Three really good mid-rounders, and three I hate.

[Direckshun]

Just because. Midrounders are anything from low-3rds to 5th round.

I LIKE:

OT/G Joel Bitonio, Nevada -- At this point, he's looking more like a guard, since he played there all of the Senior Bowl. However, Bitonio played extremely well at the Senior Bowl, ending up one of my Top 10 players from that week. Bitonio (6'4", 307 lbs) is a very, very athletic tackle who could crawl into the 2nd round if that athleticism translates to a sub-5.0 40 time, which I honestly think it will. He looks like a great zone blocker at guard, but I honestly think he can play tackle -- he played Anthony Barr to a standstill. Blocked for the NCAA's 2nd most rush yards, and held excellent protection at left tackle for the Wolf Pack.

DE/DT Dominique Easley, Florida -- I absolutely adore Easley. Extremely high effort, high-athleticism guy who absolutely never quits. He can push back against bigger OLs, and penetrate, penetrate, penetrate. The big question is -- where do you put him. He played everywhere in Florida's 4-3, but 280 lbs is pretty light for defensive tackle in the NFL, even at undertackle. He's a little on the short side (6'2") but powerful enough for DE in the 4-3, but he played primarily at DT for the Gators, so he's a project there. As for the 3-4... I hate him on the edge in a two-point stance. His first step is far too valuable to take him out of the three-point. So he'd have to play DE in our system, making him purely a passrush specialist. I don't know if that'd be worth the 3rd we'd have to spend to get him, but I really want him on our roster. He's 1st round talent, coming off a terrible ACL tear.

TE Xavier Grimble, USC -- I think Grimble is going to pleasantly surprise everybody. His numbers in college were hampered by the great talent he played with and the injuries he suffered, but here's what we do know: Grimble is a fast, athletic, big (6'5", 255) tight end with good hands. His performance at the Combine could endear him to a lot of people, if he holds his own in blocking drills and looks sharp getting in and out of the cuts in his routes.

I DON'T LIKE:

S Ahmad Dixon, Baylor -- Bernard Pollard 2.0. If you want big hits, he's an option. But even with those big hits, Dixon (6'0", 205) isn't that great in the run game, and he's disasterous in the passing game. He doesn't break down for tackles at all, and will throw his shoulder instead of wrapping up. His coverage will be passable on backs out of the flat, but he will struggle keeping up with NFL caliber TEs and god help him against WRs. More of a strong safety. No discipline. Had an assault charge on him over the offseason.

ILB/OLB Lamin Borrow, LSU -- Can somebody tell me why anybody thinks anything of this guy? He's consistently rated as a mid-rounder but aside from his rangey speed, I don't see why. He's not good in coverage. He can't shed blocks. He doesn't make plays behind the line of scrimmage. He's fast but not especially so. He's not especially big (6'2", 232). He's just a guy. He's not a difference maker, wasn't in college, and won't be in the NFL. Blah.

OLB Demarcus Lawrence, Boise State -- A great athlete with a good motor, but undersized. He has some experience standing up, but he really struggled against the scant NFL talent he went up against. The best player he played all year was Bitonio, and he avoided him most of the game. The few meetings these players had was soundly won by Bitonio. He's just too undersized to play in a three-point stance in a 4-3, so he'd have to occupy some Von Miller role as an OLB in that setup, but he has almost no experience in coverage. I think Lawrence will be a valuable special teamer, nothing more.

[Direckshun]

QB Aaron Murray, Georgia -- I think there's a place in my heart where I believe that Murray is the 4th best QB in this draft, past even David Carr. Murray is a battle-tested, smart QB with great zip on his passes and near ideal decision-making coming out of a pro-style offense. Murray's biggest knock, of course, is his height, as is the fact he hasn't been blowing the world up like some of the other QBs have. But there is no mistaking Murray's capability of carrying the mantle of NFL starter. He's faced the worst college football could throw at him for several years and has come out playing almost always really well. At the very least, Murray is going to be a fantastic backup in the NFL. At best, on a team with a great run game and great receiving talent, he could eventually flirt with Pro Bowls.

[Sfeihc]

Lots to like with Murray. Good fit for KC. Could they draft and stash him on the IR?

[Direckshun]

Pioli would. I'm not sure Dorsey would.

I think Murray is a 2nd day, top-of-the-second-round pick, to be honest, so we won't even get a chance to reel him in.

It really depends on Bray. If the coaching staff wants to redshirt him another year, then we're stuck with Chase Daniel. If they think Bray's somebody to roll with, then we will be in the hunt for a third string QB.

[Direckshun]

C Marcus Martin, USC -- Martin looks like a quality starting center in the NFL. He's got really good size for the position (6'3", 310 lbs), but even though his size suggests he'd be a great power-blocking center, his play for the Trojans makes him look more like an athletic zone-blocker. The Trojans didn't pull and put him out into space frequently, but they do have a pro-style offense that asked Martin to go to the second level, something which his quickness is suited well for. As if this wasn't enough, Martin played Louis Nix to a draw when USC faced Notre Dame. He did get dominated several times, but he also pancaked Nix (!!!) on a critical goal-line conversion. I think Martin has really good potential, and could go as soon as the 3rd. There are only a few teams in the market for a starting center, and there's not a lot of center talent in this draft. Teams needing a ten year starter should be interested.

[Direckshun]

DT Daniel McCullers, Tennessee -- This is where my love of burly nose tackles comes in, because I am hopelessly endeared towards Daniel McCullers. An impossibly large nose (6'7", 360 lbs), McCullers has weaknesses that are in plain vision: he will need to drop around 30 lbs, he will need work on his leverage, he's purely a two-down nose tackle as he provides zero passrush. But if you need a lane clogged, McCullers will clog it. Even against the elite Alabama OL, he was nearly immovable at the LOS. He was only moved when he lost leverage -- something that's somewhat easy for a 6'7" monstrosity to do. McCullers is going to need work at the next level, but my god. If he develops well, his upside is Terrance Cody.

[Direckshun]

DE/OLB James Gayle, Virginia Tech -- Being enthusiastic about banging your head into a wall doesn't make it hurt less. It just makes the pain easier to endure, I suppose. And that's where James Gayle enters the conversation. He is a Hali-esque everlasting energizer on the field, a guy who will pursue, pursue, pursue until the whistle blows. He's an enthusiastic hitter with a fiery attitude. It's just hard to see what exactly he's going to do well in the NFL. First off, he's currently about the size of a 3-4 rushbacker (6'3", 255 lbs), but he looks terrible in a two-point stance -- no explosion whatsoever. He's got some pretty good get-off in a three-point in the 4-3, but he'll almost certainly have to get back to the 270s he played in a couple years ago. Gayle is an enthusiastic run defender, but he doesn't bend the edge hardly at all against the pass. Unless a team sees crazy potential in him, he's going to have to hustle his way onto a roster as a UDFA.

[Direckshun]

CB/S Antone Exum, Virginia Tech -- It will be really interesting to see what team picks up Exum and how he develops. Here's a guy with a lot of interesting potential, can be used in lots of ways, but missed nearly all of 2013 with a torn ACL. There's no telling how well Exum will come back from it either; he may not be 100% until 2015. But Exum's a guy with good size (6'0", 218 lbs) who plays hyperaggressive. That excessive aggressiveness got him in a lot of trouble in 2012 with penalties, but that aggressiveness also allowed him to hang with receivers of all sizes and speeds. Exum's not shutdown corner material, but he was rarely torched going up against opponents' best receivers. Exum biggest failing is his inability to get his head turned around in time, and his hips don't seem to flip very quickly in coverage. He does, however, play very aggressive on receivers and ballcarriers, so perhaps Exum's a better fit at SS than he is at CB. At this point, he seems like a jack of all trades rather than a master of any particular one. I have a late round grade on him, but some team will reach for him out of need for (a.) big corners or (b.) safeties.

[Direckshun]

CB Bennett Jackson, Notre Dame -- I don't know what the opposite of a diamond in the rough is. A rough disguised as a diamond? But that's what you've got in Bennett Jackson, a guy who played pretty darn well for the Fighting Irish, but with very few skills that will translate to him doing little more than struggling at the NFL level. He's got fine size (5'11", 189), but he's not a special athlete by college football standards. For Notre Dame, he played almost exclusively zone defense, but even then he gets beat because he really struggles to turn his head around. He's clearly a passionate player in coverage, but his run support is really soft. I wish him well, but the NFL chews players like Jackson up -- he's going to have to show he's got the goods on special teams, if he gets a chance at all. Jackson was a former receiver for the Irish, so teams might be intrigued in his ballskills since that's vogue right now. But I'd pass altogther, especially for a press-man scheme like ours in KC.

[Direckshun]

OG/C Russell Bodine, North Carolina -- I remember the Rudy Niswanger experiment too well, as should any Chiefs fan familiar with the 2008/2009 seasons. One of Niswanger's many problems was that he simply might have been too tall for the center position at 6'4". Bodine suffers from the same affliction. He weighed in at 6'3", 310, which is tall and heavy for a center. Even if it weren't, Bodine's tape shows him playing way too tall, way too frequently. He gets driven regularly, and gets minimal push in the run game. Fortunately, he has some flexibility at guard, where the Tarheels frequently played him. He's not much better there, however, but he does possess decent-enough athleticism so that he can play in space on pulls and screens. But ultimately, I don't know if that'll do much more than elevate him from a late round pick.

[Direckshun]

DE/DT Jeoffrey Pagan, Alabama -- It will be interested to see if a team spends a draft pick on Pagan. Pagan's a fascinating prospect to me: he's an ideally sized 3-4 DL (6'4", 290) with pretty good strength, but fantastic Poe-like lower half. Very thick in the butt and thighs. Looks like he has decent wingspan, but he's really lacking in his athleticism -- like a poor man's Ed Stinson. He's been super inconsistent for the Tide, but his biggest thing is that he could potentially be developed into an effective role player if a team is willing to put in the time. He only started one season at Alabama, and it's not clear what exactly he does really well yet. He showed spurts of being able to shoot the gaps, he showed spurts of being able to 2-gap decently, but he also got plowed more than his fair share, too. As a former 4-star recruit, somebody will take a chance in UDFA if he doesn't get drafted.

[Direckshun]

RB James White, Wisconsin -- This year's Cyrus Gray, except a little stronger/slower. Teams love guys like White in the 5th or 6th round of the Draft: White can come in tomorrow and give you 5-10 carries. He won't put the ball on the ground, and he's excellent in pass protection. He's only 5'10, 206 lbs, but he looks (and runs) about 15 pounds heavier than that, with a thick frame that can distribute and absorb punishment. He's not a very exciting runner, however, and I'm not sure if he even has a ceiling in the NFL -- his roof is a reliable 3rd RB who can spot you 5-10 carries a game without giving the game away. He's got some good change of direction skills when he gets to the second level, but he's not outrunning many linebackers, much less DBs.

[planetdoc]

If you look at the chiefs 2013 draft, most of the players were workout warriors. At the rb position, I think Dorsey really cares about the speed score. That was a big reason why he drafted Davis.

White's speed score of 93.54 is below the average of 100.

[Direckshun]

I would agree, Dorsey prefers raw athletic talent he can coach up. And yeah, that doesn't fit White's description at all.

[Direckshun]

OG Trai Turner, LSU -- Turner is going to be a really good get for some team looking for a ten-year starter in the midrounds. I believe that Turner could have Pro Bowl potential because of the gifts he possesses. First of all, he's quite young as a red shirt sophomore. Secondly, as the Combine has proven, Turner is very athletic -- he ran the 2nd fastest 40 time with a solid 10 yard cut in the 1.7s. He's got long arms, at 34", and is very much a finesse player who can handle his own in space. Any and all ZBS teams should look at Turner in the midrounds. Turner's major weakness, however, is his strength. Even at 6'3", 315 lbs, he struggles to blast DTs off the ball. I don't like him a whole lot in short yardage situations, and it might be a year or two before he reaches his full potential in that regard. Everywhere else, especially if you like smart linemen who can pull and run, Turner is a winning prospect.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

CB Bennett Jackson, Notre Dame -- I don't know what the opposite of a diamond in the rough is. A rough disguised as a diamond? But that's what you've got in Bennett Jackson, a guy who played pretty darn well for the Fighting Irish, but with very few skills that will translate to him doing little more than struggling at the NFL level. He's got fine size (5'11", 189), but he's not a special athlete by college football standards. For Notre Dame, he played almost exclusively zone defense, but even then he gets beat because he really struggles to turn his head around. He's clearly a passionate player in coverage, but his run support is really soft. I wish him well, but the NFL chews players like Jackson up -- he's going to have to show he's got the goods on special teams, if he gets a chance at all. Jackson was a former receiver for the Irish, so teams might be intrigued in his ballskills since that's vogue right now. But I'd pass altogther, especially for a press-man scheme like ours in KC.

Do. Not. Draft.