Category: College Football (Page 52 of 296)

Mike Mayock top-5 prospects at each position

Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett (15) is chased from the pocket by Ohio State defensive lineman Cameron Hayward (97) during first half action of the 77th Annual Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana January 4, 2011. UPI/A.J. Sisco

Mike Mayock is one of the more respected NFL draft analysts in the business. Rotoworld does a great job following his rankings and they recently compiled his top-5 prospects at every position.

Quarterbacks
1. Blaine Gabbert, Missouri
2. Jake Locker, Washington
3. Cam Newton, Auburn
4. Ryan Mallett, Arkansas
5. Andy Dalton, TCU

Comments: Mayock says he’s not done with his quarterback evaluation, but he’s made some changes since January. He’s now got Dalton alone in the five spot after the Horned Frogs’ four-year starter previously shared the position with Ricky Stanzi, Colin Kaepernick, and Pat Devlin. Devlin’s stock appears to have plummeted since a poor showing at the East-West Shrine Game. Senior Bowl MVP Christian Ponder remains absent from the list.

Check out the rest of his positional rankings.

It’ll be interesting to see if Newton eventually moves past Locker (or even Gabbert, for that matter) the closer we get to the draft. Locker was unimpressive during Senior Bowl week and Newton’s personal media workout on Thursday was reportedly “phenomenal.”

Of course, the quarterback in this year’s class that intrigues me the most is Mallett. At 6’6” and 238 pounds, he certainly has the size to be a NFL quarterback. He also has great arm strength and he’s coming off a year in which he threw for 3,869 yards and 32 touchdowns.

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Newton’s media day workout “phenomenal”?

Auburn Tigers Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Cam Newton warms up for the Tigers game against the Oregon Ducks at the BCS Championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, January 10,2011. UPI/Art Foxall

At least one analyst enjoyed Auburn quarterback Cam Newton’s media day workout.

From Bruce Feldman’s Twitter page:

Cam Newton session is done. Wow. Trent Dilfer: “That was phenomenal. If scouts saw this they’d have been slobbering.” More on ESPN.com later

The workout was done in a controlled environment, so it’s not surprising that Newton impressed. But considering he’s been working on his footwork and trying to get acclimated to taking snaps from under center, this is a positive report.

There’s no doubt that Newton has the physical tools to be a first round pick and maybe even a top-5 selection. He’s 6-6, 250 pounds, has tremendous athleticism and very good arm strength. You could make a case for being the best quarterback in this year’s draft class, which includes Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert (whom many pundits have listed as the top signal caller).

Of course, the one question that often gets overlooked at this time of year as it pertains to draft prospects is whether or not they have the work ethic. Is Newton willing to put in the work to become great? Not every prospect has Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers’ natural abilities but devotion has nothing to do with how accurate or far you can throw a pass. JaMarcus Russell could throw a ball 50 yards from the seat of his pants but the guy never studied or had the desire to be any better than he was. Simply put, his work ethic stunk.

Players find out rather quickly that their natural abilities will only take them so far in the NFL. It’ll be interesting to see if Newton has the work ethic to match his draft standing.

Cameron Heyward chats with The Scores Report

Standout Ohio State defensive end and highly touted NFL draft prospect Cameron Heyward spent time earlier this week working with scientists from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) at a sports science lab constructed in the Super Bowl XLV Media Center in Dallas. Gatorade is kicking off an offseason program to help elevate the performance of top incoming NFL rookies like Heyward through sports nutrition science.

The Scores Report was fortunate enough to catch up with Heyward to discuss a variety of topics, including what he learned from Gatorade about his nutritional needs at GSSI and whether or not he’ll perform at this year’s scouting combine after having recent shoulder surgery. We also asked him about his thoughts on the Ohio State players that were suspended five games next season, what pro athlete he models his game after and his thoughts about playing in either a 3-4 or 4-3 at the next level. Of course, we couldn’t let him go without getting his prediction on this year’s Super Bowl.

Cameron Heyward: Hello?

The Scores Report: Hey Cam, how are you?

CH: Pretty good – you?

TSR: Good, good! You enjoying yourself down in Dallas?

CH: Oh yeah, definitely.

TSR: Give me the scoop on what you’re doing with Gatorade and how things are going at the GSSI.

CH: Gatorade has a great program going right now. I’m in the GSSI lab and they put me through a series of tests. I went through an injury recently and while I’m still working through it, this is definitely helping me through it, too. We’re working on things that measure my speed with power, as well as my reaction time to see how I deal with power over a long period of time. They measured my body fat too – all these different things to help you find another edge to help prepare your body, as well as to educate yourself on what you need to do to be in tiptop shape.

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National Signing Day: Surprise! The south is really good at recruiting

Things that will be argued about today regarding recruiting:

– Stars are the greatest indicator success/are irrelevant.

– Alabama/Texas/Florida State has the top class in the country.

– Notre Dame in the top 10 again? Meh/This class proves Brian Kelly will bring Notre Dame back to the top.

– The pronunciation of Cyrus Kouandjio.

One thing that cannot be debated, however, is the fact that the majority of the country’s talent either comes from, or is migrating to, the southern states. With the SEC winning the last five national titles, and USC and Texas technically being located in the southern half of the country, we probably shouldn’t be surprised by this.

But still, the results are staggering: As of Wednesday afternoon, eight of the top 10 teams in the Rivals rankings were from the southern half of the country (the others are Notre Dame/Oregon/Ohio State, depending on the time of day you looked). Of course, a look at the Rivals 100 shows that most of the top prospects in the country come from the south.

This is obviously not a coincidence.

After the jump are eight quick-hit thoughts (I stole that from Anthony) on Signing Day. Continue reading »

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