These are my "sleepers" for this draft, if you can call them that. Below is a list of my favorite players from this draft. I didn't inlcude any top 1st rounders, but rather mid/late round picks who are somewhat underrated. I think most of these guys will make it in the NFL... Troy Smith QB Ohio St. Rd 4 He’s just a great competitor… Lacks the size, but his athleticism and winning attitude will get him a job as a starter someday Tyler Palko QB Pittsburgh Rd 4-6 Similar story to Troy Smith… Good accuracy and competitor… Tyler Thigpen QB Coastal Carolina Rd 6-FA Has all the intangibles and the skill set… He’ll stick in the NFL somewhere. Don’t worry, I’ve never seen him play. Ronnie McGill RB North Carolina Rd 5-FA Not real fast and has some injury problems… He’ll make it as a power back and could be a late round steal… Reminds me of Cedric Houston… Dwayne Wright RB Fresno St Rd 5-7 Great player who doesn’t have great speed, but should make it the NFL Anthony Gonzalez WR Ohio St Rd 1-2 Great route runner and overall team player… He’s a Mangini-guy. He’ll make it into the first round. Laurent Robinson WR Illinois St. Rd 3-4 Good sleeper with great size and speed who should make it into Day 1. Brandon Myles WR West Virginia Rd 4-5 Played in a heavy run-oriented offense on one of College Football’s best rushing attacks with Pat White and Steve Slaton... Good size and speed and he will make it in the NFL. Great larger school sleeper! David Ball WR New Hampshire Rd 4-6 Was just ultra-productive and a hard worker…. He’ll make in the NFL because of his hands, route-running and intangibles. Chase Johnson OT Wyoming Rd 5-7 Big guy, 4 year starter, could be a 6th round steal for some team. Josh Beekman OG Boston College Rd 2-3 We know about him… If not Blalock in Round 1, than Beekman in Round 2… Dan Mozes C West Virginia Rd 4-6 Underrated? I think he is. Clifton Ryan DT Michigan St. Rd 4-6 Could make a great 3-4 DE for us… Jay Alford DT Penn St. Rd 4-5 Had 8 sacks in two consecutive seasons… I’d love this guy in the 5th IF he makes it David Patterson DT Ohio St. Rd 5-7 Seems like a solid rotational 3-4 DE for us Tim Shaw OLB Penn St. Rd 2-3 Can play DE, OLB, ILB and 3-4 OLB… Productive and could be a pick of ours in the 2nd Stephen Nicholas OLB USF Rd 3 Why am I the only one who thinks he can go 2nd round? What am I missing? Good speed, great tackling, very productive, good team player….. What’s wrong? HB Blades ILB Pittsburgh Rd 4 He’ll start for a long time in the NFL… One of my favorite players in this draft…. Mark it down Josh Wilson CB Maryland Rd 2 A dark horse late 1st rounder (Remember Fabian Washington and Ahmad Carroll?)…. Likely an early 2nd… John Talley CB Duke Rd 6-FA Underrated because he played for Duke… He could surprise in the NFL Eric Weddle CB/S Rd 1-2 Too versatile, productive and skilled to not be a late 1st/early 2nd round pick… New England? Indianapolis? John Wendling S Rd 3-4 Great smaller DI school player who could be a major steal early on Day 2 Marvin White S Rd 3-4 Underrated… I’ve heard plenty of good about him. My favorite 3 from this list: - Ronnie McGill RB - Eric Weddle S/CB - HB Blades ILB Anyone else to add to this?
From your list I think Gonzales, Nicholas, anf Weddle are the tops. Here are some other guys that will give an outstanding value where they are picked Anthony Waters is probably the biggest sleeper in this draft. Brandon Merriweather will probably go in round one and will be a huge stud. Ryan McBean Victor Abiarmi Kyle Young Walter Thomas Jacob Ford Bo Smith Ramonce Taylor Buster Davis
Sleepers Mike Walker WR Kevin Boss TE Walter Thomas NT Courtney Brown CB Marvin White S Ramonce Taylor ATH Anthony Waters ILB Nate Harris ILB
I also really like Gonzalez, Blades, and Wilson. Palko should be a decent backup QB. Ball could be a decent backup. Mozes is not big or strong enough to make it as a starter. Myles could be a nice possession receiver. He does not have great explosiveness. Nicholas would be a nice pick later in the draft to be used as a backup linebacker and special teams player. Some additional comments for you: Kevin Kolb- 2nd best quarterback in draft Troy Smith- Heisman Trophy winner; cannot play John Beck- at the very least he will be a quality backup for a decade; I tend to think he wouldn't be a good starter, but you never know Adrian Peterson- knifes and cuts through opponents like O.J. Simpson; if he stays healthy he will be a major force; running backs are very fungible and therefore I don't care about drafting them in the 1st round unless they have tremendous ability like Peterson Two RBs who have great value in rounds 3 or 4, where they will most likely be drafted: Brandon Jackson and Lorenzo Booker. Booker should be an excellent 3rd down back. Dwayne Jarrett aka J.J. Stokes: The USC Version- the problem here is he is slow and had major problems getting off the line against Chris Houston in the USC-Arkansas game. He also has an attitude problem. I don't expect great things. Anthony Gonzalez is the WR who I really like after Calvin Johnson. Gonzalez is a smart guy and he should be productive for a long time. H.B. Blades is a linebacker who may not get drafted on day 1. He will be a solid starter for somebody. He very well may develop into a tackling machine like Hardy Nickerson. Rufus Alexander is another linebacker worth drafting. Josh Wilson is going to be one of those little annoying gnatty cornerbacks. He's 5'9" and will drape receivers. Brian Leonard should be a good fullback and/or H-back. He would fit excellently with the Patriots or Jets.
