“Bracket Busters” NFL Draft

In the spirit of March Madness, I thought we would have our own version of Bracket Busters, except Mock draft busters. Players who could shoot up in the draft that will destroy mock drafts much like Tyson Alaualu did last year.

I posed this question to our writers and the first one to respond was Nick Castillo and here’s who he thought could make mock drafter looks bad come late April.

Jabaal Sheard- Sheard is not being talked about right now. He is a 4-3 DE/3-4 OLB who has no experience standing up. However, he ran a 4.69 40 yard dash and he is quietly starting to move up draft boards. I’ve mostly seen him taken in the 3rd/4th rounds, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a 3-4 team takes him in the early 2nd.

Sione Fua- Fua is a pure NT from Stanford. He offers very little in terms of pass rush, but he is a great run stuffer. He had a couple plays at the Senior Bowl where he just pushed and dominated the offensive line and got to the running back. I have primarily seen him in the 4th, but there aren’t a lot of pure 3-4 nose tackles in this draft. Would not be surprised if someone takes him in the late 2nd/early 3rd.

Randall Cobb- Cobb is one of those do-it-all type of players. He can play running back, wildcat QB, returner, or a slot receiver. He has 4.4 speed and is a great leader with great intangibles. I’ve seen him as a late 2-3rd round prospect, but something tells me he is going to go at the top of the 2nd to a team like the Pats.

Casey Matthews- This is the biggest bracket buster that I have. Plain and simple, Casey Matthews is going to get overdrafted. He is a 4th round prospect in my mind. He has great instincts, but lacks the physical skills to be a top pick in my view. However, teams have already told him that they don’t want to miss him like they missed his brother. Some team will draft him and he could go as high as the 2nd round based solely on his brothers hype.

My thoughts

Jabaal Sheard is the one that could make mock drafts look bad. He’s getting very little publicity, but is one I definitely agree with. When we first published our Big Board in early February I wrote this about Sheard “Look at this again he could definitely be higher he could sneak into 1st round”. Sheard is the very spirit of what I was thinking when I thought about doing this post. Sheard is our first true “bracket buster” prospect, we’ll have a few more of these highlighting players we think could be much higher than is currently predicted and end up in the first round.

After I wrote this (Selection Sunday) I was web surfing and saw this from Wes Bunting: Pittsburgh DE Jabaal Sheard is the one guy who scouts seem to try to be keeping under the radar, as he’s quietly moving up draft boards. He had an impressive workout, showcases natural explosion off the snap and from what I’m hearing NFL teams aren’t real concerned with his character.

I’m not surprised. We’ve had him pegged as a 1st-2nd round prospect this entire time.

As a teaser I’ll give you two more: Brooks Reed, and Leonard Hankerson. Something on them coming soon.

Who are your mock draft busters?

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