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Vols in ESPN 2013 Draft Rankings

  • Have to have an Insider account to see this, and it's just one opinion, but I thought it was interesting. Looks like the only have analysis on the offensive positions so far though. Here are the things that stood out to me:

    1) Hunter is the top-rated WR and the 7th highest player overall. I don't see that as a stretch at all. Da'Rick is only the 12th WR, and it's hard to say if that is before or after yesterday's events. And I tend to agree with him. Even if he hadn't been suspended, his intangibles already had so many red flags that who would be willing to take him in the first round?

    2) Bray is the 6th QB and not one of the top 32 players (i.e., first round). I may catch some flack for this, but I agree. Bray has so much talent and looks the part as well as anyone, but like Da'Rick, intangibles may be what pushes him out of the first round. Not many owners are going to want to trust their franchise to a kid with as many questions around his maturity as Bray has, even if those "questions" are from seemingly petty incidents. I don't think a Ryan Mallett-like outcome is out of the question for him. He slips, slips, slips, and then someone takes a gamble in the late 2nd or early 3rd round, and everyone talks about what a steal that team got. I, for one, just don't see him going in the first round unless he puts an All-American type season and leads the team 10 wins.

    3) Dallas Thomas is the 4th offensive lineman and the 28th player overall!! That was the biggest shocker to me. He's even ranked higher than Barrett Jones. I'm not saying it's crazy, but if he has a season to justify that ranking, we will be a pretty good team this year.

    4) Not listed in the offensive player rankings: Rivera, James, Patterson, Neal

    Matt Barkley is the top player in '13 draft - ESPN

    Scouts Inc. offers up a cheat sheet for the 2013 NFL draft quarterback class, including the top three prospects in various skill sets and a look at all quarterbacks with draftable grades.

    insider.espn.go.com

    smasher423

  • I think Bray would have to have a pretty flawless season for him to jump far enough up in the draft after this year and go early.......I think the feeling is that he has a lot to prove this year and even if he does, NFL executives might want to see him prove it for more than one full year (since he has some question marks on the intangibles at this point and he has yet to play a full SEC schedule).

    My hope is for him to prove everything this year and him be a top 15 type talent, then decide he wants to come back to prove he is a top 5 pick for the next draft! We can only wish, right?

    JB11

  • I agree on Bray too. He's got the first round caliber arm, now he needs to show the leadership, maturity and decision making teams expect from first round QBs. I do think he ends up doing better than Mallett, who is nowhere near the athlete that Bray is.

    The Dallas Thomas rating is pretty stunning. Not many first round rated LTs get shifted inside to G, even with a Tiny type prospect waiting in the wings.

    tallbrad

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    Casvol31

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    tallbrad

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    Casvol31

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    tallbrad