We are actually ok AL woods was so terrible so his size didnt do much, we still have Nevis and Levingston. We also have Brockers and Downs who should be some promising Tackles. The front seven is best described as inexperienced (actually we dont have that many seniors on the team) there are some spots that have potential but lack experience and some dont have great potential but have no experience
#2. ROBERT QUINN, Defensive End - North Carolina - Junior Quinn is the kind of prospect that would go in the top 5 no matter what year he was coming out for the Draft. He's a prototype passrushing defensive end, big, fast, strong, the whole deal. The most impressive that that you'll hear about him is how he needed to have surgery as a high school senior to remove a tumor from his brain. To overcome something like that in general requires some tremendous mental and emotional strength, but to return to the field and be as dominant as ever is that much more impressive. Quinn dropped 19 tackles for loss and 11 sacks last season, dominating a number of quality tackles, namely BC's Anthony Costanzo. With the talent on that North Carolina defense, and specifically the defensive line, to stand out like Quinn does means a lot. When you talk about positives and negatives it's pretty easy to see where Quinn lies. He's a tremendous athlete with great strength and body control for a defensive end. If he gets underneath a tackle he can get by him in a flash, using his speed and his arms. You can tell that he was a two time state wrestling champ in high school, he's just so explosive with his movements. He uses his hands to keep tackles off of him, and he's intelligent enough to know when it's the best time to make his moves. He does try the upfield rush a lot, but can engage and hold the tackle when he needs to. There are two things that make him a bit different than most top prospect defensive ends that may make some teams like his potential in a 34. He's a little slow getting off the ball, which you never see when it comes to great passrushers, which is another testament to his ability once it's snapped. On the more positive side, he's both patient and relentless. He's smart enough to understand his responsibilities on misdirection/screens, but at the same time he's 100% to the wall every single play. A guy with his skills that plays with a motor like that can't not be successful. Expect him to be a top 3 pick if he plays up to his potential. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNoYxbvKxXE&feature=related[/youtube]
#1. RYAN WILLIAMS, Running Back - Virginia Tech - Sophomore I know what you're thinking. But he's a running back, how could you rank him so high when they never go top 5? But he's only a sophomore, how could you put him #1 after only one year playing college ball? But GH, how could you rank him that high when he's probably going to lose carries next year? But oh master of the draft, how could you rank him this far above the Heisman Trophy winner? The answer is simple: Ryan Williams is a stud. I pretend to know a lot about things, but one thing that I'm actually not terrible at is spotting a future All Pro RB when he's running over my favorite team. Ryan Williams is a fast, powerful running back with the makeup to become an instant Pro Bowler in the NFL. If you watch him play you'll be amazed at all the different ways he can beat a defense. Run straight at him and he'll shake you, try and stop that and he'll blow up up, let him go by you and try and grab his jersey and he'll drag you for ten yards. Williams is like a real life version of Tecmo Bo, with the stats to match, 1800 total yards and 22 touchdowns. It's so hard to do strengths and weaknesses with the top level guys because any weaknesses you could point out are so small compared to the strengths that they don't deserve to be mentioned. Luckily for Williams, he doesn't even have the small ones. is he too young? Maybe, but if he is just as dominant next season will anyone care? Probably not. The fact that Darren Evans is returning won't hurt him much, considering teams aren't going to be able to stop either of them. If Williams gets 200 carries instead of 300 he'll still have the tape, and along with that fresher legs. To top things off, why rank a back this high when they rarely reach the top 5? That's easy, and it has everything to do with the potential pick caps that could be coming with any new CBA. Teams don't want to shell out freakish bonus numbers and seven year deals to backs, but something tells me when those numbers drop you'll see a lot more backs rise. If you have any questions just look at the highlight tape below. Could he get a little bigger and catch a few more passes, sure, but one comes with the time and the other is out of his control. The kid is a natural, and I can't wait to watch he and Evans play next season (except for one particular game). [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LddTmQNu4ug[/youtube]
GH...I posted this a week ago: I hope I didn't steal your thunder. It took guts to make Williams your #1 player. I know you would agree with me Williams won't be drafted #1...probably go to a defensive player like Quinn or Dareus or maybe Green. I'm a huge Ryan Williams fan and clearly stated months ago he was the best RB in college football. I like William's vision and how he follows his blockers and then hits the opening. Incredible effort the last 2 months....this board needed a jump start.
Thanks WW. When you boil things down it was really only about 15 to 20 minutes a day, it was just a matter of finding it. As for Williams, he just has everything. I said the same thing for Quinn, it's hard to be both patient and explosive at that young of an age, and they have it. Williams can hit top speed in a step, and that's way too much for college defenses. If he hits the open field you might as well just hand him at worst 10 yards, because one player can't take him down, he'll either juke him or blow him up. I just love this guy's potential in the NFL, and it should be fun watching he and Evans destroy defenses next year. Tyrod's at his best when he doesn't have to do anything. Oh and agreed that he won't go #1, but I'm thinking there very well could be a team in the top 5 that can't pass up a offensive talent like him. If he falls past ten and we're in .500 team range, Williams could be a 1,200 yard rusher year one, easy. For the first pick, I'd agree, Quinn or Green at this point.
Williams may actually be in a 3-back system this season. Frank Beamer always uses all his backs in a game (he ran Kenny Lewis Jr all the time when Darren Evans had a monster year). This kid David Wilson is also having a great offseason and is expected to do big things for VT this year. He mostly will return kicks and punts, but he will get his fair share of carries as well. I'll be at the VT BSU game this weekend.
Great list, glad to see you're not drinking the Locker Kool-Aid. I'm wondering when the vast majority of prognosticators will realize that the lack of a 60 percent completion percentage at the collegiate level is a death warrant for anyone taken in the first round. I read an article in ESPN's draft preview that suggests they're picking up on it, but then you read their top rankings and Locker sits at the top. Projectable or not, he's going to go to the kind of team that will start him too soon and have a tough time. -X-
WOw this is a great thread. I just started a blog I hope this can contribute. building4thefuture.blogspot.com
Hey GH, I am not trying to call you out or anything just wondering....what do you think happened to Ryan Williams this year? He had a solid statistical season, but obviously not #1 overall quality..... and where would you have him ranked now?
A lot has to do with injuries, to be honest. You can watch him play this year and just tell he hasn't been right, there were only of small bits of time where I thought we actually had him at 100% (the Miami game being one of them). I think that his attitude didn't help, considering he's a very confident kid and not playing at his best would no doubt affect him. That said, he's still tremendously talented, and I'd still consider him a potential first round pick. With the rise of Mikel Leshoure I think he could end up as the third back if he goes pro, but I expect a really good team to get a really good player at the end of Rd 1. And for that matter I still think he goes, just seems like the kind of guy that wants to be on the big stage now.
