Todd McShay and Kevin Wiedl from Scouts Inc take a look at some of the names to watch out for during the 2011 college season. They speak very highly of Andrew Luck (QB, Stanford). I need to be convinced, he relied a lot on Toby Gerhart last year.
McShay also posts a list of his top defensive prospects. Adrian Clayborn (DE, Iowa) is rightly at the top. Clayborn has a great combination of size and speed and could dominate for the Hawkeye's next year.
Rob Rang posts a full first round mock draft using only senior prospects. He has Jake Locker going first overall to Buffalo. The Seahawks are taking Greg Romeus (DE, Pittsburgh) in the top ten picks.
Matt McGuire also posts a 2011 projection. He has Robert Quinn (DE, UNC) going first overall to St. Louis. The Seahawks select A.J. Green (WR, Georgia) again in the top ten. McGuire: "Seattle needs to get younger and more talented at receiver."
Walter Cherepinsky has Green going first overall, so Seattle are pinned to take Ryan Mallett (QB, Arkansas). Cherepinsky: "The dream scenario for the Seahawks would be for hometown hero Jake Locker to stay in the Pacific Northwest."
Pete Prisco posts his top 32 prospects for 2011. It's interesting to note that Prisco's #1 prospect last year and tip to go first overall was Jevan Snead. The Ole Miss quarterback was an UDFA in this year's draft. It goes to show how inaccurate a lot of premature 2011 talk could be.
Tony Pauline also lists his top prospects to keep an eye on. Unlike a lot of 2011 previews, Pauline says Robert Quinn is #1 at the moment: "Quinn comes from the Julius Peppers mold and is a sensational defender who constantly makes plays behind the line of scrimmage."
11 comments:
Rob, I'd be interested in your thoughts about the Carroll/Schneider draft philosophy now that their first draft is behind him. Ruskell was a known commodity with a well-understood profile (preference for the SEC, four-year starters, leaders, performance over measurables). Leading up to the draft we weren't so sure what this front office would be looking for. Any preliminary observations based on this past draft class? Thanks
I'm not sure we'll ever truly have the ability to call someone a 'Carroll/Schneider' guy. Ruskell was far too restrictive in his drafting and became predictable. You knew he wouldn't draft the guy who's character wasn't perfect. You knew in round one it'd be the low risk senior from a big school. What we've seen with Carroll is no door is locked. They've taken the high character senior from a big school (Okung)... we've seen the underclassmen high on potential (Thomas). We've seen the guy with the off-field issues drafted (McCoy). What we've learnt is that this team will put talent above anything else.
I will add though - we have very defined ideas on scheme. We know this is a ZBS line, so we can look at specific players there. We can expect smaller, faster defensive line for the most part. We can look at big receivers who can get downfield. That will help.
It's my thought that guys who love football were a priority. Every year at least a few comments in passing about this or that GM that are looking for guys that are dedicated and love football. I think that's one of the criteria the front office used this year. From LenDale to McCoy my very limited research seems to put these guys over other in this area.
We watched Luck a good number of times this year since my wife's a Stanford grad. Gerhart certainly helped Luck; if you have a RB like that it's easy to sell play action. He'll continue to get help too. You wouldn't know because of Gerhart, but RB was about as deep as any position for Stanford last year, and I don't think the dropoff next year will necessarily be huge (keep your eye on Taylor and Gaffney).
My thoughts on Luck were that he could look great at times, where he seemed to be very accurate and a solid decision-maker for a first year starter, and then there were games where he looked completely out of sync, missing on everything. Most notably, that happened against Cal, when Stanford's offensive line got dominated and Luck was scrambling far more than in any other game.
Most of these early mock drafts are based upon players' physical look and flashes of dominance in one or two games, and then projections that if they can do that every game, then they're 1st rounders. Sometimes that happens, and as often it doesn't, this year with Dunlap, Griffen, Selvie, Al Woods, Jeff Owens, and Geno Atkins, all of whom I've seen projected as future first rounders at some point in the last couple years.
Anyway, Luck has shown the flashes, but he's only going into his redshirt sophomore year too, so there's a long way to go. I don't think he'll even be in the draft next year. It's unusual for Stanford guys to leave before getting their degrees.
Great post Akki. I think for Luck to even declare he'd have to enjoy an exceptional year in 2010. I don't see him having that exceptional year. He'll also know that it's a relatively deep QB class. If the Mallett's/Locker's/Ponder's/Johnson's etc perform as expected, he'll know it's in his interests to stick around for another year.
The premature mock drafts are fun to look at now, and from most everyone well thought out. Pete Prisco just has no business writing about football.
Hey Rob,
Do you think Walter Jones will be still apart of the Seahawks franchise in some capacity after he announces his retirement this week. I've heard that he's sort of shy, so I don't think announcing would fit him and I'm not sure if theres a coaching job out there for him. Obviously we have Gibbs, but it wouldnt hurt to bring Jones in to mentor some of the rookies.
What do you think?
I doubt Walter Jones sticks around as an assistant/mentor. Maybe if Alabama was closer to Washington.
I'll be surprised if Walter sticks around. I'm sure he'll pass on his phone number to Okung and will be there for any advice if needed. He's not likely to go into coaching though.
Hi Rob,
One of the positions the Seahawks will need to fill in the 2011 draft will be RB. All of the Seahawk RB's are average at best. Why is Mark Ingram, the no. 1 rated RB, being shown in he mock drafts as a mid to low round pick? I thought he wwould be a top 5 pick. Would Seattle select him?
Post a Comment