Path to the Draft: 3/15 - 3/19

(Posted 4/7/10) Notes from Path to the Draft for the week of March 15-19:

* Pro days. Georgia Tech - Derrick Morgan worked at both DE positions and looked much more fluid at OLB than he did at the Combine. Should be drafted as a 4-3 DE in the mid-first round. Has a great motor. Jonathan Dwyer blamed his poor Combine performance on an injured toe. Ran in the 4.5s at pro day. Also looked better as a receiver. Note that he was an option fullback last season. Demaryius Thomas still sidelined with a broken foot; plans private workout in mid-April. Despite him NEVER working out, Mike Mayock has jumped him up to #2 on his receiver board. Averaged 25 ypc last year.

Florida - VERY mixed reviews on Tim Tebow. Mike Mayock raved, while Charles Davis, Charlie Casserly and Scott Kennedy all played his pro day down. Mayock was impressed Tebow improved his footwork, shortened up his throwing motion, tightened everything up, did all the drops. Davis called him a first rounder, then the next day, said his workout didn't affect his stock much. HUNH? Kennedy also blew off the pro day as a performance "against air" and says what's attracting teams to Tebow is his overall athleticism and work ethic. Getting round-the-clock (literally?) attention from a pro-QB coach, Tebow can improve by leaps and bounds and has every intangible you want at the position. Casserly's concerned with his decision-making and questionable accuracy. Joe Haden ran 4.41 and 4.45 and should secure a top-15 pick. Carlos Dunlap ran 4.59 and 4.69, crazy speed for a DE. Brandon Spikes ran a FIVE POINT ONE. Riley Cooper caught everything. Aaron Hernandez caught everything, ran 4.58 and 4.63, and did 30 benches. A pretty big outing - I'd now have to consider him at the top of the TE prospects, but he has off-field issues, though I have never heard anything specific.

Tennessee - Eric Berry sprained a toe and couldn't do much as a result. Montario Hardesty drilled mostly on receiving. Dan Williams drilled and should be the 3rd DT off the board unless teams are scared that he's a 1-year wonder.

Illinois - Arrelious Benn ran 4.36 and 4.42 at 218 lbs, on the same surface they run on at the Combine. Yet Mayock downgraded him for "lack of explosion".

Penn State - PTTD favorite Sean Lee ran 4.6.

California - SydQuan Thompson's proving to be a fatal combination of small and slow.

Clemson - Ricky Sapp ran in the 4.6s, looks good as a 3-4 OLB.

Maryland - Safety Terrell Skinner ran in the 4.7s on what's considered a fast surface. Don't wait by the phone draft weekend.

Rutgers - ILB Ryan D'Imperio ran in the 4.6s and also caught the ball well working out at fullback.

LSU - "Physical" safety prospect Chad Jones improved his bench to 11 reps from 8. Or, 9 behind 172-pound Dexter McCluster. RB Charles Scott ran a 4.53. 232-lb, one-cut, downhill runner.

* Team needs. Dallas at 27 - Almost all of their first round picks recently have been on defense, and their beat writer projects Earl Thomas to them. Offensive line will also be a consideration, so they mention Maurkice Pouncey and Mike Iupati, also Charles Brown because Dallas likes huge tackles. The show panel also mentions Taylor Mays because Dallas needs a playmaker, even though THEY'VE BEEN QUESTIONING MAYS' PLAYMAKING ABILITY ALL MONTH.

Big Dead at 26 - Jamie Dukes analyzes a team's needs without trying to push Michael Vick on them. Lots of needs, especially on defense. Could use Brandon Graham to replace Bert Berry and Chike Okeafor. Could use Sean Weatherspoon to replace Karlos Dansby. Could use Charles Brown at LT. Show panel also recommends Jerry Hughes.

Baltimore at 25 - Rod Woodson is tabbed to review their needs, and guess what, he says cornerback. Likes Patrick Robinson or Kyle Wilson. Believes they can get Mount Cody with their second round pick. Panel nominates Jermaine Gresham, and also, of course, Earl Thomas and Jared Odrick.

Philly at 24 - Their beat writer whiffs badly in ranking Vick as the most likely Eggle QB to be traded. Projects Everson Griffen as their pick even though they just got Darryl Tapp from Seattle. Dukes says they NEED a MLB. Good call. He speculates Weatherspoon or Sergio Kindle. And as he does for EVERY TEAM, Charles Davis recommends Earl Thomas.

* Suh vs. McCoy. Charlie Casserly convinces me he's never actually seen Ndamukong Suh play when he calls Gerald McCoy better than Suh IN EVERY CATEGORY. HUNH? Compares McCoy to Tommie Harris. COMPLETELY misses the point that Suh made more plays than McCoy in every aspect while playing as a read-and-react lineman, instead CRITICIZING that Suh was a read-and-react lineman who'll be a better player when he won't have to be that in the pros. Bucky Brooks and Charles Davis argue for Suh, with Davis likening him to Kevin Williams.

* Sleeper picks. Georgia Tech safety Morgan Burnett, a big, rangy free safety with 14 career INTS; Iowa OT Kyle Calloway, a road-grader.

* Why I hate this show. I'm pretty sure I've said this before. Mike Mayock and Charles Davis have REPEATEDLY criticized the Rams for not drafting Matt Ryan or Mark Sanchez the last two years. Even though Marc Bulger was a Pro Bowler in 2006. They should have drafted Ryan when they had a Pro Bowl QB? Even though neither Mayock nor Davis have ever peeled themselves off Chris Long's jock. Are they declaring Long a bust after just two seasons? The argument in 2008 was NEVER Long vs. Ryan, it was Long vs. Glenn Dorsey. And neither Mayock, nor Davis, nor anyone I can think of outside of Bernie Miklasz, EVER recommended the Rams draft Ryan. Or Dorsey. But now, it's all Sam Bradford, all the time. By all means. Let's jump off the idea of building from the lines out. Let's draft QBs who are only destined to get battered. Do the Rams have a foundation today from which a rookie QB can succeed? No, maybe that's why we have a DEFENSIVE-minded head coach who's trying to build a BALL CONTROL OFFENSE THAT DEPENDS ON THE RUNNING BACK.

Oh, fuck it; I know by now we're drafting Bradford anyway.

* RB talk. Jahvid Best is potentially the best RB in the draft. An explosive runner with dynamic quickness and vision. Was best runner in college before his concussion. He's getting penalized too much for that when it was much more the school wanting to play it safe with him. Ryan Matthews led the nation in rushing and had 11 100-yard games and 8 20-carry games, so don't question his durability. Not every team will consider C.J. Spiller a full-time back because he's under 200 pounds and most teams need big backs. His best asset's as an outside runner, but he's no Chris Johnson. Furthermore, 5 of his 11 career 100-yard games were in his freshman year. Why doesn't his production match his explosiveness? Dexter McCluster's smaller and slower than ideal, though he was the first SEC player to rush for 1000 and receive for 500 the same season. Casserly said he's best used as a slot receiver and gimmick player out of the backfield. Don't draft him if you don't have a special offensive plan for him.

* Sam Bradford talk. The panel called Bradford one of the most accurate QBs you're ever going to see and compared him to last year's #1 Matthew Stafford. Stafford has by far the more powerful, elite arm, but Bradford's taller, a good runner, and a little better an athlete. They'd have been 1a and 1b had they been coming out the same year. Bradford won't be a bust like Alex Smith or Brady Quinn because he (supposedly) ran a lot of different offenses, is much more accurate, went from unheralded recruit to the Heisman Trophy, and, flying in the face of all analysis I've seen and heard, was called on to read the defense a lot more than Smith and had more options on every play. In other words, he had to think more.

* Assorted wisdom. Earl Thomas is projecting now only to safety. The idea of converting him to corner is fading away. (Probably because of slow Combine times these guys never mention.) In the billionth hour of Tim Tebow discussion on this show, Mayock calls him as qualified a QB as Vince Young was, and he was a top-5 pick. He thinks Tebow will be a starter in several years because of his athletic ability. Casserly says Tebow won't beat defenses running with the ball and will have to rely on his accuracy and decision-making, both of which Casserly has doubts about. Mayock and Casserly argue whether Demaryious Thomas is a first-rounder. Mayock says yes; Casserly no. Not sure of his speed and explosion, and he didn't run much of a route tree. They then inconclusively compare Thomas to Crabtree, who had much more extensive and impressive game tape.

Path to the Draft closes the week by calling Fordham QB John Skelton as good as any of the QBs who threw at the Combine and mock the ones who didn't throw at the Combine. Of course, they've been insisting for a month that the Rams have to draft one of those guys they just got done mocking first overall.