Portis Expects to Be Back

Finishing up with Senior Bowl reportage, we begin today with ESPN Draft expert Todd McShay, who notes that this was not the most talent-laden Senior Bowl people can recall.

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The depth at most positions was strong but the lack of elite players was noticeable. Last year, 11 eventual first-round picks appeared in Mobile, including nine who competed in practices and/or the game, but the 2010 class will be lucky to see six players come off the board in the first round.

The larger-than-usual number of underclassman entries (53) in 2010 is a contributing factor, but the real issue is that many top seniors elected not to take part in this year’s all-star games. Our list of the top 35 overall prospects includes only 14 seniors, and half of them were no-shows in Mobile: Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh (No. 1 overall), Oklahoma State OT Russell Okung (No. 7), Clemson RB C.J. Spiller (No. 13), Oklahoma OT Trent Williams (No. 14), Texas DE/OLB Sergio Kindle (No. 24), Florida ILB Brandon Spikes (No. 26) and Clemson DE/OLB Ricky Sapp (No. 35).

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There was also the absence of the Draft’s 3 top quarterback prospects. Sam Bradford [Oklahoma] and Colt McCoy [Texas] didn’t participate due to injury and Jimmy Clausen [Notre Dame] isn’t a senior and, thus, not eligible. According to McShay, Cincinnati’s Tony Pike was the best QB at the Senior Bowl. I agree and think Pike could be the sleeper quarterback of this Draft. I’d much rather take him in a later round than grab one of the more famous guys in the first round.

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