The Schottey Thirty-Six: Top NFL Draft Seniors (Defense Edition)

Featured: Jared Odrick, Penn State

OK, quick question: Who else looks at that picture and imagines Jared mule-kicking that guy right in the hindquarters? Me too.

Moving on...

This is a talented group of senior linemen, three of whom returned to school after receiving first day grades last year.

On draft day, they will doubtlessly be joined by a couple of very talented juniors, Gerald McCoy and Marvin Austin, who could shoot toward the top of this group.

Rather than try and predict if these guys fit best in a 3-4/4-3 I am simply calling them interior linemen meaning that they will play DT in a 4-3 or DE in a 3-4. A few of them have the size and skills to be a nose tackle.

Depending on how the draft falls these guys are talented enough to be first round picks. Fully expect the men on this list, plus the juniors, to be gone on the first day.

1) Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska—Suh is a mammoth of a man. At 6'4", 300lbs, he has an NFL-ready body and moves like a middle linebacker.

Right now, no other senior in this class has the talent to be considered at number one.

Still unpolished, Suh can contribute right away but will only get better as he moves from the Big 12 North to the NFL.

2)Terrence Cody, Alabama—Speaking of mammoths, Terrence Cody is huge! They grow 'em big in Alabama, where Andre Smith was also allowed to thrive.

Cody was dropping on many lists with concerns that he lacked athleticism. Then Cody blocked two field goals against Tennessee. Um, when you can get 360 pounds+ up to block a kick, you have some muscle.

Questions will dog Cody about his work ethic but he is too good of a prospect to drop far.

3) Arthur Jones, Syracuse—The most polished of the defensive tackles in the class, Jones treats every play like a legalized street fight.

With hands constantly moving, he takes on a double team on every play and still gets penetration. One of the hardest workers in the draft.

4) Jared Odrick, Penn State—Besides kicking Orange athletes in the butt (is that Greg Paulus?) Odrick has other great qualities. Odrick has tremendous size at 6'5" and gets a lot of tackles because of his length alone.

He lives in the offensive backfield and is able to move the line of scrimmage on every snap. Odrick should be a early second round pick at worst.

5) Vince Oghobaase, Duke—As of right now, this Blue Devil is a late second rounder but has all of the necessary talent to be an early first—size, power, coaching pedigree and no injury history make him a great prospect.

He's answering a lot of questions this year about his maturity and could shoot up a lot of draft boards after he works out.

6) Rahim Alem, Louisiana State—After a dominant junior year, Alem has not been able to handle the focus he earned after Tyson Jackson left.

Alem plays DE at LSU but his skill set fits more into the NFL under tackle position. He is not a "dedicated" pass rusher by any means.

Honorable Mentions—Tyson Alualu, California; D'Anthony Smith, Louisiana Tech; Dan Williams, Tennessee

Featured: Brandon Graham, Michigan

Another great group in this defensively stacked class is aided by several athletes rising to the top this year and a good junior class below them.

Again, as with the interior defensive lineman, there could conceivably be a huge run of dedicated pass rushers in the draft.

Currently around 20 pass rushers in the junior or senior classes have a first-day grade.

Wow

1) Greg Hardy, Mississippi—The only senior defensive end with a solid first round grade, Hardy has similar size and talent as standout ends Julius Peppers and Robert Mathis.

Hardy is one prospect that teams would never imagine as an OLB, so he will go early to a 4-3 team. So athletic, he was once a receiver for the Rebels.

2) Brandon Graham, Michigan—This isn't a homer pick, I promise. I actually have kept Graham artificially low on many of my mock drafts and scouting reports to compensate for possible "homer" tendencies.

This is the quote I got recently from a professional scout. "No player has improved from 2008 to 2009 more than Graham." One look confirms that statement, Graham has a more toned frame and increased both his speed and strength.

3) Ricky Sapp, Clemson—A truly rare athlete, he is within a sliver of draft stock above or below Graham depending on which scout is asked.

Sapp is a true tweener who could easily move to linebacker or bulk up his slight frame to become a full-time defensive end.

4) Eric Norwood, South Carolina—Size questions dog Norwood who is easily the most talented pass rusher in the nation but has a already filled out frame which is too small to play DE.

Still, expect Norwood to impress at teams move away from measurables and are forced to actually scout the supremely talented Gamecock—a solid second-rounder.

5) Jerry Hughes, Texas Christian—A work in progress who has the tools but not the size to be an NFL defensive end, but would be a tough transition to outside linebacker.

Hughes is a man among boys in the Mountain West and scouts question if he will be able to dominate NFL left tackles like he dominates right tackles in college.

6) Corey Wootton, Northwestern—Injury concerns drop this prospect but his 6'7 frame and pass rushing talent keep him in the conversation.

Wootton could easily add weight and become an epic strong-side defensive end in the NFL and already has experience kicking inside.

Honorable Mentions: George Selvie, USF; Sergio Kindle, Texas; Lindsey Witten, UConn

Featured: Brandon Spikes, Florida

NOTE: For Scouting Purpose, I refer to linebackers as talking about middle and inside linebackers as well as weak, or strongside linebackers in a 4-3 scheme

Now this class has issues. Although it is top-heavy—with one of the best thumpers to come out of college in a while, this class of linebackers needs a lot of late surges to be considered anything other than incredibly weak.

To put this in perspective, even with what scouts consider "maximum" junior declaration—all juniors with even late round grades declaring—only a handful of inside/middle linebackers will go on the first day.

To counter this, plenty of 3-4 teams are looking at outside linebacker prospects (like Norwood) as possibly moving inside.

1) Brandon Spikes, Florida—It has been made clear that the Brandon Spikes is the difference maker on a Gator defense which contains numerous future first-day picks.

Spikes is otherworldly in terms of all-around ability and NFL-ready size. Expect Spikes to be taken early, he will not last pass the 49ers who are already being lobbied by Brandon's cousin, Takeo.

2) Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri— Currently an outside linebacker, Weatherspoon has all the ability to play weakside in the NFL or slide inside. If unable to flip a coin, I would peg him as an ILB in a 3-4.

Weatherspoon excels at tracking down running backs and shedding blocks like it's goin' out of style.

3) Daryl Washington, Texas Christian—When Jason Phillips left TCU, critics said this team would go as far was his replacement, Washington, could take them.

Daryl responded with a monster year in TCU's 4-2-5 and has pulled even with Hughes in terms of draftability. The Horned Frog could be a stud on the inside or on the strong side.

4) Sean Lee, Penn State— If Sean Lee had played four years of healthy college ball, he would probably be first on this list.

Lee was a little-recruited three-star recruit who made a big impact at Linebacker U.

He is fundamentally as close to perfect of a prospect as the NFL could ask for which makes up for his lack of elite athleticism. A solid second-rounder if he can prove healthy.

5) Pat Angerer, Iowa—A true undersized LB prospect with a high motor, Angerer was almost out of football at one point due to injuries.

Now healthy, he is setting career marks on the defensive side of the ball. A proven zone defender, he will be best fit on a Tampa Two scheme.

6) Darryl Sharpton, Miami— The last few spots on this list are very open to interpretation as these last two could be second-day picks.

Sharpton is a good prospect who lacks elite size and athleticism but has a dearth of experience and multiple linebacker positions.

Honorable Mentions: Joe Pawelek, Baylor; Micah Johnson, Kentucky; Reggie Carter, UCLA.

Featured: Syd'Quan Thompson, California

This is another class that needs junior help. The NFL has been suffering a drought of top-flight college cornerback prospects since 2005 when Adam Jones, Antrel Rolle, and Carlos Rogers were all top ten picks. Since then, not a single CB has been taken in the top ten.

This year might not be any different as the top CB prospect in either class, Eric Berry, is actually a safety. The next top prospect, Joe Haden, is a junior.

The top senior prospect in the nation is Patrick Robinson who is a physical freak but has been exposed this season.

All-in-all, this class is deep but lacks star quality and most are considered niche defenders. Nevertheless, teams will be looking for a diamond in the rough.

1) Patrick Robinson, Florida State—No cornerback prospect is rougher around the edges than Patrick Robinson. It is scary to think that Robinson was at one time committed to Florida and could be locking up defenses with Joe Haden right now.

An amazing athlete, Robinson needs a lot of work but has special teams ability to tide a team over as he matures.

2) Brandon Ghee, Wake Forest—A better overall prospect than current Denver Bronco, Alphonso Smith, Ghee is another raw talent who has nice size for the position and is known for being a big hitter.

Ghee would be best fit on a team who runs zone—utilizing their cornerbacks heavily in run support.

3) Trevard Lindley, Kentucky—Lindley is, by far, the best cover corner in the draft. However, he is also 5'11", 180 pounds. That is minute even by cornerback standards.

Lindley also is useless from a special teams standpoint. If he doesn't bulk up between now and the draft he will find himself dropping and never able to get out of sub packages.

4) Syd'Quan Thompson, California—Another pure niche guy and another undersized player, Thompson must find his way onto a team which prefers zone coverages.

In man, he simply cannot match up with the size and physicality of NFL receivers. In zone, he could be very useful, even as a rookie.

5) Kyle Wilson, Boise State—A small pure cover corner who will have a tough time making his mark at the next level.

Can make up for lack of size with good physicality and very good backpedal and transition. Will not be a shutdown corner in the NFL but will make himself very useful.

6) Javier Arenas, Alabama—And these prospects just keep getting smaller. Arenas, the cousin of "Agent Zero," Gilbert Arenas, is not a legitimate cornerback for the NFL.

However, he may be the best return man in the nation. He has all the physical tools and could end up being a gadget player for the team that drafts him.

Honorable Mentions: Perrish Cox, OK State; Devin McCourty, Rutgers; Jerome Murphy, USF.

Featured: Myron Rolle, FSU

Safeties are the new outside linebackers in the NFL. Just as Lawrence Taylor revolutionized the NFL with his play so long ago, Troy Polamalu and others are doing the same today. With teams passing more, it only became a matter of time.

In April 2010, we have a chance to witness the drafting of one of the great safety classes. Nearly all scouts agree that one of the seniors, Taylor Mays, and a junior likely to declare, Eric Berry are two once-in-a-lifetime players.

Another young man, Myron Rolle, will be entering the draft after spending a year at Oxford (more on him later).

1) Taylor Mays, Southern California—One of the best athletes to ever play the college game, Mays is a absolute anomaly.

At 6'3" 230 pounds, he is rumored to run a 4.2. Mays lacks pure coverage skills because of the scheme at USC but any defensive coordinator would love a chance to mold him.

2) Myron Rolle, FSU/Oxford—As of right now, scouts are placing Rolle at a third round grade and question if he will be NFL-ready.

Excuse me? This is a man who double majored, was a Rhodes Scholar and was still one of the best defensive players in college football.

When Rolle works out, trust that he will impress scouts enough to find himself solidly in the second round.

3) Nate Allen, Southern Florida—Allen is a prospect who is slightly rough around the edges but some consider as talented as the top safeties in the class.

Everything you want in an NFL-caliber starter and has experience in every type of defense. Watch this guy carefully.

4)Darrell Stuckey, Kansas—A prototypical strong safety prospect, Stuckey is best when placed in the box and allowed to stuff the run.

As of now, he lacks the coverage skills—in man and zone—to play much immediately. However, Stuckey will be truly special in the NFL on coverage and return units.

5) Kam Chancellor, Virginia Tech—Ridiculously strong for a free safety, he may be moved to SS in the NFL.

However, Chancellor has a lot of athletic talent and is considered a rare athlete in scouting circles. May go sooner if he works out as a weakside linebacker.

6) Harry Coleman, Louisiana State—Very, Very raw, Coleman moved to linebacker this year to help LSU match up against faster offenses.

His size will never be sufficient there in the NFL and he will be drafted in the middle rounds to make up for his lack of technique and polish. Still, a good athlete and a good prospect.

Honorable Mentions: Justin Woodall, Alabama; TJ Ward, Oregon; Josh Pinkard, USC.

Featured: Leigh Tiffin, Alabama

Not much to say here. Here are five guys who have a shot of getting drafted in the late rounds thanks to exceptional college careers and big league legs.

1) Leigh Tiffin, K, Alabama—Safety size and a gigantic leg to go along with it, Tiffin is an unheralded reason for Alabama's success the last two years.

2) Zoltan Mesko, P, Michigan—A legitimate threat to be drafted in the middle rounds, Mesko has one of the biggest legs in the college game and is able to place the ball wherever he wants to.

3) Hunter Lawrence, K, Texas—The Longhorn kicker doesn't get a ton of FG attempts but has more than enough leg to fit into the NFL lifestyle.

4) Brent Bowden, P, Virginia Tech—We're getting to the priority free agents but Bowden has a slim shot of seventh-round looks. He has an exceptionally strong leg.

5) Armando Cuko, K, Massachusetts—Not the longest kicker in the world but one of the most accurate. Started as a true freshman in 2005 but spent next two years as the back up. Booted a 51-yarder this season.

6) Joshua Shene, K, Mississippi—Automatic from shorter distances, will get lots of tryouts prior to the draft and could see himself locked up but will probably sign with a team the day after the draft.

Michael Schottey is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and the producer and host of The Average Joe Sports Show on 860AM KNUJ (New Ulm, MN). He is also an NFL Analyst and Senior Writer for DraftTek.com.