| March 05, 2006 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 01:48 AM |
QB- RB - FB - WR- TE - C - G -OT - DT - DE - OLB - ILB - CB - S
An experienced linebacker, D'Qwell Jackson has good speed and closes the gap quickly against the ground game. He is a complete linebacker with favorable size and an explosive burst. Incredibly instinctive and smart football player who is like an extra coach on the field. Is a pretty good natural athlete and has a burst. Lacks size but is tough and powerful. He has excellent range which gives him the ability to make plays sideline to sideline and he always seems to be around the football. D'Qwell is a force against the run--He is an explosive hitter who rarely misses a tackle. He is solid in coverage and does have the ability to stay with most tight ends and running backs coming out of the backfield. He has terrific recognition skills and diagnoses things quickly. He drops well with fluidity in pass defense coverage, and provides tight coverage as well. He has adequate but not elite speed. As a result, he may not be able to slip as many blocks and stay on the move as easily in the NFL as he did in college. He needs to become more stout versus blockers, and exploding through ball carriers to stop their forward progress, his lack of negative plays behind the line of scrimmage. He also has some durability issues as an undersized LB who has gone through wrist surgery and missed a game due to a leg injury all in the last year. His height, or lack thereof might hold him back a little in the minds of the NFL but he has got loads of potential. Will hear his name called on the first day of the 2006 NFL Draft, early to mid 2nd round.
Abdul Hodge is a very active inside linebacker. He has a nose for the ball, and is in on every play in front of him. He has excellent instincts and the quickness to react quickly and close on the ball carrier. Hodge will not back down from anyone, and will stick his nose in the middle of the pile to make plays. He plays sideline to sideline and has the speed to make plays all over the field. When you watch him play, you see a guy who gets to the ball no matter what. He seems a little small, but has tremendous instincts. He won't always shed blocks, but he gets around the guy to make the tackle. He is in the mold of a power LB who can penetrate the OL. Very quick and athletic, who hits like a ton of bricks- a sure tackler. Hard worker with top intangibles. Gravitates toward the action and is always in the mix. Takes solid angles in pursuit and shows impressive closing burst. He is an explosive tackler with very good power in his hips and upper body. The biggest knock with Hodge is his lack of bulk. He is going to need to add more weight and get stronger at the next level to take on NFL blockers. As it stands now, he can be taken out of some plays, and it will only be magnified at the next level. He lacks ideal size as an ILB prospect. He also lacks ideal fluidity.. Has trouble changing directions quickly. Will take too long to stop and start. Does not get great depth in his zone drops. Has just decent range in zone coverage. Will have some man-to-man coverage limitations versus faster backs in the NFL.
Physical defender that flies around the field and forces the action. Strong at the point, defeats blocks and easily brings opponents down on initial contact. Plays with leverage, rarely off his feet and forces the action. He is a tall, well-built inside linebacker prospect. Possesses long arms and good upper body power. He's a downhill striker. At his best working laterally and up the field. Shows good initial quickness and fills gaps hard. He is a powerful hitter. A linebacker with a good degree of upside,. Has a ways to go yet a young prospect that offers a large degree of upside potential. He is a very good 3-4 backer prospect. Very good tackler that wraps and drives. He shows good hustle and it pays off for him with his good pursuit play. Read and reaction skills are good as is his point of attack strength. Takes on the point of attack and can defeat it or clog the hole. He has good coverage experience and shows good ability. Lacks suddenness and explosion. Not the most instinctive and slow locating the ball. Gets caught up in the trash moving laterally, takes a lot of missteps as well as bad angles to the action. The biggest concern when projecting Parham to the NFL is that he lacks ideal natural athleticism, which will limit his range versus the run and make him a liability in coverage. Parham must improve the mental aspects of his game to become a complete defender. Regardless, Parham should come off the 2006 draft board by the end of the first day, and possibly as early as the second round.
Roach is a very instinctive football player. He is always around the ball and always looking to hit someone. He loves to play physical and mix it up near the line of scrimmage. He has the strength to match his style and fight off blockers to make plays. Roach is a very experienced and versatile performer. He's started since his freshman year and has experience at both inside and outside linebacker. Has good size and a solid frame, abig hitter who can lay the lumber. Has great instincts and is a force against the run. Has the lower body strength to anchor and the upper body power to disengage. He is at his best working downhill vs. the run. He reads and diagnoses things quickly. Fills the gap hard and is a sound tackler who will do a good job of wrapping up in space. Adequate tackler that leaves feet and doesn't drive the ball carrier back. Bites on the play fake often. Didn't do much in the game. Showed he could see the ball well and looked fluid and experienced in coverage. Has good ability in zone coverage getting good depth Roach is used more as a coverage backer than a run stopper at middle backer. Doesn't show special range or blitz ability. Too often he gets caught making a good amount of false reads and steps on his way to the ball, which delays his arrival to the ball and cuts down on his impact on the game. Roach grades out as a late Day 1 or early Day 2 prospect in 2006.
He plays much bigger than his height and weight, and is a very physical player. He is a very secure tackler, wrapping up and dragging down ball carriers with good playing strength. He has great speed, agility, and acceleration for a linebacker. Harris isn't a very tall linebacker at 6', or have much size at 235, to play in the middle in the NFL. For his size, however, he is a tackling machine. He can fly around the field and make plays from sideline to sideline. He also has solid footwork defending the pass which allows him to get into passing lanes and knock down some balls. Aaron is a very intense player with passion for playing defense. He has the speed to play the deep middle zone and defend the run on the edges. The knock on Aaron on draft day will be his size, but he has enough positive attributes to get him drafted in the third or fourth round. 
He has all the tools you look for in a LB including size and instincts. He's built very thick, is strong, and not afraid to mix it up and take on lineman. He is great at plays in front of him. He reads plays quickly, and can take on a blocker, and still make the play. His strength is stopping the run between the tackles. He will not be outworked on the field, and has that mean streak linebackers need to have. He has explosive power and is naturally strong. Plays with leverage, is thickly built and has very good lower body strength. He is disciplined, reads his keys well and won't make many mental errors. Athletically, Schlegel does not have the ability of his teammates, Carpenter and Hawk. He can't make plays solely on his physical ability, because it's simply not there. Possesses marginal speed and below average athletic ability. He is stiff in the hips and loses too much in transition. Has decent range vs. the run in college and will be nothing more than a tackle-to-tackle run plugger in the NFL. He is too much of a straight-line player. While he could possibly compete for a two-down starting role in the NFL, it's more likely that Schlegel levels off as a backup ILB and special teams' contributor. Look for Schlegel to come off the 2006 draft board in the last two rounds.
Dale Robinson is a prolific tackler whose size will probably translate to the WLB position, he has impressive instincts and great range. His size/speed ratio will be the only question about him. He reads and reacts quickly. Gets great jumps and takes excellent angles. Plays with a non-stop motor and is relentless in pursuit. He does a good job of slipping blocks in space. Fills gaps hard versus the run and shows uncanny power as a tackler for a 230-pound ILB. Robinson is a throwback type of inside linebacker who plays the game with great intensity and toughness. He is undersized and lacks ideal straight-line speed, which limits his NFL ceiling. However, he has enough quickness and strength, along with instincts and tenacity to overcome his physical limitations as a backup linebacker and contributing special teams' player in the NFL.Will get engulfed when reached by bigger blockers. Needs to improve his ability to use his hands to keep off of blocks. His size fits better at the WLB spot but he does not possess the speed to play that position. A good pro day or combine would get him selected early to mid day 2 in the 2006 NFL Draft.
Dobbins is like a brick wall in the middle of the field. He is very stout at the point of attack and an excellent tackler, he displays excellent technique, rarely misses a tackle and very few centers or guards were able to get their hats on him..Possesses a good combination of size and straight-line speed. He is smart, he is tough and he tackles well. Reads keys quickly, rarely takes false steps and takes the shortest path to the ball when defending the run. Plays with a non-stop motor, is relentless in pursuit and generally does a good job of closing down cutback lanes.Dobbins is a fairly one-dimensional run stopper that lacks the athletic ability to develop into an every-down player in the NFL. He is still a bit raw and must improve his ability to take on and disengage from blocks in order to compete for playing time as a two-down linebacker in the NFL. As such, Dobbins projects as a late-round developmental prospect in the 2006 class.
QB- RB - FB - WR- TE - C - G -OT - DT - DE - OLB - ILB - CB - S