The Way We Hear It

the way we hear it, one of the fastest-rising prospects in this year’s draft is Tennessee’s Jerod Mayo, whom some teams have graded as this year’s top LB prospect, more highly than USC LB Keith Rivers.

“He is bigger and tougher than Rivers, but to me, he is not as athletic,” one evaluator said. “I would think about him in the top 15 if we had a pick up there.”

Mayo, who began the season playing on a surgically repaired knee, finished the season very strongly and has worked out exceptionally well in the postseason, clocking sub-4.6 times and a 40-inch-plus vertical jump. His overall athleticism in a draft that’s all about upside has really caught the attention of evaluators.

The Lions, who are looking for more speed alongside Ernie Sims, are very interested in Mayo, from what team sources say.

While Mayo’s stock has risen, the stock of Maryland’s Erin Henderson has plummeted, as several teams we consulted have dropped his name to the second day of the draft.

“He’s very stiff,” one evaluator said. “He’s had an extremely productive career, but he’s got two bad knees and was not healthy this past year.”

Scouts project that he could be drafted as low as the fifth round but likely will warrant some serious consideration in the third.

Florida State junior WLB Geno Hayes also has slipped in the eyes of evaluators, some of whom have graded him as a backup, citing his lack of overall strength and ability to play big in a big man’s game.

Oklahoma MLB Curtis Lofton could also warrant looks late in the first round, but scouts expect him to be available in the second given his sickle-cell-trait disease, which is not believed to affect him much.

Louisville LB Lamar Myles could go undrafted based on feedback from NFL teams. However, he does possess special-teams ability and has the potential to make a roster and be a surprising contributor in a 4-3 pressure defense.

Draft audibles
"I have big questions about (North Carolina DT) Kentwan Balmer and (Arkansas DT) Marcus Harrison. I think both will wind up going in the second round, but I wouldn’t want either of them. They are the reason the Browns traded away both of their picks. You could feel a lot better about Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers than you could about either of them. It's a bad year to need a defensive tackle."

"I didn’t think (USC TE) Fred Davis was a very good player, and with all the bad influences in his life, you better have a strong locker room to control him."

"(California WR) DeSean Jackson is a pretty special talent. I think he has special burst and change of direction. He had an excellent (pro day) workout."

"I don’t think (Oklahoma CB) Reggie Smith can play cornerback. To me, he’s a safety, and I don’t know if he is tough enough to play it, either. What do you do with a guy like that."

"If you look at (Oklahoma WR) Malcolm Kelly’s production, how much different is he from (ex-Sooner, now-Browns WR) Travis Wilson. I’ve never understood all the hype about him. He’s overrated."

"(Boston College QB) Matt Ryan made some bad decisions this year. I didn’t see the magic that some other people did to believe that his skills would transfer to the NFL. It’s a tough year if you need a quarterback."

"If (Louisville QB) Brian Brohm had come out early as a junior, he might have been the first quarterback picked. If Brady Quinn had declared as a junior, he’d probably be playing for San Francisco right now instead of Alex Smith. I like Brohm, but I don’t see a lot of difference between him and Chad Henne and Joe Flacco. They all have shortcomings. If I were going to take any of them, I would rather not put the pressure of being a first-round bust on their shoulders."

link to rest of story
http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFLDraft/Draft+Extras/2008/wwhi041708.htm