The case for Cam Thomas & Sean Weatherspoon

[Wilson8]

An example of why it is a bad idea to move Cam Thomas too far up your draft board. North Carolina’s Balmer has zero sacks and 19 tackles in two years with 49ers. Ayers had 19 tackles last year for Denver.

Said one longtime NFL executive who preferred not to go on record, "For the big guys, the Senior Bowl is bigger than the Combine. If a guy comes out of nowhere with a great workout in Indy, he'll earn himself a look. If he impresses here, some teams get excited and convince themselves he's turned the corner. Hell, look at the kid, [Robert] Ayers last year or the North Carolina defensive tackle [Kentwan Balmer] a few years ago. Play well here, and the head coach falls in love with a guy, and the next thing you know, he jumps into the first round."
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/s...r-bowl-linemen

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by Wilson8

An example of why it is a bad idea to move Cam Thomas too far up your draft board. North Carolina’s Balmer has zero sacks and 19 tackles in two years with 49ers. Ayers had 19 tackles last year for Denver.

Ryan Sims is my favorite example of Senior Bowl defensive line magic. The guy had a relatively non-descript career at North Carolina but had a huge Senior Bowl week. All of a sudden, he's the next Warren Sapp and a top ten draft pick. I'd take any performance explosion at the Senior Bowl by a defensive lineman with a grain of salt. (Seems that the defensive line always has a big week there, while the O-linemen all get reported of sucking. It's like that every single year.)