While they may not have made NFLDraftScout.com's preseason Top 32 seniors, I believe the following players are on the verge of a breakout season that could vault them into first-round consideration.
DE Rahim Alem, LSU: Despite starting only one game last season, Alem led the Tigers with eight sacks and earned second-team All-SEC accolades. With the Tigers losing top-five draft picks Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson over the past two seasons, Alem appears poised to take over the mantel as LSU's primary force along the defensive line. At only 6-3 and 255 pounds, Alem is a bit undersized, but he's a natural pass rusher with a penchant for making the big play in big games.
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| LeGarrette Blount has the size-speed combo to stoke scouts. (US Presswire) |
A rare combination of size (6-2, 229) and speed that has led to comparisons to former Ducks star Jonathan Stewart, Blount, who averaged 7.7 yards per carry last year, would be ranked higher if not for a suspension handed down this spring for missed conditioning and academic responsibilities.
OLB A.J. Edds, Iowa: The Big Ten annually provides NFL teams with at least one first-day linebacker prospect. The healthy return of Penn State's Sean Lee is a story to follow, but don't lose sight of Edds, the most talented linebacker prospect from the Hawkeyes since Chad Greenway.
Like Greenway, the 6-4, 245-pound Edds is athletic enough to handle coverage responsibilities, and isn't afraid to come up and hit. Edds' relatively pedestrian numbers last season (59 tackles, 4.5 for loss, 2.0 sacks) are more an indication of the respect the opposition had for him than a lack of playmaking ability on Edds' part.
Voted to the honorable mention all-Big Ten team last season, expect Edds to ascend to first-team status and high-round consideration in 2009.
DT Vince Oghobaase, Duke: A rare recruiting coup for the Duke football team, the 6-6, 302-pound Oghobaase picked the Blue Devils over the likes of Oklahoma and Miami. While he has started all 36 games during his career, Oghobaase relied on his massive frame to make plays at the line of scrimmage until last season. With the arrival of coach David Cutcliffe and an improved conditioning program, however, Oghobaase played with greater strength, technique and tenacity as a junior, finishing second to only 2009 top-10 pick B.J. Raji from Boston College in sacks among ACC defensive tackles.
An improvement on his 2008 campaign (51 tackles, six sacks) could place Oghobaase in first-round contention -- a feat no Blue Devil has met since the Giants used a supplemental first-round pick on quarterback Dave Brown in 1992.
QB Rusty Smith, Florida Atlantic: My dark horse candidate to leap to the top of the senior quarterback rankings, the strong-armed 6-5, 230-pound Smith wasn't even rated by National Football Scouting, the more popular of the two scouting services NFL teams use each year. Smith, a fourth-year starter, operates under a pro-style offense under coaching legend Howard Schnellenberger and has earned bowl MVP honors after each of the past two seasons.
The Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2007, Smith struggled early in 2008 with an injury, but led the Owls to victories in six of their final seven games. Scouts worry about his quirky, elongated release and relative lack of athleticism, but in terms of purely throwing the football, Smith deserves mentioning with the Colt McCoys and Tim Tebows of the world.
DE Willie Young, NC State: Inconsistent play kept Young out of Tom O'Brien's starting lineup for the first five games of last season despite the 6-5, 250-pounder's obvious NFL athleticism. As Young learned to play with more consistency and dependability, his playing time and production increased significantly, and he was as good as any pass rusher in the ACC over the second half of the season.
Despite limited playing time, Young led all Wolfpack defensive linemen in tackles (58), tackles for loss (12.5) and sacks (6.5). Rangy yet explosive off the snap, Young has the ability to double his sack production as a senior and vault into the first round.
Rob Rang is a Senior Analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, distributed by The Sports Xchange.
