| Second in a series of articles previewing the top NFL prospects, by
position, for the 2000 draft. NFL teams generally build offenses around quarterbacks
and defenses around a great defensive lineman who is a top-notch pass-rusher, must be
double-teamed yet can still be disruptive. But defensive linemen such as Reggie White, Lee
Roy Selmon and Bruce Smith come into the league only once or twice a decade, and even when
a team thinks it has one, a Steve Emtman or Steve Niehaus can’t stay healthy, or a
Kenneth Sims or Sean Gilbert will not go the extra mile. No matter the pedigree, taking
defensive linemen in the first round has been a crapshoot ever since the league started
drafting players. Even Smith, the clear-cut No. 1 pick in the 1985 draft, took a few years
to find himself, and at one point he was even benched and deemed an overweight
underachiever.
This year the draft has a player who appears to be the bluest of blue-chip defensive
linemen in Penn State’s Courtney Brown. If Brown had come out of
Penn State last year as a third-year junior, he may have kept quarterbacks from going
1-2-3 in the draft.
Scouts look for positive attributes and flaws in every prospect. The best way scouts
can describe Brown is that he is the Mercedes Benz of the DL crop. He was a dominating
high school football player who also excelled in basketball and in the classroom, where he
had a 4.0 grade-point average. He took summer courses at Penn State right after graduating
from high school and played that fall as an 18-year-old freshman. As a sophomore, he was
the best defensive lineman Penn State had, although he had dislocated his left thumb and
wore a cast almost the entire season. In ’98, he was rated the top defensive lineman
on Pro Football Weekly’s and the Gannett News Service’s All-America
teams, and this season he was a unanimous All-American and a finalist for almost every
award for linemen.
With an 86-inch wingspan, Brown has the arm length and size NFL teams covet in
defensive linemen. He is a terrific athlete who can be used as a linebacker in coverage or
get up the field as if he has been shot out of a cannon. He not only has tremendous
explosion off the ball, he also has exceptional balance for a taller player, as well as
tremendous hand use. Coaches could make an instructional film based on the way he uses his
hands to jerk and snatch blockers. Although he does not have overwhelming size, he more
than holds his own on runs at him and has great lateral pursuit on runs away. He plays
assignment football instead of freelancing and leaving holes in the defense. And he always
seems to play at a high intensity level. One scout said Brown is a superior talent who
plays with the intensity of an overachiever.
Almost all the negatives on Brown are "positive" negatives. He is too much of
a student and scholar-athlete and is a little lean because he has no fat on his sculptured
body. He could be nastier and meaner and is content to tackle the quarterback instead of
really punishing him. While he likes football and gives his all, he does not live and die
football and make it his entire life. Thus, he may not want to play football until he
can’t play anymore because he is such a well-rounded and intelligent person.
The best interior lineman in the draft is Florida State’s Corey Simon,
but his medical history is a very real concern. After sitting out the 1995 season after
signing with Georgia but opting to go to Florida State instead, Simon has spent a lot of
time rehabbing injuries. In the past four years he has had five surgeries: two on each
shoulder and one on his left knee. He also had a cervical neck sprain. Simon has never had
to play every down in a game because the Seminoles are so deep that they can rotate their
linemen. At 6-foot-1¾, 283 pounds, Simon lacks ideal size for an NFL defensive tackle.
However, he has the lower-body build and strength of a much bigger man and the quickness
and movement of a linebacker. He can move around like a ’backer and plays with such
good strength and technique that he will often split double-team blocks and get a push on
his power rush. While he is not the pass rusher Warren Sapp is, Simon has almost as much
athleticism and can even drop into pass coverage.
Tennessee DLE Shaun Ellis could go in the first round if he decides to
come out in 2000 instead of staying for the extra year of eligibility he could get if he
remains on course to graduate. (He was a partial qualifier when he enrolled in 1996 and
therefore had to sit out that year.) But there are a lot of questions about Ellis that
still must be answered. On the plus side, he has the measurables to be an all-around
defensive lineman who can play the run and rush the passer. He can play with strength and
explosion and also has quickness, speed, an up-field burst and a little counter move. He
has had stretches when he shows all those things and dominates, but he also has had long
periods when he seems to disappear. In early 1998 he was involved in a major car crash in
which he fractured his hip, and in 1999 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge.
Scouts don’t know if his hip really is as good as new or is a potential problem, and
some feel the situation surrounding the assault case may have some bearing on his decision
on whether to enter the draft.
John Engelberger was born in Germany and had to walk on at Virginia
Tech because he was not a coveted high school prospect. After first trying out as a tight
end, he was moved to the defensive line and has been a regular since 1996. A weight-room
warrior who has great combine numbers, Engelberger is also known for his Randy White type
of personality, which means he does not say a lot but is very hard-working, tough and
dedicated. As was the case with White, scouts are not quite sure where Engelberger should
play on the next level. At 270 pounds, he is not as big as scouts want a tackle to be, and
despite a remarkable 40-yard-dash clocking, he does not show superior quickness or
suddenness as an edge rusher. While he may have the size-speed numbers and work ethic
White had, Engelberger will never be the dominating player White was. While a weight-room
warrior, Engelberger lacks great functional lower-body strength. And despite some 40-times
that are reportedly in the 4.5-second area, he does not play with a great quick twitch or
suddenness. When rushing off the edge, he looks a little stiff and has some problems
turning in to the quarterback. Still, he is a very fine prospect and player with a true
defensive disposition.
Boston College’s Chris Hovan is not superbig, superfast or
superathletic, but he is still projected as a first-round pick by some because he has such
a great motor and has very good initial quickness, as well as superb hand quickness and a
great feel for the game. He has great vision — that is, he seems to be aware of
everything that is going on around him.
Arizona State’s Junior Ioane was starting to develop into
a dominating inside player and was one of the best DT prospects in the country before he
tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against Washington State on Oct. 23.
Ioane, a junior-college transfer, was tough, strong, powerful and explosive before the
injury but was not going to win many long-distance footraces.
Idaho’s Mao Tosi grew up in Alaska. He went to Butler County
Community College (Kan.) and then to Idaho as a basketball player. But he walked on to the
Idaho football team and had done nothing but improve until he suffered a bad neck stinger
in early November. While he has all the measurables, Tosi has played just two years of
football, and his instincts are still off at times. His neck must be checked out.
Michigan State’s Robaire Smith is best suited to play tackle
against the pass and end against the run. He is a good athlete but lacks great
acceleration off the edge and great bulk strength inside. His motor does not always run at
full speed, but he has played harder this year. His older brother, Fernando, has been in
the NFL since 1994, but aside from a stretch in ’96, he has not lived up to
expectations.
Kansas State’s Darren Howard is athletic and has some pass-rush
ability but does not always play every down as if it were his last and is therefore a bit
of an underachiever. One interesting note about Kansas State: Virtually every Wildcats
player who was drafted last year exceeded round value as a rookie.
Southern Mississippi’s Adalius Thomas is very quick, fast and
athletic and could be a dominating pass rusher if he played hard all the time.
Nebraska DT Steve Warren may be a shade shorter than 6-1, but he has
developed this season into a dominating interior defensive lineman who can penetrate and
wreak havoc inside. Another undersized player with great initial quickness and real
suddenness is Mississippi’s Kendrick Clancy, but he will be
downgraded because he weighs only about 275 pounds.
Based on workout numbers and interviews, it would be hard not to fall in love with
Tennessee DT Darwin Walker. He is a 60-foot-plus shotputter who
bench-presses more than 500 pounds. He has a tremendous 40-time and vertical jump, works
and plays his tail off and is a smart, well-spoken, well-educated young man. But his
strength and workout numbers do not translate on to the football field. Another player
whose numbers can be deceiving is Florida State’s Jerry Johnson. In
the weight room Johnson is stronger than Simon, and in a workout setting Johnson tests
better. But on the field Simon plays stronger and is the much better player. Still,
Johnson is a solid player who has had his moments.
Indiana’s Adewale Ogunleye came back for his senior season but
tore up his knee. Now, a lot of people are saying he would have been a first-round pick if
he had come out for the ’99 draft. That’s a myth. Most scouts felt Ogunleye did
not protect his legs well enough and was an injury waiting to happen. He would have been a
fifth-round pick in 1999 who could have moved up to the second round had he learned to
protect his knees and sense blockers better.
Brigham Young defensive linemen have not had a good track record in the NFL. (Jason
Buck and Shawn Knight are two examples.) But Byron Frisch is a 270-pound,
sculptured end who runs well and has pretty good pass-rush skills.
There are also a number of undersized pass-rush DEs/3-4 outside ’backers in the
class of 2000. The best is probably South Carolina’s John Abraham,
who was more effective playing down than he was as a linebacker this season but weighs
only 246 pounds. Abraham has rare quickness and speed. Others in this mold include San
Diego State’s Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Colorado State’s Clark
Haggans, Ohio State’s James Cotton and Arizona State’s
Erik Flowers.
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