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2009 Draft - Nose Tackles

B.J. Raji - Boston College - 6'1" - 325
B.J. Raji along with Ron Brace provided a lot of beef in the middle for Boston College.  He started the year weighing in at 350, but with a strict workout regimen got down to a svelte 325.  He has had trouble maintaing 'satisfactory progress' in college, that may be a bit of a red flag.  Nose Tackles do not need to be rocket scientists, they do need to make decisions quickly.  He has been ranked as high as 16th in the draft and is often the number one listed tackle; he ended up with seven sacks this season for BC.  He will be playing in the senior bowl this year.  He runs a 5.15 so just a bit slow there.

Terrance Taylor- Michigan - 6'0" - 319
I started the season much more interested in Terrance Taylor; but Michigan did not have a stellar year.  He was the subject of a lot of preseason attention, that may have made a let down inevitable.  He seems to have spent considerable time on the sidelines in the second half of the season.

Ron Brace - Boston College - 6'3" - 325
This is the other half of Boston College's Tackle duo.  He is projected as a 5-6th round choice, so this might be a low risk chance to see if he can develop behind Williams for a year; or at least be a credible backup.  He did have nagging back injuries; so that has to be a concern with a guy carrying this much weight.

Dorell Scott - Clemson - 6'4" - 320
Probably a 5-7th round choice too.  He was reportedly a force in the late season, but didn't live up to his billing.  It took a sit down with a coach to fire him up again, so motivation may be a factor.

Small School NTs

Chris Baker - Hampton - 6'2" - 308
Perhaps a little small, but well rated in this article

Louis Ellis - Shaw  - 6'2" - 312
Dominant tackle who would have gone to a big school but had academic problems.  Clocked a 4.94 which isn't bad for a guy this size.  He would get good penetration at this level of competition, but it's always a question if that will translate to the NFL.

Sammie Lee Hill - Stillman - 6'4" - 328
Certainly big enough and reportedly quite athletic.  He had 7.5 sacks and fifteen tackles for losses on the season.  He is also likely to go in the fourth round or below and might be worth a pick by the Chargers.

HT to MHR and BTBs for posts on NT prospects.  I did cull some folks that seemed just too small for the NT, most notably Peria Jerry out of Mississippi; feel free to bring up any propects you like; or especially conmment on any of these guys you have seen play.

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There are some other red flag issues with Raji

From Scouts, Inc on ESPN.com

Ejected from the 2006 Central Michigan game and suspended for the first half of the Clemson game the following week after throwing a punch at a Central Michigan player.

This note also makes me wonder if he’s right for NT:

Hasn’t shown elite lower body strength and has problems anchoring against double teams. Appears to wear down late in games and effort is inconsistent when he starts to tire

1-10-DEN 18 (9:52) (Shotgun) 6-J.Cutler pass short right intended for 19-E.Royal INTERCEPTED by 93-L.Castillo (95-S.Phillips) at DEN 18. 93-L.Castillo to DEN 14 for 4 yards (62-C.Wiegmann). 6-J.Cutler pouts ob to DEN 25 for 11 yards.

by Wonko on Jan 15, 2009 9:40 AM PST reply actions   1 recs

Interesting

I’m OK with the ejection & suspension from two years ago; strength and endurance are obviously a real concern. I sure would hate to see the Chargers use the first rounder on a guy with big question marks.

"Football is a physical sport, sometimes you have a disagreement on what's going on, and you have a discussion about it." Kris Dielman

by Brian (DaBolts) on Jan 15, 2009 9:58 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Quick reminder

First rounders that had question marks: Castillo and Cromartie

by John (obviousman) on Jan 15, 2009 11:05 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Right

Both were something of a disappointment last season; granted they had nagging injuries.

"Football is a physical sport, sometimes you have a disagreement on what's going on, and you have a discussion about it." Kris Dielman

by Brian (DaBolts) on Jan 15, 2009 11:23 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Maybe I'm a softie

But these are two guys that I’m giving passes to this season. Castillo because of injuries and because he took a lot more double-teams than he had in the past (once people realized that Phillips could be handled with a TE). Also, I thought Cottrell’s scheme hurt him. Cromartie, as I said the other day, gets a pass from me for playing the most athletic position on the field with a broken hip. He’s not as good as his numbers show from last year and he’s not as bad as he was this year. In my mind that makes him a hell of a number 2 corner.

My basic point was that neither of those guys really blew up in the face of the organization.

by John (obviousman) on Jan 15, 2009 11:45 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

I was ready to give Cromartie a pass a long time ago

I mean, it took years for Jammer to get where he is now.

But I’m not giving a pass to Castillo. He’s been a disappointment year after year. That DE spot in the 3-4 needs production. Look at Aaron Smith in Pittsburgh. That should be the model for Castillo’s position and he is not living up to it.

1-10-DEN 18 (9:52) (Shotgun) 6-J.Cutler pass short right intended for 19-E.Royal INTERCEPTED by 93-L.Castillo (95-S.Phillips) at DEN 18. 93-L.Castillo to DEN 14 for 4 yards (62-C.Wiegmann). 6-J.Cutler pouts ob to DEN 25 for 11 yards.

by Wonko on Jan 15, 2009 12:02 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Ron Brace

I think this may be selling him a bit short. I’ve seen him ranked a couple of places in the top 4 DTs. NFLDraftCountdown has him projected as a 2nd-3rd rounder. He’s definitely a project at the Nose though because Raji ate up all the double teams so he doesn’t have experience dealing with those.

1-10-DEN 18 (9:52) (Shotgun) 6-J.Cutler pass short right intended for 19-E.Royal INTERCEPTED by 93-L.Castillo (95-S.Phillips) at DEN 18. 93-L.Castillo to DEN 14 for 4 yards (62-C.Wiegmann). 6-J.Cutler pouts ob to DEN 25 for 11 yards.

by Wonko on Jan 15, 2009 9:46 AM PST reply actions   0 recs

Could be

There are so many sites that rate these guys all over the place. They are both hard to rate because there is no doubt Raji was better for playing next to Brace too; it’s nice that any young NT we get is going to learn from the best though. Both lost around 25 pounds to start the season; I can’t figure if that shows dedication to lose the weight or a not enough in that they had to be told to.

"Football is a physical sport, sometimes you have a disagreement on what's going on, and you have a discussion about it." Kris Dielman

by Brian (DaBolts) on Jan 15, 2009 10:03 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

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