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Cal exported its largest draft class in school history, with 6 Golden Bears being drafted yesterday. I already covered Cal's top draftee Desean Jackson yesterday, and am finishing the rest of the look at the other Bears taken.
3rd Round
22. (85th Overall) Tennessee Titans - Craig Stevens, TE
For some reason, Stevens strikes me as the player most ready to contribute right away at the pro level. He doesn’t have the sexy Vernon Davis level of athleticism (*click clack*) but seems to have all of the physical attributes, work ethic, and toughness to fit in very quickly in the league. While he won’t burn a defender deep, Stevens has good speed for his size (4.59 40 yard dash—faster than Michigan WR “Super” Mario Manningham), is adequately strong (27 bench press reps—most out of all tight ends at the combine), and has shown that he can put it all together on the field, contributing heavily in Cal’s running and receiving game over the past few years.
Many have questioned Stevens’ hands over the past few seasons, and has made a number of drops, but I think he’ll be just fine. He didn’t drop a single ball in any of the combine passing drills, and keep in mind, a lot of Stevens drops were in traffic as he was most likely to go over the middle. He will certainly have to improve this aspect of the game if he’s going to be a legitimate receiving option in the pros, but then again, teams drafted him more for his incredible blocking skills anyway.
And that’s the area where he will most likely shine and be consistent with Tennessee. Not to say that the guy is going to dominate right away, but I can imagine him coming in and definitely contributing in his first season. Granted, the Titans just signed former Pro-Bowler Alge Crumpler, but look for Stevens to back him up, line up on the other side, and become the starter in a few years time.
35. (98th Overall) Atlanta Falcons – Thomas DeCoud, FS
DeCoud was pretty solid with his production at Cal. A special teams monster for his first few years with his team, DeCoud moved into a starting role in the last two years. DeCoud has pretty good speed (a 4.48 40 yard dash) as we’ve seen with his time with the Bears. I’ll say it again, I have never seen anyone else make as many TD saving last minute tackles as this guy. Just watch the Tennessee game from last year, and see how many times DeCoud got there just in time to knock a player out of bounds at the 5 yard line. Most teams would end up scoring a few plays later anyway, but that’s another story.
While he’s not the biggest safety (6’2 196 lbs), DeCoud knows how to lay a licking, as his hit in the Desean Jackson punt return against UCLA is already engrained in Cal football history lore, and shows good run coverage. Justin Forsett once said of DeCoud: "I've been hit by everybody on the team. When Thomas hits you, it's not something you want to remember."
Those of you who might need a reminder:
He will need to show better consistency in his pass coverage, as he will need to make more plays on the ball in the air, but is rare to miss when he gets into position to make the play. Another concern is that he’ll be going to going into a situation where there will be a lot of depth at the safety position, after the Falcons just signed Erik Coleman in the offseason. In all likelihood, DeCoud probably won’t start this season, or maybe even next, but like his career at Cal, expect him to contribute heavily on special teams before getting the chance to shine as a starter.
4th Round
27. (126th Overall) Tennessee Titans – Lavelle Hawkins, WR
Hawkins will be joining fellow teammate Craig Stevens out in Tennessee this upcoming year. The “Hawk” was taken in about the mid-range of where most NFL scouts had expected him to go. Some had him as high as a late second-rounder, while some saw him falling to about the mid 5th-round range.
Hawkins is a pretty strong example of a player who plays a lot faster and stronger than his numbers would dictate. He doesn’t possess blazing speed (running a 4.53 at the combine, although improved his time with a 4.48 at Cal’s Pro Day), Hawkins has shown that he is quicker than fast, being incredibly productive as a slot receiver.
He also doesn’t have all the attractive measurable as well. Short arms and marginal leaping ability, and like Desean, isn’t the biggest receiver ever. While he had a productive career, also had lapses of consistency where he would explode in certain games, and disappear a bit in others. He may also take some time to mentally learn the game, as it took him a few years at Cal before he really broke out.
With all that said, I love the Hawk and confess to have done the “hawk” flap a few times myself both at Memorial Stadium, and sadly enough at home as well. C’mon, you know you wanted to after his 64 yard TD catch, and fight for the first down in the OSU game last year. I think it will take a few years time, but best case scenario, the Hawk may end up being a Nate Burleson type of receiver in a couple of seasons. And maybe a few seasons after before the “Hawk” flap starts to catch on.
5th Round
18. (184th Overall) Philadelphia Eagles – Mike Gibson, OT
Gibson has shown pretty good versatility in college, playing every position at the offensive line, so it’s possible that the Eagles might switch him to the guard position, especially since he doesn’t have the longest arms for a tackle. He also appears to work well in unison with the rest of the line, another sign that he’ll be better suited for the guard position.
The biggest issue for Gibson will be the ability to stay healthy. The guy played through the 2006 season with a tear in his left shoulder, opting to get surgery done after the season was over. And as I covered extensively in my recap of the past few drafts, lingering injuries can become career killers for offensive linemen in the pros, so here’s hoping he can have a fairly long and successful career in the pros.
7th Round
26. (233rd Overall) Seattle Seahawks – Justin Forsett, RB
I for one was about as happy as a Cal fan could have been on Sunday when I found out that Forsett got drafted. Maybe relieved is a better word. I’ll be honest, in keeping up with NFL.com’s Draft Tracker, I was getting pretty nervous when we were nearing the end of the 7th round, and Forsett’s name never came up. But I’m glad he got drafted, as I feel it couldn’t have happened to a better guy.
I’m a Forsett fan. Some of my friends looked at me like I was crazy when I predicted Forsett would rush for over 1400 yards his senior season. I smiled with the “I told you so” type of smile when he crushed that with 1546 yards. He also led the entire Pac-10 in rushing TDs. But more importantly, he’s about as much of a quality character as you can ask for in a player: humble, hardworking, and on numerous occasions last season, put the team on his back (see Arizona game).
The biggest knock on Forsett was his size and lack of top-end speed. Undersized at 5’8, and lacking great sprinting speed (4.6 40 yard dash), a lot of teams were wondering what they could really do with him. A great college player, many wondered how it would translate in the pros. But there are a lot of reasons to like Forsett in addition the quality characteristics I mentioned earlier. He’s got underrated hands, good burst, is more quick than fast, and can change directions incredibly quickly. I remember the New Mexico State game a few years back, when Forsett took the ball off a handoff, charged into the line, saw nothing, stopped and in one fluid movement dashed off to the side about as quickly as I’ve ever seen. That’s when I knew the kid was pretty good.
Biggest concern for Forsett? Being buried in Seattle’s depth chart. Even after releasing former league MVP and Madden coverboy Shawn Alexander, the Seahawks have pretty good depth at the RB position with the signing of TJ Duckett, Julius Jones, and last year’s incumbent backup Maurice “Momo” Morris. It might be a season or two before Forsett even gets a crack as a 3rd down back. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Forsett, is that he’s learned patience and humility in his entire career, from not being recruited in high school and backing up Marshawn Lynch for 3 years before getting to start. If we’ve learned another, it’s that Justin will make the most of his opportunity when it eventually comes.
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