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Joe Murphy/Getty Images

LSU's defense produced two of the top 14 picks of the 2012 draft, and they could get two even higher this year, because they possess the most dynamic pair of defensive ends in college football.

Barkevious Mingo and Sam Montgomery will be able to feed off of each other's productivity and talent to elevate their games to an elite level this season. So far this year, Montgomery has been the more impressive player, making plays and creating opportunities for his teammates on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage with regularity.

How is he doing it?

 

Tools

Montgomery is a classic long-limbed defensive end at 6'5", but he has a sturdy 260-pound build, giving him a significant presence in run defense and as a bull-rusher. He uses his long arms to obstruct passing lanes and keep offensive tackles away from his body on the pass rush.

Montgomery has a good vertical leap to increase his reach, but he is not a quick-twitch athlete. Still, he does have an extra gear of explosiveness and efficiency of movement when he is within striking distance of the football. Here, the ball-carrier is about to receive the handoff with the play designed to get outside of Montgomery:

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First, Matt Barkley, Tyler Wilson and Logan Thomas tumble down the board. Who is next?

The 2013 NFL draft is still seven months away, but it's never too soon to start taking a look at those players who are moving up and down our draft board.

A heavy week of film study has added insight and perspective on prospects. As top prospects continue to fall down the board, new names are added, and others who maybe carried a low preseason grade are making up ground.

Here's our Week 4 edition of Stock Watch for the 2013 NFL draft.

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Logan Thomas has the prototypical 6'6", 260-pound frame with athleticism and arm strength that can be molded to any system. Geno Smith is a wiry 6'3", 214 pounds, and he plays in a pitch-and-catch spread offense that doesn't resemble a pro attack. Yet when we put both players under the microscope, Smith still appears to have the more pro-ready game.

What is it about their skill sets that makes Smith look like he'll have more success on Sundays?

 

Accuracy

It doesn't take a football genius to see that Smith is destroying Thomas in this category this year, with an astounding 88 percent completion rate to Thomas's 54. Smith has as many incompletions as touchdown passes this year. The accuracy differences go beyond the sheer rate of success, as both quarterbacks throw a lot of short passes outside of the numbers. Smith's are almost always thrown at eye level, where the receiver can catch the ball cleanly and turn upfield for a run-after-catch opportunity:

 

Thomas throws low too often when targeting this area of the field, causing a receiver to go low and take away the run-after-catch opportunity on the slant:

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Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

After Von Miller single-handedly transformed the Denver Broncos defense in 2011, the NFL has been on alert for the next dynamic edge rusher with the versatility to fit in any defensive scheme.

Based on early indications, Georgia's Jarvis Jones might be the next Miller, defying conventional wisdom about how high linebackers should go in the draft to crash the top five, or maybe even be taken first overall.

What is it about Jones' game that makes him more than a one-trick pony?

 

Overview

Jones is 6'2", 232 lbs; too small to put his hand on the ground, but substantial enough to hold his own in run defense, especially because he plays with good functional strength.

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A lot can change in just one week.

Our last edition of 2013 NFL draft position rankings needed a solid reworking after a rough weekend for many top prospects. Five days in the film room later, here is the updated look at the best players, per position, for the 2013 draft.

Bad play from Matt Barkley, Logan Thomas and Marcus Lattimore caused a reshuffle in the top 10, as did great play from Geno Smith and Jarvis Jones.

Injuries are starting to add up too. Tyler Wilson sees his stock change considerably this week thanks to a concussion that kept him out of the Alabama game.

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Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

The 2013 NFL draft class currently has a large hole at the quarterback position. There is no Cam Newton, no Andrew Luck and definitely no Sam Bradford. With the season underway and conference play approaching, it's time for a quarterback prospect to show himself as the best of the bunch.

Our two contenders: Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas and West Virginia's Geno Smith. Who will be the better NFL quarterback?

Thomas entered the season as my top overall prospect, with the belief that he could develop enough between seasons and over the course of the year to justify his draft position. That hasn't happened yet. Smith, on the other hand, started the year as a late first-round prospect, and he has done nothing but improve his stock.

 

Geno Smith Scouting Report

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With two weeks of the NFL and three weeks of college football in the books, the power and prospect rankings are in motion. The predicted draft order of the 32 NFL franchises and the members of the 2013 crop worth a first-round pick will continue to change every week, but it is still instructive to explore the possibilities now and speculate about who each team will draft in 2013.

Here's my best early guess.

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Who wants to be the top quarterback prospect in the 2013 NFL draft class? After three weeks, it would seem that no one wants the pressure of being the top man.

Matt Barkley, Logan Thomas and Tyler Wilson make up the large majority of quarterbacks picked to be the No. 1 overall player at the position, but each had a bad outing, and their stock could be harmed in unfixable ways.

Which players are moving up the board to overtake the Big Three at quarterback? Here's our weekly stock report on 10 names to know for the 2013 draft.

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It's never easy to compare college players to a professional counterpart, but sometimes that is the best way to describe what a college prospect can do or where they can be with the right coaching and development.

Is Logan Thomas the next Cam Newton? Is there a Von Miller clone in Jarvis Jones?

The top prospects at each position may not have a picture-perfect NFL comparison, but here is the player they most closely resemble and why.

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Harry How/Getty Images

The University of Southern California currently features two of college football's best wide receivers. Marqise Lee and Robert Woods are both Biletnikoff Award contenders, and both look like future first-round draft picks. But which standout Trojan will have the better NFL career? 

 

Size

A quick look at the two USC wide receivers doesn't reveal many differences. Marqise Lee stands 6'0" and weighs 195 lbs. Robert Woods is listed at 6'1" and 190 lbs. Neither player has A.J. Green or Calvin Johnson-like size, but both are sleek, linear players with bodies built for speed and quick cuts. 

 

Speed

When it comes to pure speed, USC has loads of it. Robert Woods doesn't lack speed, but it's not his strength. Woods can accelerate off the line to generate separation, but post-catch he's not a classic sprinter like Marqise Lee.

Lee is able to catch and explode, picking up more yards after catch than Woods and giving the offense more of a dynamic threat on crossing routes and in space. Lee's speed is more like what NFL teams are looking for from a wide receiver who doesn't possess a big frame.