Here's our
early April pre-draft discussion thread. You might also do a search for our draft day IDP extravaganza thread or search for posts made by Chaos Commish or Bloom on Harris specifically from before April. Always great football discussion in the offseason if you have been one of the many that take some time away from fake football leagues in the winter and early spring.
Anyway, I think the general consensus from those who follow the college game much more closely than I was that this season's crop of backers was very good on top (Wills, Poz, Beason, Spencer) but was weaker in the middle ranks than in prior seasons. There were a number of interesting players in the middle rounds. Some (eg Harris, Baldwin, Durant) made some nice pre-draft moves, others (Alexander, Davis, Everett) slipped some, some were pretty controversial (Timmons).
In terms of consensus grades, though, I think the entire 2007 draft, linebackers included, was considered a down year with some nice prospects in the first 40-50, but pretty weak afterwards.
The IDP crop is and will always be situation dependent. Willis, Poz and Beason all ended up in nice situations. Harris is making the most out of his preseason situation. Timmons, Davis, Durant and Spencer all ended up in plus-minus situations and either busted (Davis) or are waiting in the wings with lesser known talents like Okwo, Black, Waters (injury) etc.
The most recent classes of IDP linebackers continue to produce as well in the boxscore as they have on the field for their teams. Thurman/Tatupu to Hawk/Sims/Ryans to Willis/Beason/Harris/Poz have made the last three crops of rookie seasons immediately impressive. Newbies take note, however, that it isn't always like this. DJ Williams/Vilma weren't as impressive although very well thought of, and guys like Ray Lewis among many others took some time to develop into their current stud roles.