Rating the Fullbacks - NFL Prospects

I believe we have 3 legit 1st rounders with perhaps potential for 4.

Right now, the only true "sure-thing" 1st rounder we have is Dorsey. Early Doucet certainly can be one, but returning to health and having continued big-game impacts will be key. Frankly, with him missing the past two games, and his return questionable at best for a return this weekend, turning it on down the stretch will be big.

Craig Steltz, if he continues to play like he has, could also find himself as a late first-round pick. Safeties aren't usually top 10 although you have a few (Sean Taylor I believe was one and of coarse LaRon), but a ball-hawking safety that can "bring the lumber" is hard to find. Steltz isn't as dominant a hitter as LaRon (few are) but I believe Steltz has better coverage skills and is definately an above average hitter (if LaRon had/has a weakness, it was that he didn't always play the ball great on a consistant basis and dropped some INT's that Steltz doesn't).

Our 4th guy, IMO, COULD be Tyson Jackson should he leave early....but he would have to play at a higher level (if that's possible to imagine) for him to crack into the first round. But with recent history of keeping our talented underclassmen D-linemen recently, I might almost be surprised if Jackson forgoes his Sr. season.

So, again, I could see:

Dorsey going top 10
Early possibly going as high as 15-20, but most likely 20-25
Steltz has potential to be somewhere between 25-32, but wouldn't surprise me if he went in the high 2nd round

I also believe Chevis Jackson will be a Day 2 draft selection and Ali Highsmith has potential to go on the first day, but he's probably more like a 4th-5th rounder.

Zenon and Luke Sanders are likely to sign undrafted FA contracts and POSSIBLY Kirston Pittman for teams looking for a pure rush end.

Even though we likely won't match the number of 1st round selections as last year, and might not match our high number of players drafted over-all like in years past, that's simply because we're lucky enough to not have a whole lot of starting seniors.

 

You hit on the reason for my post. I'm not seeing any pub for Steltz which is surprising. I think his stock improves if he gets a few more pics. DB's with high pic numbers are usually considered highly. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's also pretty unusual for a strong safety to have alot of pics.

I guess I am also surprised that with such a good nationally ranked defense that more of our senior defenders are not considered highly.

 

Dorsey is a given. Early has already proved an awful lot & was a borderline 1st round draft pick last year. Going off of what you were saying, IMO the greatest factor is whether this injury lingers on to the combine, which would be tough to imagine.

Speed, speed, speed. Steltz will need a 4.4 forty at the combine to go in the first round and IMO, that probably still won't be enough. He plays very fast, but I just don't know how well he'll run in the 40. You just don't see many white DBs in the league (I think I read there's only 1 starter in the NFL currently). I see Steltz as a 3rd round guy.

Bo is using him differently this year. He isn't attacking the QB as much as we expected. He's dropping into coverage (which is awesome to watch because he's so fast for such a big guy), he's clogging up lanes & batting down passes. That stuff doesn't show up on the stat sheet & has taken away from some of his publicity. I thought he'd go pro early, but now I expect him to stay for his Sr year. Either way, he will tear up the combine & I think he'll be a first rounder.

Chevis & Highsmith are both having huge senior years. I wouldn't be suprised to see both as 1st day picks. Someone mentioned to me they thought Highsmith would play Safety in the NFL... I don't know about that, but it brings up an interesting thought because he's a bit undersized for an NFL LB but not for a Safety.

I see Zenon has a second day pick. No way Sanders get drafted.

You left out Matt Flynn & Will Arnold.

Arnold has all the ability in the world, but I don't see anyway a team takes him considering his health history. Flynn is consistent & solid, but hasn't put up really any good statistics. I think he can still go as a first day pick though.

 

No, generally SS don't have a lot of INT's because in conventional defenses, SS's are normally lined up over the TE and in typical pro-style formations, if the TE blocks, the SS usually comes up to support against the run. FS's are usually in coverage more, acting as support over the top for CB's.

But in our defense, Highsmith is fast enough to cover most TE's and in 3 WR's sets, Steltz is fast and agile enough to cover the slot receiver, allowing us to stay in our standard 4-3 defense.

As for our Sr. defenders not getting more consideration as high draft picks due to our defensive success, again, for starters, we just don't have a lot of Sr starters.

Dorsey and Steltz are probably the two most dominant defensive players and are both Sr's.

Tyson Jackson gets a lot of attention, but he's a Jr. and he's played really well, but as of right now, he's not yet reached the same dominant play that he had last season. He still has All-Conference capabilities and possibly recognized in one of the All-American teams, but he just doesn't have the stats right now to be considered a 1st team All-American....but that's not to say he's not a great player.

Highsmith is very solid, but he gets over-shadowed by Beckwith--who's a Jr. and has more tackles for loss and more sacks that Highsmith (albeit it's by a VERY slight margin) and even though Highsmith is the team leader for tackles, he still only ranks tied for 242nd in the country.

Zenon won't get a lot of consideration by NFL analysts because even though he's been good in coverage, he's still under-weight by NFL standards for a CB. So it shouldn't be a surprise that NFL teams might not want to spend a draft pick on him...but the fact that he does possess good coverage skills will likely get him a contract offer after the draft is over.

Kirston Pittman isn't going to get a lot of attention yet either because in the eyes of analysts and scouts, he's new. Pretty much an unknown because of his injuries the past two seasons. Any time a college player loses two years to injury, there aren't a whole lot of NFL teams or scouts willing to risk drafting you. But if he continues to improve his play, and shows he can stay healthy, someone might give him a chance and invite him to a camp.

Luke Sanders isn't flashy. He won't get as many game-changing plays as Beckwith, Highsmith, Dorsey or Steltz, but he simply just does a lot of the little things right. His biggest asset is he's athletic, tall and a gym-rat.

Also, because we have a large number of very good players, we don't have to rely on just one defender to bail us out. Patrick Willis was probably the most dominant LB in college football last year and he racked up some monsterous totals for tackles, etc. ...but how much of that was because Ole Miss didn't have anyone else to step up??? How many of Willis' tackles were made because he caught a player from behind because he had to run across the field to make the play??

We don't have to worry about 1 defender having to make all the plays. A lot of the time, our first line of players that are in a position to make the play end up doing just that.

 

Matt Mauck was a 7th round draft choice after putting up a LOT better numbers than what Flynn has currenlty put up. That's not to say Flynn can't rebound and finish the year strong, but the qualities Mauck had are the same ones that Flynn is praised for having and I just don't see equal qualities generating a draft difference of 4 rounds.

I honestly can't recall the QB class the year Mauck was drafted, but unless this year's QB class is REALLY THAT much weaker, I would have to strongly and respectfully disagree with you about Flynn being a first day pick.

 

Dorsey, Doucet, and Chevis are our true first round guys. Kiper also has Highsmith on his big board. He will be a tweener in the NFL though, so I don't know who's gonna draft him in the first round.

Steltz will get a shot. Possibly 3rd round guy. I don't know his 40 time so who knows.

If Tyson finishes the season a little stronger that he started he is gone and will be a top 10 pick on measurables alone.

Zenon is the guy with the most to gain. the cover skills are there, all he has to do is run fast when it counts and he is no later that late second round.

Hester will get picked on day two, and someone will give flynn a shot in the last two rounds.

 

Wow AtlantaBengal, I thought I was a knowledgable Tiger fan.

I found this list of safety prospects for 2008 on DRAFT ACE. C'mon 7th safety??? Behind some guy from James Madison????

1.

Kenny Phillips*
MiamiFL

2.​

Jonathan Hefney
Tennessee

3.​

Quentin Demps
UTEP

4.​

Darien Williams
Oklahoma

5.​

Tierre Green
Nebraska

6.​

Tony LeZotte
James Madison

7.​

Craig Steltz
LSU


​

 

Thanks. :thumb: I appreciate that even though I don't consider myself all that knowledgable.

 

I enjoy getting into dialogue with you CParso. I'd say a good percentage of the time, we're pretty much on the same page but in those times where our opinions differ a bit, you always make some good points...even if I don't nec. agree with it.

 

That's an interesting list. Thanks for posting it.

I can honestly say that of all of those listed, Steltz and Haffney are really the only ones I've seen play in large length. I've watched a couple of Oklahoma's games, but I guess I just didn't pay too much attention to their safety.

Haffney is all over the field for the Vols, but IMO, a good bit of the tackles he made, he was getting rolled. In one game, believe the game vs Cal, I thought I counted 3 times where Haffney had to look for his helmet after the play was over. During their game against Florida, I thought I noticed him pulling down his helmet back down because his chin strap was covering his eyes.