Nose Tackle

Mississippi

6-2 335

Draft board overall prospect rank: #50

Draft board nose tackle rank: #2

Overall rating: 78 (Mid 2nd) 

40 time: 5.27

2/16/11: Powe is an amazing football player, with good mobility as a 345 pound nose tackle, but has a history of academic problems. The most notable of his academic problems the fact that it took him three years after committing to Mississippi to be academically eligible to attend and thus play for the University because he did not complete his courses in high school.

But there also was an instance when the police came to his house after giving him a written notice about the noise that was being created from some parties he had been throwing. Powe told the police that the reason he did not follow the warning is because he cannot read, which was first interpreted as a joke to avoid trouble. However, his mother has also been quoted as saying “Jerrell really is a good child, but he just can’t read.” Either his mom is hilarious or he really can’t read, or at least couldn’t at the time. Opposing fans got a kick out of that and held signs that said things such as “Jerrell Powe, can you read this sign?”

However, he puts in the effort in the weight room, dropping 20-30 pounds of fat since joining the team and has also significantly reduced his body fat percentage. He’s a massive run stopper that projects as a starting nose tackle in the NFL, which could make him a 3^rd round prospect because of how rare true nose tackles are and how many teams have switched to the 3-4 and therefore need nose tackles.

All things equal, I would rather have a football player who struggles with academics than a football player who gets good grades, but doesn’t put in the effort on the field and in the weight room, because you don’t need to know how to do much school stuff in the NFL. As long as you can read the playbook which I assume, since he’s a college student, he can, he should be fine.

If not, than this might be the first player to score a negative score on the Wonderlic. Either way if he makes it as an NFL player, it would be quite an inspirational story because of how much he’s been through, a story so inspirational that they might make a movie out of it like they did with his former Ole Miss teammate, Michael Oher. That movie was titled “The Blindside.” If they make one about Jerrell Powe, it could be called “Jerrell Powe, can you read this movie title?”

NFL Comparison: Jamal Williams 

Wide Receiver

Troy

5-9 185

Draft board overall prospect rank: #131

Draft board overall wide receiver rank: #14

Overall rating: 61 (4th round)

40 time: 4.32

4/18/11: Jerrel Jernigan is a do it all speedster who has put up nice stats on the small school level over the past two years. He has 2791 receiving yards and 842 rushing yards in the past 3 years, though it’s worth noting his receiving yards dropped significantly from his junior year total of 1101 to his senior year total of 822. He also contributes in a big way on special teams with 2 years experience as a kick returner and one year of experience as a punt returner, with a TD of both as a senior.

His timed speed matches what you see on the tape with a 4.32 40 at his Pro Day after a surprisingly slow 4.47 at the Combine. He’s closer to 4.32 on tape so I’m going with that time. It’s worth noting that of his 822 receiving yards as a senior, 209 receiving yards came in one game and since that opponent was lowly Arkansas State, that’s not a great sign. Neither are performances of 27 yards against Louisiana-Monroe, 32 yards against Florida International, 40 yards against Bowling Green and 40 yards against Middle Tennessee.

Starting receiver prospects should dominate those types of teams and 4 bad performances against 4 weaker teams is a bad sign. I think he’s a slot guy at the next level. His height is also an issue at 5-9. He’s not a vertical threat or a red zone threat. It’s also worth noting that he was barely the leading receiver on his own team. Troy had 3859 passing/receiving yards as a team and Jernigan’s percentage of them, 21%, isn’t all that impressive.

In the end, Jernigan is going to go a lot higher than he should because he’s a workout wonder. He looks great in open field drills in workouts and times really well and NFL teams love speed, especially with the way guys like DeSean Jackson and Mike Wallace have set the league on fire in recent years. Jernigan is not on their level. He’s a solid slot receiver who can occasionally carry the ball and a strong special teamer. I don’t see a starting receiver in him; of course I said the same thing about Mike Wallace.

NFL Comparison: Antonio Brown

Safety

Boise State

5-10 212

Draft Board Overall Prospect Rank: #97

Draft Board Overall Safety Rank: #4

Rating: 68 (late 3rd-early 4th)

40 time : 4.55

2/28/11: Excellent job bulking up. Johnson is a strong safety at the next level so getting up to 212 from the 190s is very helpful, of course, provided he runs well.

2/20/11: In terms of pure football ability, Johnson is a 2^nd round prospect. He is a very instinctual football player against the run and holds his own against the pass. He’s not an elite athlete with a mid-late 4.5 40 at under 6 feet and under 200 pounds, but he knows how to play the game well. He’s got an elite mean streak and a non-stop motor. He’s always around the football, with 271 tackles in the last 3 years. He takes good routes to the ball and wraps up well most of the time, though occasionally his aggressive gets the best of him.

He’s not a ballhawk and doesn’t make a lot of plays on the ball in the air. He’s decent in coverage, but his deficiencies in coverage and lack of athleticism make him a strong safety and that’s where the problem lies. That’s why he’s not a 2^nd round prospect. He’s very small for a strong safety. Not only could he have issues with more physical running backs in the NFL, his body could break down really fast, a la another smaller strong safety, Bob Sanders. Even bigger safeties, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, have trouble staying healthy because they have to hit like a linebacker at the size of a cornerback.

He has similar issues to Mike Mayock’s favorite sleeper, Ahmad Black. Black, however, is significantly smaller, about 5-9 and 180 or 185 pounds. That’s an even bigger risk and I think Johnson is the better football player, on top of that. That’s why I have Black as a 5^th round grade, though guys like Mayock have a 2^nd round grade on him.

That being said, I’d still use a late day 2 early day 3 pick on Johnson. Even if his career might not be that long, he’s still got value in the short term. He’s ready to play and could probably start year one. He says he models his game after a healthy version of Bob Sanders and I see a lot of that in his game, though, I’m not ready to say he’ll be as good as the 2006 Defensive Player of the Year.

His 40 time will be really important because if it falls into the 4.6s or lower, he could slip. As a prospect, he reminds me a little bit of TJ Ward, who I wasn’t a huge fan of, but Ward, after making a surprise leap into the 2^nd round, was one of the better defensive rookies in the league this year. Johnson could have a similar immediate impact, even if he doesn’t get drafted in the 2^nd like Ward.

NFL Comparison: TJ Ward

4 years 20 million is a reasonable rate for a starting caliber right tackle in the NFL and Clary has started most of the games for the Chargers at right tackle these past few years. The only problem, he sucks. The Chargers had Brandyn Dombrowski and Steve Schilling ready to compete for the starting right tackle job. I have no idea why they decided to spend 20 million on this clown.

Grade: D

Simpson will miss 3 games with suspension for getting arrested for marijuana, but he was a solid #2 receiver in Cincinnati last year with 50 catches for 725 yards and 4 touchdowns. I mentioned this when I mocked Matt Kalil to the Vikings over Morris Claiborne. The Vikings priority of this year (since they aren’t going to win a lot of games no matter what) should be to figure out if they have a keeper or not in Christian Ponder at quarterback.

You simply can’t fairly evaluate Ponder with the lack of offensive supporting cast he had last year. Simpson gives him another weapon and more importantly a veteran weapon because young receivers tend to struggle out of the gate (AJ Green and Julio Jones aside). They’ll only have him for 13 games, but they aren’t paying him much at all (2 million over a year) so this was a worthwhile investment.

Grade: A

Jermon Bushrod is not an elite left tackle or anything, but he’s solid at his position and guys like that don’t grow on trees. I have no idea how the Saints were able to resign this guy for 9.8 million over 2 years.

Grade: A

Jermichael Finley is a frustrating player. He was very good in the 2^nd half of 2009 once he was given the chance to start and he was off to a good start in 2010 before getting hurt. He came back this season and was off to a great start, but ended up with a solid, but disappointing 55 catches for 767 yards and 8 touchdowns. Meanwhile, his 12 drops led all tight ends and really hurt the Packers down the stretch. He’s not even 25 yet (25 in March), so the upside is still there, so I really like that the Packers didn’t commit a lot to him. This is a mere 2 year deal, 15 million dollar deal.

Grade: A 

Tight End 

Oklahoma

6-5 259

40 time: 4.76

Draft board overall prospect rank: #21

Draft board tight end rank: #1

Overall rating: 86*

2/27/10: After his 4.76 40, questions about the health of his knee have resurfaced. That’s the last thing Gresham wants to happen at this point. 4.76 isn’t awful, but he was expected to run at least .1 to .15 seconds faster so this is a bit concerning.

1/18/10: Despite being injured all season, he’s still an elite tight end at the next level. Assuming his knee holds up strong through the combine and in team workouts, he’s a lock to be the first tight end off the board and a first round pick. He’s big, 6-6 260, and fast mid 4.6 40, and has amazingly soft hands. He’s not afraid to go over the middle and he’d be a welcome target for any quarterback in the league. He put together one of the greatest statistical seasons ever by a tight end in 2008 with 66 catches for 950 yards and 14 touchdowns and would have been the first tight end off the board in 2008 had he declared.

Injury update (9/14/09): Gresham is out for the year after having knee surgery. He’ll have to prove a lot in the combine, in his pro day, and during his individual workouts, but I fully expect him to be the first tight end off the board in 2010.  

            5/21/09: Jermaine Gresham is probably the highest rated tight end prospect to come out of college football since Kellen Winslow and he has a good chance to be an even better pro than Winslow. Like many tight ends, Gresham started out as a basketball player, but after displaying unusually soft hands for someone of his size, his high school coach thought he would stand out more on the football field, as he did. At 6-6, he’s an amazing red zone target. He isn’t going to run a 40 in the 4.4s like Vernon Davis. He isn’t as good of a run blocker as Brandon Pettigrew. However, he has an amazing combination of great size, speed, and great hands. He rarely drops a pass. He is not even 21 yet so he has a ton of upside and room for improvement. He’s only been playing football for 6 years, but he is just a naturally gifted athlete with a love of the game and a great work ethic and those type of players normally succeed at the next level. He doesn’t have great speed, but he should run in the 4.6s and that will be able to cause some matchup problems in the NFL, though not too many. He’ll be more of a threat in the red zone with his 6-6 height, great vertical leap, and long arms. He has experience both playing on teams surrounded with talented wide receivers, as he did at Oklahoma, and also he played against some of the nation’s best defenses in the Big 12, so the NFL should be as much of a transition for him as it would for some other tight end. He needs to get stronger and become a better run blocker before you can truly call him an all around great tight end. However, I have no reason to believe that he can’t do that with a few years more experience.

 NFL Comparison: Jeremy Shockey

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