Post by prossman on Apr 21, 2012 2:34:09 GMT -7
Possible undrafted rookie free agents to target...
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In some ways, the real action starts when the draft ends... there are over 1000 draft prospects out there, and only 255 of them will get drafted this year... this leaves some 750 undrafted rookie free agents available, and friends, some of them can play the game of football... the trick is finding out who they are, and getting their name on a contract...
What follows is a position by position look at players I'd have on speed dial if they go undrafted...
QUARTERBACK
Case Keenum, Houston... G.J. Kinne, Tulsa... either of them might get drafted late, but if they're available, they'd be at the top of my list...
Patrick Witt, Yale... Nick Stephens, Tarleton State... Nathan Dick, Central Arkansas...
I think it's highly likely that one of these passers will wind up signing a deal to compete for the Cowboys' 3rd QB job... surely Jason Garrett will find one of these prospects interesting...
RUNNING BACK
Cody Johnson, Texas... power back, might make a good conversion project to fullback... he solves the Boys' need for a goal line and short yardage, move the pile runner...
Lance Dunbar, North Texas... for his career, Dunbar has 4224 yards rushing on 732 carries (5.4 average), with 41 rushing TDs in 41 games played... he also had 97 catches for 1033 yards (10.7 average) and 8 more TDs...
Dunbar kind of reminds me of Phillip Tanner...
TIGHT END
Garrett Celek, Michigan State... the younger brother of the Iggles' Brent Celek, he might get drafted or he might not... he's got the NFL pedigree...
Adrien Robinson, Cincinnati... Josh Chichester, Louisville... Brad Herman, Iowa (blocking TE)... Brandon Bostick, Newberry (converted WR)... Chase Ford, Miami...
WIDE RECEIVER
Lance Lewis, East Carolina... on the cusp of being drafted... in 22 games at ECU, this big WR grabbed 149 passes for 1716 yards (11.5 yards per catch), with 22 TDs... basically, he's a big possession receiver...
Toney Clemons, Colorado... listed here because of some amazing workout numbers, chief among them the 1.47 second 10 yard split in the 40 yard dash (anything under 1.5 seconds is extraordinary)... caught 98 passes for 1268 yards at Colorado (12.9 average) and 11 TDs... great speed and quickness for a player that big...
Jeremy Ebert, Northwestern... had 137 catches for 2013 yards the last 2 seasons (14.7 average) with 19 TDs... has a stocky build, but is blazing fast...
CENTER
Lots of ways to go here...
Mason Cloy, Clemson... Scott Wedige, Northern Illinois... either one might or might not be drafted... if they go undrafted, they go right to the top of my UDRFAs wish list at center...
Grant Garner, Oklahoma State... Rodney Austin, Elon... Jason Slowey, Western Oregon... Seth Oxner, Arkansas-Monticello... David Snow, Texas (go Horns)...
I'm most intrigued by the small-school prospects here, Slowey, Austin and Oxner (in that order)...
OFFENSIVE GUARD
Joe Looney, Wake Forest... Ronald Leary, Memphis... two more cusp players who might be drafted, or might not...
Justin Anderson, Georgia... like his size... Mark Asper, Oregon... at 6-7, might be able to fill in at tackle in a pinch (and the Boys are a little thin at tackle)... Lonnie Edwards, Texas Tech... Terence Edge, Alabama-Birmingham... Hayworth Hicks, Iowa State... the latter two are 330 pounders with some agility...
Especially if the Boys draft a guard this year, I don't know if they'll be looking to add any as UDRFAs (remember, they've already signed Bernadeau and Livings)...
OFFENSIVE TACKLE
Levy Adcock, Oklahoma State... Jeff Adams, Columbia... the two "cusp" OTs...
Bradley Sowell, Mississippi... James Carmon, Mississippi State... Dan Hoch, Missouri...
The Boys are awfully thin at OT after the starters, they might well look to add one or more of these big tackles after the draft...
DEFENSIVE END
Not a lot here, to be honest...
Ryan Van Bergen, Michigan is the one cusp DE...
Randy Colling, Gannon... might make a better DT... Michael Cosgrove, Idaho... David Hunter, Houston...
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Nicolas Jean-Baptiste, Baylor... Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, Kent State... your two cusp NTs... as I've said elsewhere, I'd think hard about drafting one of these two in the 7th round...
Travian Robertson, South Carolina... Jonathon Hollins, Texas Southern...
INSIDE LINEBACKER
The only semi-intriguing prospect I've found at this position is Korey Toomer from Idaho, and he's starting to look like a late round draft pick...
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
No cusp players here...
Sammy Brown, Houston... led the NCAA in tackles for loss in 2011... Adrian Hamilton, Prairie View A&M... 22 sacks in 2011... Tim Fugger, Vanderbilt...
CORNERBACK
Chris Greenwood, Albion... Greg McCoy, TCU... your two cusp players at this position, though with each passing day I grow more certain Greenwood will be drafted...
Robert Golden, Arizona (one of my pet cats)... Desmond Marrow, Toledo... a big corner who might project to free safety...
SAFETY
Johnny Thomas, Oklahoma... D.J. Campbell, California... your two cusp safeties...
Jerron McMillian, Maine... blazing fast... DeShawn Shead, Portland State... a special teams stud while he's battling for a starting job... Brian Peters, Northwestern... very productive in college...
That's 56 prospects that I like, who I think are likely to go udrafted... every year, the Boys seem to sign 15-20 such players, so here's a shorter list that I'd target if I was making such decisions...
QB-- Patrick Witt, Yale
RB-- Cody Johnson, Texas; Lance Dunbar, North Texas
TE-- Brad Herman, Iowa; Brandon Bostick, Newberry
WR-- Jeremy Ebert, Northwestern
C-- Jason Slowey, Western Oregon
OT-- Bradley Sowell, Mississippi
DE-- David Hunter, Houston
DT-- Jonathon Hollins, Texas Southern
OLB-- Sammy Brown, Houston; Adrian Hamilton, Prairie View A&M
CB-- Robert Golden, Arizona (FS); Desmond Marrow, Toledo (FS)
S-- DeShawn Shead, Portland State; Brian Peters, Northwestern
In closing, one final caveat-- every year, there are players who are considered draftable, sometimes even mid-round prospects, who go undrafted... when that happens this year, you'd want to look closely at that group, too... this list is made up entirely of players I consider slightly to extremely unlikely to be drafted...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In some ways, the real action starts when the draft ends... there are over 1000 draft prospects out there, and only 255 of them will get drafted this year... this leaves some 750 undrafted rookie free agents available, and friends, some of them can play the game of football... the trick is finding out who they are, and getting their name on a contract...
What follows is a position by position look at players I'd have on speed dial if they go undrafted...
QUARTERBACK
Case Keenum, Houston... G.J. Kinne, Tulsa... either of them might get drafted late, but if they're available, they'd be at the top of my list...
Patrick Witt, Yale... Nick Stephens, Tarleton State... Nathan Dick, Central Arkansas...
I think it's highly likely that one of these passers will wind up signing a deal to compete for the Cowboys' 3rd QB job... surely Jason Garrett will find one of these prospects interesting...
RUNNING BACK
Cody Johnson, Texas... power back, might make a good conversion project to fullback... he solves the Boys' need for a goal line and short yardage, move the pile runner...
Lance Dunbar, North Texas... for his career, Dunbar has 4224 yards rushing on 732 carries (5.4 average), with 41 rushing TDs in 41 games played... he also had 97 catches for 1033 yards (10.7 average) and 8 more TDs...
Dunbar kind of reminds me of Phillip Tanner...
TIGHT END
Garrett Celek, Michigan State... the younger brother of the Iggles' Brent Celek, he might get drafted or he might not... he's got the NFL pedigree...
Adrien Robinson, Cincinnati... Josh Chichester, Louisville... Brad Herman, Iowa (blocking TE)... Brandon Bostick, Newberry (converted WR)... Chase Ford, Miami...
WIDE RECEIVER
Lance Lewis, East Carolina... on the cusp of being drafted... in 22 games at ECU, this big WR grabbed 149 passes for 1716 yards (11.5 yards per catch), with 22 TDs... basically, he's a big possession receiver...
Toney Clemons, Colorado... listed here because of some amazing workout numbers, chief among them the 1.47 second 10 yard split in the 40 yard dash (anything under 1.5 seconds is extraordinary)... caught 98 passes for 1268 yards at Colorado (12.9 average) and 11 TDs... great speed and quickness for a player that big...
Jeremy Ebert, Northwestern... had 137 catches for 2013 yards the last 2 seasons (14.7 average) with 19 TDs... has a stocky build, but is blazing fast...
CENTER
Lots of ways to go here...
Mason Cloy, Clemson... Scott Wedige, Northern Illinois... either one might or might not be drafted... if they go undrafted, they go right to the top of my UDRFAs wish list at center...
Grant Garner, Oklahoma State... Rodney Austin, Elon... Jason Slowey, Western Oregon... Seth Oxner, Arkansas-Monticello... David Snow, Texas (go Horns)...
I'm most intrigued by the small-school prospects here, Slowey, Austin and Oxner (in that order)...
OFFENSIVE GUARD
Joe Looney, Wake Forest... Ronald Leary, Memphis... two more cusp players who might be drafted, or might not...
Justin Anderson, Georgia... like his size... Mark Asper, Oregon... at 6-7, might be able to fill in at tackle in a pinch (and the Boys are a little thin at tackle)... Lonnie Edwards, Texas Tech... Terence Edge, Alabama-Birmingham... Hayworth Hicks, Iowa State... the latter two are 330 pounders with some agility...
Especially if the Boys draft a guard this year, I don't know if they'll be looking to add any as UDRFAs (remember, they've already signed Bernadeau and Livings)...
OFFENSIVE TACKLE
Levy Adcock, Oklahoma State... Jeff Adams, Columbia... the two "cusp" OTs...
Bradley Sowell, Mississippi... James Carmon, Mississippi State... Dan Hoch, Missouri...
The Boys are awfully thin at OT after the starters, they might well look to add one or more of these big tackles after the draft...
DEFENSIVE END
Not a lot here, to be honest...
Ryan Van Bergen, Michigan is the one cusp DE...
Randy Colling, Gannon... might make a better DT... Michael Cosgrove, Idaho... David Hunter, Houston...
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Nicolas Jean-Baptiste, Baylor... Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, Kent State... your two cusp NTs... as I've said elsewhere, I'd think hard about drafting one of these two in the 7th round...
Travian Robertson, South Carolina... Jonathon Hollins, Texas Southern...
INSIDE LINEBACKER
The only semi-intriguing prospect I've found at this position is Korey Toomer from Idaho, and he's starting to look like a late round draft pick...
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
No cusp players here...
Sammy Brown, Houston... led the NCAA in tackles for loss in 2011... Adrian Hamilton, Prairie View A&M... 22 sacks in 2011... Tim Fugger, Vanderbilt...
CORNERBACK
Chris Greenwood, Albion... Greg McCoy, TCU... your two cusp players at this position, though with each passing day I grow more certain Greenwood will be drafted...
Robert Golden, Arizona (one of my pet cats)... Desmond Marrow, Toledo... a big corner who might project to free safety...
SAFETY
Johnny Thomas, Oklahoma... D.J. Campbell, California... your two cusp safeties...
Jerron McMillian, Maine... blazing fast... DeShawn Shead, Portland State... a special teams stud while he's battling for a starting job... Brian Peters, Northwestern... very productive in college...
That's 56 prospects that I like, who I think are likely to go udrafted... every year, the Boys seem to sign 15-20 such players, so here's a shorter list that I'd target if I was making such decisions...
QB-- Patrick Witt, Yale
RB-- Cody Johnson, Texas; Lance Dunbar, North Texas
TE-- Brad Herman, Iowa; Brandon Bostick, Newberry
WR-- Jeremy Ebert, Northwestern
C-- Jason Slowey, Western Oregon
OT-- Bradley Sowell, Mississippi
DE-- David Hunter, Houston
DT-- Jonathon Hollins, Texas Southern
OLB-- Sammy Brown, Houston; Adrian Hamilton, Prairie View A&M
CB-- Robert Golden, Arizona (FS); Desmond Marrow, Toledo (FS)
S-- DeShawn Shead, Portland State; Brian Peters, Northwestern
In closing, one final caveat-- every year, there are players who are considered draftable, sometimes even mid-round prospects, who go undrafted... when that happens this year, you'd want to look closely at that group, too... this list is made up entirely of players I consider slightly to extremely unlikely to be drafted...