Did Over-Scouting Allow Aaron Curry to Fall to the Seattle Seahawks?

The NFL Combine is a spectacular event to behold.

Year after year, NFL hopefuls are tested in nearly every aspect of their physical and mental fitness. Each test provides NFL teams with some sort of information concerning a certain player's NFL caliber.

In certain instances, however, it seems that NFL teams "over-scout" certain players, which allows drill results and test scores to outweigh a player's sheer football talent.

Here is a example:

• Lofa Tatupu was a star linebacker at USC, leading the Trojans to back-to-back NCAA National Championships
• He was an All-American in 2004
• At the NFL combine, Tatupu was criticized for lacking the necessary size and speed to excel at the next level
  
• Because of this poor scouting report, Tatupu's draft stock slipped significantly. Some experts had him rated as a third round pick.
• Tatupu was selected in the second round (45th overall) by the Seattle Seahawks
• Tatupu consequently began his career with three consecutive Pro Bowl campaigns (2005-07) while establishing himself as the leader of the Seahawks defense

Aaron Curry was unanimously regarded as the safest pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Some experts called him the most talented player in the draft, and up until the week of the draft he was the consensus selection to be taken by the Kansas City Chiefs at pick No. 3.

Some negative opinions existed, however, concerning whether or not Curry could be a pass rusher in the NFL. Despite an incredible combine performance and excellent Pro Day, Curry was still labeled as a pass rushing liability.

Scouts used college film to determine that, while he was the most talented linebacker in the NFL Draft, his NFL potential could be limited due to an inability to rush the quarterback.

Now Aaron Curry is out to prove those critics wrong.

Reports out of the Seattle Seahawks mini-camp have indicated that coaches believe Aaron Curry could be a legitimate pass rushing threat this season.

Click Here for frame-by-frame analysis of Curry's pass rushing skills.

Head Coach Jim Mora Jr. noted that, "[Curry] has an aspect of pass rush that we didn’t see on the college film because they didn’t ask him to do it. We’ve asked him to do that a little more here, and it looks like he’s a guy who athletically can do that."

Take it with a grain of salt, however, as Mora added, "I say this with reservation because it’s not padded practices and it’s not live."

It will be interesting to see how Curry evolves as an NFL linebacker. However, if he is able to outperform the scouting reports which discredited him as a pass-rusher, he could become an all-around star in the NFL.

While a fall to pick No. 4 isn't too far, is it possible that Curry's drop was due to over-scouting?

Mora noted that Curry's game tapes from Wake Forest may not have been the best indicator of his pass rushing abilities, as he was rarely asked to do at the college level. Yet these game tapes were strongly evaluated by NFL scouts.

If it was these tapes that generated the belief that Aaron Curry lacked pass rushing skills, it is very likely that "over-scouting" led to his fall past the Kansas City Chiefs.

While Curry would have most likely fell past the Detroit Lions, who desperately needed a quarterback, and the St. Louis Rams, who desperately needed offensive line help, Curry's fall past the Kansas City Chiefs at pick No. 3 could have been aided by his alleged pass rushing deficiencies (remember that the Chiefs selected an accomplished pass rusher in DE Tyson Jackson instead of Aaron Curry).

This issue is completely subjective, as a number of variables could have played into his draft status. Therefore, please do not comment assuming that I believe this theory to be the absolute truth.

Instead, I am merely putting the matter up for debate!

Comment with what you agree and disagree on.

sk.