Who are the "Special" Players in this Draft?

[onejayhawk]

It is a hard to define principle. Generally, who is among the 3-5 best at his position in the last decade. Off the top I can think of 4: Luck, Trent Richardson and deCastro, with RG III as a maybe. Kalil and Claiborn do not appear to be above the level of the top prospect at their position any given year. Am I missing anyone?

J

[BrettFavresMember]

I don't think I know of many LT's in the NFL that are built as proportional as Reiff.

[Halsey]

I never buy into the idea that we know who will be a special NFL player. There's always this idea that a draft has a select few "special" or "elite" prospects, yet many of those players don't turn out to be special in the NFL, and many NFL players who are special were not viewed as special prospects.

[PossibleCabbage]

Luck.

Nobody else.

[thegreatone]

Michael Floyd

[TACKLE]

Luck and Richardson

[Taber21]

Luck and Decastro imo, at this point, are the only ones who seem to be that "special" type of prospect at their respective positions.

[Brothgar]

Special players
Richardson
Luck
RG3
one of the De's
De Castro
Glenn
Blackmon

[TACKLE]

Originally Posted by broth223

Special players
Richardson
Luck
RG3
one of the De's
De Castro
Glenn
Blackmon

This guy will be one of the premier pass rushers in the league. :/

[BRAVEHEART]

[lowlife]

I like Claiborne's potential to become one of the few island corners

[Duffman57]

Andrew Luck
RGIII
Kalil

are the only three that i have at that level right now.

[the_dark_knight]

Give me RG3 and Richardson.

Richardson is to me on the Adrian Peterson level. He's a guy who's becoming more and more rare in the NFL, a single RB who can really beat you in every phase of the game, and is strong enough to stand up to the beating and punishment of every down football in the NFL.

[zachsaints52]

Luck and DeCastro are the only two coming to mind.

[P-L]

Going by your criteria of top 3-5 at their position over the last decade, I'd say there are three, maybe four players. Andrew Luck, obviously is the top prospect of the last ten years at quarterback. I think Trent Richardson is also a top five prospect at his position. I also think DeCastro is the top guy at his position over the past ten years, although some people wouldn't consider a guard "special," regardless of how good he is. I think an argument could be made for Morris Claiborne as well. He's borderline top five at his position, and I like him more than Patrick Peterson (who many people considered "special").

[papageorgio]

Dre Kirkpatrick. This guy will come to the NFL day one being one of the most physical hard hitting CB's in the league. If he keeps his head on straight he can become a better Antoine Winfield.

[Finsfan79]

Coples, Kirkpatrick, Lamar Miller (will end up the best back in the draft), Tannehill (if he sits a year and learns he will end up a good QB), Blackmon, Reiff, and Luck of course

[Duffman57]

Originally Posted by the_dark_knight

Give me RG3 and Richardson.

Richardson is to me on the Adrian Peterson level. He's a guy who's becoming more and more rare in the NFL, a single RB who can really beat you in every phase of the game, and is strong enough to stand up to the beating and punishment of every down football in the NFL.

I dont know why, but every time i see Richardson, he seems REALLY stiff to me. Doesn't look like he can really make guys miss when he gets them in open space on the run. Reminds me of a smaller Michael Turner IMO, can do all the things well, but is much more of an inside runner that can run outside who's a bigtime downhill runner. Not comparing the two, just trying to say that he seems more of that STYLE of a runner rather than AP who is just a freak in every asset.

[Inspector71]

Originally Posted by Duffman57

I dont know why, but every time i see Richardson, he seems REALLY stiff to me. Doesn't look like he can really make guys miss when he gets them in open space on the run. Reminds me of a smaller Michael Turner IMO, can do all the things well, but is much more of an inside runner that can run outside who's a bigtime downhill runner. Not comparing the two, just trying to say that he seems more of that STYLE of a runner rather than AP who is just a freak in every asset.

He can't make guys miss in the open field? Google YOUTUBE or SEC DIGITAL Network. Invest some time. :)

[diemertsdawgs]

Justin Blackmon? Hello? Elite player with solid character. I think he will have a very solid NFL career. The most explosive WR in draft and very strong.

[diemertsdawgs]

I will list five: Justin Blackmon WR Ok.St.
Morris Claiborne CB LSU
Janoris Jenkins CB N.Alabama
Donta Hightower LB Bama
Matt Kalil OL USC
I like Luck & RG3. But I have question marks on them both, top rated QBs always make me skeptical. I think RG3 could be a very explosive addition to any team and we all know Luck is going to Indy. So new system in Indy, likely no more Peyton, lots of unknowns for Luck.

[papageorgio]

Originally Posted by Finsfan79

Coples, Kirkpatrick, Lamar Miller (will end up the best back in the draft), Tannehill (if he sits a year and learns he will end up a good QB), Blackmon, Reiff, and Luck of course

Kirkpatrick is getting seriously underrated by everyone. This guy is a baller. If the Bills pass on him for a pass rusher like Ingram or perry I will be pissed. This guy is one of the hardest hitting mother ******* ive seen at the DB position in a long time.

[toonsterwu]

I don't know how you are defining it, but the guys that I feel are truly elite (which is a vague and subjective term, but let's just say, guys that I think would be considered elite for their positions in most drafts) in this draft would be

QB: Luck/RG3
RB: Richardson
WR: None (and I think I prefer Kendall Wright to Justin Blackmon)
TE: None
OT: None ... I'm not sure I don't prefer Reiff to Kalil (although I think Kalil will be ranked higher in general ... that said, I really wonder if say, the Vikings, might prefer Reiff to Kalil, as I feel like Reiff might be a slightly better OL talent for Jeff Davidson) ...
Interior OL: DeCastro. The one guy I am debating is whether or not Konz is elite for C ...
DT - None
DE - None. Coples may go high in many drafts, but I'm not sure he's a guy I feel would be consistently elite in most of them.
LB - None.
S - None, although admittedly, I've always been a bit uncertain on labeling safety talents as elite.
CB - Claiborne. I'm not sure he's that much higher than say, the rest of this CB class, but I do think Claiborne would be an elite CB talent in most drafts. Athletic, long armed corner, willing to be physical, good instincts, shows good fluidity. A lot to like.

Now, if we're talking about the elite tier in this draft, I think we're looking at Luck/RG3/Kalil/Claiborne/Reiff/Richardson probably (at this stage of the process).

This is one of those drafts where the depth is fairly good, though. The 2nd-3rd round depth might be as good as I can recall, at this early stage, in awhile, although it's obviously going to be thin at some positions.

[toonsterwu]

Originally Posted by diemertsdawgs

Justin Blackmon? Hello? Elite player with solid character. I think he will have a very solid NFL career. The most explosive WR in draft and very strong.

Most explosive? In this draft? If you want to argue most complete, I wouldn't disagree with that, but most explosive? Not sold that he's more explosive than say, Kendall Wright.

[Duffman57]

Originally Posted by Inspector71

He can't make guys miss in the open field? Google YOUTUBE or SEC DIGITAL Network. Invest some time. :)

I think he can, but not without slowing down a LOT...

Every time i watch him, he just doesn't seem to be very fluid making lateral cuts. Once again, i'm not saying that he's not a very good prospect, but to put him on the level of AP isn't warranted IMO.