Middle Linebacker 

Florida

6-3 253

40 time: 5.03

Draft board overall prospect rank: #100

Draft board middle linebacker rank: #8

Overall rating: 70*

3/18/10: He had looked slow this year in games, but I was waiting to see him run a 40 before I called him slow because he has run 4.6s in the past. I thought the projected 4.75 was outrageous. Turns out it was, outrageously low that is. Spikes ran a 5.03 at Florida’s Pro Day. He was regarded as slow and complacent before his Pro Day and he certainly did nothing but back either of those things up. He’s now solely a 3-4 middle linebacker and could slip out of the 2^nd day all together. No one wants a middle linebacker that slow and complacent. He has upside, but he no longer appears to care.

1/23/10: Spikes could slip out of the first round because of his position. He may have made a mistake by returning to school this year. Not only did his tackles total drop for the 2^nd straight year, from 131 to 87 to 52, he was also exposed in coverage a lot, though he did have two picks, and he had some injuries issues, as well as one character red flag when he tried to poke out the eye of an exposing player through his facemask. He may just be a 2 down run stopping middle linebacker at the next level unless he can improve in coverage.

6/23/09: Brandon Spikes is the most decorated college linebacker this season because of his role in the Florida Gators’ 2008 “National Championship”. He’s 245 pounds, up 15 from the beginning of last season, which means he might have room still to grow. He hits like a ton of bricks and is extremely aggressive in bringing down the ball carrier. Sometimes, he’s too aggressive and will miss tackles or forget to wrap up, but that very rarely happens. There really isn’t one thing he’s bad at that’s his biggest strength. As a linebacker, he is amazing is pass coverage and has great hands. He picked off 4 passes last year, looking like a cornerback in the process, and then returned 2 for touchdowns in kick returner esque fashion. He could probably play running back, but not well enough to do it on a professional level, so he’ll obviously stay on the defensive side of the ball. He’s a very smart player who can do whatever you ask of him. He was used on blitzes occasionally last year and did very well in pass rushing for a middle linebacker. He doesn’t have great speed and he’s certainly not a sideline-to-sideline type middle linebacker, but he’ll still going to run a mid 4.6s 40 which isn’t bad. However, because of his speed, he’s likely going to only be able to play middle linebacker in the 4-3, though his skills set might indicate that he is someone who can play more than one position. He’s about 10 pounds too small to play 3-4 middle linebacker, not a good enough pass rusher to play 3-4 outside linebacker, and not fast enough to play 4-3 outside linebacker. His motor isn’t great and he’s not one of those players that you can say never takes a play off, but he’s certainly not lazy. He’s just an all-around solid middle linebacker, who has a great knack for the game and should have a solid NFL career. 

NFL Comparison: Andra Davis

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here