Promising Rookies in the 2013 NFL Draft Class

With the arrival of the NFL Scouting Combine, the world of Professional football is talking about the talent coming out of college and not much else. As scouts, coaches, general managers, owners, media analysts and fans all turn their attention to this year’s outstanding prospects, I have done the same. Here are a few of the 2013 draft eligible players that I believe are going to be the difference-makers in the National Football League.

Sean Porter, Outside Linebacker, Texas A&M

There is a lot of outstanding talent at the outside linebacker position in this year’s draft. Behind Jarvis Jones, Alec Ogletree, Khaseem Greene and Arthur Brown, there is an undersized linebacker by the name of Sean Porter who isn’t getting a whole lot of attention. It’s not surprising why. Porter isn’t going to be mistaken for Von Miller any time soon. The guy is not a dynamic pass rusher. He isn’t a turnover machine or a physical freak; but as a weakside linebacker in a 43 defence, he will fit in beautifully.

Perhaps he can’t be a starter right away, but I am fairly confident that Sean Porter will become an exceptional asset for whichever team pulls the trigger on him in April. He does a number of things well, including setting the edge against the run and, most noticeably, running with receivers in man coverage. We’re seeing a trend towards quicker, pass catching tight ends in the NFL; guys like Aaron Hernandez and Vernon Davis that create match-up problems for every team they face. Porter will be one team’s answer to that problem. He shows excellent acceleration and a man coverage ability you wouldn’t see in some safeties, never mind in linebackers. He gets his hands on receivers to slow them down, he turns his hips like a defensive back and he is quick to recognise and react to the offence.

Porter has only spent one year in a 43 defence, and many scouts and analysts believe he should still be used in a 34 system as a pass rush specialist. I don’t see that as a very good idea. He looked much better as a true outside ‘backer setting the edge against the run and running with tight ends and backs in coverage than he ever did as a pass rusher. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that he was being outshone by Damontre Moore on the other side! After all, Moore is expected to be one of the first names called at the draft in April. In any case, I still believe that Porter is a better fit as a coverage guy than as a pure pass specialist. He is not a one-dimensional player and to use him as such is to restrict his potential.

Porter is really going to emerge on people’s radars after the combine. On the field, he will likely run about a 4.70 in the 40 yard dash, he’ll impress scouts in coverage drills just as he did during the Senior Bowl practices, and he’ll excel in the cone drills. In the interview room, he will impress scouts and coaches alike with his high football IQ.

Porter’s big problem is he lacks a bit of toughness, and has been criticised for not playing with enough physicality at times. That is a major concern for a linebacker entering the NFL. If Porter can shake those questions about his toughness, and perhaps bulk up another 10lbs (he currently weighs around 230lbs), he can be an every down linebacker in the NFL.

So where will he end up?

The Dallas Cowboys seem like a good fit to me. They just hired Monte Kiffin as their new defensive co-ordinator in place of Rob Ryan. That means transitioning from a 3-4 defence with arguably the best outside linebacker pair in football (DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer), to a 4-3 defence without a single outside ‘backer worthy of a starting role. That, of course, is assuming Anthony Spencer will either be let go or played as a defensive end. Porter is the sort of guy they are in desperate need of at Arlington, and owner Jerry Jones would be smart to pick this kid up in the second round.

Tavon Austin, Wide Receiver, West Virginia

While most of the talk about the wide receiver class in this crop of college players has centred around the University of California’s Keenen Allen and the University of Tennessee’s Cordarelle Patterson, the most impressive receiver I’ve seen in this class is West Virginia’s Tavon Austin.

Austin has been overlooked a little because of his small size. He only stands at 5ft 9 and 175lbs. That doesn’t matter to me though; I still love him. He is the epitome of one of my favourite words in football; versatility. I love a player that can come in and contribute in multiple ways. Austin is that guy, just as Percy Harvin and Dexter McCluster have been those guys in recent drafts, and Aaron Hernandez in a slightly different way.

Austin proved his versatility by winning this year’s Paul Hornung Award, given annually to the nation’s most versatile player in college football. He is a wide reciever by trade, but he has such ability with the ball in his hands, like Harvin and Hernandez, that he often takes hand-offs from the running back position. Oh, and he is a home run threat on special teams too, just for good measure. He took 4 kickoffs back for touchdowns and had one punt return for a touchdown in 4 years with the Mountaineers.

The comparison to Dexter McCluster might make people a little nervous; McCluster hasn’t exactly shone in the NFL. Well, let me assure you, Austin is closer to Harvin in terms of talent. He has the promise to be just as good as Harvin in the pros, and I think if he lands in the right system with a good quarterback then he probably will be. As a slot receiver, he’s almost uncoverable, with lightning fast acceleration and a quickness in small areas that you can only get by being 5 foot 9 and 175 lbs. Once he has the ball in his hands he has the ability to make people miss consistently; the number of yards he makes after the catch is going to be a statistic to keep an eye on once he is in the NFL.

The positives don’t end there. Austin runs decent routes, sets up defenders well before his breaks and is magnificent in space. Basically, he’s a smaller Percy Harvin. If he runs a sub 4.40 at the combine I’m going to get even more excited about this kid. He is going to be a walking highlight reel matched up against safeties and linebackers inside, and by the end of this season everybody is going to be wondering why he wasn’t the first receiver taken. Trust me.

That is, of course, assuming his 175lb frame can take the punishment of running very fast into muscle-bound, 250lb men. Fingers crossed it can, and Austin can become a valuable asset to one offensive unit in the seasons to come (*cough, New England, cough*).

Xavier Rhodes, Cornerback, Florida State

Vincent Jackson, Brandon Marshall, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, AJ Green, Des Bryant, Hakeem Nicks, Calvin Johnson, Andre Johnson, Dwayne Bowe, Marques Colston, Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Julio Jones, Roddy White, Kenny Britt. These players have something in common. They are all successful receivers in the NFL, and they are all beasts. These guys bully almost every single cornerback they face using their sheer size to go over, around, or through anyone who tries to cover them. You can probably add Cordarelle Patterson and Keenen Allen to that group next season too.

They are able to play that way because they are physically much bigger than the corners that are lined up across from them. Most NFL cornerbacks weigh in under 200lbs and measure short of 6 feet tall. So they get dominated a lot of the time.

That won’t happen to Xavier Rhodes.

At 6ft 1 and around 215lbs, Rhodes has Brandon Browner/Richard Sherman type size, and he plays like it. Rhodes is a very physical corner. He wants to get those big receivers in a fight at the line of scrimmage, because most of the time he thinks he is going to win. And he doesn’t stop at the line. The former Florida State Seminole plays physical (probably too physical) all the way down the field, making lining up on his side of the field an uncomfortable experience for a lot of pass catchers.

Almost every team in the league now has at least one big receiver, and there aren’t enough over-sized corners to compete with them physically. Rhodes is part of a small group of guys, made up of players like Sherman and Browner and Aqib Talib, that have the size to match up with these receivers. That has got me, and probably a lot of NFL scouts, very excited.

Rhodes isn’t perfect of course. He needs to learn how much contact he can get away with in the NFL, otherwise he’s going to be seeing far too many yellow beanbags shooting up like fireworks around him. He grabs receivers at times and initiates too much contact on deep routes. That kind of play is going to be penalized every time in the pass-happy NFL. His zone coverage needs work too, according to a lot of scout reports I’ve read.

For any team wishing to play an aggressive, man-coverage heavy defensive scheme and in need of a corner to shut down one receiver, Xavier Rhodes is your man. I’m looking at you, Tampa Bay. This guy is going to become a top cornerback in the league, and whoever decides to go with him is getting a stronger version of Aqib Talib without the off the field issues. That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?