the addition of Jefferson, who has come out of retirement — and spent 2023 as a scouting intern in Baltimore with current Chargers GM Joe Hortiz — to dominate the final preseason contest against the Cowboys.

Jean-Baptiste was one of the older prospects in the 2024 class, yet he shined after transferring from Ohio State to Notre Dame. Leatherwood is a first-round bust, yet has over 1,200 career regular-season snaps to his name.

RB George Holani, WR Cody White, WR Esop Winston Jr., TE Tyler Mabry, OG Raekwon O’Neal, OT McClendon Curtis, OT Garrett Greenfield, OT Max Pircher, DT Kyon Bars, DE DeVare Levelson, LB Michael Barrett, LB Patrick O’Connell, CB Artie Burns, S Ty Okada, S Marquise Blair

Holani, a five-year runner at Boise State, has NFL-level skills. In college he averaged 5.2 yards per tote and twice passed for over 1,000 yards. Big, reasonably elusive, good balance. Winston Jr. is hyper-nifty running routes — was that way at Washington State — and caught eight passes for 98 yards in the preseason. Curtis is a huge masher, maybe the best at guard, and Greenfield blocked next to Mason McCormick, a fourth-round pick at San Diego State. Lots of experience in the trenches.

Having a veteran cornerback — Burns — and a safety — Blair — on this practice squad is also a smart thing to do.

DT Jovan Briggs, CB Tony Brown II, WR Jalen Darden, S Christopher Edmunds, CB Justin Hardy Sr., T Germain Ifedi, DT Sam Kamara, T Roy Mbeteka (International Player Pathway Program), WR James Proche II, LB Winston Reed, LS Rex Sunahara, T Lorenzo Thompson, WR Michael Woods II

A long-snapper is uncommon on the practice squad, and not something I’d advocate — the rest of Cleveland’s group is impressive. Briggs’ summer would have earned him a spot on many teams’ 53-man rosters. Athletic, chiseled interior penetrator. Ifedi has plenty of NFL experience at guard and tackle, there’s quality offensive-line depth there.

Proche offers return capabilities, the ability to jump out of the slot and plus ball skills. Darden never materialized after being a fourth-round pick by the Buccaneers in 2021, yet is a serious jet down the field, as evidenced by his 17.5 yards-per-catch average in the preseason.

CB Nate Brooks, WR Cole Burgess, OT Devin Cochran, DT Domenic Davis, CB Jalen Davis, TE Cam Grandy, LB Shaka Heyward, C Trey Hill, WR Shedrick Jackson, SP P.J. Jules, WR Kendrick Pryor, QB Logan Woodside, DE Isaiah Thomas, DT Justin Rodgers, RB Kendall Milton, OG Tashaun Manning

Burgess is an intriguing practice-squad prospect because of his return ability and his impressive showing as a boundary receiver in camp and the preseason. He ran a 4.46 with a 41.5-inch vertical at more than 6-foot and 196 pounds during his pro-day workout. Thomas has displayed pass-rush juice the past three preseasons, thanks largely to deft hand work.

I also like Davis’ upside, as he’s a rare, upfield rusher at 6-3 and over 320 pounds. But most of all, Hayward is ready to play quality football as a three-down linebacker. He’s been great this summer against the run, cornering ball-carriers and in coverage. He’s the pillar of strength on Cincinnati’s practice squad.

DE Gernard Avery, WR Laquan Treadwell, LB Liam Anderson, DT McTelvin Agim, WR DJ Montgomery, LB Austin Ajiake, PK Spencer Shrader, CB Jaylin Simpson, CB Chris Lemons, TE Sean McCown, CB Amir Speed, RB Evan Hull, DE Titus Leo, S Marcel Dabo, QB Jason Bean, OL Atonio Mafi

Beane could be considered the best preseason quarterback from a dual-threat perspective. He carried 11 times for 54 yards with two scores. As a thrower, the former Kansas star went 15 of 19 and passed for 197 yards with a score and an interception. Avery showed his pass-rush talent in the final preseason games, and much earlier, when in 2018, he recorded 42 pressures with the Browns as a rookie.

Treadwell is one of the biggest first-round receiver busts of the last decade, but looked comfortable with the Colts in August, catching 10 passes for 121 yards and a score. Even though it seems like he’s been in the NFL for quite a while, he’s still not even 30 years old. Simpson is a classic pesky, in-your-face, irascible former Auburn cornerback, and Hull was the heart and soul of the Northwestern offense just two years ago. Heck, he caught 55 passes for 546 yards in his final season with the Wildcats and is a fine athlete.

CB Sam Webb, WR Jalen Guyton, EDGE David Agoha (International Pathways Program), WR Alex Bachman, RB Sincere McCormick, S Phalen Sanford, TE John Samuel Shenker, DT Matthew Butler, OT Dalton Wagner, LB Charles Snowden, C Ben Brown, QB Carter Bradley, WR Christian Wilkerson, TE Justin Shorter

McCormick has excelled as a change of pace running back — he was the little engine at UTSA playing three seasons with the Roadrunners, averaging 5.4 yards per rush with 34 scores on the ground.

I thought Snowden would be too skinny to be an NFL edge rusher coming out of Virginia — despite his dominant productivity there — but now, after a few years in a professional strength and conditioning program, he has bulked up to add power to his game. He’s a unique specimen at 6-7 and nearly 250 pounds. Butler plays like his hair is on fire at defensive tackle, and Bradley has high-handed talent power at the quarterback spot. Shorter was a fifth-round pick in 2023 with legitimate tight end size at 6-4 and close to 230 pounds. He has strong hands and deceptively long speed to his game.

4. Dallas Cowboys

RB Dalvin Cook, WR Jalen Cropper, OT Josh Ball, TE Princeton Fant, CB Amani Oruwariye, DT Phil Hoskins, CB Josh Butler, RB Malik Davis, DT Denzel Daxon, CB Kemon Hall, WR Kelvin Harmon, LB Darius Harris, S Amani Johnson, DE Carl Lawson, LB Brock Mogensen, OL Dakoda Shepley, LB Nick Vigil

No team has used its allotted veteran spots better than the Cowboys. Cook isn’t the same running back as he once was, but he had just 67 rushes a season ago. Vigil was once a starting-caliber, three-down linebacker in Cincinnati who had 111 tackles in 2019. Aruawariye had six interceptions for the Lions in 2021, and Lawson is just a few years removed from a 64-pressure campaign.

On the youth front, Cropper is a bang-up prospect. He has plenty of experience on Dallas’ practice squad.

QB Mike White, RB Frank Gore Jr., WR KJ Hamler, WR Tyrell Shavers, TE Jack Davidson, OL Richard Gorges, OL Will Clapp, OL Mike Edwards, DE Kingsley Jonathan (International Pathways Program), DE Cameron Cline, DT Eli Ankou, DT Branson Dean, CB Daequan Hardy, CB Te’Corey Couch, S Kareem Jackson, S Lewis Cine, WR Jalen Vergil

Cine is incredibly fascinating for a number of reasons — first, he’s played 10 regular-season snaps in the NFL. He’s still a prodigious talent at 6-2 and 200 pounds with 4.37 speed, which we can assume is now fully recovered two years after rupturing his rookie-year knee ligament. And he’s playing for his Georgia defensive backs coach, Jahmile Addae, in Buffalo.

Gore Jr. was the best workhorse back during the preseason, averaging 3.09 yards per rush with three runs of 10-plus yards on 33 attempts in August. Shavers and Davidson are two big athletes at receiver at tight end, and Gorege, a collegiate teammate of starting right guard O’Cyrus Torrence, has performed well at the swing tackle position. He surrendered just two pressures on 47 pass-blocking snaps this preseason.

Hardy is a great slot cornerback with great instincts and return talent, and White has a lively arm as an emergency quarterback. Jackson is a longtime veteran of hard-hitting defenses who has coverage chops at the undergrad and intermediate levels.

LB Oren Burks, WR Parris Campbell, RB Tyrone Davis-Price, QB Will Grier, DT Gabe Hall, OL Dylan McMahon, WR Marcus Rosemy-Jaccent, S Caden Starnes, OL Lakin Vakalahi, S Andre Sam, TE EJ Jenkins, LB Brandon Smith, C Nick Gates, TE Jack Stoll

Howie Roseman has established himself as one of the finest team-builders in football, and his talents extend beyond the 53-man roster. Philadelphia routinely has one of the strongest practice squads in the game, and the start of this season has been no different. Burks has never lived up to third-round pick expectations, but is a tremendous athlete and logged 71 snaps in the Super Bowl as a member of the 49ers. Campbell is another fine athletic specimen at receiver, and McMahon is a nimble center who could start with time due to his quickness.

Stearns played two great seasons as a safety in Denver, but an injury ended his 2023 season. There’s great depth there that brings youth and reasonable experience to the secondary. Finally, Smith is a 6-3, 240-round freak linebacker who needs to play with sharp play-recognition skills, yet has plenty of talent.

1. Detroit Lions

WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, QB Jake Fromm, EDGE Mitchell Agude, RB Jermar Jefferson, WR Tim Patrick, WR Tom Kennedy, WR Allen Robinson, TE Shane Zylstra, TE James Mitchell, OL Kingsley Eguakun, OT Jamarco Jones, EDGE Isaac Ukwu, EDGE Mitchell Agude, DT Chris Smith, DT Kyle Peko, DT Pat O’Connor, S CJ Moore

The Lions earned the top spot because of their practice squad receivers. DPJ is one of the most explosive receivers in the NFL — 44.5-inch vertical and 11-7 broad jump — Robinson has taken a few steps back since we’ve seen him bounce around the league lately, but he still has experience. Patrick was shockingly cut by the Broncos after a stellar preseason, and Kennedy has long been a preseason hero in Detroit because of his suddenness and reliable hands.

On the edge, Mitchell Aguade recorded four pressures in the preseason and feels like a young rusher with an arrow looking upward. Finally, Jamarco Jones is a former Ohio State offensive tackle who has several years of amazing preseason work on his resume. He just needs to translate that into the regular season to some extent if he is called upon as Detroit’s swing tackle.