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April Sleepers |
Apr 14, 2007, 11:47 AM
by Shaun DePasquale
With the draft rapidly approaching, I'm devoting this week's article to some random "unknowns". The guys who will either be drafted very late, or not at all, and discarded in the minds of football fans as schmucks who will never make an impact---but who could very likely find themselves opening eyes should they luck into the opportunity to start---basically the Antoine Bethea's of the world. Remember, if there's even a remote chance we could hear a guy's name before the 6th round, it won't be listed here. So here you go...the "forget-me-not"'s of the 2007 Draft.
QB Jeff Smith--Georgetown (KY)--Smith is a nice prospect and has opened some eyes in the off season with his size and arm strength, enough to be a late-round possibility. But Smith is hurt a great deal by a couple of factors out of his control--first and foremost, he's unproven against top-notch competition, coming from tiny Georgetown (KY). No, not the Georgetown that just found themselves in the Final Four. The other thing hurting Smith is a relatively lumpy bottom-tier of QBs in this class, where guys from bigger programs could find themselves becoming a draft pick over Smith. Guys like Luke Getsy of Akron, Lester Ricard of Tulane or John Stocco of Wisconsin, to name a few. But Smith goes 6'5 and around 240 lbs. with a strong arm, so whether he becomes a late-round draft pick or a free agent, if he can pick up his team's system and find a spot on the roster he has the chance to surprise if he's forced into action early, as Bruce Gradkowski found himself last year in Tampa Bay.
RB/WR Jason Colson--West Virginia--Colson is the perfect example of a Priest Holmes. A guy who does a solid job in college, but ends up being over-shadowed as a collegiate runner by an underclassman. In this case, displaced from the RB position entirely by that player. Colson was West Virginia's starting RB B.S.---Before Slaton. Injuries to both Colson and fellow RB Jason Gwaltney in 2005 opened the door to a freshman phenom-in waiting named Steve Slaton, and the rest is history. Colson was never featured again, and the team tried to make him a full time WR in 2006, to no avail. However, in 2004 and before his injury in 2005, Colson was a very effective runner and receiving back, logging over 700 yards and 6 rushing touchdowns in 2004, adding 120 receiving yards that year. He also has excellent size for both the RB and WR position at around 6'1 and 220 lbs. Colson is receiving very little, if any hype, but if he manages to get a shot at the next level, he could end up reminding us all that he was a pretty good player himself before a rookie stole his thunder and never gave it back.
WR Legedu Naanee--Boise State--My selection for this year's "Marques Colston", if there could be one at all. Naanee is quite over-shadowed at the moment, coming from a school that doesn't have the reputation for producing NFL receivers, and the fact that he had to split the receptions in college, with among others, 2 other senior WR prospects--Drisan James and Jerard Rabb. But coming off Boise's huge "Miracle" win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, all 3 received Combine invites, where Naanee opened eyes by running a 4.41 40 yard dash, measuring big at 6'2, 226 lbs. So given the chance, this big deep threat-in-waiting could find open his coach's eyes in mini-camp and find himself with a golden opportunity, as an unknown from Hofstra did last year.
OT Jason Capizzi--Indiana (PA)--Former transfer from Pitt, Capizzi is an immense man at 6'9 and well over 300 lbs. with fine athleticism and footwork for his size. Capizzi is a man-mountain who is starting to get some recognition as a sleeper pick, and similar to Shane Olivea of the Chargers, could find himself, with a little hard work, on a starting line-up, direct from the late rounds of the draft. A classic small-school prospect who has the tools to succeed on the next level.
LB Mike Alston--Toledo--An undersized prospect at his listed 6'1, 211 lbs. Alston is a great athlete with the frame to add bulk and the sideline-to-sideline speed to play in any scheme at any LB position at the next level. 3-4 defensive coaches could find themselves a jewel if they take the time to develop this former MAC-monster.
DB Marcus Paschal--Iowa-- A former walk-on who nearly attended Hofstra and had Marques Colston as a teammate, Paschal battled to start at Iowa, but often was banged up, and had consistency issues in his time there. Paschal remains a fringe NFL prospect because he is a phenomenal athlete with the gifts to have a Dawan Landry-like impact on a team that puts him on the field. Paschal has the size (6' 200 lbs) and the ability to drop back in coverage and provide run support. The issue with Paschal...can he grasp a play book, and can he avoid the injury and consistency issues that plagued him in college. If the answers are yes, the rewards could be big if he gets his shot.
So are these 6 prospects guys to bank on having impact rookie seasons, or even making noise at any point in their career? No. If they were, they would be viewed as much better NFL prospects. Each man has his own issues coming into the league. It all boils down to opportunity, and even a little luck. There are of course many teams who not only wouldn't have traded a veteran receiver and inserted Marques Colston as a starter early on....many probably would have cited a "crowded WR corps" and cut the 7th rounder. But the Saints stepped up to the plate after identifying Colston's obvious gifts. Would Antoine Bethea, a late-rounder from Howard, have gotten a shot without an injury to incumbent Mike Doss? Maybe not. But each guy listed here is intriguing in their own way as well. Will they pan out? We'll see in a few short months.
QB Jeff Smith--Georgetown (KY)--Smith is a nice prospect and has opened some eyes in the off season with his size and arm strength, enough to be a late-round possibility. But Smith is hurt a great deal by a couple of factors out of his control--first and foremost, he's unproven against top-notch competition, coming from tiny Georgetown (KY). No, not the Georgetown that just found themselves in the Final Four. The other thing hurting Smith is a relatively lumpy bottom-tier of QBs in this class, where guys from bigger programs could find themselves becoming a draft pick over Smith. Guys like Luke Getsy of Akron, Lester Ricard of Tulane or John Stocco of Wisconsin, to name a few. But Smith goes 6'5 and around 240 lbs. with a strong arm, so whether he becomes a late-round draft pick or a free agent, if he can pick up his team's system and find a spot on the roster he has the chance to surprise if he's forced into action early, as Bruce Gradkowski found himself last year in Tampa Bay.
RB/WR Jason Colson--West Virginia--Colson is the perfect example of a Priest Holmes. A guy who does a solid job in college, but ends up being over-shadowed as a collegiate runner by an underclassman. In this case, displaced from the RB position entirely by that player. Colson was West Virginia's starting RB B.S.---Before Slaton. Injuries to both Colson and fellow RB Jason Gwaltney in 2005 opened the door to a freshman phenom-in waiting named Steve Slaton, and the rest is history. Colson was never featured again, and the team tried to make him a full time WR in 2006, to no avail. However, in 2004 and before his injury in 2005, Colson was a very effective runner and receiving back, logging over 700 yards and 6 rushing touchdowns in 2004, adding 120 receiving yards that year. He also has excellent size for both the RB and WR position at around 6'1 and 220 lbs. Colson is receiving very little, if any hype, but if he manages to get a shot at the next level, he could end up reminding us all that he was a pretty good player himself before a rookie stole his thunder and never gave it back.
WR Legedu Naanee--Boise State--My selection for this year's "Marques Colston", if there could be one at all. Naanee is quite over-shadowed at the moment, coming from a school that doesn't have the reputation for producing NFL receivers, and the fact that he had to split the receptions in college, with among others, 2 other senior WR prospects--Drisan James and Jerard Rabb. But coming off Boise's huge "Miracle" win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, all 3 received Combine invites, where Naanee opened eyes by running a 4.41 40 yard dash, measuring big at 6'2, 226 lbs. So given the chance, this big deep threat-in-waiting could find open his coach's eyes in mini-camp and find himself with a golden opportunity, as an unknown from Hofstra did last year.
OT Jason Capizzi--Indiana (PA)--Former transfer from Pitt, Capizzi is an immense man at 6'9 and well over 300 lbs. with fine athleticism and footwork for his size. Capizzi is a man-mountain who is starting to get some recognition as a sleeper pick, and similar to Shane Olivea of the Chargers, could find himself, with a little hard work, on a starting line-up, direct from the late rounds of the draft. A classic small-school prospect who has the tools to succeed on the next level.
LB Mike Alston--Toledo--An undersized prospect at his listed 6'1, 211 lbs. Alston is a great athlete with the frame to add bulk and the sideline-to-sideline speed to play in any scheme at any LB position at the next level. 3-4 defensive coaches could find themselves a jewel if they take the time to develop this former MAC-monster.
DB Marcus Paschal--Iowa-- A former walk-on who nearly attended Hofstra and had Marques Colston as a teammate, Paschal battled to start at Iowa, but often was banged up, and had consistency issues in his time there. Paschal remains a fringe NFL prospect because he is a phenomenal athlete with the gifts to have a Dawan Landry-like impact on a team that puts him on the field. Paschal has the size (6' 200 lbs) and the ability to drop back in coverage and provide run support. The issue with Paschal...can he grasp a play book, and can he avoid the injury and consistency issues that plagued him in college. If the answers are yes, the rewards could be big if he gets his shot.
So are these 6 prospects guys to bank on having impact rookie seasons, or even making noise at any point in their career? No. If they were, they would be viewed as much better NFL prospects. Each man has his own issues coming into the league. It all boils down to opportunity, and even a little luck. There are of course many teams who not only wouldn't have traded a veteran receiver and inserted Marques Colston as a starter early on....many probably would have cited a "crowded WR corps" and cut the 7th rounder. But the Saints stepped up to the plate after identifying Colston's obvious gifts. Would Antoine Bethea, a late-rounder from Howard, have gotten a shot without an injury to incumbent Mike Doss? Maybe not. But each guy listed here is intriguing in their own way as well. Will they pan out? We'll see in a few short months.
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