Drake Nevis

[Jason_]

I keep hearing about this guy. Is he a nose tackle, or a 3-tech?

Which guy...in the quote I was talking about Poe, Chapman and Thompson lol (just give ya a hard time)

Brandon Thompson - from what I've seen (and I just checked their depth chart online) Clemson runs a 4 man front and Thompson is the NT

Josh Chapman - Alabama uses both a 3 and 4 man front and they move their people all over the place. I've seen Upshaw and Hightower line up at ILB, OLB or DE. I believe Chapman is their NT in the 4 man front and DE in the 3 man front. I'm still learning the differences between 1 gap, 3 gap, 5 tech and similar verbiage so NT, UT or DE is the best I can do right now. I couldn't find a depth chart on their official website to confirm.

Dontari Poe - Memphis also uses both a 3 and 4 man front. Which position he is best at I can't say at this point, but I can tell you he lined up at both UT and NT in the 4 man front and at DE in the 3 man front. I'm not sure if he lined up at NT in the 3 man front but even if he didn't I don't think it has anything to do with his abilities but rather the fact that their other NT is also 350+ lbs but I don't think he's has Poe's speed. You may have seen it but there's a pretty cool video on this site....from a workout though not game action

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=rivals-1236335

I think Poe could definitely be a playmaker at NT in the 4-3 and he could most likely play any DL position in a 3-4. He's currently projected in the early to mid 2nd round but I bet a 3-4 team grabs him earlier.

[GoColts8818]

Totally agreed...and yeah I knew what you were getting at. I don't know if you watch any college ball at all so I just wanted to throw a few names out and what area of the draft they're currently projected in so that you could keep an eye out if you catch any of the games.

I watch it, I just don't follow where they are going to be drafted till well when the draft is here. Not that I don't appericate those that do.

[Jason_]

I watch it, I just don't follow where they are going to be drafted till well when the draft is here. Not that I don't appericate those that do.

Right, I totally get that. I know you've said many times and I agree fully that the draft boards will look very different at the end of the season compared to what they look like now. This is the first year I've taken THIS much of an interest in scouting college prospects. Considering the Manning injury and the way things have happened, I've been trying to find as many positives as I can.

There's no telling the way players will move up and down the boards, I'm just watching to see how certain players play, the type of defense they're in, how they handle what I can best determine their responsibilities on each play...things like that. Helps pass the time.

[Superman]

Which guy...in the quote I was talking about Poe, Chapman and Thompson lol (just give ya a hard time)

Dontari Poe - Memphis also uses both a 3 and 4 man front. Which position he is best at I can't say at this point, but I can tell you he lined up at both UT and NT in the 4 man front and at DE in the 3 man front. I'm not sure if he lined up at NT in the 3 man front but even if he didn't I don't think it has anything to do with his abilities but rather the fact that their other NT is also 350+ lbs but I don't think he's has Poe's speed. You may have seen it but there's a pretty cool video on this site....from a workout though not game action

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=rivals-1236335

I think Poe could definitely be a playmaker at NT in the 4-3 and he could most likely play any DL position in a 3-4. He's currently projected in the early to mid 2nd round but I bet a 3-4 team grabs him earlier.

Sorry, yeah, I was talking about Poe. He sounds like a 1 or 0 tech, but you make him sound like he has the tools to play the 3 tech also. And he's obviously a load.

[BmoreColt]

Jason I still think your boy Thompson plays the UT in Clemson’s 4-3! I could be wrong but I am pretty sure about that and I know the UT and NT are interchangeable in the 4-3, but he is given very good praise, and a lot of experts have him ranked above Jerel Worthy, but do you think Thompson would warrant a top five pick? I think whoever is taken needs to be an absolute beast and instant contributor/starter and whichever position he plays. To be fair Jason, and I know you have lots of knowledge especially with the college players, I think Thompson could be a reach, cause I think we will have a top 5 pick no doubt, as I have the colts winning 3 games. Of all the Dt’s you have mentioned the one who intrigues me the most is Kawann Short of Purdue, they play Notre Dame Saturday night at 8, which I am going to try to watch/record cause I need to see him play, and Manti Te’o!!! By the way the two safeties who really intrigue me are Kenny Tate OLB/S Maryland who I get to watch, and Ray Ray Armstrong SS Florida.

[Jason_]

Jason I still think your boy Thompson plays the UT in Clemson’s 4-3! I could be wrong but I am pretty sure about that and I know the UT and NT are interchangeable in the 4-3, but he is given very good praise, and a lot of experts have him ranked above Jerel Worthy, but do you think Thompson would warrant a top five pick? I think whoever is taken needs to be an absolute beast and instant contributor/starter and whichever position he plays. To be fair Jason, and I know you have lots of knowledge especially with the college players, I think Thompson could be a reach, cause I think we will have a top 5 pick no doubt, as I have the colts winning 3 games. Of all the Dt’s you have mentioned the one who intrigues me the most is Kawann Short of Purdue, they play Notre Dame Saturday night at 8, which I am going to try to watch/record cause I need to see him play, and Manti Te’o!!! By the way the two safeties who really intrigue me are Kenny Tate OLB/S Maryland who I get to watch, and Ray Ray Armstrong SS Florida.

I was pretty sure Thompson was the NT but to confirm I checked the Clemson official website. http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/clem-m-footbl-body.html There's a link to their depth chart but it's a PDF file so I can't paste the info directly but it has him listed as their starting NG (Nose guard). I do agree with you that taking him in the top 5 would be a reach but I don't think he'll necessarily go that high. It all depends on the draft order and what those teams' needs are. I would consider drafting him at 15-20, which would of course require a trade down assuming Colts wind up picking as high as we all think they will. I don't know if you've noticed but it seems that DT is probably the position that has the most fluctuation in regards to where players are being projected. I've seen Alameda Ta'amu projected in the top 10 all the way down to the middle second round (and personally I think he'll fall even lower than that) and Thompson anywhere from the top 10 to the second round. Like I said, it all comes down to who's drafting where and what their needs are...if it's a 3-4 team they'd likely look closer at Josh Chapman or Dontari Poe. A 4-3 team needing an UT would probably be more likely to target Worthy or Devon Still.

I'm also very interested in the Purdue game coming up...I have it set to record and will be paying very close attention to Short.

If we wind up in the 3-5 area and there's no one willing to trade up, even though I think we could get good quality later at this position, the best overall impact player that would be worth the pick would probably be Alshon Jeffry, or maybe to a lesser degree (at least according to the 'experts' lol ) Dre Kirkpatrick.

[oldunclemark]

Nice Blackhawk. You just beat me to the response with that image! Hope that helps Mark

It does...Thank you both...

I'm not an ex-player..or coach...and sometimes football people talk in a code I think I understand but I really dont get...

Football people sometimes get angry when you ask them to explain terms that are second nature to them.

Thanks for not doing that.

[indy_nick]

I honestly don't think we will take a NT so high in the draft. I think our biggest need will be our secondary (unless one of our rookies has a breakout season). I also don't think a lot of teams tend to pick tackles in the first round. I remember Fairly from the Lions last year, but not any others in the first round (I could be mistaken). Most people tend to pick WR, QB, CB from what I can remember from recent drafts. Does anybody know the top CB or safety draft prospects coming out of college. I think that is our biggest need as a team because as pointed earlier our D line is performing very well.

[Jason_]

I honestly don't think we will take a NT so high in the draft. I think our biggest need will be our secondary (unless one of our rookies has a breakout season). I also don't think a lot of teams tend to pick tackles in the first round. I remember Fairly from the Lions last year, but not any others in the first round (I could be mistaken). Most people tend to pick WR, QB, CB from what I can remember from recent drafts. Does anybody know the top CB or safety draft prospects coming out of college. I think that is our biggest need as a team because as pointed earlier our D line is performing very well.

Last year's first round DT's were Nick Fairly, Corey Liuget, Phil Taylor and I would swear at least on draft day they were calling Marcell Dareus a DT. There were 5 DT's taken in the first round of the 2010 draft.

To be honest, I don't think we'd go NT either unless AJ has a really bad year. If he does then NT becomes almost as big an issue as CB. Speaking of CB's, some of the top ones right now are:

Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama

Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina

Morris Claiborn, LSU

Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska

Xavier Rhodes, FSU

Cliff Harris, Oregon

Janoris Jenkins, North Alabama

Chase Minnifield, Virginia

Here's a good site you might wanna check out http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings

[jared3]

It would be nice to have another DT that is better than Eric Foster. Nevis, Johnson, and Fili are prettty good.

[BmoreColt]

Not that corner isn’t a position of need, but there needs to be a NT taken at some point by the Colts whether that be from free agency or in the draft, cause I think Mookie is more of quality depth, there really needs to be another impact run stopper on the defensive line, Nevis appears to be a very good UT and needs to start and get all the reps. He shows the ability to penetrate and be the disruptive force needed so a quarterback can’t just step up in the pocket against the Colts to avoid Mathis and Freeney, not to mention he can play the run too! With that being said there still needs to be a real dominant NT on the line, and continual addressing of linebackers. The Colts really need to get more physical and more physical players, I like Angerer at MLB, but I hope the Colts can get Manti’ Te’o and figure a way to start both of them to be productive, I think sliding Te’o to outside linebacker could schematically work, since a 3-4 ILB has coverage duties against RB’s, TE’s, and slot WR’s.. not to mention this guys gap discipline is real serious and his ability to stop the run. With another true NT presence here and a physical linebacker like Manti, the Colts would excel in the front seven, cause Freeney and Mathis already excel and run supporting would be vastly improved!

[jared3]

Colts were very fortunate to land Drake Nevis!