NFL Combine 2012: Penn State's Devon Still Full of Confidence

Is Devon Still the best defensive tackle in the 2012 NFL Draft? It depends on who you ask, but if you happen to ask Still himself, he says yes.

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“I think hands down, I’m the best defensive tackle in this draft,” Still told reporters, including NFL.com, Saturday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Just because I feel there’s no doubt I want it more, and I was able to take over a lot of games this season, and just the production that I had, I was able to disrupt plays even if I wasn’t making statistics.”

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Bleacher Report's NFL Draft analyst, Matt Miller, ranks Devon Still 38th overall in his list of top 100 prospects in the NFL Combine.

"A first-rounder on many boards, Still's lack of impact against Wisconsin (in essence, an NFL offensive line) stands out as proof of his inability to produce against elite talent," Miller said of Still earlier this month.

Of course, Still was battling symptoms of the flu in Penn State's regular season finale against the Badgers, as well as some nagging injuries that reduced his overall production. But Miller is fair in his suggestion.

Miller ranks LSU's Michael Brockers (11th) and Michigan State's Jerel Worthy (34th) ahead of Still.

But Still had respectable performances against other good teams, including Alabama early last season.  When healthy, he's undoubtedly one of the top defensive linemen in the game, at least in the NFL Class of 2012. 

Still's health might be a concern to scouts, since he's already suffered a pair of season-ending injuries in his college career, including a torn ACL on his left leg in 2007 and a broken left ankle in 2008.

During the Combine, NFL scouts, coaches and general managers want to know more about Still than how many tackles he had against Illinois (10). They want to dig in to how he is as a person. Many will have learned by the end of the combine that Still is full of character, a good father, and that he went through an emotional November. 

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a lot of those … and I’m ready to answer them,” Still said, commenting on how much he grew as a person through a November that rocked the Penn State community and football program.

Many mock drafts have Still going in the second half of the first round.

The NFL Draft will be held from April 26 through April 28.

Kevin McGuire is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and the managing editor of Nittany Lions Den. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook and add him to your Google+ circle.