We are not far at all from the Bowl Season, but lack of college game action this past Saturday made me hungry for more. So I dug into my game recording archives and unused game notes to conjure up a few more 2015 Draft prospect thumbnails for your perusal.
DAVID ANDREWS/OC/GEORGIA #61 6’2/295 … It takes more than a big heart and football smarts to play in the NFL. But having those two qualities can often overcome less than ideal athleticism and size. ANDREWS will try to prove that last sentence over the next year. HC/MARK RICHT called ANDREWS the leader of his football team when asked last Fall about the hustling, heady senior. He played as a true freshman and started full-time the last 3 seasons. He never stops hustling and does have enough quickness to get off of the ball and complete his assignments. He’s also the kind of relentless player who drives those he’s blocking crazy. Every UGA game I watched this past season featured some important blocks coming from the OC slot. I also saw a guy challenging and encouraging teammates to play harder in tight spots on the sidelines and between snaps. He’s going to have some issues against 3-4 schemes where he may be overpowered by a big NT at the next level. But in combo blocks, he’ll get the job done. He’s as pumped up and big as he can probably get, but he’ll get the most out of his body. I’m not even sure if he gets drafted, but once in an NFL training Camp and on a roster he will be hard to cut. Think of guys like SCOTT WELLS & JEFF SATURDAY.
KENNY BELL/WR/NEBRASKA #80 6’1/185 .. Let’s make it clear that KENNY BELL is not a star WR. He catches 3-4 balls per game and some of them are clutch catches for his team. He has better than average speed and decent hands. He will make some acrobatic high-point catches. But on the other hand he’ll drop some he should catch and he will miss playing time in short batches with dings and nicks some others might play with. His game in the season ending win over Iowa was pretty typical of what he has brought to the Huskers during his 4 years in Lincoln. He caught 3 balls for 53 yards and 2 TD. For those of you a bit math-challenged that’s over 17 yds per catch. In fact as a senior he averaged 17.9 yards per reception overall. He has frustrated me at times with his failure to make some plays, but usually sometime later in the game he will redeem himself. I am surprised that his name has not appeared on an All-Star game roster yet. He has enough talent and playing experience to warrant being drafted any time from Round 5 on. He could make a roster as a No. 3 or 4 NFL receiver.
TYELER DAVISON/DT/FRESNO STATE #92 6’2/309 … To say that the 2014 season was a struggle for the Bulldogs, minus DEREK CARR, would be an understatement. But the team rallied in the second half of the season and actually earned a Mountain West Championship date with Boise. DAVISON has struck me as a high motor, high energy player whenever I have watched Fresno State the past two seasons. He’s a strong player, with good quickness, but lacks bulk and I seriously doubt he will be adding any significant weight to his frame. Therefore, I am projecting his best NFL fit as a 4-3 DT. He’ll be very popular with NFL defensive coaches like ROD MARINELLI in Dallas. He can create havoc in the pocket with his quickness and tenacity. But he does understand his responsibilities and plays under control despite his high motor. In the WAC Championship game he was credited with only 2 tackles, but 1 was a Sack & the other was a TFL. On the season he had 58 total tackles, including 12.5TFL & 8 Sacks. He created 2 FF and recovered 1. I’m still waiting for this high energy guy’s name to appear on an All-Star roster. I remember S/ERIC WEDDLE being a Senior Bowl favorite a few years back because of his energy and enthusiasm, both on and off the field. I watch DAVISON play and am reminded of WEDDLE. Trying to project him into a draft slot is a bit difficult, but I suspect he will put up some solid workout numbers at the Combine and/or his Pro Day. Assuming a large number of underclassmen declarations again this January I could see DAVISON slipping into Round 4 and being quite the bargain for an NFL defense.
KURTIS DRUMMOND/S/MICHIGAN STATE #27 6’1/200DRUMMOND has been a productive player throughout his Spartan career. I show him now with 34 career starts. In watching about 7 of the MSU 2014 games I jotted his name down multiple times as a possible profile, but found I did not have many notes on his play at the end of the game. So I went back to make sure he had not regressed as a senior in his play. My analysis right now is that he is still a Top 100 prospect who cut down on his gambling and played a more controlled/refined game this past season. And yet for the season his stats were still very impressive in total. He led the Spartans in total tackles with 65, which seems low until you consider how many quality athletes had to split up those tackle opportunities for Sparty. He still managed to find his way to 4 INT for the season as well as 15 PBU. He’s consistently productive as a back-line defender in the secondary. His tackling is solid and to the delight of HC DANTONIO he can be described as assignment sure. He can come up and play effectively in-the-box, but is even more comfortable in a deep zone coverage setting. I don’t see him as a swashbuckling ball hawk but a solid all-around leader of the secondary. Mark him down as a MORGAN BURNETT type pro prospect. I am delighted to point out that he too is currently listed as a Senior Bowl participant.
ELI HAROLD/DE/LB/VIRGINIA #7 6’3/245The CAVS defense played at a high level most of the 2014 season, enough so that the team came very close to being Bowl eligible, despite a fairly anemic offense. I watched the team play 4 times and was very impressed with the individual talent on display in their defense. HAROLD was a serious force in providing pressure on opposing QB from his DE slot. On the season he recorded 54 total tackles which included 14.5TFL/7 sacks. He looks to be a flexible athlete who just may be able to make the transition to standing up as an OLB in a 3-4 NFL scheme. Indeed, they dropped HAROLD into coverage at times and he recorded an INT as well as several PBU. He has good ball awareness and pursues from sideline to sideline. He’s a hard tackler who forced 1 fumble and recovered 2 others on the season. He reminds me a bit of MELVIN INGRAM a few years back at South Carolina, in the sense that his athleticism may allow an NFL defense to move him around so that he may be more than just a long down, pass rushing threat. He’s got enough going for him to make me think he’ll have a chance to be a Friday draftee if his workout numbers look good from the Combine.
DEZMIN LEWIS/WR/CENTRAL ARKANSAS #5 6’4/210 … All-Star action is a great opportunity to more closely eyeball some of the nations top small school pro prospects. LEWIS, who is listed as attending the Senior Bowl in January, is a good example of such a player. He has a golden chance to jump up and get League-wide attention in Mobile. In the season opener CENTRAL was supposed to play patsy for TEXAS TECH, but ended up surprising the Red Raiders and only losing by a TD, at 35-42. The tall, rangy, physically impressive LEWIS was a big part of the CAU offense with 7 catches for 105 yards. LEWIS displayed good hands and excellent ball skills. He high pointed several throws and also worked the sideline effectively. He showed good, if not great, speed and the ability to screen defenders off the ball allowing him to make the catch. Like my experience with several other small school wideouts over the years, he also showed a willingness and ability to block effectively, which is an NFL must on most teams. Clearly, I have a very limited body of work to scrutinize right now, but this guy looks like the real deal. He will be a focal point for me in Mobile and looks initially to have early Saturday draft potential. Think ALSHON JEFFERY in style of play.
MARCUS PETERS/CB/WASHINGTON #21 6’0/200 … You can bet your bottom dollar that PETERS will officially declare for the 2015 Draft as soon as he can. He has been dismissed from the Huskies program for a series of scuffles with the first year coaching staff of Chris Petersen. The new boss isn’t aways the same as the old boss, but this is cause for concern for scouts. PETERS managed to make it through 8 games of the 12 game season before being sent packing. So of course this sets up the situation where his interview work with teams over the next 4-5 months will be a major factor in his Draft evaluation. On the field he looks like a solid NFL CB prospect. He has good size and appears to have the quickness and body control to play at the pro level. He looks most comfortable in press/man-cover situations, but sees the ball well and reacts in zone coverage as well. He is solid in run support, but picks his spots. In game film of him against HAWAII I saw him playing fairly deep (10-15 yards) zone coverage until he sniffed out a screen pass, at which point he “flew” up to tackle the receiver behind the line of scrimmage. PETERS also shows some potential as a zone blitzer off the edge. He’s physical with receivers, but isn’t penalty prone. He also shows good hands to fight for possession of the ball. Through his 8 games with the Huskies this past season, he had 30 tackles, 4TFL, 3 INT and 10 PD. He had 5INT during the 2013 season. I’ve seen him ranked as a potential first rounder and can’t say I totally disagree. But his off-the-field issues will raise some serious red flags, at least with some segment of the NFL personnel department community. Let’s project him right now as Round 2/3.
LYNDEN TRAIL/DE/LB/NORFOLK STATE #7 6’6/260 … The 5th year senior has been getting a reasonable amount of hype recently as a serious small-school prospect. He has already accepted an invite to play in the Senior Bowl this coming January. So I looked up some film of him in this years game with Bethune-Cookman. Quite frankly, I did not see anything to get excited about. I had to blink twice to make sure the tape was not in slow motion on some plays. He has played primarily with his hand down, and clearly that will not work for his prospects as a pro. He is very long, but also very lean. Other than a speed, outside rush he was handled repeatedly at the line of scrimmage by blockers. He looked far from enthusiastic about getting to the ball to make tackles. I would like to tell you that he’s in need of some serious pro coaching and this was an off day for him. But I can’t say either with any certainly right now. I am hoping that he opens my eyes with his work in Mobile. We can always use another talented prospect to feed the pro game. But right now I’m on record as saying I ddi not see anything against BCU to justify some of the recent buzz about him.
DEMIEN WILSON/ILB/MINNESOTA #5 6’2/240 … I have all the respect in the world for HC/JERRY KILL at Minnesota. But folks he isn’t winning there simply by confusing opponents with smoke and mirrors. He has some quality players in that program and LB/WILSON is one of those. What I don’t understand is the seeming lack of luv that WILSON and his play amongst NFL scouts. I rarely see his name on any prospect lists nor do I hear his name in conversations. Yet in watching multiple Gophers games last Fall his play was hard to miss. The first thing I noticed was that he seemed fast for his size and never stopped running. He looked like a guy who would run 5 miles chasing the ball before the game was over. Some of his hits were ferocious and he did not hesitate to stick his head into any tackling pile. He looked to be a smart player who has a feel for the flow of game. He ended the year 3rd in the Big 10 in total tackles with 111. Included were 10.5 TFL/4 sacks. He proved he could drop into short middle coverage with 1 INT & 3 PBU. He is cousin to Gophers RB DAVID COBB. He looks best suited to play on the Inside in a 3-4 NFL scheme, and looks like a natural for every Special Teams unit on his team. Clearly a Saturday draftee to me and unless he runs incredibly slowly in shorts at his Pro Day I see him in about Round 5/6. Might look good in a PACKERS uniform IMO.
