Commentary
Film work, combine shuffle board
Defensive linemen making big moves, both up and down the rankings
Originally Published: February 28, 2013
By
Todd McShay | Scouts Inc.
The NFL combine has come and gone, and while workout numbers will affect the stock of some players, the time outside of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis was even more valuable in terms of shaping our Scouts Inc. draft board.
We spent nearly every spare minute immersed in film of prospects from the defensive front seven, in an effort to finish our final evaluations on those players. The result is big names moving up and down -- in some cases off the board entirely.
The biggest news is Texas A&M DE Damontre Moore falling out of our updated ranking for the top 32 overall prospects. Yes, Moore hurt himself by putting up only 12 bench-press reps at the combine and looking somewhat pedestrian in other areas, but unimpressive tape is what drags him down the most.
Moore's lack of upper-body explosiveness was evident before he ever got on the bench in Indy, and his film shows a player who rarely uses his hands against blockers. He's a good athlete who can be disruptive, but he has some maturing to do as a player and in terms of work ethic.
Front-seven players have been the talk of the draft process, and our recent film work reinforces that. Prospects like Dion Jordan, Barkevious Mingo and Ezekiel Ansah had good showings at the combine, but they are moving up because of what we see upon further examination of their game tape.
Here's how things stand at this point, with pro day workouts and individual sessions with teams still to come. Non-seniors are noted with an asterisk.
To see the rest of Todd McShay's rankings, you must be an ESPN Insider.
-
ESPN The Magazine subscribers
-
Need more information?
- ESPN College Football and NFL Draft Analyst
- Joined ESPN in 2006
- Played quarterback in high school and was a backup QB for the University of Richmond.
SPONSORED HEADLINES
MORE NFL HEADLINES
- Lawsuit alleged Hernandez shot man in Feb.
- Source: Revis paid $50K to get 24 with Bucs
- Titans' Pollard: Mission to 'kill,' goal is SB
- Arians: Fans biggest obstacle for gay player
MOST SENT STORIES ON ESPN.COM
NFL On ESPN
EDITORS' PICKS

- The Really Big Picture
- Our experts project the 2016 landscape.
Future Rankings

- The Comfort Of Continuity
- Sam Bradford is relishing the Rams' offensive stability?
Sando »

- There's A Lot To Like
- The SEC boasts a plethora of good, big WRs.
Todd McShay
- Sprow: Where top FPR teams could falter
- Bowen: How to stop Adrian Peterson
- Insider: NFL Future Power Rankings
- Draft Blog: SEC WRs who come up big
- Offseason Grades: AFC | NFC | Kiper on draft

