A look at a few Hokies’ pre-combine draft stock

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The NFL Scouting Combine starts Wednesday in Indianapolis. The Hokies have five players who will attend — Marcus Davis, Corey Fuller, Bruce Taylor, Nick Becton and Vinston Painter.

As I wrote last week, Mel Kiper Jr. thinks Fuller or Davis will be the first Hokies off the board.

Not all projections are the same, though. Here’s a glimpse at those players’ draft stock heading into the combine. These rankings are courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com. The rankings listed are by position, with a round projection at the end.

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Wide receivers:

18. Kenny Stills, Oklahoma, Rounds 4-5
19. Ace Sanders, South Carolina, Round 5
20. Corey Fuller, Virginia Tech, Round 5
21. Aaron Mellette, Elon, Round 5-6
22. Rodney Smith, Florida State, Round 5-6

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28. Josh Boyce, TCU, Rounds 6-7
29: Brandon Kaufman, Eastern Washington, Round 7
30. Marcus Davis, Virginia Tech, Round 7
31. Uzoma Nwachukwu, Texas A&M, Round 7
32. Tyrone Goard, Eastern Kentucky, Round 7-FA

Inside linebackers:

6. Kevin Reddick, North Carolina, Rounds 4-5
7. A.J. Klein, Iowa State, Round 5
8. Bruce Taylor, Virginia Tech, Round 6
9. Steve Beauharnais, Rutgers, Rounds 6-7
10. Vince Williams, Florida State, Round 7

Offensive tackles

23. Luke Marquardt, Azusa Pacific, Round 7-FA
24. Emmett Cleary, Boston College, Round 7-FA
25. Nick Becton, Virginia Tech, Round 7-FA
26. Oscar Johnson, Louisiana Tech, Round 7-FA
27. Jeff Nady, Nevada, Round 7-FA

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31. Jordan Devey, Memphis, N/A
32. Ryan Schrader, Valdosta State, N/A
33. Vinston Painter, Virginia Tech, N/A
34. Matt Summers-Gavin, California, N/A
35. Nick Speller, Massachusetts, N/A

Strong safeties (one more, just because I found it interesting)

11. Ray Ray Armstrong, Miami, Round 7-FA
12. Don Jones, Arkansas State, Round 7-FA
13. Alonzo Tweedy, Virginia Tech, Round 7-FA
14. Jahleel Addae, Central Michigan, Round 7-FA
15. Keelan Johnson, Arizona State, N/A

For what it’s worth, the site gives the Hokies’ prospects the following overall rankings: Fuller (165), Taylor (205), Davis (253), Tweedy (312), Becton (323) and Painter (434).

Andy Bitter
February 17, 2013 - 10:05 AM

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8 COMMENTS

Dan | February 17, 2013 at 10:58 am

Interesting on Tweedy. I can’t see him as an NFL starter, but he could be a special teams beast for somebody. Kid has a motor and is a tackling machine.
Rick H. | February 17, 2013 at 1:25 pm

Dan, I’d disagree on Tweedy. He might not be an NFL starter, but he is fundamentally very, very solid. He is the best tackler Tech has had in years.

Nobody saw Nick Sorensen having an NFL career that spanned a decade. Tweedy is that kind of player. As long as he is willing to accept his role on a team in the NFL, as he did at Tech, and how Nick did, at VT and the NFL, he’s got a very legtimate shot.
Zman | February 17, 2013 at 1:51 pm

We’ll see what happens after the combine and pro day. I still think Davis would be a wasted pick. No heart.
Mike | February 17, 2013 at 1:55 pm

Good luck Hokies!!!! Kick ass at the Combine!!!!!
PETE | February 17, 2013 at 2:09 pm

Great reporting, as always, Andy.
With all the turnover/pressure at UVA, is it only fair to call ‘em the
‘Whaa-Whos’? Just a thought….
pete
Dan | February 17, 2013 at 5:56 pm

Rick, I think we are saying basically the same thing. Sorenson was predominately a backup and special teams player his whole career and a good one at that. I do see Tweedy in the same role, he could pay big dividends for some team on ST. One of the biggest problems I saw in the NFL last year was poor tackling, especially on ST, Tweedy could definitely plug right in.
Mike 3 | February 17, 2013 at 10:33 pm

Marcus Davis will be a freak at the combines with the agility tests.Where he needs to wow the scouts is the interview process and consistently catching the ball with some of the fundamental pass routing schemes. Round 6-7 to a team with a savvy receivers coach and/ or veteran wr’s that can give him lots of adult supervision snd tutelage.

Best to all mentioned-nice update!!
crooked road | February 18, 2013 at 1:14 pm

Where Marcus Davis needs to wow the scouts is in training
camp by going all out on the plays when he’s not supposed to catch
the ball. That’s always been his problem. He’s a lazy, less
talented version of Randy Moss. He takes huge chunks of the game
off, because the plays don’t always feature him. He’ll look good at
the combine. He’ll not run his 40 until he gets back to the
deflated VT timing methods, so that will look good, too. Then some
team will sign him, and by the end of training camp, they’ll wonder
why he’s not motivated.