Every year we see players who go later in drafts than they should due to some stupid reason and then three years later, all the GMs are kicking themselves as they watch that player become a star. The typical reasons are a slow 40 yard dash time, injury concerns, or character concerns. However, one of the sleepers this year got screwed over by his college coach moving him from FS (where he was a first round prospect) to LB (which has subsequently dropped his stock a lot). After the jump, see my three sleepers as of right now for this years draft.
3 Potential Draft Sleepers
Sleeper No. 1: Kenny Tate, FS, Maryland
: Kenny Tate came into the year as the number 1 FS prospect in the draft. However, after switching to LB and not really having a big impact on games this year, his stock is now somewhere between the third and fourth round. Whoever gets Tate should convert him back to safety, let him re-learn the position for two years, and then he should be ready to prove all the NFL GM’s and his college head coach wrong. The kid has phenomenal talent, he is a ball hawk, he is a great tackler, and he has good instincts. I would love to see the
take him and groom him to replace
.
Sleeper No. 2: Mohammed Sanu, WR, Rutgers: Sanu has seen his stock rise this year, but he is still being undervalued with a stock anywhere from the second to third round. The reason he is not being considered a first round prospect is that he does not have blazing speed. However, when a man has this good of hands, can run routes as good as he can, and has an attitude like he does, he is sure to be a good NFL player. My comparison for him is Wes Welker with a little more speed and I think he could become that good. And again, I would love the Steelers to get him to replace Hines Ward (who has said he will retire by the end of the 2013 season).
Sleeper No. 3: Trumaine Johnson, CB, Montana: Johnson is the best small school player I have seen in a long time. After reading about him here on MTD, I looked him up and found some game film and he is impressive. He has phenomenal size, he is very physical, and he has great instincts. Right now he is being valued anywhere from the fourth to sixth round and if he ends up going in that range, that would be a huge steal. He seems every bit as good as Morris Claiborne and Dre Kirkpatrick to me and I think he could become a lockdown No. 1 corner. With Ike Taylor on his last contract, I would love to see the Steelers take him as well. However, I think by the time the draft comes, Johnson could be a Second Round pick, which would still be a steal in my books.
Hope you enjoyed the post. Let me know what you think of these three players, and some other sleepers in the comments section.
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