A Peek at the 2007 Draft

[HoosierCat]

This caught my eye off of gbnreport.com…a look ahead at how 2007 is shaping up regarding defensive possibilities in the draft. Given the Bengals' focus on the draft vs. FA, it would suggest that if they think they need help at CB or on the d-line, it should be this year (some emphasis added in bold).

http://www.gbnreport.com/scoutsnotebook.htm

"D” is for desperate on D… Teams looking to upgrade on the defensive side of the ball in the immediate future may want to consider loading up at the 2006 draft, because there appear to be some real questions on that side of the ball looking ahead to the 2007 draft.

The 2007 defensive draft class, though, did get a huge boost when junior LBs Ahmad Brooks of Virginia, Paul Posluszny of Penn State, Patrick Willis of Mississippi and H.B. Blades of Pittsburgh all opted to skip the 2006 draft and return to school for their senior seasons. In the case of Brooks and Posluszny, though, injuries played a key part in their decision to stay in college. If healthy, though, Brooks has top 5-10 potential, while the others are mid-to-late first round types. There’s a major drop-off at LB after this top quartet, although MLBs Rufus Alexander of Oklahoma, Buster Davis of Florida State and Mike D’Andrea of Ohio State, along with speedy Virginia Tech junior OLB Xavier Abidi should provide something in the way of second-tier options.

There is a similar story at safety, which could also be something of a strength in 2007, at least on defense, where top FSs Brandon Meriweather of Miami and LaRon Landry of LSU surprised the NFL and opted to return to school for their senior years. They will be joined by solid veterans Will Herring of Georgia and Michael Griffen of Texas at FS and Jesse Daniels of LSU and Eric Weddle of Utah at SS. Again, though, there won’t necessarily be a lot of depth at either position come April 2007.

While the 2007 CB and FS classes were bolstered by the return of several top juniors, the CB position was devastated as almost all the top junior CBs including Ashton Youboty of Ohio State, Antonio Cromartie of Florida, Charles Gordon of Kansas, Dee Webb of Florida, Jonathan Jackson of South Carolina, Richard Marshall of Fresno State and Derrick Martin of Wyoming all bolted for the NFL this winter. Several veteran CBs including Leon Hall of Michigan, Fred Bennett of South Carolina and John Talley of Duke did return to school, but clearly the best and the brightest at the position will already be in the NFL next fall. Indeed, if there are to be any elite level CBs in the 2007 draft, they likely will have to emerge from next year’s junior class which will players like Antoine Cason of Arizona and Darelle Revis of Pittsburgh.

The struggle on defense next fall should also extend to the defensive line where there are more than enough decent prospects, but where plenty of sorting out has to be down. At DE, for example, Gaines Adams of Clemson, Dan Bazuin of Central Michigan, Victor Abiamira of Notre Dame, LaMarr Woodley of Michigan, Quentin Moses of Georgia, Baraka Atkins of Miami, Mkristo Bruce of Washington State, Larry McSwain of Alabama-Birmingham, Paul Carrington of Central Florida, Adam Carriker of Nebraska, and Larry Birdine and juniors Tommy Blake of TCU and Lawrence Jackson of Southern Cal are all good players, but its not clear yet that any one in the group has done enough to establish themselves as a potential elite prospect. Same at DT where Quinn Pitcock of Ohio State, Justin Harrell of Tennessee, the Florida duo of Ray McDonald, if healthy, and Marcus Thomas, and Brandon Mebane of California are all solid, but there is still much sorting out to do at the position.

[turningpoint]

gimmie brandon meriweather.

[JPW]

I like this quote ...

Future top 10… Again, it’s a lifetime until the 2007 draft

Shoot, it is still almost a lifetime until the 2006 draft and I am sure that we will see a lot of player moved up or down by the time the combines are done.

But it is never too early to be talking about the draft and it is interesting to see what '07 might look like.

[NJ29]

gimmie brandon meriweather.

Yo! Gimme Buster Davis at OLB.