2010 DRAFT - DEFENSIVE LINEMEN RANKINGS & ANALYSIS
We move over to the defensive side of the ball now beginning with the defensive linemen. Since I'm trying to evaluate both 4-3 & 3-4 defensive fronts, I will list very position I believe these prospects can play at the next level. A player with this designation NT/DT means he would be best at nose tackle but in certain defensive schemes, he could also play a tackle spot. Many DE's are right for a 4-3 but not for a 3-4, with DT's, many can also play DE in a 3-4, so there are a bunch of combinations to be considered.
Multiple position linemen
1. Ndamakong Suh--6' 4" 307--Nebraska--NT/DT/3-4 DE/4-3 strongside DE--Basically, Suh is capable of playing every defensive line position except a 4-3 weakside DE, which is usually held down by the quickest pass rusher on the roster, attacking the QB's blindside. Suh has no holes in his game, in my opinion, he's the best overall defensive line prospect in many, many years. As good as he is in the DT role, he's just slightly better than Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy, because McCoy is & always will be, a better pass rusher. Suh has overpowering upper body strength that will be tested at the next level. He plays to the whistle on every single snap I ever saw him play. He never stops coming. He can stack-up a double-team like very few others, he can tackle ball carriers one-handed while still engaged with a blocker. He has rare instinct for draws, delays & screens. He made a lot of plays in this area. He bats a lot of passes down, very quick reactions to the thrown ball. Makes plays down the line in pursuit, great balance, almost never gets knocked off his feet & has the stamina to go play after play, regardless of down & distance. Understands how to take care of his body, comes from a family of athletes. Father was a World Cup soccer player from Cameroon, mom was a hurdler from Jamaica & his sister is a college basketball player. Graduated with a degree in construction engineering, superior work ethic in every phase of his life. Barring injury, Suh should be a perrenial Pro Bowl player. I believe he's the best overall player in this draft regardless of position.
2. Dan Wiiliams--6' 2" 327--Tennessee--NT/DT--Williams was even on the draft radar before his senior season. Plain 'ole country strong, he is tough to move when he digs in. Handles the double-team well too. Plays with good leverage, but will never be a high quality pass rusher. He can move the pocket, but he's unable to close quickly enough to be effective. In a 4-3, he's probably a 2-down player, but he is an effective run-stuffer. As a 3-4 nose tackle, he's the space-eater who engulfs both blockers & ball carriers.
Should go in the top-15 picks.
3. Jared Odrick--6' 5" 298--Penn State--DT/3-4 DE--Odrick has come on after the season. He's worked extensively on his lower body strength, which was a major flaw. Teams would run right at him & he couldn't hold his ground consistently. He's very athletic for a big man, quick with good body control, can twist thru gaps & creases to make plays. Shows excellent potential as a pass rusher, has several effective moves. Needs to stay low, when his pads get too high, he gets washed out of the play.
4. Tyson Alualu--6' 2 3/8" 295--Cal--DT/3-4 DE--Powerful hands deliver a shock & shed tacklers in an instant. Very tough, with good stamina & durability, played in 52 straight games at Cal. Exceptional work ethic, married with 2 kids, dad is a preacher. I read his combine interviews were exceptional as he has a very high football IQ. Quick & fast for a man his size, ran 4.87 at the combine. Had an excellent week of practices at the Senior Bowl & in the game itself. He displayed his penetrating ability & what an explosive tackler he is, in fact I never anyone break a tackle on him. He has shorter arms than the pros want & he could use more upper body strength. I think Alualu will continue to improve over the next 2-3 years, he hasn't reached his peak.
5. Linval Joseph--6' 4 1/2" 328--East Carolina--DT/3-4 NT--Big, wide space-eater that holds his ground as well as anyone in this group. Would have benefited from staying in school for his senior year, but when coach Skip Holtz left for South Florida, Joseph wanted out. He has overpowering upper body strength & with proper coaching, he can be even more effective. Needs to learn better hand fighting. Not a great pass rusher, but he can collapse the pocket, eliminating the QB's ability to step up in the pocket. Like most of the kids Holtz recruited at ECU, Joseph has a superior work ethic & is a solid citizen.
6. Torell Troup--6' 2 1/2" 310--Central Florida--DT/3-4 NT--The light came on for Troup his senior year, I couldn't believe the improvement I saw from '08. He's a wide-body nose tackle, pure & simple. He needs a lot of patient coaching to cure leverage & hand fighting techniques but he gives you everything he's got on every play. he needs to learn how to transfer his natural strength to football functional strength. Not real nimble, doesn't make many plays laterally, but inside his 2-gap box, he makes a bunch. Registering 108 tackles, 25 for loss, in 3 college seasons for a nose tackle, is a lot of plays.
7. Clifton Geathers--6' 7 1/2" 299--South Carolina--DT/3-4 DE--rare NFL pedigree, his father & uncle both played in the league, his brother currently plays for the Bengals. Geathers doesn't have the intensity to truly excel at the next level, he seems to be treading water. Has rare size/strength/speed combination, the guy ran 4.96 at the combine. He also has the longest arms I can remember at 37 3/4" & 11 3/4" hands, if he learns how to use them to his advantage consistently, Geathers could be an unstoppable force.
Nose Tackles
1. Terrence Cody--6'4" 349--Alabama--Strictly a nose tackle as he provides zero pass rush, 1/2 sack in his 2-year Crimson Tide career. Weighed over 400 pounds when he was recruited from Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College. Played at 370 last season & he had very little stamina, spent a lot of time on one knee watching the game from the sideline. Flabby, Pillsbury Dough Boy-like physique, someone said he won the Alabama Man-Boob competition. Was down to 349 at the combine. I agree, he needs extensive work to become more conditioned. He only put up 22 bench press reps at his pro day. When he's fresh, he can dominate, stack double-teams & wreak havoc in the middle. When he's sucking wind, he can be blocked easily. His 5.63 clocking in the 40-yard dash is indicative of his conditioning, it was the slowest time by any prospect that will be selected before round 5. A high risk selection with significant upside if he can be motivated.
2. Cam Thomas--6' 4" 330--North Carolina--Plays hard & then is invisible at times, needs someone to light a fire under him. Production wasn't what it should have been playing with talented defensive teammates & for a defensive coach in Butch Davis. When his motor is running, he is almost impossible to budge in run blocking. He can totally collapse the pocket with an impressive bull rush. He is athletic enough to split a double team & squeeze between them. He won't run anyone down from behind, but a good nose tackle stacks up everything in his area, allowing the linebackers to clean up the ball carriers. Very tough, played most of his senior season with a broken hand. Major upside.
3. Travis Ivey--6' 3 3/4" 341--Maryland--Only a 1-year starter & two major injuries in his past. Broken foot & torn MCL. This guy looks the part, super wide with big-time girth in hips & thighs. Tough to move, not a pass rusher, but he's a clogger you want on running plays.
4. Martin Tevaseu--6' 1 1/4" 329--UNLV--Very raw with brute strength, he needs a year on someone's practice squad so he can develop. Very good effort despite knowing very little about playing the position, has gotten by on natural ability basically. I've seen him throw blockers aside like rag dolls, but can he become the complete player the pros are seeking?
Defensive Tackles
1. Gerald McCoy--6' 4 1/8" 295--Oklahoma--This is a very talented player, his skills are very advanced for a junior. Superior hand placement & shock, followed immediately by a rip move that knocks blockers off balance, McCoy is a quick-twitch player, appears to be offside a lot of the time. Plays with excellent leverage. Non-stop motor, will wear his opponent down, he never stops coming. Superior work ethic & team leader. Good interior pass rusher who will only get better. Move down the line in pursuit very quickly, runs thru reach blocks, has excellent balance & head-of-the-class football intelligence. Should be a Pro Bowl performer for many years barring injury.
2. Brian Price--6' 1 1/8" 303--UCLA--Powerful upper body, quick, very agile with excellent hand placement & shock. Can blow past blockers & engulf ball carriers. Has a pretty complete game except he takes himself out of the game too often, he's not well conditioned, his stamina starts waning after 4-5 plays. Spends way too much time on the sideline. Tho he does play with decent functional strength, he needs lower body strength, gets pushed around too much & doesn't anchor well vs. the double-team. Discipline just isn't there yet, will the light ever go on for this former Bruin?
3. Lamarr Houston--6' 2 3/4" 300--Texas--Very good techniques, stays low, plays with leverage, good hand placement, excellent play diagnosis, finds the ball quickly & is a solid tackler. Never stops coming & is a great practice player. Somewhat limited both physically & athletically, but makes the most of what he has to work with, down after down.
4. Arthur Jones--6' 3 3/4" 301--Syracuse--Coming off 2 surgeries in '09, torn pectoral muscle & torn meniscus. Slow out of his stance, inconsistent effort & lack of a pass rush. Looks the part, solid, good girth & very long arms but he may never become anything more than a tease to the team that drafts him.
5. Mike Neal--6' 3" 294--Purdue--Extremely quick & has excellent upper body strength. Makes a lot of plays behind the line of scrimmage. Decent pass rush too, the problem is his motor runs white hot for 6-8 plays, then Mike puts it in neutral for a while & he just disappears at times. Muscular, chiseled physique, looks well conditioned, he's not, stamina needs to be examined. Could be a monster one-gap penetrator if he can improve his conditioning.
Defensive Ends
1. Derrick Morgan--6' 3" 266--Georgia Tech--Had an excellent junior season until the Orange Bowl when Bryan Bulaga completely dominated him. Has the frame to add 20-lbs, very long arms. He's not overly talented, his production is mainly due to a non-stop motor & his ability to play with good leverage. Not overly fast but he clocked the quickest 10-yard split of all defensive linemen at the combine, 1.60. There's a chance he will be drafted as an outside rush linebacker in a 3-4 defense. The couple of times I saw him drop, I wasn't impressed, but I do think he'd be more effective rushing the passer from a standing position.
2. Jason Pierre-Paul--6' 4 3/4" 270--South Florida--One of the most intriguing prospects in this draft. Huge upside with the potential to be a complete bust. Only a junior, he was a J.C. transfer, played but 10 games of Division I football. Huge wingspan, the frame to easily carry 10-12 additional lbs. Explosive first step & excellent tackler. Gets under offensive linemen & has a great closing burst to the QB. Needs significant upper body work, 19 reps is pretty sad for a D-lineman, had to be the combine low. Superior athlete, after the combine concluded, he did 13 consecutive back handsprings. It was amazing, but that means nothing if he can't harness that athleticism. I say again, high risk, high reward.
3. Everson Griffen--6' 3 3/8" 273--USC--Another one who could break your heart. Very talented prospect with an intermittent motor & questionable intensity. Read he gave some terrible interviews at the combine. Comes across as entitled & somewhat arrogant, his production certainly doesn't warrant arrogance. Very quick first step & has a solid punch, jarring some blockers. Good lateral movement & a secure tackler. Was dinged up with minor injuries while at USC, he missed a lot of time considering the severity of the injuries, his toughness would have to be questioned. Has a lot of physical talent, but he has significant issues that may never be resolved.
4. Carlos Dunlap--6' 5 3/4" 270--Florida--More talented than Griffen & even less production, watching this guy in games is very frustrating. He has superior physical talent, long arms, great balance, has the prototypical NFL size & stature. Quick with good balance & good closing speed rushing the QB. Concentration level is very low, techniques suffer, he gets downright lazy. Intensity is in question as is his maturity, interviewed poorly at the combine. His character comes into question as well, got a DUI the week of the SEC Championship game & was suspended. His father even trashed him in the media as being "extremely selfish." He makes a couple of big plays a game, but remains invisible for long stretches.
5. Alex Carrington--6' 5 1/4" 285--Arkansas State--Definitely looks the part, defined muscles, small waist, he's ripped. Very quick first step & then nothing happens. He has almost zero technique against the run & as a pass rusher. He will need a lot of extremely patient coaching, but the team that drafts him will be getting a well conditioned, solid frame to try to mold into a productive DE.
Multiple position linemen
1. Ndamakong Suh--6' 4" 307--Nebraska--NT/DT/3-4 DE/4-3 strongside DE--Basically, Suh is capable of playing every defensive line position except a 4-3 weakside DE, which is usually held down by the quickest pass rusher on the roster, attacking the QB's blindside. Suh has no holes in his game, in my opinion, he's the best overall defensive line prospect in many, many years. As good as he is in the DT role, he's just slightly better than Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy, because McCoy is & always will be, a better pass rusher. Suh has overpowering upper body strength that will be tested at the next level. He plays to the whistle on every single snap I ever saw him play. He never stops coming. He can stack-up a double-team like very few others, he can tackle ball carriers one-handed while still engaged with a blocker. He has rare instinct for draws, delays & screens. He made a lot of plays in this area. He bats a lot of passes down, very quick reactions to the thrown ball. Makes plays down the line in pursuit, great balance, almost never gets knocked off his feet & has the stamina to go play after play, regardless of down & distance. Understands how to take care of his body, comes from a family of athletes. Father was a World Cup soccer player from Cameroon, mom was a hurdler from Jamaica & his sister is a college basketball player. Graduated with a degree in construction engineering, superior work ethic in every phase of his life. Barring injury, Suh should be a perrenial Pro Bowl player. I believe he's the best overall player in this draft regardless of position.
2. Dan Wiiliams--6' 2" 327--Tennessee--NT/DT--Williams was even on the draft radar before his senior season. Plain 'ole country strong, he is tough to move when he digs in. Handles the double-team well too. Plays with good leverage, but will never be a high quality pass rusher. He can move the pocket, but he's unable to close quickly enough to be effective. In a 4-3, he's probably a 2-down player, but he is an effective run-stuffer. As a 3-4 nose tackle, he's the space-eater who engulfs both blockers & ball carriers.
Should go in the top-15 picks.
3. Jared Odrick--6' 5" 298--Penn State--DT/3-4 DE--Odrick has come on after the season. He's worked extensively on his lower body strength, which was a major flaw. Teams would run right at him & he couldn't hold his ground consistently. He's very athletic for a big man, quick with good body control, can twist thru gaps & creases to make plays. Shows excellent potential as a pass rusher, has several effective moves. Needs to stay low, when his pads get too high, he gets washed out of the play.
4. Tyson Alualu--6' 2 3/8" 295--Cal--DT/3-4 DE--Powerful hands deliver a shock & shed tacklers in an instant. Very tough, with good stamina & durability, played in 52 straight games at Cal. Exceptional work ethic, married with 2 kids, dad is a preacher. I read his combine interviews were exceptional as he has a very high football IQ. Quick & fast for a man his size, ran 4.87 at the combine. Had an excellent week of practices at the Senior Bowl & in the game itself. He displayed his penetrating ability & what an explosive tackler he is, in fact I never anyone break a tackle on him. He has shorter arms than the pros want & he could use more upper body strength. I think Alualu will continue to improve over the next 2-3 years, he hasn't reached his peak.
5. Linval Joseph--6' 4 1/2" 328--East Carolina--DT/3-4 NT--Big, wide space-eater that holds his ground as well as anyone in this group. Would have benefited from staying in school for his senior year, but when coach Skip Holtz left for South Florida, Joseph wanted out. He has overpowering upper body strength & with proper coaching, he can be even more effective. Needs to learn better hand fighting. Not a great pass rusher, but he can collapse the pocket, eliminating the QB's ability to step up in the pocket. Like most of the kids Holtz recruited at ECU, Joseph has a superior work ethic & is a solid citizen.
6. Torell Troup--6' 2 1/2" 310--Central Florida--DT/3-4 NT--The light came on for Troup his senior year, I couldn't believe the improvement I saw from '08. He's a wide-body nose tackle, pure & simple. He needs a lot of patient coaching to cure leverage & hand fighting techniques but he gives you everything he's got on every play. he needs to learn how to transfer his natural strength to football functional strength. Not real nimble, doesn't make many plays laterally, but inside his 2-gap box, he makes a bunch. Registering 108 tackles, 25 for loss, in 3 college seasons for a nose tackle, is a lot of plays.
7. Clifton Geathers--6' 7 1/2" 299--South Carolina--DT/3-4 DE--rare NFL pedigree, his father & uncle both played in the league, his brother currently plays for the Bengals. Geathers doesn't have the intensity to truly excel at the next level, he seems to be treading water. Has rare size/strength/speed combination, the guy ran 4.96 at the combine. He also has the longest arms I can remember at 37 3/4" & 11 3/4" hands, if he learns how to use them to his advantage consistently, Geathers could be an unstoppable force.
Nose Tackles
1. Terrence Cody--6'4" 349--Alabama--Strictly a nose tackle as he provides zero pass rush, 1/2 sack in his 2-year Crimson Tide career. Weighed over 400 pounds when he was recruited from Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College. Played at 370 last season & he had very little stamina, spent a lot of time on one knee watching the game from the sideline. Flabby, Pillsbury Dough Boy-like physique, someone said he won the Alabama Man-Boob competition. Was down to 349 at the combine. I agree, he needs extensive work to become more conditioned. He only put up 22 bench press reps at his pro day. When he's fresh, he can dominate, stack double-teams & wreak havoc in the middle. When he's sucking wind, he can be blocked easily. His 5.63 clocking in the 40-yard dash is indicative of his conditioning, it was the slowest time by any prospect that will be selected before round 5. A high risk selection with significant upside if he can be motivated.
2. Cam Thomas--6' 4" 330--North Carolina--Plays hard & then is invisible at times, needs someone to light a fire under him. Production wasn't what it should have been playing with talented defensive teammates & for a defensive coach in Butch Davis. When his motor is running, he is almost impossible to budge in run blocking. He can totally collapse the pocket with an impressive bull rush. He is athletic enough to split a double team & squeeze between them. He won't run anyone down from behind, but a good nose tackle stacks up everything in his area, allowing the linebackers to clean up the ball carriers. Very tough, played most of his senior season with a broken hand. Major upside.
3. Travis Ivey--6' 3 3/4" 341--Maryland--Only a 1-year starter & two major injuries in his past. Broken foot & torn MCL. This guy looks the part, super wide with big-time girth in hips & thighs. Tough to move, not a pass rusher, but he's a clogger you want on running plays.
4. Martin Tevaseu--6' 1 1/4" 329--UNLV--Very raw with brute strength, he needs a year on someone's practice squad so he can develop. Very good effort despite knowing very little about playing the position, has gotten by on natural ability basically. I've seen him throw blockers aside like rag dolls, but can he become the complete player the pros are seeking?
Defensive Tackles
1. Gerald McCoy--6' 4 1/8" 295--Oklahoma--This is a very talented player, his skills are very advanced for a junior. Superior hand placement & shock, followed immediately by a rip move that knocks blockers off balance, McCoy is a quick-twitch player, appears to be offside a lot of the time. Plays with excellent leverage. Non-stop motor, will wear his opponent down, he never stops coming. Superior work ethic & team leader. Good interior pass rusher who will only get better. Move down the line in pursuit very quickly, runs thru reach blocks, has excellent balance & head-of-the-class football intelligence. Should be a Pro Bowl performer for many years barring injury.
2. Brian Price--6' 1 1/8" 303--UCLA--Powerful upper body, quick, very agile with excellent hand placement & shock. Can blow past blockers & engulf ball carriers. Has a pretty complete game except he takes himself out of the game too often, he's not well conditioned, his stamina starts waning after 4-5 plays. Spends way too much time on the sideline. Tho he does play with decent functional strength, he needs lower body strength, gets pushed around too much & doesn't anchor well vs. the double-team. Discipline just isn't there yet, will the light ever go on for this former Bruin?
3. Lamarr Houston--6' 2 3/4" 300--Texas--Very good techniques, stays low, plays with leverage, good hand placement, excellent play diagnosis, finds the ball quickly & is a solid tackler. Never stops coming & is a great practice player. Somewhat limited both physically & athletically, but makes the most of what he has to work with, down after down.
4. Arthur Jones--6' 3 3/4" 301--Syracuse--Coming off 2 surgeries in '09, torn pectoral muscle & torn meniscus. Slow out of his stance, inconsistent effort & lack of a pass rush. Looks the part, solid, good girth & very long arms but he may never become anything more than a tease to the team that drafts him.
5. Mike Neal--6' 3" 294--Purdue--Extremely quick & has excellent upper body strength. Makes a lot of plays behind the line of scrimmage. Decent pass rush too, the problem is his motor runs white hot for 6-8 plays, then Mike puts it in neutral for a while & he just disappears at times. Muscular, chiseled physique, looks well conditioned, he's not, stamina needs to be examined. Could be a monster one-gap penetrator if he can improve his conditioning.
Defensive Ends
1. Derrick Morgan--6' 3" 266--Georgia Tech--Had an excellent junior season until the Orange Bowl when Bryan Bulaga completely dominated him. Has the frame to add 20-lbs, very long arms. He's not overly talented, his production is mainly due to a non-stop motor & his ability to play with good leverage. Not overly fast but he clocked the quickest 10-yard split of all defensive linemen at the combine, 1.60. There's a chance he will be drafted as an outside rush linebacker in a 3-4 defense. The couple of times I saw him drop, I wasn't impressed, but I do think he'd be more effective rushing the passer from a standing position.
2. Jason Pierre-Paul--6' 4 3/4" 270--South Florida--One of the most intriguing prospects in this draft. Huge upside with the potential to be a complete bust. Only a junior, he was a J.C. transfer, played but 10 games of Division I football. Huge wingspan, the frame to easily carry 10-12 additional lbs. Explosive first step & excellent tackler. Gets under offensive linemen & has a great closing burst to the QB. Needs significant upper body work, 19 reps is pretty sad for a D-lineman, had to be the combine low. Superior athlete, after the combine concluded, he did 13 consecutive back handsprings. It was amazing, but that means nothing if he can't harness that athleticism. I say again, high risk, high reward.
3. Everson Griffen--6' 3 3/8" 273--USC--Another one who could break your heart. Very talented prospect with an intermittent motor & questionable intensity. Read he gave some terrible interviews at the combine. Comes across as entitled & somewhat arrogant, his production certainly doesn't warrant arrogance. Very quick first step & has a solid punch, jarring some blockers. Good lateral movement & a secure tackler. Was dinged up with minor injuries while at USC, he missed a lot of time considering the severity of the injuries, his toughness would have to be questioned. Has a lot of physical talent, but he has significant issues that may never be resolved.
4. Carlos Dunlap--6' 5 3/4" 270--Florida--More talented than Griffen & even less production, watching this guy in games is very frustrating. He has superior physical talent, long arms, great balance, has the prototypical NFL size & stature. Quick with good balance & good closing speed rushing the QB. Concentration level is very low, techniques suffer, he gets downright lazy. Intensity is in question as is his maturity, interviewed poorly at the combine. His character comes into question as well, got a DUI the week of the SEC Championship game & was suspended. His father even trashed him in the media as being "extremely selfish." He makes a couple of big plays a game, but remains invisible for long stretches.
5. Alex Carrington--6' 5 1/4" 285--Arkansas State--Definitely looks the part, defined muscles, small waist, he's ripped. Very quick first step & then nothing happens. He has almost zero technique against the run & as a pass rusher. He will need a lot of extremely patient coaching, but the team that drafts him will be getting a well conditioned, solid frame to try to mold into a productive DE.
Comments