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NEWS AND INFORMATION ON THE NFL DRAFT |
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NEWS AND INFORMATION ON THE NFL DRAFT |
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2012 DRAFT PREVIEW: OTsOverview: No position may have
more sorting out to do between now and the 2012 draft than offensive
tackle. Indeed, at this time there are as many as a dozen OTs with at
least some first-round potential, but at the same time, it appears that
the upcoming draft may not necessarily have any elite prospects at the
position. Juniors Mat Kalil of Southern Cal, Stanford's Jonathan
Martin and Riley Reiff of Iowa, for eaxmple, are tall, athletic LT
candidates, but none of the three is alll that big. Same for veteran
OTs Mike Adams of Ohio State and Boise State's Nate Potter. In the end,
no one should be totally surprised if either of Ricky Wagner of
Wisconsin or Bobbie Massie of Ole Miss, two more juniors who are
somewhat bulkier, ultimately emerge as the tp prospects at the
position. Meanwhile, Levy Adcock of Oklahoma State, Andrew Datko of
Florida State and BYU's Matt Reynolds are other senior OTs with late
first round potential, while rangy LT Matt McCants of
Alabama-Birmingham and Brandon Mosley of Auburn head what appears to be
a deep second-tier group of OTs, although it's hard not to sense that
there is a substantial gap between the top 10 or so guys at the
position and the rest of the field.
Sleeper file: OTs don't usually sneak up on people, either literally or figuratively, but one unheralded OT to watch is John Cullen of Utah, who settled in nicely at LT for the Utes last fall after transferring from the junior college ranks. Meanwhile, other D1A OTs with next level size, who could surprise this coming April include Marcel Jones of Nebraska, Dan Hoch of Missouri, Al Netter of Northwestern, Jarvis Jones of Oklahoma, and Jeff Allen of Illinois. Meanwhile, there are several lower-level OTs who have already started to attract attention from pro scouts includng David Pickard of Southern Illinois, South Dakota's Tom Compton, Jeff Adams of Columbia and Charles Burton of Montana. And while they hardly qualify as unknowns, both Trinton Sturdivant of Georgia and Josh Ogelsby of Wisconsin were big-time recruits at their respective schools who have had their careers derailed by a string of injuries, but could get some late-round looks anyway based on pure physical potential. Top 20 OT Prospects
Future file: Juniors are likely to dominate the OT position at the upcoming draft and that could be even more the case if several other top juniors such as Tanner Hawkinson of Kansas and/or Florida's Xavier Nixon turn pro this winter. Again, neither guy is all that big, but both have very quick feet. At the same time, give pro scouts their choice of any OT in college football and most would probably leap at the opportunity to select 6-6, 335-pound Alabama redshirt sophomore LT D.J. Fluker, who would really shake up the draft if he were to leave school this winter. The NFL, though, will have to wait for 6-8 Miami sophomore Seantrel Henderson, arguably the top recruit in the country last year. As good as he is, though, Henderson is on the wrong side of a battle with redshirt freshman Malcolm Bunche to win the Hurricanes' starting LT gig this fall, while Chaz Green of Florida and Minnesota's Jimmy Gjere are other top redshirt freshman with pro futures written all over them. If you have comments or suggestions, e-mail the Editor, Great Blue North Draft Report. The GBN can also be reached by phone at (613) 692-1088 or regular mail at 320 Shadehill Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2J 0L6. Great Blue North Draft Report Privacy Policy. The GREAT BLUE NORTH DRAFT REPORT is a division of SQUITERLAND ENTERPRISES, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada |