Quarterback/Running Back

West Virginia

6-3 224

40 time: 4.54

Draft board overall prospect rank: #142

Draft board quarterback rank: #10

Overall Rating: 61*

2/28/10: 40 times don’t matter a ton to quarterbacks, but a 4.54 will get you noticed, especially when you’re someone who may have to play another position at the NFL level. He’s a project, but he has upside at multiple positions including quarterback and running back. 

            As a mobile West Virginia quarterback, Jarrett Brown is going to draw a lot of comparisons to Pat White, former Mountaineer now of the Miami Dolphins after being drafted by them in the 2^nd round in 2009. However, besides being mobile and playing for the Mountaineers, they have very little in common. Brown has a more prototypical running back’s body and could probably make a Michael Robinson type switch to the position if necessary. Brown is also a better athlete, though White has better straight line speed and agility in the open field. Brown has the better arm, but he’s also a lot more raw of a thrower. We saw it in the Senior Bowl. He made some great throws and flashed a strong arm, but he also flashed many mental errors and a very raw grasp of the quarterback position. He has a higher upside than White, but he’s going to be a huge project. His stats in his one year as a starter at West Virginia, after taking over for White, were extremely pedestrian, especially in comparison to the Heisman candidate he took over for. He completed 63.2% of his passes and averaged just 7.2 YPA while throwing 9 picks to 11 touchdowns. The physical skills are there, sturdy frame, good agility, good speed, powerful arm, for him to be a future impact player at a number of positions including quarterback and running back and maybe kick returner, but right now, he’s nothing but a high project that could be a huge headache for offensive coordinators in the NFL. Very raw, very unproven, doesn’t have the position quite figured out between the ears, but the potential is there. He’s going to find it hard to get drafted on day 2 (rounds 2-3) and will probably slip to either the 4^th or 5^th round and, as is the case with any mid round prospect quarterback, there’s always the possibility that he just keeps slipping down to the 6^th or 7^th or even out of the draft because in the late rounds, its all a matter of taste because of how many potential mid round quarterbacks prospects there are, so while I believe he’s a 5^th round prospect and I’m giving him a 5^th round grade, I would not be completely surprised to see him go in the 6^th or 7^th or not at all.

NFL Comparison: Tarvaris Jackson

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

Johnson won’t help the Chargers much with their pass rush, but he will help their defense as a two down run stuffing linebacker and compliment to situational pass rusher and team leader in sacks Antawn Barnes. The Chargers will hope that Shaun Phillips can have a bounce back season in 2012 and will probably still use a 2^nd to 4^th rounder on a pass rusher as depth and competition just in case.

As a run stuffer, Johnson is a great player. He has experience in both a 3-4 and a 4-3 and fits in the Chargers’ 3-4. Among 4-3 outside linebacker last year, Johnson ranked 2^nd against the run and 5^th overall according to ProFootballFocus. He’s 31 in August, but this is a reasonable contract (4 years, 19 million) with not a lot of guaranteed money (7 million).

Grade: A

Offensive Tackle

Hillsdale

6-8 312

40 time: 5.09

Draft board overall prospect rank: #109

Draft board offensive tackle rank: #12

Overall rating: 68*

                4/13/10: Jared Veldheer is a big man from a small school. His athletic prowess as a 6-8 312 pounder with 5.09 speed gets NFL scouts excited about his upside. Guys like Jonathan Ogden and Jared Gaither have done extremely well in the NFL and their size, 6-9, has a lot to do with that success. Veldheer could be next in that line. He showed very good dominance and consistency, as well as durability on the Division II level, but the level of competition is obviously an issue. He started all 46 games of his college career and was dominant from the start. He was, most likely, the most dominant offensive lineman on his level and his size and physical prowess. He looked great at The Combine in the positional drills and in the measurables. He looked extremely nimble for his size. The only issue with his Combine was his 33 inch arms which are often a sign of maxed frame. He might not be able to get to the 340-350 that Gaither and Ogden were in the NFL and that could hurt him. Long arms also are useful in pass protection, but, again, Veldheer was beyond dominant as a pass protector in college (statistically). He struggled a bit with run blocking, but he’s a big athletic left tackle and given the lack of those type of players in this draft class, he probably is going to go in the 2^nd round.

NFL Comparison: Sebastian Vollmer

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

Defensive tackle/3-4 defensive end 

Penn State

6-5 304

40 time: 4.98

Overall prospect rank: #23

Overall defensive tackle rank: #4

Overall rating: 85*

1/27/10: After Suh and McCoy go off the board early, Odrick makes a great case to be the next 3-4 defensive end chosen by displaying great agility, size, and hand use this week. He could also push Brian Price to be the 3^rd defensive tackle chosen as well. 

1/20/10: Very good agility for his size and good use of his hands to shed blockers, but a DUI back in March of 2009 could hurt his stock. He fits one gap penetrating schemes and also as a 3-4 defensive end. I think he actually would be better at the next level as a 3-4 defensive end which is good because a ton of teams have switched to the 3-4 lately creating a bigger need for natural 3-4 defensive ends like Odrick.

            10/17/09: Jared Odrick moves extremely well for someone of his size and gets after the quarterback with a great motor and great tenacity. He has 4 sacks already in this young season through only 5 games. His agility and his motor make him a perfect fit for 3-4 defensive end because he both has size and the ability to get off the edge and create pressure on the quarterback. He can play some 4-3 under tackle as a one gap penetrator. He doesn’t have elite size and could be stronger against the run, but when paired with a bigger guy in the middle, he can create a lot of pressure and havoc in the backfield, both tackling running backs for a loss and getting after the quarterback. Does not have the strongest initial burst and does not always play with the correct leverage. He won’t fit in all schemes. He’ll fit most 3-4 schemes, but not most 4-3 schemes because he is a liability against the run for his position. However, he will have an extremely important role in the NFL as a 3-4 defensive end, as more teams are switching to the 3-4, and as a one gap penetrator in certain schemes such as zone schemes and cover 2 schemes. 

NFL Comparison: Tony Brown

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

Gaither has potentially career threatening back injuries that scared the Ravens off from resigning him and the Bills and Raiders from signing him, both of whom look close looks at him before saying no thank you. However, this is a veteran’s minimum deal and the Chiefs desperately need upgrades at both tackle positions. It wasn’t long ago that Gaither was a stud left tackle in this league. In fact, it was 2010.

Grade: A

I love this deal for the Chargers. If Gaither can stay healthy, he provides them the franchise left tackle they would otherwise lack and those don’t grow on trees. Not only that, he provides them a franchise left tackle for cheap, about 6 million per year (4 years, 24.6 million). And if he doesn’t stay healthy, it’s not a huge deal because only 8 million is guaranteed.

Grade: A

Brown might just be a right tackle, but he played very well down the stretch last year in his first year back from major hip surgery and he’s a former left tackle, so if he continues to improve back from that injury, he could easily be one of the top right tackles in the league or move over to left if Trent Williams doesn’t pan out. Jammal Brown’s deal (5 years 27.5 million) is right in line with that Tyson Clabo got from Atlanta (5 years 27 million) and what the Chargers overpaid Jeromey Clary (4 years 20 million) so I’d say it’s fair.

The Redskins have been spending a lot of money this offseason (what else is new), but they’ve been making some smart signings. Brown, Santana Moss, Barry Cofield, Josh Wilson, Chris Chester, OJ Atogwe, and Stephen Bowen will all probably start for this team next year. That’s a nice haul and very few of them were overpaid. However, their quarterback is still John Beck so they’re not going very far or anything this season.

Grade: A

Running Back 

Buffalo

6-2 213

40 time (projected): 4.56

Draft board overall prospect rank: N/A

Draft board running back rank: #15

Overall rating: 59*

College career highlights:

Second Team All-MAC (2006,2007)

First-team All-MAC (2008)

Honorable Mention All-American (Sports Illustrated) (2008)

Injury report (9/14/09): Starks will miss the season with a shoulder injury, which hurts because he was a mid round prospect at best before the injury. I hope he gets drafted though because he’ll make a nice 3rd down back in the NFL.

            8/6/09: James Starks isn’t going to be an every down back in the NFL, but he’s an excellent pass catcher for someone of his size, catching 52 passes for 366 yards last season at 213 pounds. He fits in the NFL as a nice pass catching third down back and with more teams going to running back by committee, this guy has a place in the league. He runs powerfully and gets a powerful first burst, but lacks that breakaway speed. He isn’t going to run a very good 40 for his size at the combine which will hurt him. If he puts on 10-15 more pounds, he can be a goal line back in addition to a 3^rd down back. He changes direction well and has good quickness and elusiveness, but lacks good straight line speed and is nowhere near a homerun hitter. He had good production last year, but did it against lesser competition than most prospects. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep up his production without Drew Willy at quarterback. You’re in trouble if you’re an NFL team using this guy as your feature back, because that’s just not who he is, but he has a place in the league and a value in the mid rounds. I doubt many teams will use more than a 5^th or 6^th round pick on him, but he’s worth a 4^th. 

NFL Comparison: Tim Hightower

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

James Jones allows them to keep their Super Bowl winning receiving corps intact, plus rookie Randall Cobb coming in. Aaron Rodgers must be thrilled. They got him on a fairly reasonable deal as well, 3 years 9.4 million.

Grade: A

With all the injuries the Panthers had at linebacker last year, Anderson was forced into a larger role. He responded with 130 tackles, 101 of which were solo tackles. And yet the Panthers were able to resign him for 7 million over 5 years less than the 29 million over 5 the Buccaneers gave Quincy Black. This is a great, cost effective move for the Carolina Panthers.

Grade: A