Updated 3/28/10

This was starting to get a little bit out dated so I’m updating this page. I started with offensive prospects on Monday and I’m finishing with defensive prospects today.

Normally defensive ends are the toast of the defensive line class, because of their higher positional value, but all we are hearing about this year is the defensive tackles. Ndamukong Suh has burst onto the scene as the best defensive prospect in the country and a possible top pick option (if the Rams wanted to be stupid) after his 4.5 sack performance against Texas, which helped him set the NCAA record for most Heisman votes by a defensive lineman. Gerald McCoy is not far behind and probably would be compared neck and neck with Suh if Suh had not had that one game. Suh is the more dominant and more hyped prospect, but McCoy should make some team very happen. Brian Price would probably be a top 10 pick any other year as a defensive tackle with 6.5 sacks last year, the same amount as McCoy, but he could slip into the twenties this year. Jared Odrick is there as well with his scheme versatility. He would be a natural fit for a 3-4 team as a defensive end. LaMarr Houston and Mike Neal make up the 3^rd tier defensive tackle guys and guys like Dan Williams, who can also play 4-3 defensive tackle, Terrence Cody, and Cam Thomas headline the nose tackle class.

This is not to say that the defensive end class is full of scrubs. Terrence Cody was the most dominant defensive end in the nation last year and would go in the top 10 if he could play the 3-4 as a rush linebacker, which he probably couldn’t. Jason Pierre Paul is the upside prospect to Derrick Morgan’s proven prospect. I like Morgan a lot more and think of JPP, as ESPN calls him, as a Gaines Adams or Vernon Gholston type, all physical tools, but not much else, but there are places, like ESPN, who really like JPP. Brandon Graham is in the mix in the first round range, and he can also play rush linebacker, as are projects like Carlos Dunlap and Everson Griffen, but after those 5 guys, the defensive end class gets pretty thin, so we either aren’t going to see a lot of defensive ends go in the 2^nd round, or we’ll see teams reach for guys like Austin Lane, Greg Hardy, and Jermaine Cunningham, or try to take smaller rush linebacker prospects like Jerry Hughes and Sergio Kindle and put them on the line. Along with Hughes and Kindle, the rush linebacker class is headlined by such athletic freaks as Ricky Sapp, Jason Worilds, and Thaddeus Gibson, as well as other guys like Koa Misi and Eric Norwood.

The outside linebacker class should be undervalued again this year as versatile playmakers like Sean Weatherspoon and Daryl Washington will fall about 10 slots lower than they should. Misi and Norwood could also play outside linebacker, as could Kindle. Roddrick Muckelroy is an interesting sleeper I like out of Texas, but he’ll probably fall into the 4^th round after guys like Dekoda Watson, Navarro Bowman, and possibly Rennie Curran. Watson is very raw, but had a great Combine. The middle linebacker class is headlined by Rolando McClain, the highest rated middle linebacker in a long line and a good candidate to be the first middle linebacker to go top 10 since Brian Urlacher, though it’s more likely he falls to the 11-18 range. There is a lot of overlap between the outside linebacker and middle linebacker class, as the class boasts a ton of versatility at the linebacker position, but Sean Weatherspoon is the obvious candidate to switch to middle linebacker in the 3-4 or the 4-3. The 4-3 based Giants are reportedly eyeing him with the 15^th pick. Guys like Pat Angerer and Sean Lee are good fits for the 4-3 in the 3^rd and 4^th round range as are Micah Johnson and Brandon Spikes for the 3-4. Spikes greatly fell out of favor with scouts after a 5.01 40 time at his Pro Day, while Johnson has sadly been battling knee injuries all offseason that have slowed him down in his runs and during his drills. He could be a steal.

Joe Haden sits firmly atop the cornerback class, but the second tier doesn’t look too bad either with Kyle Wilson and Devin McCourty, as well as my favorite sleepers Brandon Ghee and Donovan Warren, though Warren’s 40 times may force him into the 3^rd round sadly. If your team doesn’t get one of those 5 guys in the first 40 picks, don’t worry, this is one of the deepest cornerback classes in recent memory with guys like Kareem Jackson, Perrish Cox, Domonique Franks, Jerome Murphy, Amari Spievey, and Chris Cook in the 2^nd-4^th round range. Those guys will all be drafted off of taste as they are very different style cornerbacks so anyone of those guys could slip to the 4^th. I also happen to like Rafael Priest as a sleeper and I have not forgotten about Walter Thurmond who could be a steal if he can ever get healthy. Like the cornerback class, the safety class is very deep as well. After top safety Eric Berry and other first round guys like Earl Thomas and the high upside Taylor Mays, there is a vast amount of 2^nd-4^th round safeties who could start in the NFL someday, like Morgan Burnett, Nate Allen, Chad Jones, Major Wright, Darrell Stuckey, and Reshad Jones all available in the 2^nd-4^th round range, so, like with cornerback needy teams, this is a good year to need a safety as well.

Updated 3/27/10

This was starting to get a little bit out dated so I’m updating this page starting with offensive prospects today and defensive prospects tomorrow.

Remember earlier this year when everyone was saying this could have been the greatest quarterback class since 2004 (Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger) with guys like Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, and Tim Tebow, and even draft “sleeper” Jevan Snead. Well, look what’s happened since. Of those quarterbacks, only Sam Bradford is a first round pick lock and that didn’t even seem so earlier this season when his twice separated throwing shoulder was a huge question mark. Even Bradford may not be the top quarterback taken, as he’ll have to compete with Jimmy Clausen for that honor, though it appears he is winning. Clausen, somehow, was not on anyone’s radar before this season, yet now some, me included, would contend that he is the best quarterback in this draft class. Another thing proved wrong since the start of the season, this is not a strong quarterback class. If anything, it’s fairly weak. Even last year, we had three quarterbacks go in the first round (Stafford, Sanchez, Freeman) and this year, it’s looking like Bradford and Clausen will be the only ones taken in the first round, unless some stupid GM falls in love with Colt McCoy or Tim Tebow and takes them a round earlier than they could have gotten them (nothing against Tebow, I think he could be a fine player, but I am not a fan of making huge reaches for players). In fact, Tebow might be the only quarterback taken in the 2^nd round. After him, it’ll all be a matter of taste for teams. Do they want a proven college guy with a weak arm and little upside (Colt McCoy, Tony Pike), a major project with a cannon for an arm (John Skelton, Jevan Snead) or an athletic mobile quarterback with mechanical issues (Dan LeFevour, Zac Robinson, Jarrett Brown). Because it’ll all be a matter of taste, we could see guys slip to the 5^th round or so that maybe could have gone in the 3^rd.

If I were needing a running back from this year’s draft class, I’d wait until the mid rounds. There is not a lot of depth atop the draft class (though I do like Jahvid Best), but there are several starter caliber running backs who could be available in rounds 3-5 (Toby Gerhart, Montario Hardesty, Ben Tate, Deji Karim). CJ Spiller gets all the hype, but he’s not an every down back in the NFL, but rather a cool weapon who will be overdrafted. Teams looking for a speed Reggie Bush type guy like him would be better served waiting a round or two for a guy like Joe McKnight or Dexter McCluster. Jonathan Dwyer has physical upside, but he’s out of shape and his stats last year came in a weird offense that doesn’t translate to the NFL and he’s, at the very least, a question mark, but he could wind up being a steal in the 3^rd. He could also wind up being a wasted pick though, so be careful.

Dez Bryant is the wide receiver with the most hype and though I don’t worry about him because of his character issues (which consist of eating lunch with Deion Sanders, which somehow resulted in him getting suspended for a year and occasionally hanging out with Pacman Jones) though I do worry about his focus on the field and his ability to transition quickly to a Pro Style offense after not running any real routes at Oklahoma State. He has the upside, but he’s also a risk. For a safer alternative, there are guys like Damian Williams, Golden Tate, Jeremy Williams, though Tate doesn’t have the size to be anything more than a #2 and Jeremy Williams has a history of nasty injuries. Williams is my top receiver (even though it seems ESPN has never even heard of him). He’ll probably be a 2^nd round pick, but he has future #1 option written all over him. Guys like Brandon LaFell and Eric Decker should be available in the 2^nd round as big possession receivers, though buyers should be aware of Decker’s history of injuries.

The tight end class adds depth to the receiver class this year. Jermaine Gresham is a lock first round pick, but Rob Gronkowski would have been a first rounder if he hadn’t gotten hurt and he looked healthy at his Pro Day. Dennis Pitta is the safe pick, with good reliable hands over the middle and underrated athletic ability, while Aaron Hernandez is a very one dimensional tight end. He can run and catch, that’s about it. He’s a horrible run blocker and lacks that elite height over the middle. There are very few tight ends in the NFL that can get away with that and because of that, I have doubts about Hernandez’s ability to do so, though his athletic abilities and history of production are intriguing. Ed Dickson should be a solid reliable tight end option in the 4^th round range for teams needing tight ends, but having other more important needs (St. Louis, Kansas City).

The offensive line has always been the hardest position for me to scout because, admittedly, there are times I am watching football and the offensive line pretty much just looks like a big moving blob of fat guys. However, I do have some differing opinions on offensive linemen from the “experts” out there. I love Charles Brown, his footwork and his natural abilities as a zone blocking scheme, and I have him as my 2^nd rated offensive tackle. I would definitely use a top 15 pick on him if I were a zone blocking team needing a tackle (Kansas City, Oakland, Seattle). Russell Okung is my top offensive tackle, just like everyone else. He should be a dominant, relative safe pick in the top 5 in the mold of Ryan Clady. Bruce Campbell grabbed everyone’s attention at the Combine with his measurables and though he has upside up to the moon, he’s a huge risk with his history of inconsistencies and injuries. Trent Williams flashed the athletic abilities at the Combine too, but I still think he’s a man without a position (too small to play right tackle, not a good enough pass blocker to play left tackle), though ESPN would never call him that. The upside is there though. Anthony Davis is plummeting down my board after showing up out of shape to the Combine and skipping his Pro Day (without telling anyone), bringing back memories of this team last year with Andre Smith (skipping the Combine without telling anyone, showing up out of shape to his Pro Day). I gave Andre Smith a 3^rd round grade last year and I still stand by that even though he was drafted 6^th overall (before getting hurt and missing most of last year). After those guys, and Bryan Bulaga, who should all go in the first, this offensive tackle class drops off like a cliff and we could see teams starved for offensive line help reach for guys like Jason Fox, Jared Veldheer, Roger Saffold, and Tony Washington in the 2^nd. The guard class is headlined by easily the most hyped guard in the last 10 years, Mike Iupati, though I am more conservative on him than most because I don’t think his tape quite matches his upside. Mike Johnson is a very solid guard in the 2^nd round range and would be a perfect fit for a zone blocking scheme. Vladimir Ducasse and John Jerry are big mauling guards who could be drafted in the 3^rd round. As for centers, I have not bought into the Maurkice Pouncey hype and I still have JD Walton (not a glamorous or exciting prospect, but a get the job done, reliable team leader at center) as my top center prospect.

Tomorrow I update defense

November- Offense (2010)

May (2010)