The Most Underrated Prospects In The 2011 NFL Draft

Here is my final NFL Draft related piece before it actually starts. These are the most underrated player at each position. By publishing this list, it absolutely ensures that the Bears will not draft a single player on this list. The Packers will probably draft six. God, I hate the Packers.

QB - Greg McElroy - Alabama - I have already talked about McElroy, but I would just like to reiterate that I think he will provide great value for the team that drafts him.

RB - Dion Lewis - Pittsburgh - After the first three backs, it's a complete crapshoot on who will be drafted where. Running back is a position that has a lot to do with having the opportunity to succeed as well. I don't feel especially strong about this one, but Lewis is a guy to watch. He had a fantastic 2009 and a disappointing 2010. I don't know if he'll be a feature back, but he should be a good number two to have around.

FB - Brett Morse - Iowa - Because Brett Morse is awesome. Duh. In all seriousness though, there's a reason Iowa's running game has been very good these last few years despite varying talents of the offensive line and actual running backs, and Morse is a big reason why.

WR - Jeff Maehl - Oregon - The man that takes the title of most underrated player in the entire draft. Did anybody watch Oregon this year? Anytime they needed a play from the passing game, they looked to Maehl who was ALWAYS open. His measurables weren't impressive, and people complained that his body looked soft for a receiver. I don't see why any of this is important, because all this guy does is get open and make catches. That should count for something, right? I will be shocked if he is not successful in the NFL.

OT - I don't have any strong feelings about anyone who is greatly underrated at this position.

OG - Stephen Schilling - Michigan - Michigan's offense was very good, and as valuable as Denard Robinson was, he still needs people to block for him to have a chance to get in the open field. Schilling was a very good interior lineman for them, but he was forgotten because of people getting "Denarded" and the fact that he plays offensive guard.

C - Stefen Wisniewski - Penn State - This may be cheating, because National Football Post is high on him, but most places aren't. He was a great lineman at Penn State, and I just don't see a way that this guy fails to be a good player in the NFL.

DE - Greg Romeus - Pittsburgh - I don't know how I managed two Pittsburgh guys on this list, because I don't even like Pittsburgh, but here they are again. Romeus was hurt this past year, but many saw him as a potential first round pick going into the year. The fact that you might be able to get him in the fourth round would provide excellent upside, but definitely with some risk involved.

DT - Drake Nevis - LSU - Remember good Tommie Harris? That's what this guy can be. If he falls to the end of the second round and the Bears actually take him, this may be the first draft ever where I don't end up feeling sick afterwards.

OLB - Mark Herzlich - Boston College - This is partially for him overcoming cancer to play this past year. But before he had to overcome cancer, he was seen as a first round pick. Last year, he was still in recovery mode. I'm no doctor, so I can't say he'll ever be as good as he once showed, but I think it's a good risk to take in the middle rounds.

ILB - Greg Jones - Michigan State - All this guy did was dominate at the college level and carry the Spartan defense. He's not going to be great in coverage, but he also won't be a total liability. This guy is a football player, and I think that has been getting overlooked when evaluating him.

CB - Kendric Burney - North Carolina - His measurables are all terrible, but he has great instincts, and I think he has the ability to be a valuable nickel corner early in his career.

S - David Sims - Iowa State - Iowa State's defense was awful, but this guy always seemed to be around the ball. Had he played with talent around him, he's at least a third round pick. Instead, he appears headed towards the end of the draft if drafted at all, but I think this guy can be a solid starter in the NFL.

P - Ryan Donahue - Yes, he's listed as most people's top Punter, but I have not seen him on anybody's Top-25 available list, and that is a shame. Plus, I had to put him on this list, because I really didn't want to end it on an Iowa State guy.

And I believe this will be my last post about the NFL Draft before the NFL Draft. But stay tuned, as there is a good chance I live draft for the Bears picks so you can see who the Bears should have drafted.

-Joe

P.S. Brian McRae recently received his third DUI. This is sad for the obvious reason, but also because he is one of the few celebrities whose number I have in my phone. We once partied at a place called The Daiquiri Factory (I wish I was joking). He's an extremely friendly guy; he just must love driving drunk. Nothing wrong with that...well except for the driving drunk part.

Friday Football Thoughts

Alright, I've got a whole lot of football thoughts, but before I get into that, just one quick basketball comment.  There is no matchup I am more excited about than Bulls vs. Wizards.  John Wall is going to be extremely inconsistent this year, but I don't think there's any way that he puts on a boring game.  Plus, putting him against Derrick Rose who has really taken his game to the next level this year makes it a must-see matchup.  And holy crap, I'm an idiot, since I wrote this entire thing before looking at the schedule.  Turns out, the Bulls play the Wizards tomorrow night, and it's on WGN meaning that just about anybody with cable will be able to watch this game.  So watch this game.

Now onto football, first up, Northwestern notes (these will not be written nearly as well as a NW graduate would write them):

Dan Persa is Northwestern's entire offense.  Persa’s a crafty little dude in the way he can slip out of tackles, but Iowa almost always does a good job of form tackling, so as long as they play smart, this shouldn't be an issue.  Persa also seems to have a lot of confidence in himself, as he is willing to try to fit a ball in a tight space.  This would seem to be bad, because teams have had an easy time fitting the ball in space against Iowa this year since our linebackers have taken a big step back in coverage ability.  But word has it that Tarpinian is 100% this week, and he's going to start in Nielsen's place, so it will be very beneficial to have our best coverage linebacker out there for this game.

The good news is that we don't really have to worry about Northwestern's running backs, because they're terrible.  The bad news is the Hawkeyes have pretty much shut down every team's running backs outside of the Wisconsin game.  Still, I'd like to see a lot of stunts from the defensive line, because I don't think we should be worried about getting burned by their running game.  It's not going to be easy, because Northwestern's pass protection is much better than their run blocking.

On offense, the Hawkeyes should be able to run the ball since Northwestern is weak up front, and as long as they pound the ball between the tackles and don’t try much to the outside, they should be in good shape. NW does a good job of stretching out plays and delaying the upfield cut on outside runs.

Northwestern also has the least exciting defense I have ever seen. No unit is awful, but nothing stands out. They have decent speed among the front seven; that’s it. Their line isn’t that good, their linebackers aren’t that good, and their secondary isn’t that good. They don’t look great against the run; they don’t look great against the pass. They don’t beat themselves, so they really depend on opponent mistakes.  It’s a lot like Iowa in the way that you just need to find holes in their zone to exploit, except Iowa has talent.

Another good thing is that our offensive line should look like All-Americans in pass protection against them.

Finally, Pat Fitzgerald has an American flag on his headset; that’s bullshit.  There's nothing less American than Northwestern.

Now, onto the larger scheme of things as here are the other things I learned from the games I watched last week.

Joining Andrew Luck in the players that Joe has a total mancrush on is Patrick Peterson, cornerback for LSU. He's not quite on the level of love I have for Luck, but he's pretty close.  Here are the things I noticed from his game against Alabama. 
Patrick Peterson is a ridiculous athlete, as he is big, fast, makes quick adjustments, and always does a great job of finding the ball in coverage.
He showed really good tackling ability for a cornerback.  
Deep ball to Maze that was nearly completed (ended up overturned)made Peterson look bad at first. It was a pretty well thrown ball with a good adjustment from Maze. Peterson ran into him, because the receiver adjusted to the inside and Peterson was looking back for the ball.  If the ball had been thrown a little better, it would have been interesting to see if Peterson had the closing ability to break up the pass. 
Peterson did mess up on his coverage against Julio Jones near the end of the game when Jones caught a touchdown on the slant. He let him get inside of him. McElroy threw a good ball, and he wasn’t able to use his quickness to close in time. Too passive when you’re that close to the goal line.  It was a mistake, and Jones really played an excellent game in this one. 
The most impressive thing may have been that Alabama threw to Julio Jones pretty much anytime that he was not covered by Peterson.

I didn't focus on the line play too much, but it is tough not to notice what a presence Drake Nevis is at Defensive Tackle for LSU.   He made Alabama's line look foolish when he immediately busted through the middle and stripped Greg McElroy of the ball.

On offense for Alabama, Mark Ingram didn't have a great game, but there were definitely things that I liked. He has really good acceleration as he gets to his top speed very quickly. He makes some clean cuts to help him avoid defenders, and he always keeps his legs driving which is something I always like to see in a running back.

And since I feel like getting struck down by American Jesus, here is some blasphemy regarding Alabama QB Greg McElroy.
I would rate McElroy slightly higher than Ricky Stanzi now for the NFL Draft.  I liked his pocket awareness more than Stanzi's, who can sometimes freeze up and just get swallowed up by a rush that is closing in.  He also has a stronger arm than the most American QB in the nation. 
McElroy is able to go through reads, but is not super quick about it. It’s not a Locker-like struggle, but you also wouldn’t classify it as smooth.
He's not great at anticipating receivers getting open, can sometimes stare down and just try and wait for a receiver to get separation.  With a good offensive line, he can get away with this, but there just seems to be a half second delay on everything he does. 
Overall, I put these guys pretty close, but the slight edge goes to McElroy as of right now.  I watch Iowa games differently than I watch other teams, because I watch those games as a fan as opposed to an objective observer.  I could definitely flip my feelings on these two by the end of the year, especially if Stanzi gives me a reason to travel to Pasadena.

Finally, in Andrew Luck news.  His deep ball looked much better this week, not perfect, just very good.  Oh, and his shovel passes are even a beautiful thing.  And he threw a pretty solid block on a reverse.  I'm not sure if he'll leave this year, but this guy is definitely the #1 pick in the draft when he comes out.

That's all I got for this week.

-Joe

P.S.  This is the second most disturbing video I have seen this week. It's sex ed training for the mentally handicapped:

P.P.S. This is the most disturbing video I have seen this week. It's an Olsen Twins video, and the short-haired broad will haunt you in your nightmares: