The draft is exciting for fans of the pro game and the fans of the college game alike. For fans of professional teams it’s a time to find out who your franchise is lining up as its future stars, who you’ll be cheering on every Sunday, hopefully for years to come. For fans of the colleges it’s a chance to see where you’ll be tracking your favourite players to at the next level, what system will your favourite player have to learn? Will it take best advantage of the skill set that you saw in college? It’s an exciting time for both sets of fans, but also a nervous time. And if you’re a fan of both sides of the spectrum, it’s a chance for happy harmony where your favourite college prospects find a home with your favourite NFL teams. Now of course of all the hundreds of prospects who try to make it in the NFL very few have the chance to be in that elite tier of being first day draft picks (even fewer now that the NFL has contracted the first day from three rounds to two), so the bracket of sleepers, the diamonds in the rough of the draft is a large and ever growing category in the draft. Hopefully in this series of articles the Diner can sift through and highlight some hidden gems for you to watch out for their names to be called next weekend from Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Andrew Crummey, OG, University of Maryland
The first man up is one of those players that I mentioned above, the player from your college team (for me the Maryland Terrapins) that you know deep down is a good player and can contribute to your pro team and you hope that the powers that be in your front office (for me the Baltimore Ravens) see things the same way and take a flier on the prospect. In Crummey’s case the chance that needs to be taken is the virtue of patience. Crummey coming into his senior season was seen as someone who was likely to be a first day (in the old sense) draft selection and one of the best interior offensive line prospects in this year’s draft class. Unfortunately for Crummey (and the Terrapins in the stretch run of the college season) he suffered a broken leg in a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on the 6th of October, he worked hard and showed his passion for his college by coming back in the regular season finale against NC State as well as the bowl game against Oregon State. In the Emerald Bowl against Oregon State he re-aggravated the injury and as became clear at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis the damage done by returning early meant that he was now unable not only to work-out in the off-season for scouts, but in all likelihood unable to compete for his NFL team in his first season. This injury could see him go undrafted but for the team lucky enough to sign him, when he is healthy they will get a powerful run blocker and a guard who is more than solid enough in pass protection with a strong base to anchor against the bull rush. A team with the patience to allow him to sit on IR for a year and rehab fully for 2009 (he will do that, do not doubt his intensity and passion to play and contribute) will be getting a starting calibre guard at a very small price.
Steve Slaton, HB, West Virginia University
And so we step from one of my favourite prospects from Maryland to an outstanding college player from our closest rivals. Slaton was forced out of Morgantown this year because of the emergence behind him on the depth chart of freshman phenom Noel Devine. Devine performed outstandingly well as Slaton’s back up this year and all indications were that he would steal a significant number of carries from Slaton this year that would seriously impact upon his draft stock next season, forcing his hand to leave for the NFL a year early. Slaton hardly had the ending to his college career to build his draft status. The worries over Slaton were his durability and his propensity to fumble too much, unfortunately for Slaton his junior season was marred by niggling injuries and a rash of fumbles saw Devine get progressively more carries as well as seeing quarterback Pat White become the centre piece of the Mountaineers offence. All of this in mind, to simply dismiss Slaton as nothing but a flashy college back I think is completely and utterly wrong. Whilst he almost certainly won’t be an every down back in the NFL, I can say with similar certainty that he will be a contributor in an NFL offence. He has excellent hands and great speed in space, as an occasional third down back and slot receiver he certainly has a place in the NFL. Coming from a zone option offence his transition to a pro set offence is likely to be a slow one, but his speed in space is an asset that a competently minded NFL offensive coordinator should be able to use. He is very similar in this mould to another of my favoured sleeper prospects at running back, Anthony Alridge of Houston; both players are undersized and will likely be unable to play as every down, 20 carry backs in the NFL. But both have the capability to contribute in the same way that Darren Sproles was able to with the San Diego Chargers this year, limited carries, limited catches, unlimited impact.
Craig Stevens, TE, University of California
From a flashy if under-rated prospect in Slaton to a hard-nosed prospect who will almost certainly go under-appreciated an unnoticed in this year’s draft class and under-appreciated and unnoticed to everyone but his own team’s fans during his professional career, but that professional career should be a long and a very effective one. Stevens is not the breed of tight ends who arrived at college as a wide receiver who were so big that their coaches just decided to line them up as tight ends and take advantage of athletic mismatches against the linebackers in college, Stevens won’t bring you that, he won’t bring you the explosive plays down the seam of the defence or give linebackers nightmares with their fluidity in changing direction, what he will do however is absolutely dominate those linebackers for sixty minutes with his run blocking. Much like a Jason Dunn or a Jim Kleinsasser Stevens will be the sort of tight end that you can either line up on the line scrimmage and use as an aid to a tackle sealing the edge, as a pulling blocker to trap defensive linemen on inside runs or by motioning him into the backfield as a lead blocker, he is almost without question the most complete blocker in the NFL Draft class of 2008 and should be able to contribute from day one in that role, he is the antithesis of the likes of Dustin Keller and Fred Davis as tight end prospects, but he has a surer place than the lesser tight end prospects of that mould such as Kellen Davis. Stevens has a long career ahead of him, and if he can develop his hands to become a more reliable target he could be a ten year starter for a team like Carolina or Cincinnati who traditionally do not use their tight end a great deal in the passing game.
Maurice Purify, WR, University of Nebraska
From a sure prospect in Stevens the last player to look at in this article is the epitome of a boom or bust project in Maurice Purify of the University of Nebraska. Purify came from junior college in California and was supposed to be one of the offensive weapons to jump start the Cornhuskers into once again perennial contenders in the Big 12 conference and the NCAA at large, that didn’t happen for the Cornhuskers, but Purify’s talent and upside remains. AS a second day selection he is one of the prospects you see every year that has that perfect blend of height (6’3), speed and size (220lbs) that you’d think makes the prototypical package for an NFL wide receiver and you wonder why it hasn’t all clicked for him in the college game to dominate as his scouting report suggested he should. He is explosive off of the line and is the sort of athletic mismatch that should outmatch many NFL corners, however off field concerns and his concentration on the field is often found lacking. However he is exactly the sort of risky pick that I think a late second day pick is there to be used upon, the measurable are there to be seen, get him the right coaching and he could with a bit of time develop into a very good receiver, if he doesn’t pan out he just becomes one of the many second day picks who never see the field, so what? No great loss, the potential gain far outweighs the potential risk you’ve got to bank on the fact that at some point a guy with this much talent is going to finally see the light and start to fulfil his potential, as a depth receiver or practice squad player initially this guy will surely find a home.
The first man up is one of those players that I mentioned above, the player from your college team (for me the Maryland Terrapins) that you know deep down is a good player and can contribute to your pro team and you hope that the powers that be in your front office (for me the Baltimore Ravens) see things the same way and take a flier on the prospect. In Crummey’s case the chance that needs to be taken is the virtue of patience. Crummey coming into his senior season was seen as someone who was likely to be a first day (in the old sense) draft selection and one of the best interior offensive line prospects in this year’s draft class. Unfortunately for Crummey (and the Terrapins in the stretch run of the college season) he suffered a broken leg in a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on the 6th of October, he worked hard and showed his passion for his college by coming back in the regular season finale against NC State as well as the bowl game against Oregon State. In the Emerald Bowl against Oregon State he re-aggravated the injury and as became clear at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis the damage done by returning early meant that he was now unable not only to work-out in the off-season for scouts, but in all likelihood unable to compete for his NFL team in his first season. This injury could see him go undrafted but for the team lucky enough to sign him, when he is healthy they will get a powerful run blocker and a guard who is more than solid enough in pass protection with a strong base to anchor against the bull rush. A team with the patience to allow him to sit on IR for a year and rehab fully for 2009 (he will do that, do not doubt his intensity and passion to play and contribute) will be getting a starting calibre guard at a very small price.
And so we step from one of my favourite prospects from Maryland to an outstanding college player from our closest rivals. Slaton was forced out of Morgantown this year because of the emergence behind him on the depth chart of freshman phenom Noel Devine. Devine performed outstandingly well as Slaton’s back up this year and all indications were that he would steal a significant number of carries from Slaton this year that would seriously impact upon his draft stock next season, forcing his hand to leave for the NFL a year early. Slaton hardly had the ending to his college career to build his draft status. The worries over Slaton were his durability and his propensity to fumble too much, unfortunately for Slaton his junior season was marred by niggling injuries and a rash of fumbles saw Devine get progressively more carries as well as seeing quarterback Pat White become the centre piece of the Mountaineers offence. All of this in mind, to simply dismiss Slaton as nothing but a flashy college back I think is completely and utterly wrong. Whilst he almost certainly won’t be an every down back in the NFL, I can say with similar certainty that he will be a contributor in an NFL offence. He has excellent hands and great speed in space, as an occasional third down back and slot receiver he certainly has a place in the NFL. Coming from a zone option offence his transition to a pro set offence is likely to be a slow one, but his speed in space is an asset that a competently minded NFL offensive coordinator should be able to use. He is very similar in this mould to another of my favoured sleeper prospects at running back, Anthony Alridge of Houston; both players are undersized and will likely be unable to play as every down, 20 carry backs in the NFL. But both have the capability to contribute in the same way that Darren Sproles was able to with the San Diego Chargers this year, limited carries, limited catches, unlimited impact.
From a flashy if under-rated prospect in Slaton to a hard-nosed prospect who will almost certainly go under-appreciated an unnoticed in this year’s draft class and under-appreciated and unnoticed to everyone but his own team’s fans during his professional career, but that professional career should be a long and a very effective one. Stevens is not the breed of tight ends who arrived at college as a wide receiver who were so big that their coaches just decided to line them up as tight ends and take advantage of athletic mismatches against the linebackers in college, Stevens won’t bring you that, he won’t bring you the explosive plays down the seam of the defence or give linebackers nightmares with their fluidity in changing direction, what he will do however is absolutely dominate those linebackers for sixty minutes with his run blocking. Much like a Jason Dunn or a Jim Kleinsasser Stevens will be the sort of tight end that you can either line up on the line scrimmage and use as an aid to a tackle sealing the edge, as a pulling blocker to trap defensive linemen on inside runs or by motioning him into the backfield as a lead blocker, he is almost without question the most complete blocker in the NFL Draft class of 2008 and should be able to contribute from day one in that role, he is the antithesis of the likes of Dustin Keller and Fred Davis as tight end prospects, but he has a surer place than the lesser tight end prospects of that mould such as Kellen Davis. Stevens has a long career ahead of him, and if he can develop his hands to become a more reliable target he could be a ten year starter for a team like Carolina or Cincinnati who traditionally do not use their tight end a great deal in the passing game.
From a sure prospect in Stevens the last player to look at in this article is the epitome of a boom or bust project in Maurice Purify of the University of Nebraska. Purify came from junior college in California and was supposed to be one of the offensive weapons to jump start the Cornhuskers into once again perennial contenders in the Big 12 conference and the NCAA at large, that didn’t happen for the Cornhuskers, but Purify’s talent and upside remains. AS a second day selection he is one of the prospects you see every year that has that perfect blend of height (6’3), speed and size (220lbs) that you’d think makes the prototypical package for an NFL wide receiver and you wonder why it hasn’t all clicked for him in the college game to dominate as his scouting report suggested he should. He is explosive off of the line and is the sort of athletic mismatch that should outmatch many NFL corners, however off field concerns and his concentration on the field is often found lacking. However he is exactly the sort of risky pick that I think a late second day pick is there to be used upon, the measurable are there to be seen, get him the right coaching and he could with a bit of time develop into a very good receiver, if he doesn’t pan out he just becomes one of the many second day picks who never see the field, so what? No great loss, the potential gain far outweighs the potential risk you’ve got to bank on the fact that at some point a guy with this much talent is going to finally see the light and start to fulfil his potential, as a depth receiver or practice squad player initially this guy will surely find a home.
