Anyone know of a really good place to get up to the minute information on who has declaired early for the draft? I found a page on ESPN.com that shows early entries, but they haven't added the people who declaired today according to their AP pieces (Chad Jackson from Florida for instance). Any help would be appreciated. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2279121
It is subscription based, but www.thenflexperts.com is pretty good. they had Jackson on there pretty early today.
http://www.nfldraftblitz.com/declareduc.htm latest listed first: - (LB) Ernie Sims / Florida State Sims is another interesting case. Physically, he's one of the most gifted players in college football today. However he's listed at 6'0" 220lbs and that puts him into that dangerous tweener zone. Ideally he'd be able to put on 10-15 pounds and play weakside linebacker in the NFL, but some teams could potentially be looking at him as a strong safety, a la former Seminole Michael Boulware. Regardless of where he plays, Sims should turn into a star in the NFL. - (CB) Dee Webb / Florida Webb's an underrated prospect. At 5'11" he's got good enough size and he's shown strong coverage skills during his time in the Swamp. An active player on defense Webb isn't afraid to come up and make a tackle. It's tough to predict where he could go considering the ambiguity of this cornerback class but I'd suspect that he'd be between the 4th-6th cornerback selected. - (TE) Vernon Davis / Maryland For some reason, Vernon Davis just doesn't get the respect he deserves from football fans around the country. The 6'3" 253 pound monster reportedly recorded a 40 yard dash time of 4.41 during spring practice. In 2005, Davis caught 51 passes for 871 yards (17.1 YPC!) and six touchdowns with a long reception of 73 yards. He's the new breed of tight end who catch the ball like a receiver and can stretch the field. It wouldn't be shocking if Davis were the first tight end selected. - (DE) Mario Williams / NC State Another underclassmen falls into the draft as expected. When it's all said and done, we expect Williams, listed at 6'7" 290lbs to be the first defensive end prospect off the board. Mario is coming off of a monster season in which he recorded 14.5 sacks and a whopping 24 tackles for a loss. Physically gifted, he'll continue to move up draft boards with strong workouts. - (OT) Winston Justice / USC Perhaps the worst kept secret in the college football world was that this would be Winston's last season as a member of the Trojans. Right now he looks like he's strictly a right tackle prospect. Off-the-field shenanigans have diminished his draft status somewhat, but it's a good bet that a team will gamble on him upside before the end of day 1. - (OG) Rob Smith / Tennessee Once considered a top offensive guard prospect, nagging injuries have derailed Smith's prospect status since joining the Volunteers. Still a fairly agile prospect on the offensive line, look for Smith to go somewhere during the second day of the draft. - (WR) Chad Jackson / Florida Jackson makes for an interesting entry, all season long it seemed like Jackson was a lock to enter the draft. However, only a few short days ago news leaked out that Jackson and teammate DeShawn Wynn would return to the Gators for their senior seasons. Jackson (along with fellow junior entries Santonio Holmes and Greg Lee) really sure up a somewhat lacking wide receiver position. - (WR) Santonio Holmes / Ohio State Again, no surprise here. A smaller receiver with excellent speed, Holmes has the ability to turn into a first rate deep threat very quickly into his professional career. Given the lack of a true stud wide receiver prospect in this class, Holmes jumps right to the top of the list and is in a position to potentially become the first wide receiver selected in April. - (TE) Leonard Pope / Georgia No surprise here, Pope had been sending out signals that he was thinking of leaving since spring ball. A prototype tight end prospect, Pope stands 6'7" and runs in the 4.5 range. He's an improving blocker who will make him mark catching passes in the NFL. He's the type of player who would do wonders in opening up the field for the rest of the offense. -(CB) Antonio Cromartie / Florida State An interesting move from Cromartie to enter the draft after sitting out the season due to injury. Going into the year Cromartie was arguably the top junior cornerback prospect in the country. Antonio's combination of size and speed really set him apart from other cornerbacks and make him an ideal player to go head to head with some of the NFL's bigger wide receivers. If he can show he's healthy prior to the draft he has a shot to get himself into the first round. - (ATH) Devin Hester / Miami Fl While this doesn't come as that much of a surprise, it's almost certainly a mistake on Hester's part. One of the most talked about players in the nation, Hester really isn't much more than a special teams player right now, an excellent special teamer perhaps, but a special teamer none the less. An exceptional return man due to his explosive speed he's spent time on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball for the Hurricanes, but hasn't made much of an impact at either. Most feel that his future is at the cornerback position, but it wouldn't be a shock to see an NFL team play him at wide receiver. Regardless of the position it's likely going to be a while until he's ready to start. Until then he'll make his mark returning kicks and punts. - (S) Ko Simpson / South Carolina The rumors that have been going around for months are finally now fact as Ko Simpson is heading into the NFL Draft. Only a true sophomore, Simpson is eligible to enter because he sat out a year following high school as he enrolled late. A true ballhawk, Simpson has the skills to play at a high level in the NFL and could battle Michael Huff for the right to be the first safety selected. - (RB) Laurence Maroney / Minnesota Maroney entering the draft was pretty much a forgone conclusion and he made it official after the team's bowl game. Maroney didn't quite have the monster season that some expected (still 1,413 yards and ten touchdowns isn't a bad year), but that had more to do with the emergence or Gary Russell than anything else. When everything's said and done it's likely that Maroney will be the second or third running back selected. - (S) Danieal Manning / Abilene Christian At this point I'd guess that perhaps, one in twenty five football fans have ever heard of this kid, but to me, Manning is the most interesting declaration to date. A strong safety for the Wildcats, Manning is listed at 6'0" 205lbs and ran a 4.36 forty yard dash during spring practice. He's shown exceptional skills as a kick returner and has managed to find his way into the endzone 10 times during his time at Abilene Christian. - (RB) Reggie Bush / USC Declaring was really a no-brainer for Bush. It's hard to say anything about Reggie that hasn't been said 1,000 times before. He's a once in a generation kind of athlete who is the favorite to be the first pick in the draft this April. - (WR) Greg Lee / Pittsburgh Lee had a breakout season in 2004 where he caught 68 passes for 1297 yards (19.1 yards per catch) and 10 touchdowns which had many thinking the Lee could potentially turn into the top receiver in college football. He regressed a bit this season (for a number of reasons that probably weren't his fault) and caught only 49 balls. Don't be fooled, Lee is still a top talent who could be a real steal for a team if he's available in the second round. - (DE) Michael Williams / Texas College Williams is an undersized defensive end who will likely have to make the transition to linebacker if he wants to play at the next level. A pass rushing specialist who showed off his skills for two years at the Texas before transferring to Texas College for his junior season. - (OT) Willie Hall / Middle Tennessee State While many people aren't familiar with Hall, he is truly an intriguing prospect. Extremely agile, with very good footwork he's a pure left tackle. Hall also possesses tremendously long arms are exhibits good blocking technique. The major knock on Willie is a presumed lack of strength which will hurt him against power rushers at the next level. Hall elected to enter the draft due to the combination of poor grades and a new coaching staff. - (S) Bernard Pollard / Purdue Purely a strong safety, the 6'2" 226+ pound Pollard always manages to find his way to the ball. An imposing hitter, Pollard is at his best against the run. It should be noted that there are some parallels to be drawn between Pollard and an underclassmen strong safety who declared last year, Michigan's Ernest Shazor (Shazor ended up going undrafted and being signed as a UDFA by the Arizona Cardinals). Although the two are fairly similar in regards to physical attributes, Pollard seems to have a better feel for the game. - (DE) Ray Edwards / Purdue After a strong sophomore season Edwards looked like a potential top ten selection in a future draft. As a junior he struggled and fell into his coaches' doghouse. Going on talent alone, few defensive end prospects can stand toe to toe with Edwards, but you have to wonder if he's missing the fire that make's great player's great. - (LB) Paul Szczesny / Arizona State Szczesny was one of the top players in the JuCo rankings in 2003 and Indiana felt like they had an instant impact player for their defense the day he signed. A physical inside linebacker with very good speed, Paul's Indiana career never took off and he announced that he would transfer to Arizona State. He declared for the draft before ever playing a down for the Sun Devils. - (RB) Demetrius Summers / South Carolina Summers has spent the entire year working out preparing for the draft after being kicked off the South Carolina squad for a number of infractions, allegedly including a failed drug test. A huge freshman year and natural running style are reason enough for NFL GM's to watch him closely, if he's got himself straightened out, Summers still has the potential to become a solid pro.
