NFL Draft 2012: Vontaze Burfict and More First-Round Super Sleepers

The NFL draft is a minefield of over reaching and promises that grow cold. Vontaze Burfict is a prospect guaranteed to flourish in the NFL, and here are some others. 

We are well underway in the 2012 draft process. A week of Senior Bowl practices whet our appetite, but there is much more on the horizon to solidify what we think we know about these young athletes. 

We look ahead to the combine and Pro Days and identify those players who will jump the board into the realm of surefire superstars. 

Here is a list of players that will soon be on your radar as Pro Bowl phenoms. 

Vontaze Burfict

The book on Burfict is quite simple. The man is a beast, and that encompasses the good and bad in regards to that label. 

He has a high motor and will play well after the play is dead. The only problem is that he is prone to silly penalties due to his lack of control on the field. 

This is a soft year for linebackers, so he should be a lock for the first round and may even wind up in Baltimore with the Ravens. That would be the dream destination, as he could learn from a man who can channel his anger like no other in Ray Lewis. 

Quinton Coples

It's a little tenuous to consider Coples a sleeper, but the questions surrounding him have most people on opposite sides of the fence on him. 

There are issues on his work ethic and motor, but he just about answered that after an excellent Senior Bowl. Perhaps its the allure of the NFL that set his head straight, but this was a new man, and he should light up a defensive front in just a few months. 

Fletcher Cox

This Mississippi State defensive tackle has been largely unnoticed so far during the draft process. Many have him sliding out of the first round, but I think he is the perfect player for a team like the Green Bay Packers to take. 

There is nothing flashy about his game, but that is hardly what will make him a star. The best part about him is his pass-rushing skills, which are as versatile as any.

Stick him anywhere on the line, and he is getting into that pocket. 

Follow @gabezal