Grading The Underclassmen's Decisions

Although the deadline has long since passed, we take a look at the decisions of the underclassmen now. The reasoning behind looking at it now is that with the Senior Bowl and East-West game behind us, we now have a much better idea of the position rankings.

So, let’s take a look at each underclassmen that declared for the 2010 draft and grade each decision. The grading scale is below and keep in mind that the scale is based off of staying for their senior season, not where they will be drafted.

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Scale: 1=Very Poor, 2=Poor, 3=Not Smart, 4=Understandable, 5=Good Enough, 6=Great, 7=No Brainer

Quarterbacks

Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame—6
After an outstanding season where he progressed tremendously under Charlie Weis, Clausen has NFL training and the star potential that a Top 10-15 team will take a shot on.

Sam Bradford, Oklahoma—6
A possible Top Five pick one season ago, Bradford’s stock may take a hit depending on his injury recovery. Still, he likely won’t fall out of the Top 25.

Jevan Snead, Ole Miss—3
Came into the season a competitor for a Top 10 pick, struggled mightily all season and his accuracy is very erratic. Still, he should be a mid-round pick.

Running Backs

Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech—6
Had a great season as a fullback in the triple option, but his stock could only go down next season. Injury would have been a big concern, along with Allen and Jones begging for more carries.

Toby Gerhart, Stanford—6

Could have returned for a 5th season, Gerhart just lost the Heisman trophy and he is possibly the best power back in this class.

Ryan Matthews, Fresno State—6
Running backs generally should leave college early if they have a great season and next-level talent. Matthews won’t get much more press at Fresno next year than he did in 2009.

Jahvid Best, Cal—4
Projected as one of, if not the, top running back prospect for the 2010 class. But two concussions later, teams will be very wary based on Brian Westbrook’s struggles.

Joe McKnight, Southern Cal—5

Most scouts would have definitely liked to see McKnight stay and be a feature back at USC, but with tremendous depth already in running backs at USC, McKnight can’t risk slipping on the list.

Stafon Johnson, Southern Cal—4
After suffering that well-known weight lifting accident, many scouts would feel more comfortable seeing his recovery in college. Still, same as McKnight, it’ll be hard to get on the field.

Darius Marshall, Marshall—4

Similar to Ryan Matthews, coming from a non-BCS school with lackluster talent, Marshall’s stock can’t get much higher. Plus, he showed us a lot of versatility this season.

Toney Baker, North Carolina State—4
Coming off some serious injuries, Baker’s stock puts him as a hopeful free agent. However, adding another year of bruising won’t help his stock, and he’s probably a solid UDFA.

Shawnbrey McNeal, SMU—2

For a player who’s relatively unknown, the only reasoning would be that the June Jones offense is up and running, and there’s little room for running backs.

Wide Receivers

Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State—7

Some initial questions on his character may be a cause for concern as he was suspended for half the year, but his raw talent is undeniable and his ability can’t push him outside of the Top 15.

Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech—6

Likely an unknown in fan circles, you should get to know this name very quickly. Thomas has athletic ability comparable to Calvin Johnson, but needs to be fine-tuned fundamentally. The triple option wouldn’t help him if he stayed.

Damian Williams, Southern Cal—5

A freshman quarterback didn’t help his stock this year, but scouts will likely look at his 2008 film and disregard any inconsistencies this past year. However, if he returned and struggled, he’d see a drastic fall and fewer excuses.

Golden Tate, Notre Dame—6

Also similar to Jimmy Clausen, the offense is highly unlikely to be as pro-style and productive as it was under Charlie Weis. Still raw in receiver technique, his ability will keep him in round one.

Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas—5

The rest of the Kansas offense is leaving: no veteran Todd Reesing at QB, no Jake Sharp to keep the safeties up, no Kerry Meier to relieve double teams. Good move to make the jump.

Mike Williams, Syracuse—2

On film, Williams is just as talented as Dez Bryant, in my opinion. But after sitting out as a junior for academic reasons and then unexpectedly quitting the team this year, scouts will worry about his motivation.

Arrelious Benn, Illinois—4

As a freshman and sophomore, Benn looked to be competeing with Dez Bryant for the top receiver in their class. However, after injuries and lackluster play as a junior, in my opinion, his stock has fallen. Even though he still has undeniable talent, Benn will likely struggle to go in round one.

Antonio Brown, Central Michigan—5

For a receiver projected to go in the second or third round with another year eligibility, the usual recommendation is to stay the senior year. But, with LeFevour and coach Butch Jones leaving, his stock can’t get much higher.

Carlton Mitchell, South Florida—3

He has great talent and potential due to his speed and size together. However, he looks like too soft of a receiver and needs to be more technically sound to go in the top three rounds.

Chris Bell, Norfolk State—3

I’m never a huge advocate of small school players declaring early for the draft. While Bell is likely to go somewhere between the third and fifth round with potential to go higher, small school guys can fade just as quickly as they rise if they can’t live up to expectations.

Tight Ends

Aaron Hernandez, Florida—5

As is a common occurrence with many of the players declaring every year, his top players, especially Tebow, will be gone, and he’s likely to go in the first two rounds.

Rob Gronkowski, Arizona—4

I like Gronkowski a lot as a prospect, but it’s tough to go into the draft season coming off an injury, missing a few games, and not being able to play in the Senior Bowl.

Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma—4

Similar to Gronkowski, Gresham is coming off injury, missed a few games, can’t play in All-Star games, and has question marks about his next level position.

Offensive Line

Bryan Bulaga, Iowa—5

At the beginning of the year, declaring early for the draft seemed like a terrible idea. But as he came on and really dominated down the stretch, he’s re-emerged as a top 20 pick.

Bruce Campbell, Maryland—5

Having the tremendous size and raw ability, sticking around on a struggling Maryland team wouldn’t have helped that much. A fringe first rounder, a team could fall in love with his potential.

Anthony Davis, Rutgers—5

I personally am not excited about Anthony Davis as a prospect, especially as the left tackle. Still, he could be a mauling right tackle, with the best case scenario being Flozell Adams.

Maurkice Pouncey, Florida—5

A highly touted prospect, it’s rare that I agree with a guard or center declaring early for the draft. However, Pouncey is a can’t miss interior lineman, and should be taken in the first few rounds.

Defensive Line

Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma—7

Could have been a Top 10 pick last year, McCoy’s fighting for a Top 3 spot.  No brainer there.

Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech—6

An outstanding pass rusher, he’s this year’s top, according to most, 3-4 outside linebacker, which means that he’s likely a Top 20 pick.

Jason Pierre-Paul, USF—6

Extremely raw as a prospect since he only played one year of division one football. However, he could be the next Julius Peppers, and after workouts, he won’t fall out of the Top 20.

Carlos Dunlap, Florida—6

He was the pre-season top pass rusher for the 2010 draft. But, after he had an off-the-field issue and wasn’t dominating every week, he’s gone down to the middle to bottom of round one.

Brian Price, UCLA—5

I’m not as in love with Brian Price as many seem to be, since I feel he was a little inconsistent to be a sure-fire first rounder. Still, he has great pass rush ability and is a great athlete for a defensive tackle.

Jason Worilds, Virginia Tech—4

This is a guy who I, and I think many other scouts, were begging that he would go back to college another year. He has great potential and is a well respected pass rusher, but another year of the college game could have made him an elite prospect.

Everson Griffen, Southern Cal—4

Another guy who I’m not sold on as a first rounder, Griffin underperformed for me at times this season and I think his stock is over-based on potential. Still, he has the skill set to be successful down the road.

Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio State—3

Never really emerged in my mind as a top notch talent, but has some skills that will likely get him in the league. I would have rathered he stay another year, but he wasn’t a great prospect either way.

Kevin Basped, Nevada—2

I know some people are really excited about what he could do, but again, he’s a guy who I think scouts would have been much happier with if he stayed in college his senior year.

Abe Koroma, Western Illinois—2

A classic case of a guy with too big of a head, from reports I’ve heard. Koroma has NFL type talent, but has had some off the field issues. Having character issues yet having great ability means you might get a shot, but no guarantee.

Clifton Geathers, South Carolina—1

Very surprised he came out, Geathers would have been a mid to late rounder for the 2011 draft. He should have a tough time getting drafted in 2010.

Jerome Hayes, Penn State*—3

Hayes battled through injuries for the past two years, and instead of fighting for another year of eligibility, he opted for the pros. Not a great prospect, but it wasn’t worth not starting if he returned at Penn State.

Livall Joseph, East Carolina—2

With all the NFL prospects on the very respected ECU defense, Joseph barely cracked the Top Five on his own team. Fighting for a roster spot will be tough, but with the rest of his defense and his coach leaving, he must have felt he needed to move on as well.

Linebackers

Rolando McClain, Alabama—7

Compared to Patrick Willis when he came out, McClain is the general consensus top player

at his position and likely Top 15 pick.

Navarro Bowman, Penn State—6

I don’t believe Bowman is an elite prospect, but he flies around the field and can play in a variety of systems. A first round lock should be enough for any linebacker.

Rennie Curran, Georgia—4

A little undersized at linebacker and no lock to be taken in the first two rounds, Curran is an intriguing prospect because of his heart and production. Not a great move, but he won’t grow so I can’t say it was a terrible move.

Blaze Soares, Hawaii—1

Huge surprise that he declared for the draft, Soares likely has a reason for his early declaring. He will struggle to get drafted, and is likely set to fight for a roster spot or play in a lower level league.

Defensive Backs

Eric Berry, Tennessee—7

The best safety prospect coming out in recent years, Berry has been pegged as a future Top 10 pick since his freshman season.

Joe Haden, Florida—7

In what I feel is somewhat of a weak cornerback class, Haden is alone at the top of the position and is an elite prospect in his own right.

Earl Thomas, Texas—6

Thomas had an extremely good season this year and really came on as a playmaker in their championship run. I hoped he’d stay another year, but he should be, at worst, the third safety taken.

Donovan Warren, Michigan—5

More of a prospect based on his talents and potential, Warren hasn’t shown me good enough skill to be a first rounder. While I would have liked to see him stay, he has the skills to be a possible first rounder.

Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech—4

Burnett, like some other Georgia Tech defenders, struggled early on in the season. Burnett did show playmaking ability at times, but with a loaded safety class, he would have been a Top 20 pick next season.

Chad Jones, LSU—3

Really surprised me that he came out, Jones is a very solid baseball prospect as well. He’s now chosen his path to play football and while that’s not a bad decision by any means, Jones is now fighting to be a Top Five safety.

Kareem Jackson, Alabama—4

Jackson was somewhat overlooked as a prospect because of Javier Arenas on the other side and the impressive linebackers of Alabama. Jackson is a very solid prospect in himself, but he could have shined if he stayed another year.

Amari Spivey, Iowa—4

Spivey, to me, was no surprise to declare early, as many Iowa talented defensive players have declared early in the past and gone on to be solid NFL prospects. Still, I think most scouts would have liked to see him stay.

Reshad Jones, Georgia—3

I was very disappointed that he declared because he has the potential to be a great in the box safety. His stock was very high in the pre-season, projected as a possible first rounder, but since then, he’s unlikely to be a Top Three round guy.

Major Wright, Florida—3

Another puzzling decision by a safety, Wright was highly touted out of high school and did play great at times at Florida. However, with such a deep class and him not really standing out, he’ll struggle to go in the top three or four rounds.

Dominique Franks, Oklahoma—3

Franks played on one of the most talented defenses in the country the past few seasons, and really was aided by great defensive line pass rusher and linebacker playmaking. Franks is a very mediocre prospect and I would have liked to see him become more of the focus in 2011.

Joshua Moore, Kansas State—2

As I scouted Kansas State, Moore really didn’t stand out and there was little question in my mind that he would not come out early. Moore has talent, but hasn’t put it together vs. top competition consistently.

Jerell Norton, Arkansas—2

Another unlikely declarer, Norton will likely struggle to get drafted with the depth of this safety class. He’ll have to really wow at his pro-day and pre-draft workouts.

Dennis Rogan, Tennessee—1
Spoiled by the outstanding system that Monte Kiffin put in place, many of the Tennessee prospects were helped significantly. Rogan will get a look, but will need great workouts to get a draft look.

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