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Topic Started: Jan 8 2009, 10:36 PM (1,008 Views)
twinkiemonsta
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3-3-09

Today I'm going to focus in on some mid-round Safety prospects. Let's start with Darcel McBath of Texas Tech. He lists at 6'0, 198. Solid player. He didn't really stand out in any one area, but has good overall talent and potential. Finished 3rd in the NCAA with 7 INTs this year. Had 12 for his career. That tells you he's got solid ball skills. Looked solid in coverage. He's athletic and has good awareness. Plays the ball well. McBath is a pretty good tackler. He'll get sloppy at times, but I saw him make two impressive tackles in the Nebraska game. WR caught a pass in the flat. McBath came flying up and took him down aggressively. Made a good, strong tackle of RB Marlon Lucky on a toss play near the goal line. The biggest problem McBath has is being too upright on some attempts and not breaking down into good tackling position. Mid-round target...3rd or 4th.

Chip Vaughn of Wake Forest was very under the radar this year because of the presence of his teammates Alphonso Smith and Aaron Curry. Those guys are stars. Vaughn is a good player, but not in their category. Vaughn has good size at 6'1, 221. He's also fast and has pretty good athletic ability. Vaughn ran a 4.51 at the Combine and that speed shows up on game tape. He covers a lot of ground. Against Clemson he had good coverage on a deep ball thrown along the sideline. You don't always expect a Safety with his size to show that kind of range. Chip is a good hitter and tackler. He isn't explosive, but has enough pop to separate the ball from receivers.

The two questions I have with Vaughn are instincts and ball skills. I didn't see him read plays and anticipate things. I saw a guy who was really comfortable sitting back in the Cover 2 and attacking the ball in front of him. As for ball skills...I saw a couple of passes thrown his way. Vaughn didn't make a good play for the ball either time. A 2-year starter at S should have more than 3 career INTs.

Clemson's Michael Hamlin was the best Safety I watched. He just looks the part. He's got nice size at 6'2, 214, but it also athletic. He's able to play in the box and work through traffic to get to the ball. He's fast enough to make plays in space. Hamlin led Clemson in tackles this year and also picked off 6 passes. He had 4 INTs last year. He diagnoses plays well and gets into good position. Solid wrap-up tackler. Teams looking for a SS with some coverage skills should be interested. I don't think he has the range to play FS. 3rd round kind of prospect.

Teammate Chris Clemons ran very well at the Combine. That 4.41 speed does show up on tape. Chris is fast. The problem is that he lacks good instincts. Chris needs to sit back in the Cover 2 and watch the play unfold. He will attack the ball when he sees it. You'd prefer a Safety to diagnose the play as it is unfolding and not just attack the ball when he locates it. I think Clemons could be a very good STs player, but I'm not so sure he could be a starting Safety in the NFL.

Other Players of Note:

* I finally watched Texas Tech DE Brandon Williams carefully. I thought he looked bad at the Combine. He does show up on game tape. Williams looked like a really good pass rusher. He flew off the edge. He stays low while rounding the OT's block. Brandon notched 13 sacks this year. While I was impressed by his burst and pass rush ability, there are some issues. He didn't do much vs the run. That has to change in the NFL. He only had 21 solo tackles all year long. That doesn't show a great motor. I also thought you could see some of Williams athletic limitations. He doesn't have great body control or agility. He doesn't change directions smoothly. At this point I value him as a pass rusher, but he looks like a developmental prospect to me. Those guys don't go in the Top 100. Probably should have stayed for his Senior season.

* Marlon Lucky is an interesting prospect. As a runner, Marlon is okay, but doesn't stand out in any area. He looks like a nice college player, but nothing more. As a receiver Lucky shows excellent ability. He plucks the ball naturally. He has excellent hands. He can catch the ball out wide. He can catch passes over the middle. Whatever you need. Lucky finished his career with 135 catches. I don't see him getting drafted until the 5th round, if at all. There is a place for him in the NFL, but I'm not sure he'd ever be a starting RB. He looks like a pure backup to me.

* OT Lydon Murtha is a good athlete, but he simply isn't a good OL. You'd think an OT with his size (6'7, 306) and athleticism would be a terrific prospect. Murtha shows a bit of a nasty streak at times. He'll mash on LBs and DBs. What's not to like? The problem is that he doesn't have good feet. Murtha isn't a good pass blocker. He gets off balance and ends up on the ground too often. He also has trouble protecting against inside moves. Some coach will work with him and might be able to do something, but I think Murtha is the kind of prospect that will flame out and drive a lot of coaches and personnel guys crazy. So much potential...
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SoCar

J. Cook 84 -

11 - Hands-catcher. Good RAC ability.

J. Meredith 77 -

C. Munnerlyn -

E. Cook 21 - Physical tackler. Will come up and pop receivers in front of him. Might be very effective in a Cover 2 scheme.

J. Brinkley - Inside run stuffer.

_________________________________
==============

TENNESSEE

A. Parker 75 -

R. Foster 78 - Played RT. Doesn't show the feet to be a pass blocker.

Arian Foster 27 - Has some athletic ability. Good hands. Has some strength. Feet look okay. Okay cut blocker. At times will really look good. Has a nice burst when he runs N-S.


R. Ayers 91 - Played RDE. Shed block of TE and stopped RB for no gain on the opening play. Lacks the burst to be a top pass rusher. Good motor. Gets used creatively. UT will play a 3-4 at times. Ayers has played LB and DE in those sets. Plays some DT in Nickel/Dime sets. Blew up a running play from DE by firing through the TE, hitting a pulling OL, and stopping the RB behind the line. Physical player. Will push OL around.

Edited by twinkiemonsta, Mar 5 2009, 01:39 AM.
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SJSU

Coy F. 21 -

Gilbert 90 - Natural pass-rusher. Used good inside move to hit USU QB. Awareness? Had RB go right by him and had no idea where the ball was. At his best penetrating and attacking upfield. Doesn't always play up to his size. Very athletic for his size. If he gets loose, the QB/RB is in trouble. Quick off the ball. Gets off balance at times because he's trying to get upfield so quickly. Has very good closing speed.

C. Owens 29 -

Richmond 8 - Spectacular one-hand catch vs USU. Running down the seam he reached out and got the ball and brought it into his body. Can pluck the ball. Lots of slot. Looks sorta quick.

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* Michigan State *

Ringer - Will run up the middle. Hops a lot. Runs up the middle a lot. A lot. Doesn't show the speed to be effective on toss plays.

Hoyer -


Kershaw 97 -

Wiley 21 - Comes up quickly in run support. Has some pop. Sloppy tackle on Greene on run up the middle. Got him down, but barely. Looks okay in man coverage. Okay speed. Good awareness. Aggressive nature. Around the ball a lot. Good break on the ball. Shows good quickness. Handles TEs well. Missed a tackle on Greene by going low and not wrapping up.

Knee injury. More?

========================

Iowa

Greene - 23 - N-S runner. Gets behind his pads. Downhill guy. Okay speed. Runs hard. Has good vision. Strong enough to knock defenders back. Needs a head of steam to be fast. Lacks burst. Struggled in pass pro and blitz pickup. Pushes the pile on most of his runs. Has okay feet. Doesn't cut sharply or smoothly, but is effective for a big guy. Will struggled when he has to deal with penetration. Made a nice adjustment to catch a short pass in the game.

Sloppy chip block vs MSU. Dropped easy pass in right flat.

Really impressive play vs Pitt. Iowa ran Flip 90 to the left. Greene made a really good cut and then got upfield. He bulled his way for the 1st.

Olsen - RG. Solid on doubles. Feet? Lacks the agility to be good on the 2nd level.

Bruggerman - Needs to use his hands better. Has some quickness off the ball.

Brandon Myers - #83 - Caught 34 passes in '08. Will split out at times. Good hands. Looks like a solid blocker. At the least he's a good effort guy.

Moeaki - Had a 48-yd catch vs Pitt. Caught a short pass near the sideline, then turned upfield and looked good. Showed speed and athletic ability.

King - Quick. Good swim move. Uses his hands well and is great with leverage. Great motor, hustle.

Kroul -

Fletcher - Gunner on STs. Excellent downfield PBU vs Pitt. Went up and knocked pass away before WR had a chance to play the ball. Good awareness, position. Backpedal? Looks comfortable in trail coverage. Likes to press, but doesn't jam WRs very much. Good zone awareness.

====================================

** Pitt **

Kinder -

McCoy - Feet. Vision. Quick, agile. Bad fumble vs Iowa. Had ball poked out while it was away from his body. Sloppy. Looks natural catching the ball. Fast. Excellent body control. Deceptively strong. Will help in pass protection. Will run up the middle. Swings the ball when he runs out in space. Has good, but not great speed. Uses the whole field when he runs.

Collins - Effective receiver.

Davis - LG. Can fire off the ball. Needs to use his hands better.

Duncan - Stout? Good motor. Has a spin move. Lacks the bulk, lower body strength to hold his ground.

McKillop - Lateral quickness? Needs to be kept clean in order to get to the ball. At his best attacking upfield.
__________________________________________

* Let's talk about RBs. I watched tape of Shonn Greene. He is a player that will be a great fit for some teams and a non-factor for others. Shonn ran for 205 yards back in 2006. He then missed the 2007 season because of academics. He had to leave Iowa and go somewhere to get his grades back into acceptable shape. I have no idea if the academic issue is due to laziness or him struggling in the classroom. Either way, that will bother some teams.

Greene returned to Iowa in 2008. He came out of nowhere to have an amazing year. He ran for over 100 yards in every game. He finished 2nd in the nation in rushing. He ran for 20 TDs. Shonn decided to leave school and enter the NFL.

That decision has pros and cons. He looks like a one-year wonder at this point. Another year could have helped his value. He could have played in an all star game and teams could have seen how quickly he picks up a new offense and handles the mental side of things. On the other hand, Shonn will turn 24 in August. Teams prefer to take guy that are 21 or 22. He'd have been almost 25 for the 2010 draft. Also, Greene is a workhorse RB. Those guys only have so much tread on the tire. He had 315 touches this year. Why repeat that when you can head to the NFL and get paid for it?

As a runner, Shonn can be a fun guy to watch. He is a downhill, power runner. He gets behind his pads and runs over/through defenders. He'll hit the pile and push it forward. Teams who focus on power runners will love this part of his game. Greene's vision is okay. He will cutback at times. He runs to daylight when the situation calls for it. He still prefers to get the ball and build up a head of steam. He has some speed, but lacks burst. If he can get going, Greene is really hard to stop. I don't consistently see good cutting ability or footwork, but he'll show you flashes. Iowa ran a Flip 90 play against Michigan State and Greene made a very good cut for a guy his size. He was able to turn upfield and run over a defender to get the 1st down.

Teams that run the west coast offense will not be as enamored with Greene. Can he handle the playbook? He only caught 11 passes in college. I saw 2 balls thrown his way. One he snagged cleanly, the other he dropped. His pass protection needs a lot of work. He doesn't make quick decisions as to who to block and he uses bad technique. Even his chip blocks are sloppy and ineffective.

Originally I had Shonn projected as a late 2nd round pick. I've moved him down to the 3rd round. In the right system he could be a terrific pro. Give him to a running team like the Giants, Titans, or Ravens and he could thrive. I cannot imagine that passing teams like the Saints, Eagles, or Colts would be interested.

* LeSean McCoy of Pitt has to be Charlie Garner's NFL reincarnation. I swear it is almost eerie with some plays. McCoy is a little taller and not as fast, but they are very much alike. LeSean is pretty much the opposite of Greene. McCoy won't run over many defenders, but boy will they have a hard time catching him. McCoy has excellent feet. He makes dynamic moves and cuts. He has excellent burst and good speed.

McCoy isn't big at 5'10, 200 but he can handle the workload. He actually had more touches than Greene in '08, 340 to 315. LeSean will run up the middle. He's not one of those guys that has to go outside. He's got good enough vision and agility that he will take runs all over the place. That puts pressure on defenders to maintain their position in case of cutbacks or him reversing his field.

At his best McCoy is a N-S runner with excellent cutting ability and speed/quickness. That allows him to be creative when it is needed. One problem he has is that McCoy has a bit of Reggie Bush in him that comes out at times. He will try to turn too many plays into homeruns. You don't want that. Run for 4, hope for more...as the old saying goes. One habit that McCoy must address is the way he swings the ball when he runs. He gets it away from his body. He fumbled once in the Iowa game. NFL tacklers will attack the ball in a way he's never seen.

LeSean should be a solid part of the passing game. He caught 65 passes. I have mostly seen him used on screens, but he looks to have very good hands. He's natural at catching the ball. McCoy benefited from playing in a pro style offense and having blocking responsibilities for 2 years. He isn't a great blocker to be sure, but shows an understanding of what to do. His effort is good as well. He should be very coachable in this area.

In an era of NFL teams using multiple runners I think McCoy could be a very good pro. My key concerns with him involve off-field stuff. He was never seriously challenged for playing time at Pitt. Can he handle an NFL environment where being a HS and college star doesn't mean squat? The process of him coming out made it appear that he was torn between doing what he wanted and what his family wanted. Are there any issues in this area? Making it in the NFL is tough enough on a good day, but if your family is meddlesome that can be tough to handle. I don't know that McCoy has any problems in these areas, but they are things to be checked out.

* Javon Ringer of Michigan State is a player that I'm still working on. I watched him in the Iowa game. I wasn't impressed. The Spartans offense this year seemed to be a run up the middle followed by another run up the middle followed by an incomplete pass. That put a lot of pressure on Ringer. Javon did his best to adapt to the workhorse role. It just really hurt him to not have a better OL or more effective passing attack.

Look at these numbers. His rushing total from 2007 to 2008 went up by 190 yards. His carries went up by 145. Think about that. An extra 145 carries and all he got to show for it was an extra 190 yards? That should tell you how troubled the MSU offense was. They had 6 games of 18 points or less. That only happened twice in '07.

Ringer does have a strong upper body, but his legs look fairly normal. He's not a power runner. He goes 5'9, 205. He's not a finesse runner by any stretch, but 205-pound guys can't push the pile all that much. He isn't fast enough to consistently get outside against good competition. That shows up on tape and he only timed in the 4.55 range at the Combine. That's about the same as Beanie Wells who goes 237. Javon can be elusive. He hops more than I'd like, but it works for him. He has okay vision. He doesn't cut as well as you'd expect for a guy that's only 205.

I think Ringer's value comes as a versatile role player and not a feature back. This isn't the guy you feed the ball to. That's Greene or Beanie Wells or someone like that. Ringer has 96 career catches. He has good hands and looks pretty natural catching the ball. He has some KOR experience. Javon was part of a RB rotation in 2007 and was very effective. He averaged just under 6 yards a carry. He caught 35 passes.

I can't see Javon as a Top 75 player at this point. I'm thinking he's more like a 4th rounder. He does have value when you put him in as part of a RB rotation. I don't see him being starter material in the NFL, unless it is the occasional game when the primary guy is hurt.

MISC PLAYERS

* Otis Wiley is a talented SS prospect. Comes up quickly in run support. Has some pop when he hits. Looks solid in man coverage. Otis has the speed to cover and has good awareness. He picked off 4 passes in each of the last two seasons. He is aggressive. That will lead to him taking some chances. Seems to be around the ball a lot. Solid tackler, but he will struggle with some big backs. Covers TEs well. Otis has some PR ability. Averaged 10 yards per PR for his career.

He hurt his knee in the middle of the year and it slowed him down. He had surgery after the year and wasn't able to work out at the Combine. I think Otis could be a starting SS in the NFL. Likely to go in the 5th or 6th round, assuming his knee checks out.

* Iowa CB Bradley Fletcher is a solid DB, but also a good STer. He will appeal to teams that like big corners. Likes to press, but doesn't jam WRs very much. More of a "turn and run" guy. Locates the ball well and has pretty good ball skills. Picked off 3 passes. Broke up 10. Is comfortable in both man and zone. Shows good awareness in zone coverage.

* I was disappointed by Iowa RG Seth Olsen. He lacks the agility and skill to be a good blocker on the 2nd level. He lacks the size and strength to be a force on DTs at the LOS. Seth is a "try hard" guy who will give you maximum effort, but lacks ability. You can get away with that in college, but not the NFL.
Edited by twinkiemonsta, Mar 6 2009, 05:21 PM.
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* CAL *

Mack 51 - Tenacious.

Will Ta'ufo'ou 23 - Size? Effective lead blocker, but seems to lack pop. Good effort.

Morrah 5 - Good down blocker. Good effort when he takes on DEs.


Felder 7 - ILB. Strong. Fills well.

Williams 1 - Might be a very good STer. FB? At his best on the attack. Physical tackler, but will be out of control at times and fail to bring the guy down. Jumped a route vs Oregon and picked the pass. Ran it back inside the 5. Good instincts.

Follett 56 - Plays some DE in passing situations. Looks comfortable rushing the passer. Not effective lining up on the LOS and taking on blockers. At his best on the run. Excellent in pursuit. Takes good angles. Has some speed. Goes hard. Doesn't show the kind of power and strength you'd ideally like in a LB.

Hicks -

R. Davis 94 - Battled injuries in each of his 3 years at Cal. Missed 5 games in 2008 with foot problems.



==============================

* OREGON *

J. Johnson 24 - Slippery. At his best on outside runs. Lacks top speed, but is fast enough for CFB. Couldn't make a catch in the endzone. Can be very tough to tackle. Good spin move. Quick. Cuts well. Vision is good, but he looks to break everything outside.

Tupou - Hands by his side. Poor feet. Vulnerable to inside moves.

Unger - Best pulling C I've seen in years. Looks very natural leading on sweeps and outside runs. Will get pushed back at times when trying to anchor. No butt. Very quick from snap to block. Good when he squares up to a target and keeps his feet moving. Works to sustain his blocks. Pretty good hands. Good blocker on the 2nd level.


N. Reed - RDE. Will play both sides. Lacks special burst. Is an instinctive player. Knows how to use his hands. Sets moves up well. Just has a great feel for rushing the passer. Simply lacks the burst and athleticism to be a top prospect.

Harris - Thick butt, thighs. Holds his ground okay. Has potential as a 2-gap DT. Can push the pocket. Looked good vs OSU. Drove LG back, shed him, and sacked QB. Blew up a running play with penetration. Can be tough to single block. Effective player when he uses his hands and plays with good leverage. Will chase the ball. Has a good rip move, but doesn't use it very often.

Byrd 32 - LCB. Has thick legs for a CB. Can press. Feet look quick. Solid tackler. Plays the run pretty well. Against some 1 WR sets he will shift to the middle like an extra FS. Aggressive cover guy. Will have to adjust in the NFL to keeping his hands off WRs.

Aggressive in going for the ball. Takes chances, but does make his share of plays. More effective pressing than playing off. Locates the ball well on downfield throws. Has good hands.

Caught a pass on a fake punt play.

Chung 15 - Very good STer. Physical tackler. Wraps up and has good power. Tries to go through his targets. Good athlete. Smart. Good awareness. Struggles when he's playing off in coverage. Doesn't stand out as a blitzer.

===========================

* OREGON STATE *

Stroughter - Outstanding PR. Has good vision. He's elusive and has solid speed/quickness.

Role player as a WR. Hands are so-so.

Levitre - Pulls well, especially to his left.


Norris - RDE. Effort guy. Limited athlete. Okay spin move.

Butler - Understands leverage, positioning. Doesn't shed blocks as well as you'd like.

Lewis 6 -

Hughes -

__________________________

I did a bit of reading on here and it seems like quite a few people don't like what McDaniels is doing. I think it is smart. Belichick did the same thing back in 2001. He brought in a lot of FAs to sort of jump start the team. Instead of going for big names, he went for solid veterans. He also took the volume approach. It worked very well for him.
Edited by twinkiemonsta, Mar 9 2009, 08:52 AM.
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BAMA

G. Coffee -- Best going N-S and running behind his pads. Can be nimble at times. Will make some quick jump cuts. Doesn't show much power when he's turned. Much easier to tackle. Tries to stay square to the LOS. Vision is okay.

A. Smith -- Pretty good on LBs. Should be more dominant, though. Has good feet, but must learn to use his hands better. If he could get clean shots on defenders he'd wipe them out. Whiffed on a run block.


R. Johnson -- Got pressure on blitz. Good tackle on punt covg. Can be a solid hitter on receivers over the middle.

====================

TENN

Ayers - Good swim move from DT. Played DE, DT, and LB.

Bolden -- Has some plays where he looks special.

Foster -- Has strength, power. Will lower his shoulder and knock defenders back in short yardage. Good on chip blocks. Catches the ball with his hands. Looks okay running simple routes. Good awareness. Plays smart.
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RUTGERS

K. Britt 88 --- Has some RAC ability. Burst? Not afraid to go over the middle. Will reach for the ball without worrying about taking a big hit. Good hands. Tough. Can pluck the ball. Can catch the ball in traffic. Equally effective working the middle and the sideline area. Effective on WR screens, but lacks the quickness to make dynamic moves and really turn them into big plays.

T. Underwood 7 --- Took a big hit vs UNC and couldn't hang onto the ball. Let CB jump in front of him and pick off a pass. Lots of crossing routes. Runs good routes. Has okay hands, but doesn't pluck the ball naturally.

======================

WEST VA

White --- Accurate. Good touch on his throws. Good on seam routes. Threw a 44-yd TD pass in the bowl game. Hit the receiver in stride with a perfect throw. Sees the field well.

Isdaner 79 --- Not great in space. Upright, stiff. Can fire off the ball and get into his DL. Struggles in pass pro vs athletic guys. Lacks agility, athleticism.

Lankster 2 --- Will go up for the ball. Solid tackler.

Ivy 44 --- Can get off blocks. More of an ILB. RB beat him with a spin move out in space. Stout vs the run.


======================

UNC

Nicks --- Fast enough to be good on End Around. Smart. When he's open he sits down in the zone and waits for the ball. Good hands. Adjusts well to the ball. Deceptive running style. Hard to tackle. Excellent concentration. Tough. Runs through some tackles. Has a good stiff arm. Knows how to get open. Catches the ball in a variety of ways. Can pluck it. Can make body catches. Can scoop the ball. Against WVA he caught a pass over the middle. Shrugged off the first tackler and then got hit by 4 other defenders. Caught a TD on the next play. Tough, strong guy.

Tate --- Lots of slot. Can go down and make tough catches. Rounds his cuts. Used a beautiful double move vs Rutgers to get open deep and catch a long TD pass. Has good hands. Will work the middle. Ran for TD vs Rutgers. Very dangerous with the ball in his hands. Quick, fast, and elusive.

Foster --- Clutch. Tough. Not easy to tackle. Solid STer.

Goddard --- Plays the ball well. Looks good in man coverage. Has good hands. Has good awareness and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time in 2008. Passive tackler. Only looks comfortable when he's coming up vs a stationary WR in space.

===============

UCONN

D. Brown --- Occasionally lines up in the slot so they can get him the ball in space. Looks okay catching the ball. Elusive. Has good feet. Fast enough to be effective on sweeps. Will use a stiff arm. Hard to judge him. He played on a bad offense. Opponents knew he was the key and focused on him. Had an okay OL, but no passing game. I would have loved to see him in an all star game.

Beatty --- Hustled after INT to chase down Safety and tackle him. Has good feet, but isn't a natural pass blocker. At times looks like Oher. Takedowns are an issue.

Butler ---

C. Brown --- Stout for his size.

_________________________________

G. Coffee - 1-cut runner. Has good speed in the open field.
Edited by twinkiemonsta, Mar 10 2009, 09:17 AM.
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* Let's talk about Hakeem Nicks and Kenny Britt. The top 4 WRs off the board will be Crabtree, Maclin, Harvin, and Heyward-Bey. Beyond that, teams will have their choice of Nicks, Britt, and Brian Robiskie.

Robiskie is a Senior. He's polished and safe, but has less upside. He could go anywhere from late 1st to mid 2nd. I don't think teams will have a lot of varying opinions on him.

Nicks and Britt could be all over the place. I prefer Nicks, but have to admit that Kenny has grown on me as I've watched more and more of his game tape. We'll start with him. Kenny is 6'3, 218. That's excellent size for a WR. He runs pretty well. Timed right about 4.5 in Indy. Production was excellent. He caught 87 passes for 1371 yards this year. All the numbers sound great.

How does he look on game tape? Good. Kenny plays up to his size. He will cross the middle and not think twice about taking a big hit. He focuses on catching the ball. He runs good routes. He's effective along the sidelines. He isn't just a guy who runs crossing routes all game long. Kenny knows how to get open. He has good hands. Catches the ball naturally. His speed shows up on the field. They run WR screens to him. Kenny lacks the quickness and agility to make dynamic moves, but he isn't stiff. He has pretty good RAC ability. If you had to compare him to an NFL guy...maybe Jerry Porter. Jerry was probably more of a natural athlete, but Kenny's a more polished WR.

And now for Hakeem Nicks. He is 6'1, 212. He runs in the 4.5 range. Production was very good this year. He caught 68 passes for 1222 yards and 12 TDs. The numbers aren't as impressive as Britt's so why I do like him better?

Hakeem just looks like a pro receiver. There were several plays in the bowl game vs West Va that showed this. Early in the game Nicks split a double team down the middle of the field. The CB jumped up and tried to pick off the pass. The ball was bouncing around. Nicks did a 180 and was able to grab the ball. The Safety tried to tackle him, but Nicks got away. Another defender caught up to Nicks inside the 5. He grabbed Nicks, but Hakeem was strong enough to drag the guy and stretch the ball across for a TD.

Nicks caught another deep ball on the second possession. He got the ball and headed down the right sideline. A defender came across the field to get him, but got knocked away by a stiff arm. TD number 2. On the next drive Nicks caught a pass over the middle. He eluded the first tackler and then got engulfed by 4 guys. Nicks showed he could catch the ball in traffic, make a guy miss, and take a hit (or hits). The very next play he caught a 25-yard TD pass. That was TD number 3.

Hakeem didn't just run by guys. He didn't use spin moves. He used size and strength to break tackles and get into the endzone. Think about the NFL. For every long TD a receiver might get there will be 40, 50, or even more passes where he's getting short to intermediate throws. You can't always use speed and try to outrun defenders. You need to be able to catch the ball and take hits, hopefully breaking some tackles.

Nicks does have good athletic ability. He can be elusive. He has deceptive speed. He runs smoothly so it doesn't look like he's going that hard, but he really is. Nicks adjusts well to the ball. He has long arms and huge hands. He can make very tough catches. I'm sure most of you have seen his behind the back catch from the bowl game. If not, go to youtube and check it out. Crazy play.

Kenny Britt has the better numbers, but I like Hakeem Nicks more and think he's the better pro prospect. Both guys are very talented and should become starting WRs in the NFL.


QUICK HITS

* UNC receiver Brooks Foster is a player that gets little attention, but he will be a good NFL player. I think he'll be a good #3 WR for someone. He's clutch. When the ball comes his way on 3rd down you just know he's going to catch it. Also plays STs.

* West Va CB Ellis Lankster is one of the rare guys to go to the Senior Bowl, but get snubbed by the Combine. However, he follows in the footsteps of a few recent WVa players. They had a WR in that scenario in the past and LB Grant Wiley had the same situation happen to him. Lankster is impressive in game action. He plays the ball well. He tackles. He does lack ideal size. I'm not sure about his speed.

*
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Kory Sheets --- Good speed. Good stiff arm. Cuts well. Doesn't look as explosively fast as you'd expect. Slippery. He will run behind his pads, but does lack pop. Has pretty good feet. Passive with his chip blocks. Excellent quickness. Shows good burst on some runs to the outside. Vision is okay. Moves very well laterally. Can make guys miss.

At his best making a cut in the backfield and then taking the run outside. Is quick/fast getting wide and then looks fast when he turns upfield.

48 career rushing TDs. 664 carries.

vs MAC - 13
vs Indiana - 9
vs I-AA - 5

8 career games with more than 20 carries. 9 career games with 100 or more yards.

G. Orton - Rounds his cuts. Big guy. Looks physical. Catches a ton of passes along the sideline. Can make tough catches. Body catcher.

A. Magee --- LDE. Lacks speed, burst. Disciplined.

R. Baker 90 ---

A. Heygood 42 --- Okay speed. Solid tackler. STer.

====================

MICH

Jamison --- Good motor. Excellent effort vs the run. Tackles well. Effective when slanting.

T. Taylor --- NT.

M. Trent ---
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twinkiemonsta
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Devin Moore 5 --- Will block. Will run between the tackles. Okay vision. Nice burst.


Gartrell Johnson ---

K. Bell --- Good size. Has some shiftiness.
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