**Official 2013 Draft Prospect Discussion Thread**

[John maplethorp]

Be prepard to have Swope mocked to us in every single draft next offseason.

lol. Sherm loves drafting Aggies. Swope is a burner, don't let his skin color fool you, he's one of the fastest guys in the SEC at 4.4. Similar to Wes Welker with quickness and toughness , but Ryan has 2" and 15 lbs on Welker.

 

[miamiron]

A Belichick replacement for Welker and 8-9 million in savings

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

I'm going to pick it up in here a little bit with some underrated prospects, or even in some instances, may not be rated at all due to nobody taking notice... which is likely the case with Javone Lawson. If you read my Senior prospects thread for 2012, you probably didn't even notice him on my list of Senior wide receivers. Make no mistake, the kid can play... and he can play much better than several of his peers who will end up absorbing some hype.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him be a later round pick or go completely undrafted on draft day... he's probably a little better than that.

Watch him against San Diego St. last year in the New Orleans Bowl where he went off for 9 catches, 193 yards, and 2 TD's. Specifically, pay attention when he's matched up against Larry Parker and Leon McFadden. Watch his games against Arizona and Oklahoma St. (2011 and 2010), pay attention when he's matched up with NFL caliber CB's like Trevin Wade, Broderick Brown, etc.

T.Y. Hilton, Alfred Morris, Dwight Bentley, Demario Davis, Ladarius Green, Jonathan Massaquoi, and Bobby Rainey have all moved on to the NFL after being some of the most underrated prospects in the country all season last year. With these kids having moved on to the NFL, Javone Lawson takes the baton as the best player in the Sun Belt Conference in my opinion.

 

[MP-Omnis]

I wonder what Margus Hunt is gonna do with his career. My cousin threw with him before SMU dissolved its track and field program. Cousin transferred to Stanford and Margus joined the football team as a 3-4 DE. He could easily play 4-3 though. He could probably play any position. He's just a freak.

Didn't Skov get arrested? I've wanted him in aqua and orange since he started playing at Stanford. Maybe we can get him in the later rounds.

This team needs more freaky athletes. We have the coaches to mold them.

 

[bigvince75]

Big fan of Sean Porter. I think he could be an impact player in either the 3-4 or 4-3 as a rush LB; a bit smaller than most OLBs but his speed and agility is impressive.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy is another underrated player. He reminds me a little bit of Doug Martin about this time a year ago. Very similar in a lot of ways.

Anybody that's familiar with the way I evaluate RB's knows that squatty backs with a low center of gravity who run tough between the tackles, play physical, get yards after contact, understand how to block in pass protection, and protect the football are going to endear themselves to me as a prospect.

Contrary to popular theory, backs like this are not plentiful. Although you could always find 'em in different sizes.

Zac Stacy is a rolling ball of butcher knives who has all the ingredients that a RB needs to find their way high up on my draft board early in the process.

 

[WVDolphan]

I dont know the large majority of these kids yet. I just have one general rule for our draft next year........

If the kid isnt ...

A) An offensive playmaker at skill positions WR, TE, or RB
or B) A defensive playmaker that rushes the passer, plays corner like a beast and creates turnovers or safety with ball hawking skills..........

DO NOT DRAFT!!!!

One single cornfed player that has little to no impact on the game with the way the NFL is set up today tells me the GM is still LOST.

 

[MiamiDolphin618]

I dont know the large majority of these kids yet. I just have one general rule for our draft next year........

If the kid isnt ...

A) An offensive playmaker at skill positions WR, TE, or RB
or B) A defensive playmaker that rushes the passer, plays corner like a beast and creates turnovers or safety with ball hawking skills..........

DO NOT DRAFT!!!!

One single cornfed player that has little to no impact on the game with the way the NFL is set up today tells me the GM is still LOST.

Id have to agree with you. WR or Pass rusher has got to be the plan...unless there is just a far and away better player at a different position. We NEED impact players. And now we have 5 picks in the 1st 3 rounds to do it. We will see how Smith and Marshal fair this year but CB could be another priority.
I would also be hoping that IF we have an awful year and we pick in the top 2-3 that someone wants to make a Griffin-esque trade for Logan Thomas/Barkley whoever. (Obviously thats if Tannehill at least shows promise).

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Southern Utah quarterback Brad Sorensen wasn't nearly as bad as the stat sheet made him look vs. Utah St. First of all, Utah St. is a monster, and his team was completely outmatched against the Aggies. They should've beat Auburn last year.

Sorensen had no help in this game. He was the only player for Southern Utah that wasn't overmatched. He had to play from a 21-0 deficit before his own team could even muster a single 1st down. On top of it, he was starting from 1st and 15 several times due to false starts by the offensive line. I counted 5 drops by his receivers on passes that were perfectly thrown. Furthermore, he usually had nobody open. His receivers couldn't seperate at all, forcing him to go with his checkdown often. Problem here was, his checkdown options were slipping and couldn't keep their feet underneath themselves, forcing Sorensen to pull the ball down and eat it.

On the occassions where he did actually complete passes for key 1st downs, they were called back by holding penalties.

Despite all of this, he never lost his poise. He made some great throws downfield with tremendous ball placement, and continued to put the ball in places where only his receiver could get it....which is why he avoided turning the football over despite the constant chaos and everything going down the toilet around him. He displayed elite NFL caliber arm strength on opposite hash throws.... if this isn't the strongest arm in college football, I haven't seen the one that's stronger yet.

He executed the backshoulder throw that is mandatory in the NFL several times throughout this game, but his receivers simply cannot adjust to it....they're not talented enough to execute these type passes against man coverage.

Now, he did give up on some plays too early in the redzone after a nice drive....throwing the ball away rather than waiting for receivers to try and uncover. However, it's because he's strictly coached to do it in those situations....and you can tell he's not happy with it.

I studied this entire game closely, and counted only 3 bad throws by Sorensen, with 0 bad decisions....despite everything crumbling around him.

If you look at the stats, you'll see that he's charged with 1 INT, but it doesn't tell the story. It was a perfectly thrown ball on the last play of the game that hit his receiver in the hands, who bounced it up into the air and into the hands of the defender in the endzone.

If you study this game, you should understand 2 things:

1.) You'll understand precisely how overmatched Southern Utah was from a talent perspective

2.) You'll understand why Sorensen is an NFL prospect, and why there were scouts from all 32 teams present

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Joe Vellano is the #3 senior defensive tackle on my board right now, and he's always a pure joy to watch. Maryland went to a one-gapping 3-4 defense this year, so he's moved from DT to playing DE in the 3-4....but he won't stay there when he goes to the NFL. He's in the 6'1"-6'2" range and plays at around 285. He's not what you're looking for in terms of length to play the 3-4 DE position in the NFL.

He's more of a classic 3-technique, and a very underrated one in my opinion. There's a reason why he led the entire country last year in terms of tackles by a defensive lineman. In fact, his 20 tackle performance against Georgia Tech last year was the most by a defensive lineman since they began keeping the statistics on it 70 years ago.

He finds the football better than any defensive lineman in the country. A lot of guys can win at the line of scrimmage, but they can't find the football. Joe Vellano finds the football. He had 11 tackles, 2 TFL's, and picked off a screen pass vs. William & Mary. I absolutely love this kid.

Middle linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield is another outstanding linebacker talent for Maryland. Spectacular hips and athletic ability in coverage and instincts to sift through traffic.

For W&M, cornerback B.W. Webb played an outstanding game. He's one of the best players in the FCS and has tremendous ball skills.

That 7-6 squeaker that Maryland slipped by W&M is a great game to study if you enjoy looking at underrated prospects.



Same with Kent St.'s Roosevelt Nix and McNeese St.'s Malcolm Bronson.

 

[finsfanjay13]

One guy I watched Saturday was Jonathan Cooper (OG, UNC). He's not really "underrated" as he's a preaseason All-ACC member, however, he put in a nice block to free Bernard to the outside on that 59 yard touchdown. I know it was against Elon, but I saw multiple plays where he isn't afraid to cut block the defender. I admittedly didn't watch his pass protection all game, but I did like what I saw. He'll be interesting to watch.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

The main thing that stood out to me when re-watching Miami/Boston College was exactly how good RG Brandon Linder is. He was already at the top of my list of underclassman guard prospects. Both of those big runs by the freshman RB Johnson were due to key blocks by Linder. Knee bender with outstanding athleticism and technique.

 

[datruth55]

The main thing that stood out to me when re-watching Miami/Boston College was exactly how good RG Brandon Linder is. He was already at the top of my list of underclassman guard prospects. Both of those big runs by the freshman RB Johnson were due to key blocks by Linder. Knee bender with outstanding athleticism and technique.

He graded out at 97% slimm. True freshman RT Erik Flowers graded out at 94% by the way.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

LSU underclassman safety Eric Reid was also exposed in coverage to a significant degree vs. North Texas.

John Chavis had him lined up in the slot on two occassions in man coverage on North Texas receiver Brelan Chancellor and was burned for 2 touchdowns. However, he did have a terrific interception on a tipped pass in terms of getting his hands under the football and preventing it from hitting the ground.

Reid is a good centerfielder type safety on the back end to clean up, but stiffness and some lack of range is going to hinder him. He can't be relied on to match up in man coverage.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

I re-watched Texas St. upset Houston and I understand why. There's a couple of later round sleepers on offense for Texas St. at RB and TE.

Marcus Curry is a talented back with a sturdy frame (5'11", 210), runs with great balance and acceleration. Finishes runs with extra yards after contact the way I like to see. Catches the ball well out of the backfield. The first two times he touched the ball against Houston were a 21 yard TD reception out of the backfield and a 73 yard TD run. He had 120+ yards rushing 3 minutes into the 2nd quarter. He's a transfer from Navy.

Chase Harper is a 6'5", 250 pound TE who was highly recruited coming out of JUCO. He had offers on the table from big programs (Nebraska, Miami, Michigan St., Texas A&M, Kansas St., etc.)... they were all after this kid. They like to use him on the LOS in a 3-point stance where he blocks down on the DE on power where they pull a guard into the hole. Quality athlete that has some explosion and looks fluid in space running routes and catching the football.