Early Look at the 2011 NFL Draft

QB:
Jake Locker, Washington
Pat Devlin, Delaware/Penn State
Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M
Case Keenum, Houston
Christian Ponder, Florida State

RB:
DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma
Evan Royster, Penn State
Noel Devine, West Virginia
Anthony Allen, Georgia Tech
Daniel Thomas, Kansas State

FB:
Stanley Havili, USC
D.J. Williams, Arkansas (H-B/TE)
Charles Clay, Tulsa
Ryan Houston, North Carolina
Robert Hughes, Notre Dame

WR:
Terrance Toliver, LSU
Austin Pettis, Boise State
Ronald Johnson, USC
Armon Binns, Cincinnati
Leonard Hankerson, Miami U.

TE:
Lance Kendricks, Wisconsin (H-Back)
Weslye Sanders, South Carolina
Luke Stocker, Tennessee
Konrad Reuland, Stanford
Mike McNeill, Nebraska

OC:
Stefen Wisniewski, Penn State
Kristofer O'Dowd, USC
Ryan McMahon, Florida State
Colin Baxter, Arizona
Daniel Wenger, Notre Dame

OG:
Justin Boren, Ohio State
Michael Pouncey, Florida
Rodney Hudson, Florida State
John Moffitt, Wisconsin
Orlando Franklin, Miami U. (OT)

OT:
Nate Solder, Colorado
Anthony Castonzo, Boston College
Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin
Lee Ziemba, Auburn
Marcus Cannon, TCU

DE:
Greg Romeus, Pittsburgh
Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
Adrian Clayborn, Iowa
Jeremy Beal, Oklahoma
Pernell McPhee, Mississippi State

DT:
Allen Bailey, Miami U.
Marvin Austin, North Carolina
Jerrell Powe, Mississippi
Stephen Paea, Oregon State
Kendrick Ellis, Hampton U./South Carolina

ILB:
Greg Jones, Michigan State
Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina
Kelvin Sheppard, LSU
Casey Matthews, Oregon
Alex Wujciak, Maryland

OLB:
Bruce Carter, North Carolina
Von Miller, Texas A&M
Lawrence Wilson, Connecticut
Michael Morgan, USC
Chris Walker, Tennessee

CB:
Ras-I Dowling, Virginia
Kendric Burney, North Carolina
Curtis Brown, Texas
Prince Amukamara, Nebraska
Rashad Carmichael, Virginia Tech

FS:
Deunta Williams, North Carolina
Chris Culliver, South Carolina
Quinton Carter, Oklahoma
Tejay Johnson, TCU
Mark LeGree, Appalachian State

SS:
DeAndre McDaniel, Clemson
Eric Hagg, Nebraska
Jermale Hines, Ohio State
Jay Valai, Wisconsin
Shiloh Keo, Idaho

SPT:
Kai Forbath, UCLA, K
Alex Henery, Nebraska, K
Derek Epperson, Baylor, P
Chas Henry, Florida, P
Ryan Donahue, Iowa, P

NFL Combine: Monday Workout Notes

-- The largest single group, by position, were defensive linemen as a total of 66 were invited to this year's NFL Combine... Jay Hayes ran the on-field drills portion of the defensive line... he is the DL coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.

-- South Florida junior defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul impressed a number of his fellow defensive linemen as the pass rushing sensation did an unbelievable 13 consecutive back-flips following the end of their on-field workouts on Monday... remember this is a 265-pound defensive lineman... he was raw during parts of the on-field drills but he is such an exciting pass rusher that some of his technique and limited experience issues will get over-shadowed by his raw athleticism and potential... others that impressed included Ohio State junior defensive end/outside linebacker Thaddeus Gibson had a very solid all-around performance... he ran 4.7 range in the 40-yard dash... during the linebacker drills he was better in coverage than expected... so he might be Top-3 rated DE/OLB guy... TCU defensive end/outside linebacker Jerry Hughes showed better straight-line speed than expected, but a little stiff in some of linebacker drills... he looks the part of a hybrid and could likely play either RDE in 4-3 as a situational pass rusher or OLB in a 3-4 set.

-- Watching Oklahoma junior defensive tackle Gerald McCoy... he seemed a little nervous or anxious in certain portions of the workout... he scratched on his initial 3-cone drill and was very sloppy with his technique in that drill... he also stated that he interviewed with a wide variety of teams including Detroit, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Miami, Buffalo, Cleveland, Philadelphia and San Francisco... he's a little raw at times, but his penetrating, up-field style can jump out at you on game film... a few scouts said they are most excited by him as a 3-technique in a 4-3 more than when he bumps out to 5-technique in a 3-4... he drew some comparisons to Warren Sapp in terms of his personality.

-- Meanwhile, Nebraska senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh looked very fresh, confident and prepared and had his feet underneath him better during the on-field drills... he was solid across the board... love the explosiveness that comes out of his initial moves, but also showed a little better quickness and flash in terms of his pass rush and counter moves... what you get from Suh is the factor that he will also eat up space and create 1-on-1 match-ups for other defensive players in the front seven he plays on... so while McCoy might be seen as a better up-field presence you can create increased pressure by having Suh and his DT partner taking up three blockers at a time thus allowing for 1-on-1 situations for the DE's or allowing a linebacker to make the play behind the line of scrimmage.

-- The second tier of defensive tackles seemed to start taking shape as past Suh and McCoy there is a very solid core group of prospects that includes Penn State's Jared Odrick, UCLA's Brian Price, Tennessee's Dan Williams... of that group... Odrick is versatile, can play DT in 4-3 or DE in 3-4... Price has a quick first step, but did not run as well as expected and looked a little too heavy, which he likely did to impress or show scouts he could carry the added weight... Williams to me was the best of this group and there will also be a higher grade of prospects available in rounds four through seven than in the past few years... LSU's Al Woods, Arizona's Earl Mitchell, North Carolina's Cam Thomas, Georgia's Jeff Owens, Kentucky's Corey Peters and East Carolina's Linval Joseph are all guys that if they are taken in those mid-to-late rounds have the ability to become valuable interior linemen if properly rotated as rookies.

-- Remember this name... LSU senior defensive tackle Al Woods... he had 36" arms, 11" hands... hit 37" on the vertical... to put that in perspective the best vertical for all the wide receivers was 41.5" and this is a future NFL nose tackle... as of Monday morning he had done 13 interviews...

-- Interesting note that came about from this week's combine is that Arkansas defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard has a bit of a blurry spot in his vision after recovering from a childhood accident that cost him to lose some of his vision in his left eye... Sheppard was actually hit with a bow-and-arrow and surgery first saved and then corrected most of his vision problems, but he still has a slight haze which teams will consider when comparing him to others... he's expected to go mid-to-late rounds.

-- Penn State linebacker Sean Lee has drawn some comparisons to former NFL linebacker Dan Morgan. both for his size, style of play and potential, but also because of the possible durability issues... on tape Lee has shown 1st-2nd round talent, although past knee injuries have created a bit of a red-flag on him so there is general concern about how long of a career he will have and if his knees can hold-up from the stress of being an every-down middle linebacker.

-- TCU linebacker Daryl Washington proved to all that he is one of the most athletic prospects at his position, but in-spite of the talk he could be moved to inside or even middle linebacker in a 4-3 scheme there are still some evaluators that feel by putting too much responsibility on his shoulders; making the play calls or having to read more from the inside spot than just reacting to the play/ball if stationed at weak-side linebacker that it could hamper his ability to make plays... they are also not sure if he is the quickest player on the field to diagnose things and having him realigning or calling defensive audibles might not be one of his best assets.

- Information from The NFL Draft Bible and other reporters was used in this report. The NFLDraftBible.com is the preeminent source of NFL Draft Information.

2010 NFL Combine: LB Overview

List of Linebackers Invited to NFL Combine:
Outside Linebackers:
Jason Beauchamp, UNLV
Kyle Bosworth, UCLA
Navorro Bowman, Penn State
Keenan Clayton, Oklahoma
Justin Cole, San Jose State
Harry Coleman, LSU
Kavell Conner, Clemson
Rennie Curran, Georgia
AJ Edds, Iowa
Cody Grimm, Virginia Tech
Keaton Kristick, Oregon State
Simomi Lawrence, Minnesota
Sean Lee, Penn State
Samuel Maxwell, Kentucky
Eric Norwood, South Carolina
Perry Riley, LSU
Steven Sylvester, Utah
Dekoda Watson, Florida State
Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri

Inside Linebackers:
Pat Angerer, Iowa
Donald Butler, Washington
Lee Campbell, Minnesota
Jamar Chaney, Mississippi State
Phillip Dillard, Nebraska
Travis Goethel, Arizona State
Josh Hull, Penn State
Micah Johnson, Kentucky
Boris Less, Troy
Rolando McClain, Alabama
Mike McLaughlin, Boston College
Roddrick Muckelroy, Texas
Darryl Sharpton, Miami
Brandon Spikes, Florida
Nathan Triplett, Minnesota
Daryl Washington, TCU
Kion Wilson, South Florida

Juniors:
Navorro Bowman, Penn State
Rennie Curran, Georgia
Rolando McClain, Alabama

Played in Senior Bowl:
Donald Butler, Washington
Jamar Chaney, Mississippi State
Phillip Dillard, Nebraska
Roddrick Muckelroy, Texas
Darryl Sharpton, Miami
Dekoda Watson, Florida State
Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri
Daryl Washington, TCU

Played in East – West:
Mike McLaughlin, Boston College
Kavell Conner, Clemson
Jamar Chaney, Mississippi State
Kion Wilson, South Florida
Keaton Kristick, Oregon State
Lee Campbell, Minnesota
Steven Sylvester, Utah

Played in Texas vs. Nation:
Simomi Lawrence, Minnesota
Travis Goethel, Arizona State
Josh Hull, Penn State
Boris Less, Troy
Nathan Triplett, Minnesota

Storylines:
Navorro Bowman - Can Bowman show enough at the NFL Combine to make him worthy of a 1st round pick.

Justin Cole - Cole is one of the many players who fits into a 3-4 defense as an outside linebacker.

Harry Coleman - Coleman played linebacker this season for LSU, but should be a safety in the NFL.

Rennie Curran - Can Curran show that he has the speed and quickness to make up for the lack of height.

Sean Lee - Can all of Lee's medical information come out possitive.

Eric Norwood - Is Norwood a linebacker in the 4-3 or 3-4 defense?

Sean Weatherspoon - Weatherspoon had a great week at the Senior Bowl and can he follow it up with a great week at the NFL Combine?

Pat Angerer - He should run in the 4.4, which will be huge for him.

Donald Butler - Butler showed speed and athleticism at the Senior Bowl and needs to show it again at the NFL Combine.

Travis Goethel - Goethel had 10 tackles at the Texas vs. the Nation game and could help himself somemore with a good week at the combine.

Rolando McClain - McClain might be one of the best athletes at any position.

Brandon Spikes - Spikes came into the season with a 1st round grade and now has dropped, can he help his stock at the NFL Combine?

Daryl Washington - Washington is a player some people feel has jumped into the late 1st round.