ESPN NFL Draft Blog

Posted by Steve Muench

California travels to Minnesota this week and we'll have our eyes on the matchup between Golden Gophers WR Eric Decker and Golden Bears CB Syd'Quan Thompson. Both are second-round prospects -- Thompson early, Decker late -- and this will be an excellent test for both.

Thompson has the edge in terms of quickness and we expect him to stick with Decker coming out of breaks, and while we don't expect Decker to be able to stretch the field it will be a positive for his stock if he can get behind Thompson on occasion.

However, Decker (6-foot-3⅛, 207 pounds) has a significant size advantage over Thompson (5-8⅝, 186) and it will be interesting to see how they compete in any jump-ball situations. Decker does not time his jumps well and does not high-point the ball as well as expected while Thompson does an excellent job of tracking the ball and is a good leaper. How each goes after the ball will be something to keep an eye on.

Along those same lines, Thompson must also prove he can play physical and take away inside leverage on slants and crossing routes. He has shown on film at times a willingness to let receivers get off the line and go where they want, and if he doesn't get his hands on Decker and disrupt his routes it make it easy for Decker to shield Thompson from the ball wight his bigger frame.

And finally, keep an eye on how Thompson fares against Decker in the running game. Thompson is a willing run defender who tackles well but the question for us is how well he can shed blocks. He's not afraid to mix it up but gets engulfed at times by bigger defenders, and Decker will present a challenge in that area. Thompson has the required toughness, though, and we expect him to tackle Decker well and limit his yards after the catch.

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