ESPN’s Todd McShay knows a thing or two about evaluating talent in college football and assessing how it will translate to the NFL Draft. McShay has four Alabama players going early in the first round and during our one on one, he broke down some of Alabama’s offensive and defensive players that could be drafted.
The Crimson White: Talk a little bit about some of Alabama’s underclassmen who can leave early for the draft. You have Trent Richardson as a top 10 pick. What makes him different because we usually don’t see running backs taken high in the draft?
Todd McShay: Where is his weakness? I can’t find one. He has the lateral quickness, he has the instincts and he has really developed in terms of his vision and patience. He’s always been a big, powerful back and a competitive back, which I think is underrated. He great after initial contact and now he is catching the ball and blocking. I don’t want to say he’s Adrian Peterson, but he’s in that class. The rule is don’t draft a running back in the top 10, but he’s the exception to that rule.
CW: Talk about Dre Kirkpatrick. He’s a big, physical corner. What do you see him doing and what do you think he should do?
TM: I think he’ll come out. I usually air on the side of going back to school and making sure you’re ready. It’s him and Morris Claiborne from LSU as the top two corners and corners come of the board quickly. He could improve and benefit from returning to school, but from a business standpoint, if he plays well in this game [the national championship] and he’s healthy, I don’t see him falling out of the top 20.
CW: Talk about the ‘Bama linebackers like Dont’a Hightower and Courtney Upshaw. Where do you see those guys going?
TM: Hightower has obviously had the durability issues, but he’s had a really good year. We’ve seen a little bit more versatility from him this year coming off of the edge in pass rushing. I think he winds up somewhere in that second round range, with the worse case being second or third day. I think Upshaw is a first round pick. He doesn’t have that Dwight Freeney explosive first step, but he’s such a good pass rusher and he has a great feel for getting to the quarterback. He can do it from both sides and they work him in the middle sometimes and he can drop into coverage. He brings a lot of versatility to the table and anytime you can get after the quarterback, it really helps your value.
CW: I saw your board and it looks like you have Mark Barron in the top15. Also, Robert Lester is also a junior and he can come out. What do you see him doing and should he come out? He had a better year last year with the big interception number.
TM: Sometimes interceptions are misleading, but he has good ball skills and he can make plays.
There is a noticeable difference in terms of being a complete player. There’s nothing that you can look at with Barron and say it’s a glaring weakness. With Lester, he can become a little more physical with the run. He has some man to man issues that will get exposed a little bit in the draft process; I still think he could be taken in the third or fourth round.
CW: Obviously Trent Richardson is the big story on offense for Alabama, but do you see any other guys like Marquis Maze being taken in the earlier rounds.
TM: Maze has helped himself this year. His size is always going to be his size and its going to limit him. He’s proven he can step up and be a number one receiver and do the things that are asked of him. He has the versatility and he can run after the catch so I think he has gone from a day three guy to someone who can be taken on that second day.
