NFL Combine 2010: Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy the Next Big Things

In a land where quarterbacks and running backs are king, there are two defensive linemen who aim to change the course of the NFL draft.

Nebraska phenom Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma defensive lineman Gerald McCoy both believe they can be the top pick in the 2010 NFL draft which is just over a month away.

The St. Louis Rams are officially on the clock and all the attention will be on them as the draft continues to get closer.

Who will they take with the first overall pick and will it be the biggest shocker in draft history?

There are some that can't imagine the Rams not taking the most dominant lineman that college football has arguably ever seen (Suh). There's no chance they can pass up a guy that can be that big of a difference maker all by himself.

While these two large defensive ends battle for the top spot, they will have to contend with two quarterbacks, one from their own Big XII conference.

Oklahoma's Sam Bradford and Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen are also battling to become the number one pick in the draft, and history is on their side.

In nine of the last 12 drafts, a quarterback has been selected as the top pick overall. Among that list are guys like Peyton Manning (1998), Michael Vick (2001), Carson Palmer (2003) and Peyton's younger brother Eli Manning (2004) was also the overall number one pick.

Only five defensive tackles have been drafted as the overall number one pick since 1964, the last of which was Ohio State's Dan Wilkinson in 1994.

So how do you make a decision like this if you're the St. Louis Rams?

How do you decide between a quarterback who sat out most of the 2009 season with an injured shoulder (Bradford), a quarterback who needed painkillers just to get through the season (Clausen) or two of the most dominant defensive lineman?

Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo was asked to describe a franchise defensive tackle by Yahoo Sports .

Spagnuolo said, “You have to talk about a dominant defensive tackle, somebody that changes the game, somebody that changes schemes, changes how you would block it. He gives offensive coordinators in the run game or the pass game a little bit of a headache. I think that’s the type of guy you describe."

There's no question that both Suh and McCoy are as good as they come but only one can come out as the number one pick.

There have been questions about Suh's ability to play the pro style defense, being able to play the run on the way to the pass. 

“I think I can do that, I just haven’t had the opportunity just yet to do that because of the scheme that we were in [at Nebraska],” Suh told the media at the combine . “I’m not saying that was a problem because there’s opportunities in our scheme when I had a chance to do that, but it wasn’t as much as some of the teams did."

But even knowing that, even with the questions of Suh's ability to play in the pro-style defense, there's no way that any team would pass on this kind of a dominant athlete-is there?

“I look at those two players, McCoy and Suh, and from my opinion, they’re the two best players in the draft,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock told Michael Marot of the Associated Press . They’re both clean off the field. I like McCoy ahead of Suh, only because he’s more disruptive in the pass game, but they’re both great players.”

No matter who goes first, Suh or McCoy, both teams will be getting an unquestionably talented athlete and defensive lineman.