Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh (Michael Conroy/AP Photo)
With the 2010 NFL Draft still many weeks away, Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser takes a look at the NFL Scouting Combine, held in late February and early March at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis. Oehser spent four days at the combine, and in the coming days will continue a position-by-position look at the combine and the NFL Draft . . .
A lean time for a heavy position could come to an end in next month's NFL Draft.
Defensive tackle, despite long being considered a premium draft-day position, lately rarely has seen the rarefied air of the top five selections of the NFL Draft.
According to some of the most prominent draft analysts that could be changing.
With the St. Louis Rams and Detroit Lions each needing the position and holding the No. 1 and 2 selections, respectively, in the April 22-24 2010 NFL Draft, and with Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska and Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma widely considered two of the top five players available, there is a possibility defensive tackle could go 1-2 this year.
That's the projection of www.NFLDraftScout.com, and that service isn't alone.
At the recent NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Rams General Manager Billy Devaney gave no indication the Rams' preference with the No. 1 selection.
But he gave pretty clear indication his opinion of the two tackles.
"When you need players that you deem difference makers I don't think it makes any difference what position they play,” Devaney said. “We may be wrong, but we think these two kids that we're talking about are difference-makers and they impact the game. So them being defensive tackles doesn't bother us at all.
“Like I said, these two guys we think are unique players."
How unique?
Frank Cooney of NFLDraftScout.com wrote in USA Today on Thursday that the Suh is the service's No. 1-rated prospect and that McCoy is No. 3. The service has 11 defensive linemen rated as first-round prospects.
“Defensive tackles have never occupied the top two spots in a draft, but that could change this year considering the needs of the St. Louis Rams and Detroit Lions,” Cooney wrote, adding that in the past 10 drafts, only three defensive tackles – Glenn Dorsey (No. 5, Kansas City) in 2008, Dewayne Robertson (No. 4, New York Jets) in 2003) and Gerard Warren (No. 3, Cleveland, 2001) have been selected in the top five overall selections in the past 10 NFL Drafts.
Devaney said much of the next six weeks likely will be spent deciding whether quarterback or tackle is the Rams' biggest need. As pertinent a question leading to the draft is which tackle will go first, Suh or McCoy.
On that, there seems no consensus. While NFLDraftScout, Walter Football have Suh ahead of McCoy, Mel Kiper of ESPN ranks McCoy ahead of Suh.
As a result, this week is key for each prospect.
McCoy worked out at the Oklahoma Pro Day on Tuesday, with Rams Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo and Devaney in attendance.
Spagnuolo texted the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that McCoy's workout was “great, as expected.”
Suh's workout will be held Thursday.
“Suh was rated as the top defensive prospect for most of the '09 season, but in the last month McCoy and Tennessee safety Eric Berry have closed the gap,” Russell Lande of the Sporting News' War Room wrote. “Suh helped himself with a strong Combine workout and if in positional drills Thursday he answers any questions about his explosiveness and strength, he would lock down the No. 1- or No. 2-overall pick.”
And while defensive tackles haven't gone in the top three or four selections often in recent seasons, their value remains high among personnel types. Four of the six players given franchise labels entering this year's free-agency period were tackles.
That's an biproduct of a general feeling among personnel officials that the position is one of the hardest at which to find big-time, difference-making talent, a feeling Devany said makes Suh and McCoy intriguing.
“They (defensive tackles) are hard to hit on, almost like a quarterback now,” Devaney said. “When you get a defensive tackle that can impact a game like these guys we're talking about, you better grab hold of them, and you better grab hold of them early. When you get down into the second and third round, there'll be some depth there, but more often than not they come down on one side.
“They may be just kind of big, be run stoppers that you take off the field on third down. They may be undersized guys that give you some pass rush. But these guys, when you get a three-down player that can play the run and rush the passer, I think that's what makes 'em unique."
NFLDRAFTSCOUT.COM'S TOP 10 DEFENSIVE TACKLES IN 2010 NFL DRAFT
1, 1, Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, 1
2, 3, *Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma, 1
3, 24, Dan Williams, Tennessee, 1-2
4, 29, Jared Odrick, Penn State, 1-2
5, 31, *Brian Price, UCLA, 1-2
6, 46, Terrence Cody, Alabama, 2
7, 72, Tyson Alualu, California, 2-3
8, 76, Cam Thomas, North Carolina, 2-3
9, 98, Torell Troup, Central Florida, 3
10, 101, Lamarr Houston, Texas, 3
NFL SCOUTING COMBINE
THE QUARTERBACKS. HERE.
THE RUNNING BACKS. HERE
THE WIDE RECEIVERS. HERE.
THE TIGHT ENDS. HERE.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE. HERE
THE DEFENSIVE ENDS/OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS. HERE
CASSERLY: BEST DRAFT CLASS IN 30 YEARS. HERE
Comments