ESPN conducted a media conference call Monday, Dec. 21 with ESPN Scouts Inc. Director of College Football Scouting Todd McShay, who offered early insights on 2010 NFL Draft prospects.
On the strength of the 2010 NFL Draft class …
“The defensive line is a very strong group. You can see upwards of 10 or 11 defensive lineman go in the first round. Recently in the first mock draft … four of the top six players off the board were defensive lineman to give you a sense of how strong it is. I think it’s going to be a defense oriented group overall.”
On big early surprises among 2010 Draft-eligible players …
“Donovan Warren (Michigan cornerback), while not surprising, that’s the one so far. There has not been a lot obviously because we’re still early, but (he’s) the one underclassman I’m a little disappointed in for deciding to come out.
“Jake Locker, I was a little surprised to be honest. I know there are reports out there now that he didn’t get a first round grade from the advisory committee. First off all, the advisory committee has been off a round or two consistently. Secondly, the advisory committee tends to lean – and should for the safety of the players – lean towards the conservative. They’re always going to give a half-round to a round lower than where the player projects to go, so they don’t encourage a player to leave early should something go wrong. I think Jake Locker would have been a top five pick and I was bit surprised by that fact that he’s going back to school. I said it 10 times, I do think it was a good move for him if he wasn’t 100 percent ready. He didn’t believe he’s at the point right now in his career and development to go in the NFL. I think going back and playing another year under Steve Sarkisian, his head coach, who’s only been with him for one year and we’ve seen all this improvement, in terms of tempo and mechanics, I think it will be good for him.
“With Locker out, it will be interesting now to see how the quarterback position shakes out. You have Sam Bradford coming off the injury who is very talented and certainly from a skills standpoint and potential standpoint belongs in the top 10 to 15 picks. Then Jimmy Clausen from Notre Dame, who I’m not as high on as some other people seem to be. I think he’s well-coached and has enough physical tools but I don’t think he’s exceptional physically. I think his arm strength is just adequate. I think he’s thrown a lot of balls up for grabs and he’s not going to get away with that in the NFL. And from everyone I talk to in the scouting community, there are questions about his leadership and how good of a teammate he is and do you want him to be the face of your organization. I think its going to be very interesting watching the quarterback position with those two as the first-rounders. Then, where does Tim Tebow go and where does Colt McCoy go? Two of the most decorated college football players in the history of the game. With those four quarterbacks at the top, there’s going to be a lot of buzz about the position, but we may only have one that goes in the first half in the first round which makes it even more interesting.”
On a surprise player who has moved up his Draft board this year …
“The one player that has come out of nowhere – only because he was a first-year player — and that is Jason Pierre-Paul from South Florida. He’s a very disruptive player. He didn’t have the production down the stretch I would have liked to see him finish with, but a year ago, he wasn’t playing at South Florida. He was at a smaller school level. He transfers in and is able to make a huge impact. With George Selvie being the name of that defensive front, he outplayed Selvie leaps and bounds and (was) better than him week in and week out. I think Jason Pierre-Paul has a chance to be a first round pick as a result, maybe worst case, early second round whereas last year nobody knew about him.”
On Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh being a lock for one of the top three picks …
“If everything goes according to plan between now and then, I’d have a hard, hard time seeing him fall out of the top three or five. He’s such a unique player and versatility you can get with him, in terms of playing him at defensive end, defensive tackle, 3-4, 4-3 scheme. He’s not a great pass-rusher right now. I think he can improve in that area with some better technique in terms of getting off blocks and adding an array of moves. He’s as strong as I can remember watching a college player in terms of his upper body with the way he controls blockers. The second part is instincts. I can’t remember evaluating a defensive tackle with the kind of instincts that you see out of Suh — the interceptions, forced fumbles, the fumble recoveries, always around the ball. He’s flat out dominant. I’ve got him No. 2 now, including all the underclassmen, and I think he’s got a real strong chance going No. 1 overall depending on the team that’s picking at that No. 1 spot.”
On Tim Tebow — how much he will have to adjust his game and are teams’ minds made up about him …
“I think we pretty much know as much as there is to know about a player in regards to Tim Tebow. I’ll be surprised if workouts and All-Star games change teams’ opinions. I think the one thing that will help Tim Tebow the most is sitting down in those interview rooms. All it takes is one team and one decision-maker to fall in love with him and take him a half a round or full round higher than he should go. … Bottom line is this, when you draft Tebow, you have to do so with a couple things in mind. You have to know that you have the right QB in place currently in the NFL to handle it because it will be a PR bonanza. Everyone is going to want to know when he’s playing and what he’s doing. When you bring him in, you have to get something out of him right away. If that’s short yardage and goal line situations where you start to incorporate a wildcat package or whatever you want to call it. The long term part of it is, can he develop and become anything more than that? I think first you have to try to work him out at quarterback. You have to get his release quicker and his mechanics better and try to develop him in a five-year plan to potentially becoming your starting quarterback. If that’s not working, you have to scrap that and move him to H-back position a few years down the road. There are several different levels to this and you have to work your way through all of them and make sure you have the right situation. … I think there will be plenty of teams that will look at it and say, if he’s still on the board at pick 35, 40, 45, wherever that is, they’ll go ahead and take him. I think he’ll probably be over-drafted for what you’ll get out of him for several years and maybe what you’ll get out of him for his entire career … After seeing Pat White go right around 50 last year, I think Tebow will come off the board right around that range or maybe earlier.”
On his impressions of the offensive tackle position…
“It’s shaping up to be a good group when you look at a couple of these underclassmen that have already said they are coming out, or we’re hearing reports that they’re leaning that way. Russell Okung from Oklahoma State is not at that exceptional level like Jake Long out of Michigan a couple years ago, but I do think he’s in the first half of the first round type prospect. … Trent Williams from Oklahoma is the same. Williams struggled this year, but he also made the shift from right tackle to left tackle. When you look at him just physically he had the tools and he was so dominant at right tackle a year ago… I think both of those seniors will be in the first half of the first round. I think one of the most talented tackles in the country is Anthony Davis from Rutgers. He comes with a little bit of baggage, but from a skills standpoint he’s 6’5”, 325 pounds and he can move. If teams clear him and have no concerns about his maturity and the way he’s going to handle the NFL — if you just look at it from a pure talent standpoint — I think Davis has a chance to be the first offensive tackle taken, in the top five to 10 picks.”
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