Yesterday I had Brooks Reed going 25th overall to the Seahawks in my latest mock. It got mixed reviews, but more and more people are talking about Reed as a first round pick. It was originally reported he ran a 4.68 forty yard dash at the combine with a 1.62 split. Rob Rang at CBS Sportsline quotes a 4.65 time with a 1.54 split, which was faster than Von Miller and AJ Green. Clay Matthews, who went 26th overall in 2009, ran a 1.58 split and a 4.62 forty despite weighing 8-10lbs more.
Rang also passes on information reporting that teams were satisfied with Ryan Mallett’s interviews during the combine.
Tony Pauline at TFY says it was a different story for Cam Newton, stating the Auburn star failed to impress during team interviews.
Gil Alcaraz at Yahoo pens a provocative piece on why he thinks Newton will never be a success in the NFL.
KC Joyner joins in the debate by arguing the case that Newton isn’t worthy of a first round grade.
Michael Lombardi and Steve Wyche make the case for Carolina drafting Blaine Gabbert first overall. It’s a realistic proposition.
Lombardi also has an updated top-ten mock draft.
Mel Kiper wraps up his weekly ESPN online chat. He thinks Ryan Mallett is an option for Seattle, but I’m not convinced he’ll be available at #25.
Todd McShay praises Chattanooga cornerback Buster Skrine for a solid combine work out. Skrine stood out for me, alongside fellow small school prospect Edmund Gates. Chris Carter at Fresno State is also one to watch. I’ll have a bigger look at these guys next week.
McShay and Kiper also offer their weekly draft podcast courtesy of ESPN.
Brandon Adams at 17 Power offers a second opinion on Ryan Mallett and Cam Newton.
Rob I wanted to pass along to you this tape of Hampton’s Kendrick Ellis (6-5 340) at the NFLPA All Star Game…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lqj3ehC9HA
Like Phil Taylor, this guy moves extremely well for his size and could offer depth behind Red Bryant at 5-tech as well as some rotational value at under-tackle and NT. I’ve seen mixed reviews about where he’s projected and was wondering what you thought of him.
It’s hard to judge someone based purely on their performancein an all-star game, but he did look very good, showing high effort on every play, hustling hard for a guy thats 6-5 340. pretty impressive
I know what you mean about judging a guy in an All Star Game but it can be kinda difficult to find much Hampton film.
for sure. you cant really underrate hustle though which he definetely has, if somehow jimmy smith fell to us id be completely satisfied with him and kenrick ellis in the second round somewhere?
Hustle is definitely one of Red’s strongest area’s too. Gotta love big hustle.
Thanks for the link Ben, I’ll check it out.
That’s 38 snaps if I counted correctly. Big hustle indeed.
Impressive. Gotta question the competition, but it’s pretty insane to see a guy that huge pursue the football like that. Demands a double team, that’s for sure. On that sack he looked like a giant Cortez Kennedy.
Rob,
Do you know when the compensatory picks will be announced?
Also, this is off topic, but I was reading through the archives on the old website, and I was wondering if your opinion of Russell Okung has changed after his rookie season.
Hi Dave,
I think we should know the compensatory picks by the end of the month, I’ll check on that for you. Okung really impressed me during the season and certainly performed above my expectations. I’m prepared to admit that after year one, I might have got that assesment wrong. Even so, it’s still early days in his career.
Hey Rob,
Do you know what next years draft would look like if there was a lockout and no games were played next season? How would they then determine the order of teams to pick?
It’s anyone’s guess at the moment. I can only presume that they’d either repeat the order or seperate the playoff teams and the non-playoff qualifiers and draw lots. I think we’ll have football next year it’s just whether they get a CBA sorted next week or in September.
That’s good to hear. Can I ask you why sorting of the CBA is linked to either the next week or in September? If nothing happens in the next week what changes in September?
I didn’t mean either next week or September, it was more an indication that it could happen at any time.
what changes is that football would normally start in september