Thankfully, I was linked to a truly superb article written by the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel's Bob McGinn. This is the best article I've read this draft season, as anonymous scouts provided their thoughts on several of the top prospects.
Thinking of the Chargers' needs, here are the players I focused on while reading McGinn's tremendously informative piece:
David DeCastro*, G, Stanford: 6-5, 316. Three-year starter. "He will start and play 12 years, make a couple Pro Bowls, that kind of guy," one scout said. "Everything you want in a guard, he's got it." Often compared to G Mike Iupati, the 49ers' first-round pick in 2010. "Iupati was more flexible, but they have the same demeanor," another scout said. "Try to grab you and kill you. He's stiff, smart and very tough. I would be hesitant taking him in the first because I don't think he can play tackle."
Peter Konz*, C, Wisconsin: 6-5, 314. Two scouts said he wasn't as good of a prospect as the Jets' Nick Mangold or the Steelers' Maurkice Pouncey. "He's a notch below those guys, but he's pretty good," one scout said. "He can pull and do all those things. He gun snaps. He's not a real physical guy. I shouldn't say that. He's good enough. But he doesn't blow people off the ball. He's probably more athletic than (Kevin) Zeitler. This kid can probably play guard, too." Three-year starter. Suffered a broken ankle late in the season and won't work out until pro day. "He moves OK, not great," another scout said. "He's not a first-round pick. He could probably start (immediately)." Added a third scout: "He's got good size, and that's rare right now. Good, solid player."
Melvin Ingram, DE-OLB, South Carolina: 6-1, 264. Played almost every D-line and LB position. "He's a little guy that's not explosive," one scout said. "I don't know where you play him. He's OK. He's not that good of an athlete." Played extensively off the bench for three seasons before starting as a senior. "If you line him up as an end in a 4-3 he's going to get blocked a lot," one scout said. "Outside backer in a 3-4 is probably the best starting point for him. He's got good temperament. He will bring something to your team from a toughness-intangible (standpoint). Is he an elite pass rusher? Absolutely not. Is he an elite run-down defender? Absolutely not. But he's a good football player who has to move around and play a bunch of different positions. A creative coach like (Bill) Belichick could do something with this guy." Finished with 21½ sacks.
Fletcher Cox*, DT, Mississippi State: 6-4, 298. Started two of his three seasons, finishing with 8½ sacks. "He's probably a pure 4-3 DT who can give you reps at DE," one scout said. "He's got the athletic ability to be a better pass rusher in the future than his numbers have indicated so far." Nicknamed "The Beast." Said another scout: "Guy can run all day. He's explosive, strong hands, good hips. He's country. He's hard. He looooves football."
Michael Brockers*, DT, Louisiana State: 6-7, 322. Played just two seasons before renouncing his final two years of eligibility. "Cox is a quicker-twitch guy than Brockers," one scout said. "Brockers can play 3-4 end or 4-3 DT. He's probably a little stouter against the run than Cox. Cox is probably a better athlete." Finished with two sacks. "He's a young kid and the light is just starting to go on," another scout said. "He hasn't even touched his ceiling yet. He's very powerful. He's a really good two-gapper. Occasionally, he's got a little bit of pass rush. Vonnie Holliday was a better athlete. This kid is bigger."
Dontari Poe*, NT, Memphis: 6-4, 346. Finished with five sacks in 35 games (30 starts). "He's probably the most athletic D-lineman in this draft over 300 pounds," one scout said. "He is phenomenally gifted with athleticism. He's not fat at all. Different level of competition. He has flashes of dominance. He's a well-spoken kid." Prototypical space-eater. "He has ability, OK?" another scout said. "I wouldn't say he can't move. You have to understand, that was a poor, poor team. That lad had very little help."
Devon Still, DT, Penn State: 6-5, 303. Built in imposing fashion a la Justin Harrell. "He has a lot of talent, but he's up and down," one scout said. "I don't understand that. I don't think it's lack of effort. He fits the 5-technique (DE in a 3-4), what you want them to look like." Two-year starter with 10½ sacks. Art Still, his uncle, was a Pro Bowl DE for Kansas City in the 1980s. "He's a flash player," another scout said. "But down in, down out, he's a developmental guy."
Dont'a Hightower*, ILB-OLB, Alabama: 6-2, 265. Played ILB in the Crimson Tide's base 3-4 but often put his hand down and rushed on passing downs. "Does he flash big-time plays?" one scout said. "Yeah, he does. Does he dominate like a guy 6-3, 265 should? Not on a consistent basis." Blew out his knee in Game 4 of 2009 and, according to some scouts, has yet to play back to his old form. "He's got the ability of the guy the Raiders took (Rolando McClain)," another scout said. "Some people don't know how tough he is. The knock on him is if he really inserts. But he is strong. I've seen him take his hand and just stand up guards." He tried to power rush tackles and ended up with five sacks. "He's capable of playing outside (linebacker)," a third scout said. "He can do anything you ask him to do."
Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama: 6-1½, 272. Projects as an OLB in a 3-4 or a strong-side LB in a 4-3. "The only reason Upshaw could go ahead of Ingram is because Upshaw actually played up and down and Ingram played all over the place," one scout said. "I don't think Upshaw was really outstanding in the Senior Bowl. I thought he was just ordinary. He's very physical, but he gets cut a lot. That's because he's stiff." Two-year starter with 16½ sacks. "(People) think he's Cornelius Bennett and he's not," another scout said. "He's a good, tough, nasty college football player that I think will get blocked a lot in the NFL." Scored just 9 on the 50-question Wonderlic intelligence test. "He's just a tough (expletive)," a third scout said. "He's really not a burn the edge guy. He is not fast. He's built like a fire hydrant. Maybe a 3-4 team will take him in the first."
Jonathan Martin*, T, Stanford: 6-5, 312. Comparable athletically to Matt Kalil and Riley Reiff, according to one scout. "Smart and competitive," the scout said. "Definitely has to get stronger. The guy from USC (Nick Perry) wore him out. That's what bothers me." Three-year starter at LT in a pro offense. "He's a project," another scout said. "He's big and has some short-area athletic ability. But he's not strong, not tough, doesn't give very good effort. He gets beat a lot."
Bobby Massie*, T, Mississippi: 6-6, 316. Surprised some teams by declaring a year early. "Nobody went to Ole Miss to watch Bobby Massie this year," one scout said. "Nobody knows who he is, but he's going to rise up the charts. He played right tackle there but he has good feet and could end up being a left tackle." Started 29 of 37 games. "Massie isn't as physical as Derek Sherrod, but he's a pretty good pass blocker," another scout said. "There's something missing. He's not a killer. That bothers me a little bit, but I do like his ability."
Mike Adams, T, Ohio State: 6-7, 323. Played just nine games his first two seasons because of injuries and then sat out first five games of 2011 on an NCAA suspension. "He has first-round ability, but I don't trust him," one scout said. "He's got talent and is immense, but he really isn't strong." Gargantuan hands (11 inches). "He played left tackle and can be a right tackle," another scout said. "He actually can play guard. He's got upside." Scouts have major reservations about his character.
Amini Silatolu, G, Midwestern State: 6-4, 311. Junior-college player who ended up having to play two years at Division II Midwestern State, located in Wichita Falls, Texas. "He's one of the most intriguing guys at the position," one scout said. "Dominating at his level. Talented. Big. Flexible." Compared by one scout to Larry Allen, who played at Sonoma State (Calif.) before building a Hall of Fame career for Dallas. "Yeah, but I wouldn't say he's as physical as Larry Allen was," the scout said. "Probably not the brightest bulb on the tree, but he's a pretty good player. Now he's blocking Division II guys, not Division I guys. And then he was supposed to play in the Senior Bowl but didn't." Quiet, withdrawn personality.
Cordy Glenn, G-T, Georgia: 6-5½, 345. Four-year starter. "He's not a left tackle," one scout said. "But he may be the first guard to go. If you watch him at guard, once guys get on him they don't get off. Inside, he does have feet." Doesn't always play hard. "I think he can play tackle, but there is no way I'd draft him in the first or second round," another scout said. "He has ability but he's got to watch his weight. He's got talent, but in the Senior Bowl I thought he looked bad at guard. He waist-bends."
Whitney Mercilus*, DE, Illinois: 6-4, 261. Didn't become a starter until 2011 and then broke out with 16 sacks. "He's a teaser," one scout said. "I don't know why he came out. He looks like a 4-3 DE to me. He doesn't do anything special." Trying to provide for his Haitian immigrant parents. "I think there's a degree of stiffness that will limit him," another scout said. "He's got the measurables and production. I just want to see him move like an athlete."
Nick Perry*, DE, Southern California: 6-3, 271. Played with his hand down for the Trojans unlike Clay Matthews, who almost always played standing up. Some scouts think he can play LB and others don't. "He's an undersized 4-3 DE," one scout said. "He's not as powerful as Trent Cole. He tries to finesse his way around guys." Two-year starter with 21½ sacks. "He wore out Stanford's junior left tackle (Jonathan Martin)," another scout said. "He and Clay Matthews didn't play the same way. He's tall and linear built. Yeah, he can rush the passer."
Jared Crick, DE, Nebraska: 6-4, 279. Three-year starter who was lost for the season in Game 5 last fall with a torn pectoral muscle. "All about football," one scout said. "War daddy. Tough guy. Good enough athlete to play 5-technique (3-4 DE). Strong hands. Plays with pride. He's got some stiffness, but he's got enough flexibility to squeeze and control and go laterally and make plays." Finished with 20 sacks. "He does have a lot of sacks but he got a lot of them when (Ndamukong) Suh was there," another scout said. "He does play hard, I'll tell you what. This guy chases the ball all the time."
Vinny Curry, DE-OLB, Marshall: 6-3, 266.Three-year starter with 26½ sacks. "Very, very talented football player," one scout said. "He may have a chance to stand up and be an outside linebacker. He's tough. The guy plays hard." Moved around rather well at the Senior Bowl when the coaches gave him a chance to play standing up.
Jerel Worthy*, DT, Michigan State: 6-2, 308. Often compared to DT Phil Taylor, who went 21st to Cleveland last year and had a successful rookie season. "He's got a ton of ability," one scout said. "He could be first round without any question. You just worry about guys that have ability and play lazy for most of their career. Because when they make money they're usually not very good. He's that kind of guy." Three-year starter with 12 sacks. "I didn't want to like the guy," another scout said. "But you know what? Guy's a pretty good player. He needs to be more consistent, but when he turns it up he can rush the passer."
Brandon Thompson, DT, Clemson: 6-2, 314. Three-year starter with 4½ sacks. "Short and square," one scout said. "Fits the 4-3 as a DT. I thought he was OK, not great. Kind of a meat and potatoes interior player." Hails from a program that seems to worry a lot of personnel people. "Those Clemson guys don't translate to the NFL very good," another scout said. "They just don't play well in the NFL."
Kendall Reyes, DT, Connecticut: 6-4, 299. Probably best-suited to play 3-technique in a 4-3. Just doesn't seem stout enough to resist the run as a 3-4 DE. "He's more of a run-around guy," one scout said. "He's a better athlete than Brandon Thompson, but Thompson is stronger. He's got great ability, but he's soft. He can't fight through adversity. When (expletive) gets tough, he can't finish it out." Started 41 of 49 games, finishing with 11½ sacks. "He's such an underachiever," another scout said. "He doesn't play up to his ability, but it's there. I think he gets overdrafted because of it."
Alameda Ta'amu, NT, Washington: 6-2½, 348. Made himself a lot of money with a terrific week at the Senior Bowl. "You can't single-block him," one scout said. "He's athletic for his size." Started 42 of 50 games, finishing with 7½ sacks. "He's very much like Paul Soliai of the Dolphins," another scout said. "He is a true space-eater. He didn't play like that (the Senior Bowl) all year. He did have a good Senior Bowl, he really did. He's got a big (expletive) and great big thick thighs on him."
Andre Branch, OLB, Clemson: 6-4, 259. Displayed major improvement as a senior when he posted 10½ of his 17½ sacks. "He's another teaser," one scout said. "He's got ability. But he's a lot of fluff is what I think." Seems capable of playing in 3-4 or 4-3 schemes. "Clemson always (expletive) me up," another scout said. "I don't trust those guys there."
Hopefully, Chargers general manager A.J. Smith read this article and will keep monitoring the many talented linemen and pass-rushers in this draft class.
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