The NFL Draft Site

When the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets take the field against the Air Force Academy in the 2010 Independence Bowl on December 27, the team would feature at least three legitimate pro prospects and an array of fringe players who could play on Sundays.

With many scouts watching, it is imperative for Tech’s top NFL prospects playing on Monday to show more than they have demonstrated so far this season in order to improve their draft status.

On offense the scouts would be looking at mainly at running back Anthony Allen, a bruising 6-foot-0, 231 pound power back that lacks top end speed (4.63 in the 40 yard dash) but posses intriguing possibilities.

Allen, who transferred from Louisville, is projected as a late Day Two pick, possible going in the bottom part of the fifth round.

The senior led Georgia Tech in rushing this past season with 1,198 yards on 217 attempts. He average 5.5 ypc while scoring 6 TDs.

He does posses deceptive agility inside the tackle box, showing good balance and the ability to get his shoulder square when running north and south.

On the minus side, but does not offer anything outside. He does have good burst inside but the lack of speed would limit his value as a feature back.

His hands, which have not been regularly tested in Tech’s Flexbone offense (he only caught 3 balls in 2010), are above average. But he needs to work on route running.

Need to show: He will need to show versatile as a pass catcher and improve his outside agility. He would also need to demonstrate more than he has showed as a lead blocker this year. He is willing to block but shows poor technique.

Of course, most of the attention of the public would go to Tech’s highly productive quarterback Joshua Nesbitt.

The 6-foot-1 signal caller is viewed by most NFL scouts as a running back as he lacks the polish passing skills to play the QB position at the next level.

As a RB, Nesbitt have shown deceptive good speed (4.5) and bulk (a solid 217 pound frame) to merit a serious discussion, but overall, he is no more than a curiosity at this point.

Despite being billed as an agile runner with burst, Nesbitt average only 3.6 ypc in 2010.

More problematic for his draft status, he did not display the raw explosiveness out of the corner as he showed in 2009.

He also lacks any experience as a pass catcher and blocker.

His 2010 numbers were that not impressive as a runner either.

He rushed 166 times for only 598 yards. That’s almost 500 yards less than the previous campaign.

On the plus side, he scored 10 times on the ground and had a 71-yard TD score run, which showed that there’s a degree of explosiveness in him.

Need to show: Nesbitt needs to show burst and agility outside the tackle box in order to improve his draft status which right now hovers in the Free Agent region. It would not hurt either to show more power inside the box.

On defense, cornerback Mario Butler could be the star of the unit, but something seems to be missing despite having all the physical tools desired in a top shelf defensive back.

He has the height, 6-foot-1, and although he could add bulk (182 pounds), is well framed for the position.

Butler does not use his size to his advantaged as he is prone to shy away from contact during running plays.

Aside size, his most important trait is his football speed. He is fast in the 40-yard dash (4.49) but he plays faster on the field.

His numbers were never going to be impressive, but he looked like he lost his agility to turn his hips on a dime, something that separated him from many of his peers in 2009.

Need to show: That he is football ready. That his hips can turn like in 2009 and that he would assist on run support.

By Raul Colon

He should have been in the Downtown Athletic Club podium receiving the 2010 Heisman Award as the best player in college football; after all, he was the prohibited preseason favorite to win it.

That honor went to Auburn quarterback Cam Newton who came from the junior college ranks to post one of the most amazing seasons in the history of the game.

The tremendous year, his powerful arm and uncanny ability to run has him, not only in the thick of a national championship but at the top of many draft boards as NFL scouts are salivating about the promise he could offer at the next level.

He has vaulted to the middle part of the first round, even going as high as in the top 10, according to many draft boards.

All those accolades were expected to be received by another “running” quarterback, Terrelle Pryor.

Instead, the Ohio State signal caller is almost an after though while preparing for the Sugar Bowl and a showdown with Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett, another possible top 10 NFL draft pick in April.

After being one of the most sought out prep prospects in years, Buckeyes Head coach Jim Tressel managed to outbid most of the South Eastern Conference big boys and signed the 6-foot-6, 235 pound Pryor who the Ohio media immediately anointed the “Next Vince Young”.

He has never lived to that hype, or even come close to that level!

By no mean that statement signaled that Pryor is a bust. In fact, there’s an argument that he has improved as a passer.

Last year’s Rose Bowl in which he pasted a very good Oregon football team is a testament to what he could be able to do.

The problem is that those games are too few and far between.

The truth is that with his incredible size, incomparable arm strength and amazing speed (clocked in the low 4.40s), he should dominate all games just like Newton did this year.

He was just 12-27 for 233 in a home win against an overwhelmed Miami Hurricane. He did rush for 113, but on 20 carriers. That’s not a dominant performance.

In fact, an argument could be made that ‘Canes QB Jacory Harris outplayed him.

Yes, there were the 4 interceptions, but three of them should have been caught.

In the Buckeyes’ only loss of the year against Wisconsin, Pryor threw for only 153 yards.

Unlike the Miami game, the big QB did not supplement his poor passing with a robust running game finishing up with 56 yards, with most of them coming against the Badgers’ preventive pass defense late in the game.

All of this from an athlete many believed who be able to snatch the Heisman in 2010.

There’s still time for Pryor to reach for more than a secondary role as he is certain to be back next year at Ohio State.

But before he reach his full potential, if he ever does, Pryor needs to develop what Newton has done in a just a season: a consistence mid-to-long range passing game.

He also needs to mature as a leader and to show that he can takeover a game before his once enormous promise is reach.

By Raul Colon

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conferences and bowls announced those teams which remain under consideration to participate in the five games that comprise the BCS.

The University of Oregon has become the first automatic qualifier. The Ducks will be at least co-champions of the Pac-10, and own the tie-breaker with the other possible co-champion, Stanford.

Nineteen other teams remain under consideration. The teams were identified during a teleconference among the 11 Football Bowl Subdivision conference commissioners, the Notre Dame athletics director, and representatives from the Discover Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO.

The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the final BCS standings will meet in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game January 10 in Glendale, Arizona.

The champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conferences automatically qualify for a BCS game.

In addition, the highest-ranked conference champion from among Conference USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Western Athletic Conferences earns automatic qualification to one of the BCS games if that champion is ranked No. 12 or better in the final BCS standings.

Finally, given the seven automatic qualifiers described above, three at-large berths will be available. The bowls will fill those berths from teams ranked in the top 14 of the final BCS Standings.

No conference may place more than two teams in the BCS games, unless the conference has two teams in the National Championship Game, and neither team is its champion.

The final BCS standings will be compiled Sunday, December 5. The BCS bowl pairings will be announced at 8:15 p.m. Eastern time that day, on ESPN television.

The champions from the six conferences which receive automatic spots in the BCS games have not been determined. The following is a list of teams still contending for their conferences’ championships:

In the ACC, Florida State, Virginia Tech, in the Big East, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, the Big Ten, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, the Big 12: Nebraska, Oklahoma, and the SEC, Auburn, South Carolina.

In addition to those teams, the pool of teams remaining under consideration also includes Arkansas, Boise State, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Stanford, and TCU.