Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Feeling a draft

Early in its college football preview Lindy's, working with nfldraftscout.com, lists its top senior NFL prospects. Travis Beckum is #16, and Kraig Urbik is #39.

I love Beckum, but that seems high to me. I just can't think of a comparison for a guy his size playing a tight end/H-Back spot going that high. Tight ends that go in the top half of the first round, like Vernon Davis or Kellen Winslow, weight about 20 pounds more. Can Beckum add that weight? Sure, but it won't be natural. Otherwise, he would have added it by now.

Then again, add in underclassmen who will declare, and that pushes him to late first or early second round. That seems about right.

Lindy's has Beckum as the top tight end in the nation and an All-American.

As for Urbik, it takes a special guard to go in the first two rounds. He's been starting for a long time, a very solid player. All it takes is for one team to take a liking to a player for him to go higher than expected, and it could very well happen for Kraig, who Lindy's ranks as the sixth-best guard in the country.

2 comments:

Matt said...

It seems Beckum is comparable to Chris Cooley, no? While Cooley appears to be about 25 pounds heavier at this point, they seem to have similar skill sets.

If Beckum is like Cooley at the next level, I'm sure whichever team would think about drafting him, would put him higher on the draft board.

Anonymous said...

I almost think of Beckum like Brandon Marshall of the Broncos. Similar builds, maybe a bit more speed for Marshall but I'm not sure.

All I know is that with his size, speed and hands, someone will find a way to make him very usefull in an NFL offense, but it most likely won't be in a traditional tight end role.

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