Friday, December 22, 2006

Sleepers

Here are some unfamiliar names that may surprise some people during the draft process:

QB: Jared Zabransky, Boise St-Clutch player, winner, and team leader. Underrated arm, but still not great, not a prototype QB, but he's athletic.
RB: Justise Hairston, Central Conn St-Prototypical size/speed/strength combo, former Rutgers RB, looked like a star until Ray Rice showed up.
FB: Roshon Vercher, Fresno St-For a team looking for a late round, old school, blocking type FB, Vercher is the man. Rarely misses assignments and is an excellent lead blocker. Not a bad athlete, either.
TE: Ben Patrick, Delaware-Big target with soft hands, lacks speed, but could develop into a weapon in the passing game.
WR: David Ball, New Hampshire-There is no replacement for sure hands, and Ball's are about as sure as they get. Underrated athlete, was a member of the UNH track team. (High Jump)
WR: Dorien Bryant, Purdue-Was a member of the Purdue track team, reported sub-4.4 speed, good hands, but is very small. Punt returner?
LT: Nello Faulk, Fla Atlantic-Has all the tools to be a top pass blocker (long arms, quick feet, mean streak), but now it's just a matter of adding weight/strength.
LG: George Batiste, So Miss-Big, strong mauler, started 48 games and gave up only one sack in his last 2 seasons.
C: Rueben Riley, Michigan-Has started at OG, C, and OT over his career, but projects to C/OG in the pros. Probably won't be drafted, but his versatility should get him some looks.
RG: T.J. Downing, Ohio St-A technician, does the dirty work. Not the biggest or strongest guy, but consistently held his own against some of the nations most respected DT's (see: Alan Branch, Ray McDonald)
RT: Mario Henderson, Florida St-Great frame w/long arms, never really played up to his potential, has great feet. Needs to get a bit bigger and stronger.

DE: Jay Richardson, Ohio St-He has ideal size and athleticism, really impressed in the Hula Bowl, solid pass rusher and vs. the run
DE: Brian Robison, Texas-A very hard worker, extremely tough, he leaves it all on the field, a productive overachiever.
DT: Marquay Love, Houston-Lacks ideal height (6-0), but he could be an excellent NT. Hard to move, was consistently double teamed, and still finished the season with 11 TFL.
DT: Jay Alford, Penn St-Possible 3-4 end in the pros, gets excellent penetration into the backfield, very active on the inside, solid pass rusher.
MLB: Quinton Culberson, Miss St-Former DB is very fluid in space, sure tackler, but is smallish and can be overpowered
OLB: Mickey Pimentel, Cal-Playmaker, excellent athlete. At the least, he could be a good special teamer. Lacks ideal strength.
OLB: Stephen Nicholas, USF-Has top notch instincts, excellent at working thru traffic and getting to the ball carrier. Might not test extremely well, but he's a football player.
CB: C.J. Wilson, Baylor-A playmaker, excellent ball skills, lacks pure timed speed, but plays much faster.
CB: Travarous Bain, Hampton-Former Miami recruit, a track star, very fluid, fast, needs to put on strength and weight.
SS: Leonard Peters, Hawaii-A lot of people say he's a poor man's Troy Polamalu, and that's not far off. A playmaker, does it all, but isn't very fast. If he can run under a 4.6, he could go 1st day.
FS: Daren Stone, Maine-Has prototype size/athleticism for the safety position (6-3 215, 40+"vert) Flew under the radar because he plays in Maine, but NFL Scouts have definitely taken notice.

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