Top 32 draft prospects: Leave your 40 time at the door
Feb. 20, 2008
By Pete Prisco
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
Tell Pete your opinion!







The NFL's scouting combine is upon us, which means it's officially the
open of paralysis-by-analysis season.

Like one NFL coach said to me Tuesday night: "We look for things to
drag players down rather than the stuff to prop them up."


Will Vernon Gholston switch from defensive line to linebacker? (US
Presswire)
It's pick, pick, pick for the next two months, starting this week in
Indianapolis. They forget the work the players did during their
college careers, or what the tape has to say about them, and instead
the focus is on workouts, 40 times and interviews.

That's absurd.

But that's the way it is, so get used to it. We all do. That's what
too much time between the end of the season and the college draft does
to us. It's time to overload on the negative.

My annual list of the top 32 players, which follows, is always
released on the eve of the combine. It is mostly based on talks with
scouts and personnel men, my own eyes, and performance, rather than
what will happen in the next two months.

Some of the players on my list will move down and others will replace
them. See, some things do matter. If a kid is found out to be a
medical risk, down he'll go. If he has off-field problems, down he'll
go.

If a receiver I think plays fast somehow runs a 4.95 40, down he'll
go. But for the most part, my rankings are what they are: based on
football.

1. Chris Long, DE, Virginia: I love the way this kid plays. He's
relentless. He will go to the combine and his Pro Day workout and
scouts will get enamored with his 40 time. They shouldn't. Just watch
the damn tape.

2. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas: The trendy thing to say now is he's
falling. That's absurd. He is a game-breaker. I don't like drafting
runners high, but he could be an exception. He's a home run threat
every time he touches it.

3. Sedrick Ellis, DT, USC: He was a force in the middle of the USC
line and then followed it up with a heck of a Senior Bowl. He's
slightly ahead of LSU's Glenn Dorsey.

4. Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU: Dorsey battled through injuries last year;
that's a sign of toughness. He will be a power player on the next
level. Most have him ahead of Ellis. I just like it the other way.

5. Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville: This is high in comparison to most
boards. But Brohm was my top quarterback before the season and he did
nothing to change that. He reminds me of Jim Kelly. Brohm has played
through some tough injuries, and he isn't mobile, but he will be a
big-time thrower on the next level.

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