Big Ten Roundup (Aug. 26): Eight Big Ten Players Projected First Round Picks in NBC Sports' 2024 NFL Mock Draft

NBC Sports published a 2024 NFL Mock Draft on Friday, prior to the start of the 2023 college football season. In the mock draft, eight of the 32 players projected as first round picks were from the Big Ten.

One of the main reasons most of the jaw dropping athletes you watch on your screen every Saturday choose to attend Big Ten schools is the NFL Draft. 

It's every football player's dream to hear their name called, and with the 2023 college football season kicking off today, it's never too early to look ahead to which players have the best shot at making that dream a reality during the upcoming season. 

NBC Sports' Connor Rogers published his 2024 NFL Mock Draft 1.0 on Friday, and of the 32 players he projected as first round selections, eight of them are playing for Big Ten schools in 2023.

Here's everything you need to know in today's Big Ten Roundup:

Projected First Round Draft Picks from the Big Ten

Not only did Rogers predict that 25% of the 2024 NFL Draft's first round will be comprised of Big Ten athletes, but he predicted that three of the top five picks would come from the conference in Marvin Harrison Jr., Olu Fashanu and Jer'Zhan Newton.

• No. 2 (Arizona Cardinals) — Marvin Harrison Jr, WR, Ohio State
• No. 3 (Indianapolis Colts) — Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State
• No. 5 (Las Vegas Raiders) — Jer'Zhan Newton, DL, Illinois
• No. 8 (Chicago Bears) — Chop Robinson, EDGE, Penn State
• No. 10 (New England Patriots) — Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
• No. 14 (Pittsburgh Steelers) — Kalen King, CB, Penn State
• No. 19 (New Orleans Saints) — Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa
  
• No. 20 (Seattle Seahawks) — Kris Jenkins, DL, Michigan

Seeing those three names in the top five should be surprising to on one. Harrison Jr. has been hailed as one of the greatest wide receiver prospects to ever live, many were surprised Fashanu returned after already being projected as a first round pick in 2023 and every bit of positive Illinois football media this offseason began with the words "Jer'Zhan Newton."

As for the other five names on the list, they're no slouches themselves. 

Rogers wrote that he loved Chop Robinson's blend of burst, twitch and power, and that he was a top tier pass rusher during the 2022 season.

He comped Emeka Egbuka to long time Los Angeles Chargers' wide receiver Keenan Allen, and said that Kalen King brings excellent fluidity and sticky coverage to the corner position.

Cooper DeJean returns to Iowa City after a spectacular sophomore campaign where he intercepted five passes and returned three of them for touchdowns.

Kris Jenkins, meanwhile, might be the scariest player on the entire roster of the team predicted to win the Big Ten in 2023. Michigan literally calls him "The Mutant," and Rogers wrote that if Jenkins can add pass rush ability to his already superb run stopping skills, he'll be a great draft prospect in 2024. 

Michigan's biggest Freak 307-pound DL Kris Jenkins, aka "The Mutant," (son of the former Pro Bowler by the same name) vertical jumped 34 inches, ran a 4.33 shuttle and did this insane Turkish Get Up with a 170-pound dumbbell: https://t.co/4bqHQeV0tq pic.twitter.com/4ZO5ctuo8y

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 15, 2023

This excellent 2024 NFL Mock Draft from Connor Rogers can be read here at this link. 

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