2013 NFL Draft Picks on Display Today in College Football
By Jason McIntyre
FLORIDA at TEXAS A&M, Saturday, 3:30 pm, ESPN
AGGIES
Luke Joeckel, junior, 6-6, 310 pounds: Arguably the best tackle in his class. Size and skill to go in the top half of the 1st round in April. His first test of the season will be Florida’s beastly defensive line, led by Shariff Floyd, who is probably a 2nd or 3rd round pick if he comes out.
Sean Porter, senior, LB , 6-2, 230 pounds: Latest in a long line of talented linebackers to play for the Aggies (Dat Nguyen, Johnny Holland, and Von Miller to name a few). First/second round talent with great speed had 9.5 sacks last year, including two against Arkansas. Check the spin move at 3:00.
GATORS: Didn’t it seem like yesterday that Urban Meyer’s Florida teams were littered with first round picks? This is what happens when your highly-rated Class of 2009 doesn’t exactly pan out.
Sharrif Floyd, junior, DT, 6-3, 300 pounds: Highly-acclaimed high school star has taken a couple years to live up to the hype, but he’s poised for a breakout season. (Per Rivals, Florida landed the 1st, 4th and 7th players in the country. Ronald Powell, who was first, did nothing in Gainesville his first two years and is coming off an ACL injury. Floyd went 4th. Dominique Easley went 7th and has done very little, and he also suffered an ACL injury). Floyd’s mostly considered a 2nd or 3rd day draft pick, but with a productive season, there’s no reason he couldn’t get into the first round.
GEORGIA at MISSOURI, Saturday, 7:45 pm, ESPN2:
BULLDOGS:
John Jenkins, senior, DT, 6-3, 360 pounds: Junior college terror was coveted by everyone two years ago, but had an uneven first season in Athens. Good space-eater in the Bulldogs’ 3-4 defense put up modest stats last year (three sacks). Mid-round talent 3-4-5, but because of his size and skill, could play his way into the 2nd round.
TIGERS:
WASHINGTON at LSU, Saturday, 7 pm, ESPN
Keith Price, QB, redshirt junior, 6-1, 205 pounds: He could come out this year, but he might be wise to stick around Seattle one more year, as the 2013 QB talent pool is deep. Price was Jake Locker’s backup in 2010, and emerged as a very good QB in 2011, throwing for 2,625 yards and 29 TDs. Is it possible to throw for 438 yards and account for seven TDs (four passing, three running) and get overshadowed? Price did that against Baylor in the Alamo bowl, but Washington lost, 67-56. A longshot Heisman candidate this year, Price is a bit undersized (6-foot-1) and his balky knees have trimmed down his running ability. Worth a late-round pick? Sure. If you want to take him earlier, what about guys in his class who are bigger (AJ McCarron of Alabama and Ryan Renner of UNC) and the same size but faster/tougher (Tajh Boyd of Clemson)?
TIGERS:
Barkevious Mingo, redshirt junior, 6-4, 250 pounds: No hyperbole, no bullshit, but I see a little bit of Lawrence Taylor in him. By the team he leaves school, he should be bigger than Taylor. The guy is an animal with a tireless motor. Seems ideally suited to be a 3-4 linebacker but the kid has so much talent he’ll be fine anywhere. Closing speed reminds me of a shark (check the Auburn game in the video below). He’ll be a top 10 pick and I wouldn’t rule out him going 1st. Last year: 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks. Here’s some video of him last year.
Sam Montgomery, DE, redshirt junior, 6-5, 265 pounds: As absurd as it sounds, he’s also a 1st round pick, could go in the top 10, and he’s completely overshadowed by Mingo, who has an awesome name, and even defensive back starts Honey Badger and Mo Claiborne. But two of the three are gone, and I expect Montgomery to improve on his team-leading nine sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. Keith Price won’t see a tougher tandem this year.