Analysis 1

Remember in high school when your English teacher told you to never start out a paper by out-right telling your readers what your article was about? Well, "Ehum." *COUGH**COUGH* this article is going to dwell into a deeper look at 5 prospects that several of your POD members have chosen in slight interest. We will look into THEIR stories coming into the NFL, resemblances between current/aged football stars(according to my opinion), and which teams should be interested in them. Enjoy!! 

[*-denotes team who will most likely take in draft/trade/FA]

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Starting from high school, "Bruuuuuuce" as they call him, played QB, S, and RB. As a QB in his senior year of HS, he threw for only 585 passing yards, and 5 TD's, also ran for 1,063 yards and 15 TD's. From there he was the 8th highest rated recruit in the nation as a skill player. Hoping that from his college major (communications) he can bring some leadership to a defense that lacks recognition and athleticism. And talking about athleticism, this boy is on the same level as Suh. Having a 4.39 40-time, 40.5 inch vertical, being able to bench 440 lbs., and squat 605 lbs., it's hard to argue. Energetic as a child, he would love to be on the cover of ESPN magazine, and be a guest on 'Oprah'. His recognition reminds me of a pro-bowler, but his lack of wrap-up tackling leaves yards on the field. As an over-all player he reminds me of Ernie Sims. (Sorry) Teams that should look into him are: (Of course) Lions, *Titans, Giants, Panthers, Texans, and Rams.

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Brandon Burton takes the next place on my list, as IMO, the 3rd best corner in the draft. At 6 feet even, he measures up to a slightly lighter/younger Champ Bailey. (Wouldn't mind having that!) During HS he had 11 career interceptions (10 returned for TD's), and was an all-district punt/kick returner in his sophomore-senior seasons. He also qualified for the junior olympics in the 200-meter sprint (21.3s [[4.35-4.4] 40-yard dash]. During his college tenure, he didn't have too much experience with great successes. He had a red-shirted freshman year, and a special teams freshman year. During his most recent season though, he tied for second in the league with 10 pass breakups, 47 tackles, 4 for losses, a sack, 2 interceptions, a forced fumble, and 2 blocked kicks. Whew! That was a mouthful. With an economics major, he hopes to come into the NFL with a lot of money... but which teams will be willing to give it to him? The teams that I think that should look into him are: Lions, 49ers, Buccaneers, *Texans, and Ravens.

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Before I say anything, I just want to say that I personally am not a huge fan of Akeem Ayers. But to start off, he has great cover skills. He has the size of Shawne Merriman (6' 4", 255 lbs.), but the abilities of Keith Bulluck, of whom he reminds me of more. During his 3-year HS tenure he posted A LOT of numbers. On defense, 297 tackles, 43 sacks, 15 TFL, 2 blocked kicks, an interception, and 5 fumble recoveries combined. In total for offense/special teams: 20 kick returns for 626 yards, and 44 catches for 986 yards and 16 TD's, which all contributed to winning the CIF championship as a senior. During college he amounted 183 total tackles (55 assist), 14 sacks for a whopping negative 85 yards, 29.5 TFL for another astounding negative 135 yards, and 6 interceptions being returned for 100 yards and 2 TD's in the process. As a history major throughout college, he hopes to bring his patience to the table of any willing team; and those teams should be: *Lions, Giants, Texans, Rams, and Panthers, (Titans).

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Nate Irving, with his dreads at the ready, as a senior led his team to a 10-0 start and had 110 tackles, 6 forced fumbles, 3 sacks, and an interception. After that, in his RS Freshman season, he made 27 of his 52 tackles in the last 4 games, and 5 TFL in the last 5 games. In his Sophomore campaign minor injuries plagued his season, only allowing him to combine his efforts for 84 tackles, 4 interceptions (1 TD). For what must have been a disappointing, unfortunate single-car crash, Nate didn't play for his 2009 season [He felt 'blessed' to even have survived]. To respond to his doubters about whether he could play or not, he piled up 92 total tackles (46 assisted tackles), 5 TFL for negative 79 yards, 7 sacks for negative 49 yards, 6 pass defenses, 9 QB hits, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 recovered fumbles for 0 positive yards. Majoring in ZOOLOGY(that's not one you usually see!), and being much like Patriots inside linebacker, Jerod Mayo, he hopes he can bring his sheer power to the NFL. The teams that should be in the hunt for Mr. Irving are: Bills, Panthers, (Lions), (Titans), Giants, Texans, *Rams.

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Von Miller, LB of Texas A & M, finally decided to enter the draft with a university studies major concentrating in agriculture and life sciences after deciding to bypass last season's draft. (Predicted to be drafted in the 2nd) But after many scouts have him as the best OLB in the draft, it leaves us to wonder what his path was that lead up to this point. In HS he tallied up 113 tackles in varsity, 13 sacks, 28 TFL, and 12 QB hurries. His efforts in HS lead to a scholarship to A & M. As a freshman in college he totaled 22 total tackles (10 solo), 2 sacks, 4 TFL, and a forced fumble, which lead to being named Freshman All-Big 12. During his sophomore season, Von played OLB in a 4-3 defensive system, piling up 44 tackles (25 solo), team-leading 3.5 sacks, 7.5 TFL, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries. [Many POD'ers have been doubting Von in our system (4-3) and I thought that this might shine a little light on how versatile this player truly is.] In his new position, the 'Jack' position, he put himself in position for two awards, the Hendricks Award (top d-end), and the Butkus Award (top linebacker), winning the Hendricks award. He had a stellar junior season, having 48 tackles, 21.5 TFL (45% of tackles), 17 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 5 passes defensed. To cap off his collegiate career, he had 68 tackles, 17.5 TFL, 10.5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles in his senior season. With the off-the-edge explosion that Mr. Miller contains, many teams will be in hot pursuit and will be hoping to call his name this spring in the 2011 draft. Let's take a look at who they are: Bengals, *Texans, 49ers, Panthers, (Lions), Chiefs(kinda), Broncos, Cowboys(they would be outstanding with him).

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Notes - I know I have the Texans taking two of the higher ranked players, but I think that they will be especially aggressive this draft to secure their defense and I know they want to keep Kubiak as their #1. Lions like Ayers cuz he can cover. Period. Titans lost a lot after losing Keith Bulluck to the Giants and they get a VERY athletic linebacker in Bruce Carter. Nate Irving shores up a position of need and gives them plenty of talent to use different defensive formations. The Texans duo : Brandon Burton and Von Miller gives them somebody that can cover (anybody!) and a special talent for Wade Phillips to turn into another Demarcus Ware.

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