B&G Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Draft Dish: Sizing up some of the underclassmen December 23, 2003 A lot has gone on with Arkansas offensive tackle Shawn Andrews recently. For starters, it was recently made public that Andrews was suffering from a sinus condition that likely would have held him out of the Independence Bowl. However, from what we heard recently, even if Andrews could have played physically, he would not have been allowed to because of academic problems. Regardless, Andrews recently made his decision official that he will not return to Arkansas next year and will be available for the 2004 draft. Andrews, could be drafted in the top five picks and is not likely to fall past Atlanta, which will be looking for a tackle and will be picking somewhere in the top six. Andrews said the decision to enter the draft had more to do with his mother being injured and not being able to work than anything else. . . . Defensive tackle Ahman Childress is the third Alabama underclassman to officially enter the draft, following defensive end Antwan Odom's and guard Justin Smiley's decisions the last two weeks. Childress is a massive two-gap defensive tackle with good initial quickness. He has some potential to contribute as a run-stopper in a “wave” rotation in the NFL, but staying in shape and keeping his weight down have been challenging. In fact, he struggled with his weight so much this past season that he wound up losing his starting job. From what we hear, the biggest reason why Childress left school was because he knew he'd be playing a backup role to Anthony Bryant, who decided to return for another season because he is on schedule to graduate. Childress likely will be an early Day 2 selection. . . . It was rumored that Stanford defensive tackle Amon Gordon was leaning heavily toward making himself available for the draft, but it still was a surprise when he officially declared it the other day. Gordon has lots of potential, but he has not yet come close to reaching it. At 6-3, 283 pounds, Gordon has decent but not great size. He is a quick, one-gap type of defensive tackle that could impress scouts with his burst and running ability during his workouts, but the bottom line is that he's still a very raw prospect who never made a major impact on the collegiate level -- he had only 33 tackles, seven tackles for loss and two sacks this past season. If he has a terrific postseason, Gordon could move up into the late-second or early-third round area, but he is not polished or proven enough to draft any higher than that. . . . Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi went to Mobile, Ala., for the GMAC Bowl to scout Miami (Ohio) quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in person. He sat in the stands to limit his profile, but he caught our spies' eyes. That leads us to believe that the Giants haven't ruled out drafting a quarterback with what likely will be a top-10 pick. Other teams that will at least consider drafting one of three first-round quarterback prospects -- Roethlisberger, Eli Manning (Ole Miss) and J.P. Losman (Tulane) -- include Arizona, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Miami, Green Bay and Dallas. . . . As of Sunday, the following underclassmen have officially declared their intentions to turn pro to the league offices: Shawn Andrews, OT, Arkansas Ahmad Childress, DT, Alabama Amon Gordon, DT, Stanford Tony Hargrove, DE, Georgia Tech Kevin Jones, RB, Virginia Tech Antwan Odom, DE, Alabama Mark Pierce, FB, Arkansas Justin Smiley, OG, Alabama Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Miami (Ohio) Reggie Williams, WR Washington The War Room, a team of football scouts headed by Gary Horton, analyzes NFL and college players, coaches and teams exclusively for Sporting News. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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