On that note, I am working on assembling another rough set of all-class devy rankings. Here are some guys who I think are underrated:
RB Nick Chubb, Georgia - Five star prospect by all the major recruiting sites. He runs a 4.4 in the 40, has a 40+ inch vertical, and already has an NFL body even though he's just now graduating high school. He might not be the best pure runner in this high school class, but the nice thing about Chubb is that you don't need to project any physical development to see him as a first round NFL RB prospect because he already has the physical tool kit. If he does anything at all as a freshman, he'll be worth a lot more a year from now than he right this second (see: Derrick Henry). He has a good chance to become a better version of Beanie Wells. He's a little upright and a little top heavy, and I don't see a lot of great cuts in his highlight reels, but the flat out size/speed/strength combo is freaky.
RB Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State - The rising sophomore is considered the frontrunner for Carlos Hyde's starting role. He has a good frame to work with at a listed height/weight of 6' 210 and room to add more. He was the Missouri state champion in the 110m hurdles as a high schooler, so you likely don't need to worry about his speed and athletic ability. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, an important quality that will help set him apart from other big backs. He looks athletic on the field and was effective with limited touches last season. My only concern is that he appears to be a long strider and might struggle to run inside and make sharp, compact cuts without the loss of momentum. But purely as an athlete he has a lot of the right ingredients and is a prime candidate to see his stock explode after he becomes a focal point of the Buckeye offense this season.
RB Michael Dyer, Louisville - If you read my CFB posts, you have heard it all before. When a player vanishes from the spotlight for a while, it's really easy to forget about him. Look at Toby Gerhart and Bryce Brown. Most people are prone to thinking in terms of what happened yesterday, so these "what have you done for me lately?" and "out of sight, out of mind" guys who flashed elite talent before stumbling through adversity often become huge value plays. I look at most devy RB rankings and see legions of mediocre prospects while a guy like Dyer with obvious NFL starter talent can't get any love. I think that's ripe for exploitation. On raw ability alone, he might be a top 2-3 RB in college football and if that sounds crazy then just remember what he did in his first two seasons at Auburn and go
watch him in action. His 2013 season never really got out of the blocks due mainly to injuries, but I saw the spring game footage from this year and he looks 100% back. I expect Petrino to give him lots of chances. He's over-aged and he has character issues, but he's going to destroy the combine next year with a chiseled 5'9" 220-225 pound physique and a 40 time in the 4.4X range. He reminds me of a cross between Michael Turner and MJD.
WR Ty Montgomery, Stanford - 61 catches for 958 yards and 10 TDs isn't an incredible stat line on its own, but when you consider that Stanford never throws the ball it's pretty good production. Montgomery is going to make himself a lot of money at the combine next year. He's a rock of a human at ~ 6'1" 215. He's rumored to have a 40" vertical and he was a 10.8 100m guy in high school, so we're likely looking at a 4.4X 40 time. Combine that with his kickoff return skills (one of the best in the nation) and he seems like a lock for a top 100 slot in next year's draft. The biggest issue with him is that he's a better athlete than WR. He doesn't play with great tenacity and if you watch his highlight reels you should notice that there's an absence of "ball skills" type plays where he has to contort his body and make acrobatic catches. He's more of a stiff, robotic player and that limits my excitement about his chances of becoming a #1 target in the NFL. You get the feeling that something is missing, not totally unlike a Moncrief or Martavis Bryant type of player. He may be a better functional athlete than either though. He's a different proposition from a guy like Chubb, who's highly volatile with a huge ceiling. As a draft commodity, Montgomery is highly likely to go in the 2nd-3rd round and highly unlikely to become a 1st. So if you just want a solid single out of a late devy pick, he's a good choice.
TE Ben Koyack, Notre Dame - This one is a bit more of a flyer. Limited college production to date, but it's understandable when you consider the unbroken chain of Rudolph-Eifert-Niklas that Notre Dame has had at the TE position. Koyack was an elite prep recruit in his own right and with those guys out of the way it should be his turn to showcase his skills. He only has 14 career catches, so his projection requires a lot of guesswork. Based on the footage that's out there, he clearly has the requisite size for the next level and seems like a good athlete relative to his frame. This is a guy you should be able to snipe DEEP in a dev draft who seems to have the potential to become a 2nd-3rd round NFL draft pick with a strong senior season. You can see some of his 2013 catches at the links below:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9954049
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8biKI2Jrk0o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIFuyVjXVVw
http://youtu.be/7dQNgJotnno?t=1m54s
