Quarterbacks for the 2008 NFL Draft

The top quarterback on everybody's draft board is Louisville's Brian Brohm, with both NFL caliber receivers Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia returning, there is every reason to believe Brohm will be the first player selected in the 2008 NFL Draft. Brohm has good size at 6' 3" 223 pounds, stands tall in the pocket and delivers the ball with supreme accuracy. He has a strong arm but not a cannon, his accuracy is his forte. He has the blood line; he is the fourth Brohm to play quarterback for the Cardinals. Last season (2006) he was the Big East offensive Player of the Year and over his three year career he has thrown for 6,751 yards and 41 touchdowns with only 12 interceptions. Brohm is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. His only weakness has been his ability to stay healthy.

One of the top quarterbacks available for the 2009 NFL Draft is Brohm's back-up Hunter Cantwell. The 6' 4" 230 pound junior has a strong arm and very good mechanics. When Brohm has been injured Cantwell has came in and looked impressive, he started the last two games last year and threw for 640 yards and five touchdowns, Cantwell threw for a career high 340 yards verses Middle Tennessee.

Quarterback Matt Ryan from Boston College is my second ranked quarterback; Ryan has all the tools to succeed at the next level. Prototype size at 6' 4 222 pounds, strong arm, accuracy, production, Ryan last season threw for 2,942 and 15 touchdowns with an impressive 61.6 completion percentage. What really separates Ryan from the pack is his pocket presence and coolness under pressure. With another year of improvement and of course good health (Ryan has been injury prone) Ryan could emerge as a first round NFL Draft prospect in the 2008 NFL Draft. Ryan has been a little bit streaky however and he will have to eliminate the costly interception.

This is where it gets interesting, the next three signal caller are rated almost evenly and depending on how they play in 2007 they could either emerge as first round draft picks or slip into the second day of the 2008 NFL Draft. Colt Brennan from Hawaii, Chad Henne from Michigan and John David Booty from national contender USC, will all be in the mix for the Heisman Trophy and for a chance to be selected in the opening round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

Tennessee's Eric Ainge is another fine NFL prospect; he did suffer a knee injury during spring practice, but should be ready to go for the regular season. Ainge has played off and on since he was a freshman and has been a little inconsistent, as a sophomore he struggled a little throwing for a low 45.5 completion percentage, but as a junior the lights came on and he really excelled. He improved his completion percentage to 67%. If Ainge improves as much in his senior year as he did in his junior year we might even be watching him walk up to the podium in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Ainge definitely has the size for it at 6' 5" 224 pounds.

I would be shirking my duties if I didn't highlight the quarterback that was number one in the SEC in total offense last year (2006). Andre' Woodson from Kentucky is huge at 6' 5" 230 pounds and was number one in passing yards (3,315) and number two in passing efficiency (63%) in the SEC last season. His 31 touchdowns to only 7 interceptions are impressive indeed. Athlon Sport's first team All-SEC selection, Woodson, in 2005 set a school record completing 162 consecutive passes without an interception. Now the reality, for all his gaudy statistics Woodson doesn't have the mechanics or accuracy of the above mentioned signal callers. He will still get a chance to play in the NFL, it just won't be right away and he will more than likely be as a mid to late round NFL Draft pick.

The other quarterback that I want to mention is small school wonder Josh Johnson from Division 1AA San Diego. You will be hearing more about this kid as the 2008 NFL Draft nears, but now you can say you heard it here first. This small school prospect can really play quarterback and he should be selected in the 2008 NFL Draft. With a solid senior season he might even be a mid round draft pick. Johnson is a little thin, but he is tall enough at 6' 3" 202 pounds. He has excellent mechanics and outstanding accuracy and arm strength. Johnson put up some fantastic numbers last year and he is also dangerous when he takes off and runs the ball. Last season Johnson threw for over 3,300 yards and 34 touchdowns with a 66.3 completion percentage, he also rushed for 720 yards. The Pioneer Football League isn't the SEC so Johnson will have a tall hill to climb to make it at the next level, but he does have the raw skills to play quarterback as a professional.

Tight Ends for the 2008 NFL Draft

Image: NFL Draft Prospect Martellus Bennett

I think you would have to consider the 2007 NFL Draft a poor year for tight ends with Miami's Greg Olsen the only legitimate first rounder and even he, with his blazing speed, wasn't taken until the 31^st pick by the Chicago Bears, Olsen is just a bulked up receiver and won't be much help in the running game. Heck there were only two tight ends taken on day one with the other being Arizona State's Zach Miller, who was drafted by the Raiders with the sixth pick in the second round. That was about a full round ahead of where I though Miller would go after he ran so poorly at the NFL Scouting Combine.

That's all about to change for the 2008 NFL Draft, especially if three of the top juniors declare early. I will start off with the three talented juniors that I think have tons of NFL potential. Martellus Bennett from Texas A&M is my top ranked tight under-classmen, and if it wasn't for Notre Dames' Senior John Carlson he would probably be my top rated tight end over all. Bennett has proto-type size and speed for an NFL tight end. His size of 6' 6" 254 pounds is ideal and he has hands on par with some of the best receivers in the nation. Depending on who you talk to he is even listed as being 6' 7" tall. So I think it's safe to say he is a legitimate 6' 6". Bennett was rated by most publications as the top ranked prep tight end coming out of high school and he hasn't disappointed the Aggies. He was a key cog in the Aggie offense last year (2006) as only a sophomore finishing with 38 catches and a 13.1 yards per catch average. Bennett is also a supreme basket ball player; he played football and basketball for the Aggies in 2005-06.

Chase Coffman from Missouri is another talented junior and he comes from an NFL pedigree; his father was former NFL Pro Paul Coffman. Coffman is not quite as big as Bennett at 6' 5" 240 pounds, but he has great hands and really has a knack for finding the open spots in the zone. Coffman finished his 2006 season as the leader in receptions in the Big 12 for tight ends with 58 catches. He also hauled in a very impressive nine touchdowns, shattering the Missouri Tiger tight end touchdown record.

Last but not least is a relatively unknown NFL Draft Prospect that plays for the under rated Wisconsin Badgers. Travis Beckum doesn't have near the size as the other tight ends, he will probably be more of a pass catching tight end or H-back, but the 6' 4" 225 pounder is a talent worth watching. Beckum is still learning the position as he converted from defensive end prior to the 2006 season, but boy was he a fast learner. Towards the end of the season he hit his groove and dominated his opponents, finishing strong with 61 catches, five touchdowns and a 14.8 yards per carry average.

The other three tight ends worth mentioning are talented seniors. John Carlson from Notre Dame looks like a first round draft pick for the 2008 NFL Draft, he seems to have it all, well coached, experienced, nice size and speed and excellent production. The 6' 5" 255 pounder finished last year (2006) with 47 receptions for 634 yards and 4 TDs, he also led the team with a 13.5 yards per catch average.

Martin Rucker from Missouri will also be a forced to be reckoned with in the 2008 NFL Draft. I am not rating Rucker on the same level as the previously mentioned prospects, but the senior is talented none the less. His production has dropped off a little from 13.8 yards per catch as a freshman, to 12.1 as a sophomore, to just 9.6 as a junior in 2006. Part of the drop off might be due to the fact that he plays with his team mate Chase Coffman, who I previously mentioned as top NFL Draft Prospect. The Tigers have a pair of super talented tight ends and there are only so many balls to go around. The 6' 6" 255 pound senior still finished with 53 catches for 511 yards and 5 TDs.

The last senior tight end that I want to cover today is NC State's Anthony Hill. I am much higher on Hill than most NFL Draft analysts. I think Hill will be a sleeper this year and will make a fine professional football player. When you watch Hill on film he looks like a receiver with his speed, agility and hands, but he is 6' 5" tall and close to 280 pounds. Hill led his team in receptions last year as a junior with 45 catches and 478 yards. Unlike the other tight ends mentioned, Hill is a powerful and skillful in-line blocker and will be an every down type of tight end. Those types of tight ends are coveted in the NFL. Hill is a consensus first team All-ACC selection.

Member: Starting Point Directory

Linebackers for the 2008 NFL Draft

Image: Rey Maualuga


When you talk about linebackers for the 2008 NFL Draft it all starts with the University of Southern California (USC). I don’t ever remember three linebackers from the same school drafted in the 1st round all in the same year. That is what might happen in the 2008 NFL Draft if juniors Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga decide to forgo their senior year and enter the NFL Draft early. Two out of their three starting linebackers are on the Lombardi Award watch list.

Keith Rivers is a senior so we know he will be in the 2008 NFL Draft and with his size, speed and athleticism he will likely be a top 20 pick. Rivers is a (pre-season) Playboy All-American and already on the Lombardi Award watch list. Rivers is blazing fast with nice size (6’ 3” 235 lbs), he finished 2006 with an impressive 162 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss and one interception. Rivers seems to be in the first round of everybody’s 2008 NFL Mock Drafts.

Brian Cushing is a little different player physically; he has the size and skills to play defensive end or linebacker and will probably be a target of an NFL team that uses the 34 defense. Cushing is 6’ 4” 247 pounds; he played last year at End but will be moved back to his more natural outside linebacker position this year.

Last but not least in Rey Maualuga, he is soft spoken off the field, but plays with a nasty attitude on the field. Rey had a difficult freshman year, he was arrested for punching another student and then he had to deal with the death of his father. But as a sophomore he seemed to put all his troubles behind him, he had an outstanding year on the field recording 115 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss and two interceptions. He also was stellar in the class room earning a 3.2 grade point average. Rey is a pure inside linebacker and at a lean and mean 6’ 3” 250 pounds, he won’t have any problem holding his ground in the NFL. Rey was the John Mackey award winner as a freshman. Maualuga might even end up as the best pro out of all of them; the guy is just an animal. Maualuga is also on the Lombardi Award watch list.

Not far behind USC is Virginia Tech, with Vince Hall in the middle and Xavier Adibi on the outside, opposing offenses are going to have difficulty running the ball. Hall isn’t real tall at 6’ 0” 237 pounds but he is solid, strong and is adept at fighting through blockers and getting to the ball carrier. Adibi isn’t rated as high as he should be by NFL scouts because he is a tad small at 6’ 2” 225 pounds, but he is cat quick, good in pass coverage and comes off the corner in a hurry to get to the QB on blitzes. Virginia Tech’s defense last year allowed the least points (11) and total yards per game (219.5) in the nation and the scary thing is their defense might be even better this year as five of their front seven return and they have a shutdown corner in Brandon Flowers.

Penn State was called Linebacker U for years and it looks like that nick name will be back in 2007. Linebacker Dan Conner is the headliner, Conner will move from the weakside to the middle to replace Paul Posluszney who was selected in the 2007 NFL Draft. Everybody knows about Conner, but the linebacker that should emerge as an NFL Prospect this year is Junior Sean Lee. Lee has excellent sideline to sideline speed and is an excellent tackler. Lee came on strong towards the end of last year; he recorded 13 tackles against Wisconsin and 11 against Ohio State.

Ohio State seems to put together an excellent linebacker corps year after year and this year should be no different. The headliner is everybody’s All-American and last year’s Bronco Nagurski Trophy Award winner, middle linebacker James Laurinaitis. The Bronco Nagurski Award is given to the nation’s best defensive player and Laurinaitis won it as a sophomore. The other linebacker is a rising star, only a junior, but like Laurinaitis, started last year as a sophomore, Marcus Freeman (6’ 2” 238 lbs). Freeman received a redshirt in 2005 due to a knee injury, but fully healed he should be a force in 2007. He probably won’t leave for the NFL early but could be a name to watch for the 2009 NFL Draft.

LSU will also have a formidable group of linebackers, Ali Highsmith is the big name of the group, a little small at 6’ 0” 228 pounds, but he has safety speed and hits like, well, a linebacker. He didn’t play great in 2007 but I expect him to have a better year in 2007. Luke Sanders is the other senior, he has impressive size at 6’ 4” 235 pounds, but he is going to have to fight for a starting spot because junior Darry Beckwith is coming on strong. It is going to be hard to keep Beckwith off the field in 2007, he even outplayed Highsmith at times last year.

The sleeper linebacker corps hails from Louisville, everybody knows about super star Malik Jackson, with a solid senior season he could easily be a first round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, Jackson is a sideline to sideline tackling machine with nice size (6’2” 235 lbs), last year (2006) he recorded an impressive 16 tackles for a loss, nine sacks and three fumble recoveries. The intriguing addition to this group is redshirt junior Linebacker Willie Williams. A transfer from West Los Angeles, but he originally signed with Miami (Fl) after being labeled as one of the top players in the nation coming out of high school. He has the size and athleticism (6’ 3” 240 lbs), we just have to see if he can put it together mentally. Williams, the new comer, will have to beat out junior Lamar Miles, who is himself a very talented linebacker, but Miles is only 6’ 1” 220 lbs. so I wouldn’t count Williams out just yet.

Here are a few other senior linebackers that should her there name called early in the 2008 NFL Draft:
1. Jonathan Goff, Vanderbilt
2. Jasper Brinkley, South Carolina
3. Philip Wheeler, Georgia Tech
4. Shawn Crable, Michigan
5. Wesley Jefferson, Maryland
6. Alvin Bowen, Iowa State
7. Rory Johnson, Mississippi
8. Romeo Davis, Miami (FL)
9. Bo Ruud, Nebraska
10. J. Leman, Illinois
*Small School Stud: Bryan Smith, McNeese State