23 April 2009

The NFL Draft Top Five: Risers and Fallers


As the NFL Draft approaches, there are some players who are seeing their stock rise and some that are seeing their stock fall. Here is a look at five players who are seeing their stock rise as we approach the draft and another five who are seeing their stock fall.

Risers

1. Tyson Jackson-DE/OLB-LSU-There are a lot of talk about Jackson’s ability to play the defensive end in a 4-3 position and a linebacker in the 3-4 position which makes him very valuable in any scheme.


2. Brian Robiske-WR-Ohio State-Robiske is showing scouts that he is not only a good player on the field but also a quality character guy that teams will be looking for in the draft.


3. Mark Sanchez-QB-USC-There isn’t going to be enough of Sanchez to go around as it looks like he is being targeted by several teams and could be the subject of some trading if things work out right. It will be interesting to see where he ends up when it’s all said and done.

4. Vontae Davis-CB-Illinois-Despite the rumors that he has tested positive for drugs (which have now been refuted) Davis is going to be one of the most sought after corners in the 2009 NFL Draft and could go fairly early in the first round.

5. Rashard Johnson-S-Alabama-Talk is that Johnson is a hot prospect and could be one of the steals of the draft if he goes in the third round which is where he is slated to go. But with his stock picking up, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him go in the middle of the second round.

Fallers

1. B.J. Raji-DT-Boston College-There are many questions surrounding Raji and some teams may shy away from taking him as early as first thought.

2. Alphonso Smith-CB-Wake Forest-His size is detrimental and even though he is a good player, he is a little bit slow and too small to be an every down player at the cornerback position.

3. Everette Brown-DE/OLB-Florida State-Might struggle in coverage and doesn’t have a lot of moves to rush the passer. He looks to be a project player and might not be worth a first round pick.

4. Graham Harrell-QB-Texas Tech-Harrell has looked poor in post season games and in workouts and may not even get drafted despite having such a fine career at Texas Tech.

5. William Moore-S-Missouri-Had Moore had a better senior season and not gotten hurt in the Senior Bowl he might have been taken higher. He might have slipped as far as he will go though and get picked up later in the second round of the draft.

By Bryan Dietzler

1 comment:

Max said...

Sanchez as a top riser? I'm a USC fan and don't buy it. He only played one full season, and not a great one at that. His coach even said he wasn't ready for the pros.

Plus there's a lot of talk of Beanie Wells going earlier than everyone thinks because there could be a lot of pressure on Cleveland to take the OSU grad.