Who the hell is Mel Kiper Jr., anyway? Well, he's a nice fellow with a great hairdo who has done draft coverage for ESPN the last 26 years, and he was kind enough to do a conference call with reporters this morning. And while I do not know how much my mailman knows about grading NFL prospects, I do know that Kiper is first and foremost in the field of guys I would trust on this subject.The NFL Draft combine is rapidly approaching (Feb. 18-24 in Indianapolis for those of you scrambling to set your TiVo to the NFL Network in order to watch guys run the 40-yard dash), and Auburn has three players who have been invited -- DT Sen'Derrick Marks, CB Jerraud Powers and OG Tyronne Green.
Question time was somewhat limited because, as you'd expect, Mel had a long list of people asking him questions about everything under the sun. But here's what he had to say about the Auburn players. Most of it was about Marks, but he touched on Powers and Green briefly.
On Marks and declaring after an injury-riddled junior season
"That's the thing. When you come out after a year like that, it's always going to be a little bit risky. He's still a top-five defensive tackle overall. Showed great promise as a freshman. I thought he was consistent when he was out there and uses his hands extremely well. That's the one thing that always stood out to me with Marks is he uses his hands extremely well to free himself up. Quick. He pursues to the sidelines, which I like. To me, he's another kid that had he gone back and had been healthy all year and been at full strength all year, he's a definite top 15 to 20 pick in the first round. He's probably a second-round draft choice I would say right now."On Powers
"Powers is another one I thought should have gone back, but he's probably in that third- to fifth-round range. He's a guy who's got some ability, there's no doubt about that."On Green
"Green right now, you look at him and he's a pretty good football player. I think he's probably a third-, fourth-round type of player. At worst the fifth round."The Marks analysis was just what I expected. I think even Sen'Derrick knew what he could have had if he chose to come back for another season. But if you're in his shoes, and you've just had all sorts of injuries to overcome, who's too say it won't happen again? His stock is high enough right now that he'll still be a first-day pick. And he still has the combine to show what is capable of when healthy. From what I've read, scouts really like his quickness for playing on the inside but wonder about his upper body strength and ability to command double teams.
Powers' projection was a little shocking to me. He's not on any mock draft that I've seen, and those go through all seven rounds. If he can go somewhere in the third to fifth round, I don't think his decision to leave for the NFL is as bad as everyone made it out to be. And I include myself in that group.
Green is a guy who is intriguing. He didn't have an all-too-great senior season, but he's still pretty talented. The transcription of Kiper doesn't really convey how his comment came out. He paused briefly and kind of chuckled before slowing down and emphasizing his line that Tyronne "is a pretty good football player," as though that is a fact that a lot of people are overlooking.
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