2012 NFL Draft: Could Nick Perry End Up Being a First-Round Pick?

Defensive end Nick Perry is one of the most hotly debated prospects of this year's draft class. The 6'3", 250-pound defensive end opted to forgo his senior season at USC in favor of potential NFL stardom.

Perry would have likely benefited from an additional year as a member of the Trojans, but various draft experts, including NFL.com's Mike Mayock, feel Perry is one of the top-five defensive ends of 2012 nevertheless.

Perry has been classified as a freakish athlete who will undoubtedly test well at this week's NFL combine in Indianapolis.

With tremendous size and quickness off the edge, it's easy to see why Perry has NFL scouts drooling over his potential at the next level.

However, one thing that is working against the former Trojan is his inconsistency. As Mayock also noted, at times Perry looked every bit like a first-round pick, particularly against Washington and Oregon, where he registered a combined 4.5 sacks in those two contests.

On the other hand, there were times Perry proved to be nonexistent, specifically in USC's back-to-back primetime showdowns with Notre Dame and Stanford in which he failed to record a sack.

Perry is one of those guys who could benefit immensely from the combine. Fellow defensive ends Quinton Coples of North Carolina and Melvin Ingram of South Carolina have established themselves as the top-two players at the position, but that's not to say Perry couldn't leapfrog over Marshall's Vinny Curry or Clemson's Andre Branch with impressive combine numbers.

Another thing working in Perry's favor is his versatility. Although he was primarily a pass-rush specialist while at USC, Perry possesses the ability to slide up and play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. 

It remains to be seen how good Perry's instincts would be in the open field, but he certainly has the speed and pass-rush ability to project as a monster 3-4 outside linebacker.

Looking at the big picture, it becomes clear that if Perry can run somewhere in the 4.6-4.7 range in the 40-yard dash, he should solidify himself as a first-round pick.

Perry also has a good head on his shoulders and should pass the interview phase of the combine with flying colors.

The bottom line is that Perry's combination of size and speed allows him to project highly in either a 4-3 system as a defensive end or a 3-4 system as a pass-rushing outside linebacker.

This versatility alone should be more than enough to vault him into the late first round. If you couple these traits with some eye-opening combine results, don't be surprised to see Perry fly all the way up to the middle of the first round.