Strong Pro Day Cements FSU's Eddie Goldman as Elite DT Prospect

The quarterback duo of Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota may be hogging all the headline space this spring, but a quick glance at the overall prospect rankings at CBS Sports reveals that a signal-caller isn't (in its opinion at least) the No. 1 player available in the 2015 NFL draft.

A defensive tackle is. Five big uglies are listed among the top 32 prospects on their big board this year, and the big man bringing up the rear of that group made a hard charge to solidify his first-round status on Tuesday.

In fact, I think the ground's still shaking.

Sure enough, it was Winston who was the center of attention at Florida State's pro day in Tallahassee. However, Winston wasn't the only person turning heads, according to Peter Schrager of Fox Sports:

Defensive tackle Eddie Goldman, who didn't work out at February's combine in Indianapolis, got his first chance to make a big impression on NFL scouts and coaches at FSU's pro day.

As Bleacher Report NFL National Lead Writer Matt Miller pointed out, to say that the 6'4", 336-pounder accomplished that goal would be an understatement:

At least one sportswriter mentioned that it was more than just the gaudy time Goldman ran, relative to his size. It was also how he ran it:

That quickness was on display again when Goldman lined up for positional drills.

Great. He knocked my soda over. Good going, Eddie.

Granted, it wasn't all gold stars and attaboys for Goldman on Tuesday. As Rob Rang of CBS Sports reports, Goldman's bench press total was far less impressive than his 40 time:

By weight of comparison (see what I did there? Ha! I kill me!), Washington's Danny Shelton benched 34 reps at 225 pounds at the combine. Malcolm Brown of Texas did 26. Both are similarly robust players who are ranked higher than Goldman on Rang's board at CBS.

Rank	Player	School	Ht	Wt	Proj. Round
1.	Leonard Williams	USC	6'5"	302	1
2.	Danny Shelton	Washington	6'2"	339	1
3.	Malcolm Brown	Texas	6'2"	319	1
4.	Arik Armstead	Oregon	6'5"	292	1-2
5.	Eddie Goldman	Florida State	6'4"	336	1-2

Brown also reeled off an even quicker 40-yard dash in Indy (5.05), which is made all the more impressive given that pro-day times are usually about a tenth-of-a-second faster.

He also weighs a good 15 pounds less than Goldman.

Still, Goldman did just about as well at his pro day as he could have reasonably hoped.

Yes, the bench-press numbers aren't ideal. Oh well. Prowess in the bench press can often be a function as much of arm length as it is of strength.

As Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote, there's plenty of tape to demonstrate Goldman's power at the point of attack: "His power at the point of attack and ability to discard blockers and actually make plays rather than just eating space will have 3-4 teams very excited about their potential nose guard of the future."

However, Goldman wasn't a consistent pass-rushing threat at Florida State, a fact that Rang attributed to a (relative) lack of quickness:

"

Though quicker than he looks, Goldman isn't a consistent pass rush threat. His broad build makes it difficult for him to squeeze through gaps and he shows just phone-booth quickness. Generally needs a clear lane and collides with ballcarriers rather than exploding into them.

"

That perceived lack of ability to disrupt the pocket consistently could be a turnoff to 4-3 teams looking at Goldman. Sure, there are plenty of 3-4 teams who could use a powerful space-eater at the nose tackle spot.

However, add explosiveness to the conversation, and the number of teams willing to consider spending an early pick on Goldman is only going to go up.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Goldman's first stop after his pro day should probably be a good travel agent:

At the end of the day, Goldman's pro day may well have been the proverbial icing on the cake. More mock drafts than not had Goldman a first-round pick before Tuesday. In Miller's most recent mock draft here at Bleacher Report, he forecast the Arizona Cardinals taking Goldman at No. 24 as a replacement for Dan Williams:

"

Dan Williams left Arizona for the Oakland Raiders, leaving a big hole in the Cardinals' defensive line. Now the Cardinals—a team that has drafted very well of late—must replace the anchor of their defense. The good news is that this is a deep defensive tackle draft.

Eddie Goldman is the ideal man to fill that void. There were times in 2014 when he completely took over the offensive line and showed the power and explosiveness to take over games. He's stout enough to hold ground in the run game and athletic enough to get to the pocket as a pass-rusher.

Goldman might not just be Williams' replacement; he has the potential to be his upgrade.

"

Now, Goldman may have squashed (C'mon, folks! I'm on fire here!) any lingering doubts about that first-round status, by showing the NFL he's more than just a pretty face—attached to a very large body.

In the trenches, big is good. Big and powerful is better yet. Big, powerful and quick?

That gets your name called on April 30.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter at @IDPManor.