[scorecard]

One of the problems, of course, is when you start competing for the 5 star types (the types that put you in the top ten of the recruiting rankings), academics become less of an advantage because the kids see themselves in the NFL in 3-4 years anyway. In some cases, they may be a disadvantage because the kids see them as too much of a diversion from football.
The Solomon Thomases and Andrew Lucks of this world are definitely in the minority; top ranked kids for whom academics are an extremely high priority.

This is exactly the problem that has killed Stanford's hopes in college basketball.  We will almost never get an absolute game changer because they never stay for more than 1 year in most cases, so the Stanford degree means less of a draw.  The fact that we are even getting a guy like Reid Travis is a minor miracle to me.

Speaking of Thomas, he is listed as 6-3 and in the range of 255 - 263 lbs.  To play DE at the college level, he'll have to put on some more weight.

Is this really true?  It is true that our DE's lately have been larger.  But there are many DE's in college that are not.  I've attached a table of the top 10 DE prospects for the NFL draft per ESPN, plus some of the Pac12 guys that we may be more familiar with (sorry for the formatting).

It is likely that he will put on some extra weight over the years.  Mauro (244) , Gardner (240), and Anderson (258) all started in this range or less.  But Thomas appears to be a more explosive athlete with speed that may help make up for the pounds at this point.  I would think that given our depth at the position, he should be able to contribute this year. 


Defensive Ends
NAME POS HT WT SCHOOL GRADE POS RANK
Jadeveon Clowney DE 6'5" 258 South Carolina 96 1
Stephon Tuitt DE 6'6" 303 Notre Dame 92 2
Kony Ealy DE 6'4⅝" 275 Missouri 89 3
Dominique Easley DE 6'2¼" 284 Florida 88 4
Demarcus Lawrence DE 6'3" 244 Boise State 87 5
Scott Crichton DE 6'3" 260 Oregon State 84 6
Kareem Martin DE 6'5⅞" 272 North Carolina 79 7
Dee Ford DE 6'2⅛" 243 Auburn 78 8
Jeoffrey Pagan DE 6'4" 290 Alabama 72 9
Jackson Jeffcoat DE 6'4¼" 254 Texas 70 10
Morgan Breslin DE 6'1¼" 246 USC 60 15
Carl Bradford DE 6'1" 241 Arizona State 57 18
Cassius Marsh DE 6'4" 254 UCLA 50 21
Devon Kennard DE 6'2⅞" 257 USC 49 22
Josh Mauro DE 6'5½" 276 Stanford 41 25
Ben Gardner DE 6'3⅞" 276 Stanford 30 30

[scorecard]

One of the problems, of course, is when you start competing for the 5 star types (the types that put you in the top ten of the recruiting rankings), academics become less of an advantage because the kids see themselves in the NFL in 3-4 years anyway. In some cases, they may be a disadvantage because the kids see them as too much of a diversion from football.
The Solomon Thomases and Andrew Lucks of this world are definitely in the minority; top ranked kids for whom academics are an extremely high priority.

This is exactly the problem that has killed Stanford's hopes in college basketball.  We will almost never get an absolute game changer because they never stay for more than 1 year in most cases, so the Stanford degree means less of a draw.  The fact that we are even getting a guy like Reid Travis is a minor miracle to me.

Speaking of Thomas, he is listed as 6-3 and in the range of 255 - 263 lbs.  To play DE at the college level, he'll have to put on some more weight.

Is this really true?  It is true that our DE's lately have been larger.  But there are many DE's in college that are not.  I've attached a table of the top 10 DE prospects for the NFL draft per ESPN, plus some of the Pac12 guys that we may be more familiar with (sorry for the formatting).

It is likely that he will put on some extra weight over the years.  Mauro (244) , Gardner (240), and Anderson (258) all started in this range or less.  But Thomas appears to be a more explosive athlete with speed that may help make up for the pounds at this point.  I would think that given our depth at the position, he should be able to contribute this year. 


Defensive Ends
NAME POS HT WT SCHOOL GRADE POS RANK
Jadeveon Clowney DE 6'5" 258 South Carolina 96 1
Stephon Tuitt DE 6'6" 303 Notre Dame 92 2
Kony Ealy DE 6'4⅝" 275 Missouri 89 3
Dominique Easley DE 6'2¼" 284 Florida 88 4
Demarcus Lawrence DE 6'3" 244 Boise State 87 5
Scott Crichton DE 6'3" 260 Oregon State 84 6
Kareem Martin DE 6'5⅞" 272 North Carolina 79 7
Dee Ford DE 6'2⅛" 243 Auburn 78 8
Jeoffrey Pagan DE 6'4" 290 Alabama 72 9
Jackson Jeffcoat DE 6'4¼" 254 Texas 70 10
Morgan Breslin DE 6'1¼" 246 USC 60 15
Carl Bradford DE 6'1" 241 Arizona State 57 18
Cassius Marsh DE 6'4" 254 UCLA 50 21
Devon Kennard DE 6'2⅞" 257 USC 49 22
Josh Mauro DE 6'5½" 276 Stanford 41 25
Ben Gardner DE 6'3⅞" 276 Stanford 30 30