13. DT Nick Fairley A-

Lions GM Martin Mayhew probably jizzed in his pants when he saw he had the choice between Fairley, Robert Quinn, and Prince Amukamara. I think Quinn and Amukamara filled bigger needs, but if Fairley was tops on their board, which he obviously was, I can’t fault them too much. Adding Fairley with Ndamukong Suh at defensive tackle, with Sammie Lee Hill and Corey Williams as depth guys, and Kyle Vanden Bosch and Cliff Avril at the ends, gives them one of the best defensive lines in the league. Somewhere Jay Cutler has preemptively sprained his knee.

44. WR Titus Young A-

Again, value over need getting a late first round value in Titus Young in the mid 2^nd round. It’s not like they didn’t need someone like Young, a dynamic slot receiver who can provide depth and contribute on special teams, but they needed a left tackle, cornerback, or a safety more than anything here.

57. RB Mikel Leshoure A

Again, value over need getting a late first round value in Mikel Leshoure in the late 2^nd round. I think Leshoure is a better value at 57 than Young was at 44 and he also fills a bigger need as Jahvid Best can’t carry the load. They’ve had to rely on Maurice Morris down the stretch as their feature back for two straight years. That’s bad. Nothing wrong with this pick at all.

157. OLB Doug Hogue B

Hogue was actually a reach at this point by my board, but they are filling a need and there’s no doubt he was best available on their board. That’s just how they operate and how they have operated in the last 3 years since their new regime took office.

209. OT Johnny Culbreath B+

Another reach by my board, but they desperately need a left tackle. Jeff Backus might be decent now, but he’s in a contract year and he’ll be 34 at the end of next season. They have Jason Fox and Corey Hilliard in the mix, both of whom they do like. Culbreath gives them another potential future left tackle in the mix. He wasn’t in my top 300, however, so he is a minor reach, but it’s the 7^th round and it fills a major need so I’ll let it slide.

Overall:

Their biggest holes going into this draft (in no particular order) were cornerback, safety, outside linebacker, and offensive tackle. They didn’t draft a linebacker until the 5^th round or a tackle until the 7^th round and they didn’t draft a single defensive back, but considering they only had 5 picks and they got excellent values with their first 3 picks, who also do fill somewhat of a need, this was still a very, very good draft. Fairley gives them another dynamic defensive lineman. Leshoure and Titus Young give them two more explosive offensive playmakers. If Matt Stafford can stay healthy next year, this could easily be a playoff team.

Grade: A-

 

 

Maybe last offseason DeSean Jackson was worth this amount, 5 years, 51 million with 15 million guaranteed, but even then it was a stretch. In 2010, he had 47 catches for 1056 yards and 6 touchdowns. Last season he had 58 catches for 961 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also butted heads with the coaching staff at times and gave 75% in protest of not being given a long term deal.

Maybe this long term deal will motivate him to become the player he once was now that he’s secure in Philadelphia, but he’s a very moody player. If he’s willing to give less than 100% for one reason, why wouldn’t he give it now that he has 15 million guaranteed? This is a risky deal and an unnecessary risk. They would have been much better off trading him or making him prove it another year under the franchise tag, which he seemed fine with and willing to sign.

Grade: C

 

 

Defensive End 

Georgia

6-3 266

40 time: 4.72

Draft board overall prospect rank: #8

Draft board defensive end rank: #1

Overall rating: 91*

1/21/10: Great combination of size and speed, and more important an excellent motor and initial explosiveness. He had 12 sacks this year and was also strong against the run at 275 pounds. The only thing stopping him from being a top ten pick lock is the fact that he won’t transition well to a 3-4 scheme, though I wouldn’t be surprised if a team tried to convert him to a 3-4 rush linebacker, though that’d be a mistake. He still has a good shot of going in the top ten and I think he has top ten talent at a possession of huge value in the NFL. 

                11/18/09: Derrick Morgan is my top pass rusher in a weak pass rushing class. He has a great combination of size, physicality, and agility, quickness, and speed. He has a good pass rushing arsenal as well and has 12 sacks this season, improving on last year’s decent total. He gets into the backfield a lot and wreaks havoc with his combination of size and speed. He has average straight line speed, but is a crafty pass rusher and that makes up for that. He has good size against the run and isn’t blocked back easily. He has size to play on the left side and also the agility and mobility to play on the right side against left tackles. He has an excellent motor and has still a lot of upside as a 20 year old junior. He has good leverage and a good initial burst off the line which helps in both pass rushing and run blocking. He plays controlled and does not overpursue. He uses his hands well and has good extension on his arms to push off of offensive linemen to force holds or double teams. He doesn’t disengage from blocks that well and once a good, strong offensive lineman locks onto him, he doesn’t break away easily and he doesn’t have a great second burst or recovery after being knocked down. He is sluggish in coverage and doesn’t fit a 3-4 scheme as a rush linebacker for that reason and also because he is not fast enough. Rush linebackers are normally speed rushers, while Morgan is more well rounded as a pass rusher. He is as close to a first round lock as any defensive end and could be the first defensive end off the board, which may mean he’s a top ten pick when it’s all said and done because of the need for pass rushers in the NFL.

NFL Comparison: Justin Tuck

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

Mason has 8 seasons of 70 or more catches and 1000 or more yards in his last 9 seasons, despite spending all of this time with the Titans and the Ravens, two of the most notoriously run heavy conservative offenses in the league. He caught 103 passes in 2007 with a pile of crap at quarterback and he has caught 153 yards over the last 2 years, despite being 34 and 35 years old, and playing with a rookie quarterback. The Ravens have added two receivers, Anquan Boldin and Donte Stallworth to the mix this offseason, but there is nothing like bringing back a proven thing, who has good proven chemistry with your franchise quarterback. No one should be happier about this move than Joe Flacco and if your young franchise quarterback is happy, you, as a team should be happy. Flacco now has Boldin, Mason, and Ray Rice, all of whom caught more than 70 passes last year, and Stallworth, who has upside if he can bounce back from a season in which he was suspended. Oh, and they are only playing Mason 8 million over 2 years, another brilliant value move for this franchise.

Grade: A

Mason’s reception totals have dropped in each of the past 4 seasons, from 103 to 80 to 73 to 61 last year and he’s 38 in January so I don’t think he has a ton left, but at the same time, this was never a guy who relied on speed and athleticism even in his prime. He’s a crafty veteran who did catch 61 passes last year and the Jets are getting him at the veteran’s minimum to be their slot receiver, so this is a nice, cheap signing.

Grade: A

 

Running Back

Kentucky

5-8 188

Draft Board Overall Prospect Rank: #94

Draft Board Overall Running Back Rank: #9

Rating: 69 (Late 3rd)

40 time: 4.46

2/19/11: At 186 pounds, Derrick Locke is not going to be an every down runner in the NFL. However, I think he can hold up as a 3^rd down back, a la Darren Sproles. Locke was one of the most explosive runners on the college level last year. It didn’t take a lot to bring him down, but with his initial burst and good leverage and elite shiftiness, he’s also tough to find. His 40 time is going to be one of the fastest, but if you look at his first 5 or 10 yards, he might be the fastest player at the Combine. His initial burst is that good.

He also catches passes well, with 88 catches in his last 3 seasons, and anytime you put the ball in his hands, he’s a threat to go the distance. He also returned kickoffs for Kentucky, returned 2 to the house in 3 seasons and putting up a solid average in the process. His high at Kentucky in carries is 195 and I doubt he ever breaks that in the pros, but he’s certainly got late 3^rd round value as a luxury pick and a cool weapon. With so many RBBCs in the league right now, Locke has a place in the league.

NFL Comparison: Darren Sproles

 

 

Bio:

Derek has been blogging about the Baltimore Ravens (as well as the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles) on his personal website, B’More Birds’ Nest, since 2007.  Since then, his work has been featured on other sites such as Bleacher Report, Baltimore’s WNST Sports Talk 1570, the Baltimore Sun’s Charm City Current, Yardbarker, and others.  He blogs under the name “NestMinder” on B’More Birds’ Nest, which received a full write up in a Baltimore Sun article about Ravens bloggers during the 2008 NFL Playoffs.  Derek was only a year old when the Colts left town, so grew up as a fan of the NFL but of no team in particular.  He then had no reservations about jumping in with both feet when the Ravens arrived in 1996, and has been a huge fan ever since.  Derek’s favorite sports memory to date is Super Bowl XXXV, and when he isn’t blogging you can probably find him enjoying a fine craft beer or playing with his two dogs.

Feel free to contact Derek any of the following ways:

Website: www.bmorebirdsnest.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/BMoreBirdsNestcom/137196162972064

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E-mail: nestminder@bmorebirdsnest.com

 

I don’t know how much this deal is for, but if the Panthers plan to start him week 1 like John Clayton suggested they could, they’re just stupid. I understand letting Newton sit behind a veteran presence is a good idea, but what the hell is Newton going to learn from Anderson. How to overthrow everyone? How to blow up in a post game press conference? How to take this shit seriously? How to win a game despite completing 2 passes?

If the Panthers were smart, they’d let Jimmy Clausen start a few more games in hopes of potentially boosting his trade value. Newton doesn’t necessarily need to sit behind an accomplished veteran (if you can even call Anderson that). He just needs to sit for a little bit, get a complete grasp of the offense, especially after a lockout shortened offseason, so he doesn’t go out there and start building bad habits.

Grade: F 

 

 

Debate the Denver Broncos’ Offseason Possibilities in The Football Fan Forum

2010 Preview:

I don’t like Denver this year and I’ll tell you why. I know what you’re thinking, didn’t you predict they’d be bad last year and then they proved you wrong and even when they were playing well to begin the year, you still didn’t think it was a good team? Most of that is true, except they didn’t prove me wrong and they didn’t play well to begin the year.

They started out 6-0, one of those wins was on a freak catch that bounced off a defender, a catch that I’m willing to bet Brandon Stokley couldn’t make again in a game 95 times out of 100. Another was in overtime, a win that, if the coin had flipped the other way to start the overtime, they could have easily lost. The Broncos won on a long field goal after winning the coin flip, while Tom Brady had to sit on the sideline and watch. They also beat Dallas by a field goal, which is kind of an impressive win, but considering the Cowboys weren’t playing well at the time, and it was only a field goal, I don’t think it’s as impressive as it sounds when people say they beat the division winning Cowboys. They beat Cleveland and Oakland, two teams that ended 5-11. Their most impressive win was against San Diego and when I say San Diego, I mean a 2-2 Chargers team that struggled out of the gate, not the 13-3 one that ended the season very strongly and destroyed Denver in a rematch.

Now, of course, if they had continued to play well after that, then I would have seen them as legitimate. But the fact that they went 2-8 after their 6-0 start really shows that they weren’t as good as their record showed to start the year and adds a lot of life to the word “fluke” I used to describe some of their early wins. They could have easily been 4-2 or 3-3 to start the year last year, if a coin had flipped the other way or Stokley hadn’t made that catch or they had caught Dallas or San Diego at their best.

This year, I actually think they’ll be worse. Brandon Marshall was their top deep threat last year. Without him, this is a short throw offense only. We saw them try to be a short throw offense only, without Marshall week 17 last year, and they got destroyed by the lowly Chiefs. They picked off Orton three times on short throws, because the Broncos were becoming extremely predictable. Two of those picks were returned for scores, fueling a 44-24 Chiefs win.

Another thing with the short throw offense, it limits your running game because the defense can come out in an eight man box and still effectively guard the pass. Kyle Orton is simply not as good of a quarterback as Marshall made him look last year and his receiving corps is not going to help him out this year much. His top 4 receivers are two rookies, a player in Eddie Royal who struggled mightily last year, and a journeyman in Jabar Gaffney. His tight end is an undrafted 2^nd year player out of Central Arkansas. They won’t help him as much as he needs. Also, remember Ryan Clady’s injury. That hurts Kyle Orton a lot as well. Unless Brady Quinn or Tim Tebow win the job and become a top 15 quarterback, this is not a good offensive bunch, and I can’t see Tebow doing that this year or Quinn doing that ever.

Defensively, they’re improved this year, but the loss of Mike Nolan as defensive coordinator hurts. Their age in the secondary hurts as well as they are projected to start 4 defensive backs over the age of 30 again. We saw last year how those guys tired out late in the season. That could happen this year, only worse. Justin Bannan and Jarvis Green are solid players and decent signings but shouldn’t be anything more than strong backups on a playoff team (which is were they were just that last year). Jamal Williams is also a solid player, but he’s getting up there in age. Their front 3 will be better this year, but still not as good as they need it to be. The loss of Andra Davis at middle linebacker also hurts their front 7 and I don’t think Elvis Dumervil can quite repeat what he did last year.

Overall, their offense is not going to be good and their defense is not going to be anywhere near good enough to make up for their offense’s shortcomings. Broncos fans can hate me all they want (and they do, trust me), but I am not a believer in this team this year.

Projection: 4-12 4th in AFC West

Power Ranking: 29 

Last season: 8-8 

Draft:

#22 WR Demaryius Thomas (Georgia Tech)

Thomas fills a need, but he’s not a very good player. He doesn’t run routes and he has shaky hands. He also is going to struggle to gain seperation at the next level and he is coming off of a foot injury. He was decently productive last year, but Danario Alexander was way more productive in a very similar offense (screen/short pass heavy) to Thomas and Alexander didn’t even get drafted. Neither of those guys have had experience running NFL caliber routes. I’m not saying they should have drafted Alexander here, but it’s pretty bad when you use a 1^st round pick on a guy who, by all indications, is, at the very least, not much better than a guy who wasn’t drafted.

Grade: D

#25 QB Tim Tebow (Florida)

This is an interesting pick. I love Tebow and I think he can be a solid quarterback in the NFL. I think Tebow has to be very pleased with going to the Broncos. He won’t have to contribute right away. Josh McDaniels, as moronic of a drafter as he is, is good with quarterbacks. Tebow also fits the shotgun style offense the Broncos run. However, I can’t give them a great grade considering they traded up, losing a ton of value according to the NFL Draft Trade Value Chart in the process, to take Tebow over Jimmy Clausen. Plus, I can’t say quarterback was a huge need for the Broncos considering they already have Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn on the roster and their run defense is still horrible.

Grade: B+

#45 OT Zane Beadles (Utah)

Beadles is a pretty big reach here and I can’t say he fills a huge need. Beadles can play some guard, but guard isn’t a big need for them either, especially not here. You can find solid guards in the 4th or 5th round, if the Broncos wanted some depth behind Hochstein and Kuper.

Grade: D

#80 C JD Walton (Baylor)

Walton is the top center in this draft class in my mind and a decent value in the 3^rd round and he does fill a need, but the Broncos still have not addressed the front 7, which was horrible last year. They got some solid front 7 players in free agency, but Jamal Williams is getting up there in age and both Jarvis Green and Justin Bannan shouldn’t be anything more than solid backups on good teams (that’s why they both were last year). Walton doesn’t have the positional value you’d like out of this pick considering how much help the Broncos need on the defensive line.

Grade: B

#87 WR Eric Decker (Minnesota)

I would have liked to have seen them take a front 7 player here, but after they traded Brandon Marshall, wide receiver became their biggest need and taking Thomas in the first doesn’t fill that need completely. Decker is a better receiver than Thomas in my mind and a great value in the 3^rd round and if Thomas somehow pans out, extremely doubtful, Decker can be a solid #2.

Grade: A

#137 CB Perrish Cox (Oklahoma State)

Cox is a great value as a late 3^rd round prospect in the 5^th, but cornerback was the one defensive position they didn’t need to address. They have two solid starters in Champ Bailey and Andre Goodman and they traded this year’s first round pick for Alphonso Smith last year. What are they going to do about the front 7? They couldn’t stop anyone on the ground last year, especially late.

Grade: C

#183 C Eric Olsen (Notre Dame)

Huh? Josh McDaniels really hates positional value doesn’t he. Olsen is a solid value, but this is the 2^nd center this have taken in this draft. I know it was a need, but two? Considering how low of a value the center position is and how much they need young talent in the front 7, this was pretty stupid.

Grade: F

#225 CB Syd’Quan Thompson (California)

Still not a front 7 player, but Thompson is a huge steal here and can play the role of nickelback in the future for this team, assuming one of Perrish Cox and Alphonso Smith don’t pan out.

Grade: B+

#232 RLB Jammie Kirlew (Indiana)

Finally a front 7 player, but rush linebacker was their least needed position of their front 7 needs. Also, Kirlew should not have been drafted because I don’t think he’s very good, and he doesn’t fit their 3-4 scheme at all. He’s basically a really, really, really poor man’s version of Robert Ayers.

Grade: D

Overall:

When Josh McDaniels took over this team, they were coming off of a season in which they were awful against the run. Since then, he has drafted two front 7 players, both of which are rush linebackers, and both of which don’t fit the scheme. This year, he made a huge reach in the 2^nd round, drafted 2 centers, took a player who isn’t first round caliber at all in the first, and took two more cornerbacks. Tebow makes some sense and could be their quarterback of the future and Decker was a solid value in the 3^rd round, but other than that, there wasn’t a lot to like. Overall, this team isn’t much better, if any better from this draft and considering they came in with two 2^nd rounders, that’s pretty bad.

Grade: D

Key undrafted free agents

OT Chris Marinelli (Stanford)

RB Toney Baker (NC State)

TE Nathan Overbay (Eastern Washington)

RB Chris Brown (Oklahoma)

S Kyle McCarthy (Notre Dame)

TE Riar Greer (Colorado)

WR Alric Arnett (West Virginia)

Positions of need: 

Nose Tackle:

They played Ronald Fields, a 311 pound former backup 3-4 defensive end as their primary nose tackle this year. The only reason they were better this season against the run is because, well, it was hard to be worse than they were in 2008 and/or Mike Nolan is a defensive genius. However, better doesn’t necessarily mean good. They were still really bad against the run, especially late in the season. A real nose tackle could fix that.

Signed Jamal Williams 

Middle Linebacker:

Their top middle linebacker this year was Andra Davis, a former Browns castoff, and somehow, he had a good year. I’m guessing Mike Nolan had something to do with that and now Nolan is in Miami. Davis is also 30 and had one year left on his contract so they’ll need a longterm replacement next to DJ Williams in the middle otherwise they will suck again against the run. Rolando McClain is going to be very tempting at 11.

Signed Akin Ayodele, Traded for Joe Mays

3-4 Defensive End:

I may not have mentioned this before, but the Broncos sucked against the run late last season, well, really for more of the last few years. Even if, by some miracle, Robert Ayers bulks up enough to play the position longterm in the future, they would still need one more end.

Signed Jarvis Green, Justin Bannan 

Rush Linebacker:

In case you could not tell, I was not a fan of the Broncos front 7 last year as shown by the fact that I listed every single 3-4 front 7 position as a need. Rush Linebacker will become even more of a need if Elvis Dumervil follows Mike Nolan to Miami. He had 17 of their 39 sacks last year. Even if Dumervil stays, they need to get someone opposite him. If it weren’t for Josh McDaniels stupidly hating Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler, I would just tell the Broncos to go with the best available 3-4 front 7 player for the first 4-5 rounds. If it weren’t for Josh McDaniels being an inept drafter, he might actually do that. Most likely he’ll just draft 17 defensive backs.

Wide Receiver:

As bad as their defense is, if they stupidly trade Brandon Marshall, this becomes need #1. In the one game they tried to play without Brandon Marshall, they got destroyed by the Chiefs because all Kyle Orton could do was attempt short throws to receivers who couldn’t do anything after the catch. Why do you think Brandon Marshall caught 22 passes in one game and the team still lost? They have nothing after him at receiver. If they let Marshall go and don’t replace him, their entire offense will look like it did week 17 last year for the entirety of the 2010 season. Dez Bryant has to be their pick at 11 if Marshall is traded. Hopefully McDaniels would get at least a 1^st rounder in return for Marshall if he did trade him because then they could use that on defense.

Drafted Demaryius Thomas (#22), Drafted Eric Decker (#87) 

Offensive Guard:

The top 4 guys on their depth chart at guard are all free agents. Hopefully they resign one and get another through free agency, but they may be forced to take one late in the draft. Guard doesn’t have a huge positional value which means McDaniels could target one in the first 3 rounds.

Tight End:

Tony Scheffler is also on Josh McDaniels’ naughty list for whatever reason and I doubt he’ll be brought back as a restricted free agent this offseason. Robert Quinn, their 2^nd round pick in 2009, had a grand total of 0 catches this year. I know he was drafted as a blocker, but still, they could have drafted him as a blocker in the 7^th round. Anyway, with both Quinn and Daniel Graham being blockers, they’ll need a pass catching tight end, maybe a guy like Garrett Graham in the 5^th round. Or maybe they’ll just take another blocker like Colin Peek.

Quarterback:

Kyle Orton is a restricted free agent this offseason which means Josh McDaniels could have to part with his neck bearded lover. No worries, McDaniels can just draft Colt McCoy in the 3^rd. Colt McCoy can do all of the things Kyle Orton can do. He can throw 5-10 yard passes out of shotgun, he can, wait, whoops, that’s it. He can even grow a neck beard too.

Traded for Brady Quinn, Drafted Tim Tebow (#25) 

 

Free agents:

QB Kyle Orton (restricted)- resigned 1 year

QB Chris Simms- signed with Titans

QB Tom Brandstater 

RB LaMont Jordan 

RB Chris Brown 

RB Kolby Smith 

WR Brandon Marshall (restricted)- traded to Dolphins

TE Tony Scheffler (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.1 million

OT Maurice Williams 

G Ben Hamilton- signed with Seahawks 1 year

G Russ Hochstein

G Chris Kuper (restricted)- 1 year 2.5 million

C Casey Wiegmann- signed with Chiefs 1 year 

NT J’Vonne Parker

3-4 DE Le’Kevin Smith- resigned

3-4 DE Kenny Peterson 

RLB Elvis Dumervil (restricted)- resigned 6 years 61.5 million 41 million guaranteed

MLB Nick Greisen- resigned

MLB Andra Davis- signed with Bills 2 years 

CB Ty Law

S Josh Barrett (restricted)- resigned 1 year

K Matt Prater (restricted)- resigned

Offseason moves:

Broncos sign RB LenDale White

Broncos waive RB Kolby Smith

Broncos acquire MLB Joe Mays from Eagles for RB J.J. Arrington and 2012 conditional pick

Broncos extend RLB Elvis Dumervil

Broncos claim RB Kolby Smith 

Broncos re-sign RLB Elvis Dumervil

Broncos cut OT Maurice Williams 

Broncos waive QB Tom Brandstater

Broncos sign FB Kyle Eckel 

Broncos claim MLB Bruce Davis

Broncos announce retirement of G Matt McChesney

Broncos sign OT Maurice Williams

Broncos waive RB Chris Brown 

Broncos re-sign MLB Nick Greisen

Broncos sign MLB Akin Ayodele 

Broncos trade Tony Scheffler (Detroit) and a 7th rounder (Detroit) for a 5th rounder (Philadelphia) 

Broncos re-sign QB Kyle Orton

Broncos re-sign TE Tony Scheffler

Broncos trade WR Brandon Marshall to Dolphins for 2010 2nd-rounder and 2011 2nd-rounder 

Broncos re-sign WR Brandon Marshall

Broncos re-sign G Chris Kuper 

Broncos re-sign S Josh Barrett

Broncos cut QB Chris Simms

Broncos acquire QB Brady Quinn from Browns for FB Peyton Hillis, 2011 6th-rounder and 2012 late-rounder

Broncos cut ILB Andra Davis

Broncos cut NT J’Vonne Parker

Broncos re-sign 3-4 DE Le Kevin Smith

Broncos cut 3-4 DE Kenny Peterson

Broncos sign NT Jamal Williams

Broncos sign 3-4 DE Jarvis Green

Broncos re-sign K Matt Prater

Broncos sign CB Nate Jones

Broncos sign 3-4 DE Justin Bannan

Broncos re-sign G Russ Hochstein

Broncos sign RB J.J. Arrington

Broncos tender WR Brandon Marshall

Broncos tender RLB Elvis Dumervil

Broncos tender QB Kyle Orton

Broncos tender G Chris Kuper

Broncos tender TE Tony Scheffler

Broncos cut RB LaMont Jordan

Broncos cut C Casey Wiegmann 

 

 

Tight End 

BYU

6-4 245

40 time: 4.63

Draft board overall prospect rank: #55

Draft board tight end rank: #3

Overall rating: 77*

 2/27/10: Not necessarily known as an elite athlete as rather a guy with good hands, Pitta benched 225 pounds 27 times, 2nd most among tight ends, and ran a 4.63 40.

1/18/10: Over an entire career, its tough to find a tight end who was more productive than Pitta. After he came back from his Mormon mission in 2007, Pitta looked like a man among boys catching 204 passes for 2726 yards and 19 touchdowns in three years. The only thing, he practically was a man among boys. Because his mission lasted two years, Pitta is currently 24 years old and does not have a huge upside. He’s probably better than half of the starting tight ends in the league right now with his good agility and soft hands, but scouts don’t really think he’s going to get much better than that. He’d be an ideal fit for a west coast offense and can help a team out right away, but his lack of upside, along with Rob Gronkowski surprisingly declaring for the NFL draft, he could slip to the 3^rd round. 

Update (11/2/09): Could start at tight end for about 8 NFL teams right now, but he’s 24 and has little upside. 

            8/8/09: Dennis Pitta is one of the most talented pass catching tight ends in college football and could start for a bunch of teams in the NFL right now. At 6-5 250 with a mid to late 4.6 40, his too big of a matchup for defensive backs and too fast for linebackers. He’s an excellent route runner and has an extremely high football IQ. He has great reliable hands and put up amazing stats last season for BYU with 83 receptions for 1083 yards and 6 touchdowns. Don’t diminish those stats because he plays in the Mountain West. The MWC is as good as any BCS conference and BYU played one of the tougher schedules in college football last season. Despite his big frame, he’s not a great blocker and will function best in the NFL as purely a pass catching tight end, paired with a good blocking tight end or a good offensive line. NFL scouts could be scared off by his age. The reason he plays and looks so mature on the NFL is because he actually is mature. He, like everyone who goes to BYU, had to go on a 2 year Mormon mission, so he’s essentially a 6^th year senior. He doesn’t have huge upside. His stats did come in a very pass heavy BYU offense. Despite his height, he has yet to establish himself as an end zone threat. He’d probably fit best in a west coast, pass heavy offense where he can use his hands, size, and great route running abilities to make a ton of short catches and where he wouldn’t have to block as much. With another big season, he could become a 2^nd round pick. Right now I have him on the border between the 2^nd and the 3^rd rounds. The tight end is not always one of the most targeted position in the first two rounds and I still have Pitta ranked behind Jermaine Gresham and Rob Gronkowski because I think they are better natural athletes with higher upsides. However, Pitta is still a fine prospect who could start for about 8-10 teams in the NFL right now, with his best fit being for a west coast offense team.

NFL Comparison: Chris Cooley 

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