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I think it is harder to rank the runners up than the winners. The winners actually all achieved their goal so we can evaluate how they got there. With the losers, there's a lot more question of whether they could have won if only ...

Still, the criteria should be the same. Split the game between positioning skill and popularity skill.

Positioning

Clay
Rob
Colby
Twila
Matt
Lillian
Danielle
Kim
Katie
Kelly
Stephenie
Neleh

Rob and Clay each worked their positioning game to perfection (almost). Rob was the strategist for his pairing, making it so either he won or his girlfriend did, but I agree he made an arguable mistake in burning Tom at F5. Clay never gets enough credit for the symbiotic relationship he developed with Brian that came within a vote of success.

Colby did get outmaneuvered by Tina, but that's nothing to be too ashamed of. Taking Tina was an error, of course, but he did go into that decision knowing what he was doing.

As others have mentioned, Twila did know when to make her move, and she pulled it off.

Matt may be an enigma, but his errors are in the other half of the equation. Much like Clay, he recognized another player as his ticket through the game, and he played Rob like a fiddle (even as Rob played him in turn). He let Rob lead the way and make the enemies while he kept Rob comfortable by playing the fool and thus not a threat. He also set up Alex as a challenge threat. Really, it is remarkable how well Matt played in this aspect considering where he started.

Lillian made a lot of moves though it is difficult to see that all of them benefited her greatly. She certainly did keep her eye on the finals though and was willing to dump the coattails she was riding as it suited her.

Danielle did alright in this aspect, or at least the evidence is that she was working this aspect. She probably made a mistake in voting out Courtney and giving the control to Aras and Cirie, but she was able to cut a deal with Terry to sneak herself past. She probably should have been more active in positioning though.

Kim and Katie are the true coattail riders. Both stuck to their initial alliance and let it carry them. There's not much to separate them.

Kelly didn't know what she was doing, which is understandable since she was in the first season. But detatching herself from the alliance without finding some other deal was just ridiculous positioning, hence the need for her immunity run.

Stephenie was letting Rafe run the show, but she actually sabotaged her own position with her voting out of Jamie and Judd, let alone the failure to remove Danni.

Finally, there's Neleh, who had to be led into even the most obvious positioning move against the Rotu 4, who then refused to consider deals with Tammy and Robert as the Rotu 4 were pagonged all while making it obvious that Vee and Sean were next out. She was far too passive at the positioning game.

Popularity

Colby
Neleh
Kelly
Kim
Clay
Stephenie
Rob
Lillian
Danielle
Katie
Matt
Twila

Colby's by far the most popular runner up ever, and it isn't without reason. He provided and worked hard and got along with people (to their face anyway).

Neleh's whole strategy was to avoid offending anyone, and she was well-liked. It's just that her failure to take responsibility for her votes backfired against her.

Kelly's very similar in that she tried to be nice as a strategy, and it almost worked (except that it angered those she previously had been allied with).

Kim was not really a popular figure, but she didn't make enemies either (except for Tom, who probably couldn't be helped). I'm surprised she ranks this high except for the truly bad social players among the runners up.

Clay could be a good social player as he proved with regard to Penny, Erin, and Ken, or he could be an awful social player as he proved with regard to Helen and Jake.

Stephenie developed a strong following aided by her celebrity status, but she sabotaged it with needless blindsides.

Likewise for Rob who almost certainly threw away the win by how he handled the boots.

Lillian's sour complaining made enemies, especially when she threw in a knife to the back (at least in the minds of those booted).

From the backstabbers, we move to the do-nothings. Danielle's decision to play quietly may have gotten her further, but it didn't make nearly enough friends.

Likewise, Katie's laziness cost her respect from her jury. Adding her caustic comments meant she was cutting off her potential votes.

Then there's Matt, who's strategy of acting clueless and crazy actually drove people away. For all the good his positioning did him, he had no chance of winning a vote.

Worst of all, there's Twila, who actually antagonized the other players during the jury proceedings. She only got the vote of her loyal ally and that of Ami, who was more disgusted with Chris. Julie and Eliza preferred to vote for the player who needlessly stabbed them rather than vote for Twila.

Simple combining of the scores leads to:

Colby 4
Clay 6
Rob 9
Kim 12
Kelly 13
Neleh 14
Lillian 14
Matt 16
Twila 16
Danielle 16
Stephenie 17
Katie 19

But my preference leans toward positioning so doubling that score and adding the popularity score gives us:

Colby 7
Clay 7
Rob 11
Kim 20
Lillian 20
Twila 20
Matt 21
Kelly 23
Danielle 23
Neleh 26
Katie 28
Stephenie 28

This approximates my overall view. Note the huge gap between the first three and the rest.