NFL Draft Superlatives: Crowning the members of the class of 2015

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NFL Draft Superlatives: Crowning the members of the class of 2015
By Chris Trapasso | CBSSports.com
April 3, 2015 1:46 pm ET

Superlatives — the best part of our high school yearbooks. Yes, you deserved “Worst Driver.”

Now it’s time to hand out awards for the 2015 NFL Draft class.

Looks like Tarzan plays like Jane Aaron Curry Award: Mississippi State LB Benardrick McKinney

Benardrick McKinney is 6-foot-4 and nearly 250 pounds of sculpted linebacker muscle. He did 16 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press at the combine and exploded off the ground en route to a 40.5-inch vertical.

His measureables scream STUD NFL LINEBACKER. But as was the case with former Wake Forest freak of nature linebacker Aaron Curry, McKinney’s film just doesn’t parallel his imposing stature.

While a productive and key member of Mississippi State’s defense, McKinney’s reaction and closing speed are noticeably slow, and relative to his size, he’s not physical when he needs to scrape offensive linemen off him or when he works through traffic to get to the ball-carrier.

McKinney will represent far better value than Curry did, and that’s important. Curry went No. 4 overall to the Seattle Seahawks in 2009 and was a universally applauded selection. McKinney will likely be a second- or-third-round pick.

Don’t let Bernardrick McKinney’s muscles fool you. (USATSI) Don’t let Bernardrick McKinney’s muscles fool you. (USATSI)

Running back most likely to keep the “feature back” label alive Le’Veon Bell Award: Boise State running back Jay Ajayi

The NFL has gone running back by committee crazy. The reason? To prolong running backs’ careers.

But hey, hold up. The older generation doesn’t want the feature back to quietly fade away to nothing.

The mumbling noise you just heard was today’s American grandpa hollering “Pro football was built on star, center-of-the-offense running backs!!!” as he slammed his rocks glass onto the side table next to his rocking chair.

In 2014, Le’Veon Bell’s 2,215-yard, defense-destructing campaign made a strong case for an ultra-skilled running back to not have to share his carries with lesser talents.

Jay Ajayi bears a striking resemblance to the Steelers stud.

Remember though, Bell was a heavy, bruising back at Michigan State and really benefitted from shedding weight after making Pittsburgh his new home.

Ajayi is a sturdy 6’0″ and 220 pounds — similar to Bell — and is much more nimble than his size suggests. He can be patient behind his blockers when need be, but he showcased impressive suddenness bursting through lanes and after he reached the second level while in college.

Like Bell, Ajayi doesn’t have world-class speed and won’t hit many “home runs.” However, when he’s not running through weak arm tackle attempts, he’s making a linebacker miss down the field with sharp cuts that come from “smart” anticipatory vision.

Is Jay Ajayi the next Le’Veon Bell? (USATSI) Is Jay Ajayi the next Le’Veon Bell? (USATSI)

Tape is boring because he just blocks everyone Evan Mathis Award: La’El Collins

There’s no doubting La’El Collins’ collegiate pedigree after a long and distinguished career at NFL stud manufacturing plant LSU.

He finished as the Tigers left tackle, but is he a left tackle in the pros? No, wait, a right tackle. Actually, maybe he’s a guard?

Honestly, nit-pickers, it doesn’t matter where Collins plays. He’s a country strong offensive lineman who was also put through LSU’s strength and conditioning program for four years. Collins plays with correct knee-bend (see: leverage), quick footwork and is rarely put out of position by the hands of defensive linemen.

Despite his immense power, like Mathis, Collins isn’t the classic definition of a “road-grader.” He just blocks everything in front of him in what seems to be an effortless manner. Mathis has been doing the same in Philadelphia for years now.

Collins’ film isn’t loaded with “highlight reel pancakes,” but you may fall asleep watching him. His tape is that “boring.”

You don’t want to get in La’el Collins’ way. (USATSI) You don’t want to get in La’el Collins’ way. (USATSI)

Prospect who’ll shockingly go in the first-round mainly due to outrageous athleticism Dontari Poe Award: UConn cornerback Byron Jones

Byron Jones had a bonkers combine workout in February, and he became a trending topic on Football Twitter because of a not-human 12-foot, 3-inch broad jump which was thought to break a 46-year-old world record.

Jones had the best 60-yard shuttle among cornerbacks and finished in the top 3 at his position in the three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle.

This just in: the majority of special athletes — who are more than just Ferraris in the 40-yard dash — ultimately thrive in the NFL.

Due to that widely-accepted theory, a defensive back-needy team in the first round will take Jones. It’s not as if his tape is bad either — it’s just that his rare athleticism is more stunning.

Before the 2012 combine, Memphis’ Dontari Poe was just a wide-bodied nose tackle from a small football school. After the 2012 combine, Poe was considered a first-round lock and went No. 11 overall to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 6’1″, 200-pound Jones — with arms as long as Richard Sherman’s — is this year’s Poe in that his supreme athletic talent will elevate him into Round 1.

Byron Jones is pretty good at jumping. (USATSI) Byron Jones is pretty good at jumping. (USATSI)

Most likely to be the next surprisingly good undrafted free-agent running back C.J. Anderson Award: Mississippi State running back Josh Robinson

All you’ve been hearing about is how LOADED this running back class is. Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley, Ameer Abdullah, Jay Ajayi, Duke Johnson, David Cobb, Tevin Coleman, T.J. Yeldon — yeah it’s stacked.

But the name you haven’t read when the 2015 running back class has been discussed or analyzed is 5’8″, 217-pound boulder-of-a-man Josh Robinson.

Why?

I really don’t know.

Well, probably because of his lack of height or “elite” speed. What’s funny though — neither of those attributes are needed to be a productive runner in the NFL. Actually, shorter running backs are usually better off because they “hide” behind offensive linemen and have a lower center of gravity that allows them to fall forward often.

Not only did Robinson average more than 6.0 yards per carry in his three-year stay in the SEC, but he ran with assertiveness and deceptive power between the tackles in college football’s finest conference. He routinely broke arm tackles and displayed desired shiftiness at the second level.

Don’t be surprised if and when Robinson goes undrafted, although his tape alone warrants him being a mid-round pick.

Like C.J. Anderson did, even if the former Bulldog hits the undrafted free-agent ranks, he’ll make an impression in the NFL much larger than his size.

Josh Robinson hides behind linemen and can hit the hole. (USATSI) Josh Robinson hides behind linemen and can hit the hole. (USATSI)

Off-field concern plummeting draft stock Justin Houston Award: Nebraska outside linebacker Randy Gregory

OK, so this is a layup. But layups still count, people. Randy Gregory is a long and lean outside pass-rusher who was demoralizing to opposing Big Ten offenses during his career with the Huskers.

But after admitting to failing drug tests while at Nebraska and flunking his test for marijuana at the combine, Gregory has been hit with the unenviable “pothead” label.

Houston failed his drug test at the 2011 combine, and despite being a consensus Round 2 prospect, he sank to Round 3.

Gregory’s tape shows a rangy, aggressive backfield disruptor with the plus athleticism to drop into coverage. He was undeniably in the discussion to be the first pass-rusher taken, likely somewhere in the top 10.

Now, because of that failed test, he’s likely to sink into the later stages of the first round.

If Gregory can stay clean in the NFL, he’ll represent tremendous value to the team that took a sizable risk by drafting him.

Randy Gregory’s smoking habits will likely cost him in the draft. (USATSI) Randy Gregory’s smoking habits will likely cost him in the draft. (USATSI)

Small school quarterback you should probably know because he has NFL skills Tony Romo Award: Colorado St.-Pueblo quarterback Chris Bonner

No, Chris Bonner and Tony Romo aren’t similar in size or playing style. Romo, an Eastern Illinois product who went undrafted in 2003, is an underrated athlete at 6’2″ and 230 pounds. Bonner is 6’7″ and 225 pounds and almost strictly a pocket passer.

We know this quarterback class isn’t exceptionally strong — after Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota there are major question marks regarding the rest of the signal-caller prospects.

But a name rarely mentioned in the “who’s the next best quarterback after Winston and Mariota?” talk is Bonner.

On tape, he demonstrates an NFL-like command of a pro-style offense in which he routinely dropped from center, operated rollouts and had to find his second or even third read down the field.

His arm isn’t stunning, but it seems to be good enough, and despite occasional accuracy issues, he made a handful of savvy throws away from coverage on the run while his intended target was covered. If a team absolutely needs a quarterback to play as a rookie, Bonner might be the next “pro-ready” quarterback behind Winston. Seriously.

There’s a chance he goes undrafted, and, much like Romo, with his size, usually sound decision-making, flashes of calm pocket drifting and appropriate footwork, Bonner could become a diamond in the rough for the team he joins after the draft.

Chris Bonner may be the most pro-ready QB after Jameis Winston. (USATSI) Chris Bonner may be the most pro-ready QB after Jameis Winston. (USATSI)

Safest pick in the draft who is actually a safe pick A.J. Green Award: Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper

Cooper gives you everything you want in a wide receiver besides menacing size. He can create separation by flipping on the jets, changing speeds, or running his routes sharply. In some instances, he’ll win jump ball situations.

You can throw him bubble screens and he’ll eat up yards after the catch with plus quickness and acceleration. He can play in the slot or on the perimeter.

When Green was coming out of Georgia, there were essentially no knocks on his game.

The same can be said about Cooper, that is … if you’re fine with him being only about 6’1″.

Take Cooper, and you get a perennial 75-catch, 1,000-yard wideout.

He’s safe. Extremely safe.

Amari Cooper is a sure thing. (USATSI) Amari Cooper is a sure thing. (USATSI)

Safest pick who will ironically bust Mark Barron Award: Alabama safety Landon Collins

Nick Saban is a fantastic football coach. He may be an even better recruiter, as his Crimson Tide teams are not only perennial national title contenders loaded with blue chippers, but flocks of his guys go high in the NFL Draft every year.

His Alabama program defines the football phrase “reloading, not rebuilding.”

For some recent examples, look no further than at the safety position. In 2012, Mark Barron went No. 7 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Last year, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was snagged by the Green Bay Packers with the No. 21 overall selection.

This year, the prized ‘Bama safety prospect is Landon Collins.

Unfortunately, Collins is much more like Barron — who was traded in 2014 after two massively underperforming seasons with the Bucs — than Clinton-Dix, who turned in a fine rookie campaign.

Both Barron and Collins are macho, in-the-box, in-your-face hard-hitters who excel against the run but are not nearly as comfortable backpedaling in coverage.

Barron wasn’t playing free safety in Tampa Bay, but even keeping him closer to the line as a quasi-linebacker didn’t help him or mask his coverage weakness.

Collins will run into the same issues in the pass-happy NFL.

Playing for Saban, college football’s defensive virtuoso, has made Collins a trendy “safe” pick for clubs in need of a safety in Round 1.

But he’ll fizzle in the pros like Barron.

Some team is bound to be disappointed by Landon Collins. (USATSI) Some team is bound to be disappointed by Landon Collins. (USATSI)

Offensive lineman most likely to be an All-Pro as a rookie Zach Martin Award: Florida State center Cameron Erving

If Cameron Erving turned pro after he won the final BCS championship with Florida State in 2013, he would have been picked no later than Round 2 as an offensive tackle prospect.

Instead, he stayed with the Seminoles and made a relatively unheard of flip from protecting Jameis Winston’s blind side to snapping him in the football … and Erving thrived as a center.

At 6’5″ and 315 pounds with vines for arms, the backbone of FSU’s line has NFL left tackle size and length but guard mobility and through-the-whistle nastiness as a drive blocker.

A year ago, Zach Martin was seen as a reliable left tackle for Notre Dame. Despite not possessing classic NFL offensive tackle measureables, the Dallas Cowboys picked him — presumably over Johnny Manziel — in the first round, and he was named the team’s starting right guard.

After that, Martin took off. He played like a polished veteran all season and routinely punished defensive linemen and linebackers with surprising power, balance and agility … sounds a lot like the plug-play-(and maybe) rookie All-Pro Erving.

Cameron Erving looks like a future All-Pro. (USATSI) Cameron Erving looks like a future All-Pro. (USATSI)

Small-school deep sleeper who’ll have a long NFL career Corey Graham Award: Albany TE Brian Parker

It’s fine that you don’t know who Parker is … a few days ago, I didn’t either. After doing some research and watching film I realized that his small-school prospect is a specimen.

While the former Great Dane standout stands nearly 6’5″ and weighs a mammoth 267 pounds, he moves more like he’s a 6’3″, 245-pound H-back.

Parker was utilized in all areas of a field while at Albany, and a handful of his 39 catches in 2014 came well down the field on straight seam routes and flags to the deep corner. But his yards-after-the-catch ability stood out more than his pure speed.

He’s not a plodding, big-bodied tight end who’s complacent with lugging his way to three or four yards after catching a short check down. Parker couples the urgency needed to make people miss with the athleticism to do so and routinely demonstrates running-back like vision in the open field.

And because he’s not exactly small, he isn’t easily taken to the turf. He reaches legitimate sleeper status when his tenacious blocking habits — which feature ideal hip sink and continual leg drive — are factored in.

In 2007, Corey Graham was picked in Round 5 by the Chicago Bears out of rather obscure New Hampshire. He made the Pro Bowl in 2011 while a Windy City resident. In 2012, he signed with the Baltimore Ravens and became an unheralded member of the team’s Super Bowl run.

Last year with the Buffalo Bills, Graham may have had his finest season a professional. At nearly 30 years old, the former Colonial Athletic Conference stud is now entering his ninth NFL season.

In the future, someone will write that same sentence about Parker.

Brian Parker is the stud TE you’ve never heard of. (USATSI) Brian Parker is the stud TE you’ve never heard of. (USATSI)

Impressive talent but off-field concerns will make him go undrafted Da’Rick Rogers Award: Louisville running back Michael Dyer

Da’Rick Rogers was a first-team All-SEC wideout in 2011 with the Tennessee Volunteers, but he was suspended prior to the 2012 season and was a serial drug-failer.

He transferred to Tennessee Tech and had a fine year with nearly 900 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. So he declared for the draft. Somewhat shockingly, Rogers went undrafted and signed with the Bills as an undrafted free-agent. He stayed clean during his first training camp; however, his somewhat lackadaisical efforts and mental mistakes led to his release from Buffalo.

He then spent time in Indianapolis with the Colts and had a six-catch, 107-yard, two-touchdown outing against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2013. That was overshadowed by a DUI arrest before the 2014 season. He’s now on the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad.

No one ever questioned Rogers’ ability, he just has too many dings on his off-field resume and those dings have directly led to him not reaching his massive potential.

The same can be written about Louisville running back Michael Dyer, a prized, five-star recruit with a low-center-of-gravity, defined frame and scary athleticism. He began his career as the feature back on the Cam Newton-led, national-title winning Auburn Tigers in 2010.

After breaking Bo Jackson’s school record for most rushing yards by a true freshman (1,093), Dyer was a member of the same 2011 All-SEC First-Team as Rogers.

Before the team’s bowl game in 2011, he was suspended for violation of team rules which led to him demanding a transfer. The college-jumping was just beginning.

He went to Arkansas State to play for former Tigers offensive coordinator Guz Malzahn. In March of 2012, Dyer had a run-in with the law that involved a gun and marijuana. He left Arkansas State and attended Arkansas Baptist College and didn’t play football, instead choosing to work on his studies. After that, his final move was to the University of Louisville.

In 2014, the 5’9″, 215-pounder with sub 4.6 speed ran for 481 yards and five touchdowns in a running back committee for the Cardinals.

Like Rogers, not many will doubt what Dyer is capable of doing on a football field. It’s just that teams might not trust the 24-year-old off it.

Can Michael Dyer be trusted? (USATSI) Can Michael Dyer be trusted? (USATSI)

Most likely to be considered a reach on draft day then lauded as a fantastic pick two years later Travis Frederick Award: Mississippi State defensive lineman Preston Smith

He’s not getting the same publicity has Vic Beasley, Dante Fowler Jr., Shane Ray, Randy Gregory or Bud Dupree. Probably because his line versatility is his most appealing attribute, not his burst off the snap strictly from the edge position.

Preston Smith can play any of the four defensive line spots and produce from each one.

He’s refined as a pass-rusher, skillfully using his hands to keep offensive linemen off him or swimming past them if they do get into his pads. He’s SEC-strong at the point of attack and is rarely pushed back in the run game.

The team that drafts him isn’t getting a flashy, Von Miller-esque, 20-sack-per-season phenom. They’re getting Michael Bennett 2.0.

Smith could go as early as the late first-round, and there could be some gasps if he’s taken in the late 20s or as one of the final three picks in Round 1 … kind of like that happened when the Dallas Cowboys picked relatively unheralded center Travis Frederick out of Wisconsin in 2013.

He’s totally ignored his doubters and those who claimed he was a monstrous reach by anchoring arguably the best line in football as one of the league’s most reliably devastating run-blockers.

Best football player who will fall in the draft because he was a combine disappointment Brandon Spikes Award: TCU linebacker Paul Dawson

Athleticism. The NFL loves it. No, it absolutely, positively adores it. At Florida, Brandon Spikes was the unquestioned leader of a defense oozing with NFL talent. But during the pre-draft process in 2010, he ran suuuuper slow in the 40-yard dash and was stiff in positional drills. The tape showed a thumping, set-the-tone, first-round linebacker. The combine and pro day workouts said otherwise.

He went in Round 2 to the New England Patriots and immediately flexed his muscle en route to becoming the NFL’s premier run-stopping inside linebacker.

Paul Dawson finds himself in a similar predicament. If the combine didn’t exist and players were drafted on tape alone, he’d be a first-round lock. At 6’0″ and around 240 pounds, while at TCU, he consistently flashed speed to meet rushers before they turned the corner, flexibility and agility to react to cutbacks, comfort in coverage and a powerful hitting style.

But his combine efforts didn’t match the speed and athleticism that were clear as day on film. Unsurprisingly, Dawson’s pro day went slightly better, but there most certainly will be teams that drop him down their board due to timed workout concerns … just like what happened to Spikes.

Just don’t be surprised then when Dawson is an instant impact player as a second- or-third-round pick.

It’s time to put together the yearbook for the class of 2015. (USATSI) It’s time to put together the yearbook for the class of 2015. (USATSI)

Topics: A.J. Green, Bell,Le’Veon, Brandon Spikes, C.J. Anderson, Cam Newton, Corey Graham, Dontari Poe, Evan Mathis, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Johnny Manziel, Josh Robinson, Justin Houston, Mark Barron, Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman, Rogers,Da’Rick, Tony Romo, Travis Frederick, Von Miller, Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL