Today is the NFL draft and somehow our obsession with football has made this day almost a holiday.  On Monday, I gave out my predictions on where I thought offensive players might get drafted based on their NFL combine results.  Today, I’m going to tackle the defensive players.  Remember, I’m just trying to predict the round in which a person might be drafted.

For the 2012 NFL draft, I did a lot better with my defensive predictions than my offensive.  Let’s see how this year goes.

Defensive End

If you are a defensive end and you were invited to the combine, based on the last three years data that I have, you have an 82% chance of being drafted.  You have to like those odds.  Trevardo Williams from UConn intrigues me this year.  He had the fastest 40, the highest vertical leap, and second best showing on the bench press.  His downfall to me is his size (6′ 1″ and 241 pounds).  Out of the previous 3 drafts, only 1 other defensive end ran faster and he had a similar build.  I think with his speed and size, they could try him in a 3-4 scheme and I’m going to say a third round pick.

Defensive Tackle

The defensive tackles do a lot of the dirty work on the line.  Sometimes measurables aren’t as important as nastyness.  Anyways, I’m going to put my money on Brandon Williams from Missouri Southern St. for no other reason than he did the most bench presses of all the defensive tackles (38).  He had the slowest 40 and one of the slowest 20 yard shuttles, so speed isn’t his strong suit.  His size is alright at 6′ 1″ and 335 pounds.  That being said, I could see him going in the fourth round.

Outside Linebacker

Zaviar Gooden of Missouri had the fastest time of the outside linebackers by almost .1 seconds, running a 4.47.  Any OLB that has run a 4.47 or faster was drafted no lower than the third round.  He ranked in the top 5 in all the other categories and his size is good at 6′ 1″ and 234 pounds.  Speed kills and I see him going in the second round.

Inside Linebacker

I’m not wild about this group of inside linebackers in relationship to previous classes.  No one really jumps off the board so let’s take their fastest 40 guy, Jon Bostic of Florida.  He stands at 6′ 1″ and 245 pounds.  He also was second in the agility tests, but compared to previous years those times wouldn’t have been as high.  Consequently, I’m going to say a fourth round pick for him based on the depth at other positions.

Safety

I swung and whiffed last year at the safety position.  There were three safeties that ran sub 4.5 this year and I’m going to go with the biggest of the three, Shawn Williams.  He stands at 6′ and 213 pounds.  He also attended an SEC school (Georgia) which might help his stock.  The other thing I like to see in safeties is strength and he ranked third in bench press reps among safeties.  Williams ran a 4.46 and with his size I’m going to say he gets picked in the third round.

Cornerback

I love picking this position because they are all fast.  Generally, if you are invited to the NFL combine and run in the 4.4’s or better, you will get drafted.  This year I like Desmond Trufant from Washington.  Guy ran the third fastest 40 at 4.38 and the second best 20 yard shuttle at 3.85, so his straight away speed and change of direction are fast.  He stands 6′ and 190 pounds plus he didn’t do bad on the bench press.  I think he is a first round draft choice.

There you have it.  All my predictions.  I probably will go over these results not this coming Monday, but possibly next Thursday or the following Monday.  Enjoy.  Feel free to leave your comments below in the comment box.

Photo Courtesy of Marianne O’Leary on Flickr