The Next Big Snack?

I've been watching this BCS National Championship Game between Alabama and Texas, doing a little scouting work for Kevin Colbert. The player of note is Alabama's senior defensive tackle, Terrence Cody. Mount Cody, as he's called, is 6'5" and 365 lbs.

He has no sacks on the year, and very few defensive stats. However, he's 6'5 and 365 lbs.

The scouting report on him is that he's only good for two downs, and that he gets sloppy in some of his fundamentals the more he's on the field. However, he's 6'5 and 365 lbs.

Watching him play is amazing. He does what great nose tackles do, which is completely disrupt the interior of the offensive line. I don't think he got close to the ball once, but he kept the guards from being able to pull, which made it easy for the linebackers to track down the running back. He also left massive holes in the pocket because blockers had to triple team, thus allowing other pass rushers easy access to the QB. There was one 4th and inches when Texas went for it on the sneak, and you could see the Longhorns sell out three guys on Cody, while everyone else on the Alabama D-line was able to get a hand on the QB for a stop.

Oh, and he also lines up as a punishing fullback in goal line situations.

What are the chances we get a guy like that, picking in the bottom third of the draft?

Not as bad as you may think.

Ndamukong Suh is going to take up a lot of buzz, being the purest at his position, and the first DT off the board. Then there's also a guy from Penn State and a guy from Tennessee who'll probably have higher draft grades based on health. That's the thing about Cody, is that he really broke through late in his college career because of injuries.

A lot more to look at, so much more to consider. But, I'd say this: drafting defensive linemen in the first round in consecutive years may happen, if the right player comes along. We need a big infusion of impact level talent up front.