It’s that time of year again.  The time when a majority of the pro days are in the books.  The Combine is old news.  Senior All-Star games are now stories old enough to tell your grandkids about.  And a few guys are hitting the hype stride at just the right time.  It’s the time of year when, for some unknown reason, NFL scouts fall head over heels for prospects whose biggest accomplishment was practicing well for a whole week in Mobile.  It’s almost April, and there’s no better time for the most Overrated Prospects to sit back, take a big bite of their own hype, and prepare to be overpaid by millions.

Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee — By far the most overrated prospect in the draft.  Let’s check out what Ayers did during his “stellar” time at Tennessee.  Most sacks in a season?  Try four in his junior year.  In fact, Ayers managed to accumulate a whopping career total of nine during his stay in Knoxville.  Maybe it’s his measurables then.  They’re not bad.  He’s 6031 272 with a 4.89 combine 40 time.  Not awful.  He’s got nice bulk.  But why, then, are so many projecting him to be picked in the top half of the first round as a pass rusher?  Ayers’ rise in stock is completely due to one week, and more specifically one game, in Mobile at the Senior Bowl.  I just don’t understand how an entire career can be overlooked in favor of one 60 minute period.  I’m going out on a small limb here and saying that Ayers never develops as a pass rusher, and becomes the next in a long line of run stuffing DEs to bounce from team to team.

Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri — Maclin is not on this list because I doubt his talent.  In fact, as a pure athlete, Maclin is near the top of this class.  Maclin makes the docket due to the fact that so many people are starting to view him as a top ten pick, and worse — they think it’s a good idea.  How many times has a speedy receiver been plucked at the top of round one and failed to produce?  Remember Travis Taylor to the Ravens?  How about Troy Williamson to the Vikings?  Maclin played in a spread system in college that rarely asked him to run precise routes.  In fact, most of the time Maclin ran five yard slants that he turned into big gains with his superiour athleticism.  That won’t fly at the next level.  Sure, Maclin has elite deep speed, and he can always contribute in the return game, but I see some serious bust potential here.  The Mizzou wideout is worth a first round pick on the chance that he does develop like he could, but that slight frame and raw talent make him a poor decision so early in the draft.

Clint Sintim, LB, Virginia — Pretty simple here.  Sintim was a productive college player who played in an NFL-friendly 3-4 defense as an end and a rush linebacker.  Sounds like a pretty sure thing, right?  Wrong.  Sintim may have the speed and size and certainly the look of a dominant 3-4 linebacker, but like we’ve said before, measurables don’t make an NFL star.  Watch some film of Sintim and you’ll see that he was most effective in a straight line to the quarterback.  That’s great in obvious passing situations as a blitzer, but not when you’re asked to cover a shifty RB out of the backfield.  Sintim has stiff hips and struggled mightily this offseason to dispel the doubts about his ability to change directions.  A team looking for a pure speed rusher would likely have some success with him, but until he learns to move more fluidly he’ll be nothing more than a spot player.

Evander Hood, DT, Missouri — Sorry to dog on Missouri so bad.  And I know I’ll take some heat for this one.  Maybe deservedly so, but I’m sticking to my original opinion here.  Hood put up five sacks as a Senior, which isn’t bad.  But look who four of them came against.  One against Baylor, one against Northwestern, and two against Buffalo.  Not exactly an O line gauntlet.  Hood has a quick first step, and he has the potential to be a disruptive force up front for a team like Indianapolis.  But I don’t get all the talk about him being a first rounder.  I know the DT class is especially weak this year, but shouldn’t that force teams to address other areas instead of reaching for a need.  Football is a team sport, and no one player is accountable for all of a team’s struggles, but that was an awful defense that Hood was a part of.  I just never saw that much out of him in the big games against quality opponents.  Again, I promise I’ve got nothing against Missouri personally.  And sorry for ending one of those sentences in a preposition.

Chris Wells, RB, Ohio St — This guy is not better than Knowshon Moreno.  He may not be better than Donald Brown.  Wells is a physical freak who dominated the college ranks with a superior blend of size and athleticism.  That’s not enough in the NFL.  Wells is more of a straight forward runner who lacks the ability to change directions as smoothly as some of the more successful NFL running backs.  Sure, he’s no slouch, and if I’m wrong about him I’ll probably be wrong in a big way.  But the way I see it, Wells has the look of so many Big Ten big backs who busted before him.  Holy alliteration.  Anyway, back to the point.  Beanie appears to be another powerful guy who impressed with his pro day 40 and now has teams prepared to put all their eggs in one Beanie basket.  If he ends up on a team with a smaller, quicker complementary back, he’s got a chance.  If not, no way this guys makes it through a 16 game season unscathed.  He rarely made it through 12.

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