The Penn State Football Show

As many of you know I consider myself to be somewhat of a draftnik. I spend a lot of time reading about the NFL Draft year-round. Now that we have this blog, I figured I might as well post some of my thoughts on the upcoming draft.

I’m not even close to a point where I could create my own mock draft with any success. I follow college football very closely, but there are simply way too many players and too many NFL teams for me to accurately project who would go where.

With that being said, what I can do is provide my thoughts on the few handful of players that I do know something about. Every year there are college players throughout the country that I think could become good sleepers in the draft, and occasionally, I am right. Similarly, there are always a few guys that the gurus go crazy about that I don’t see being that great at the next level (Jimmy Kennedy).

So, without further adieu, I will take a step closer to a life-long dream and begin blogging about the NFL Draft.

I might as well start with the players I know the most about: Penn Staters.

1. Aaron Maybin, DE

Maybin will most likely be a top 15 pick in next month’s draft. Does he deserve to go that high? I don’t think he should, but I can see why teams are intrigued by his athleticism.

POSITIVES: He is an incredibly gifted pass-rusher and is probably the quickest player off the line of scrimmage that I have ever seen. He consistently blew by offensive tackles with relative ease this past season, finishing the year with a Big Ten leading 12 sacks and 19 TFL.

Great character and work ethic. A great leader. A physical specimen, reminiscent of Jason Taylor, although he could benefit by putting more weight on.

NEGATIVES: Weight – He played this past season somewhere around 235 pounds – which is pretty light for a NFL defensive end. He got up to 249 for the combine, but can he keep that weight up? While he is a great pass rusher, he can get pushed around and will struggle against the run, making him somewhat of a one-dimensional player.

Inexperience – Maybin only started for one year at Penn State. He entered the season as a backup, and was thrust into a starting role after starter Maurice Evans was suspended and Jerome Hayes tore an ACL. So, essentially, in a few months time, Maybin went from being a backup role player to an All American and projected top 15 pick. He could have benefited from another year playing in college, but I can’t blame anyone for coming out early if you are going to be picked as high as he will. However, as a result of his lack of experience and size, I expect Maybin to struggle early in his NFL career. With that being said, I fully expect him to eventually have a successful NFL career.

PROJECTION: I expect to see Maybin get selected somewhere in the middle of the first round. A team drafting Aaron Maybin should not expect him to be a full-time starter right away. Ideally, they should work him in as a situational pass-rusher for his first season as he gets his feet wet in the NFL. Eventually, with his athleticism and work ethic, he will put on some weight and could be an every down player. It would not surprise me to see Maybin become an elite-level pass rusher in the NFL, but it may take some time. Don’t get me wrong, he will make plays in his first year, but any team drafting him with a top 15 pick should be doing so because of the long term investment, not because of an immediate impact.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I have seen many people list Maybin as a possible 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL, and I can’t figure out why. Maybin’s biggest strength is his incredibly quick first step off the line, which is unmatched by any other pass-rusher in this draft. I can’t tell you how many times I saw Maybin use this first step to blow by the opposing tackle before they could even get their feet set to block Maybin. So why would you want to take Maybin off the line and put him in space? All that does is give the offensive lineman some time to anticipate the rush and set his feet. Nothing I have seen from Maybin makes me believe he would be better playing in space, and he does not have any playing experience at linebacker. I hope for Maybin’s sake he does not go to a team that runs a 3-4 defensive scheme.

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