Aaron Ross, Texas, 6-1/2, 193, 4.47c

Had a great senior year and was awarded the “Jim Thorpe Award” for 2006, annually given to the best defensive back in. Smart and plays smart. Reads and react quickly. Explosive and instinctive with good ball skills. Very athletic and quick with good feet. Has the quick hip flip, fluidity and quickness to stick with receivers when they make their break and the speed to stay with them downfield. Very smooth out of back pedal or changing direction. Has recovery speed to correct errors in judgment. Fights for ball in the air and can sky. Very good hands and long arms, had five Interceptions last season and caught the ball cleanly. Aggressive and physical style. Very good in press coverage, generally stays tight on receivers. Less effective in man off and appears less aware. Hard hitter and generally solid tackler. Supports the run. Top punt returner with solid elusiveness, averaged 11.5 yards per punt return and has 3 career punts returned for touchdown. Still improving  

One-year starter who wasn’t that productive prior to his senior year but also didn’t have a lot of opportunity as he played behind some exceptional talent. Played with broken bone in foot, which affected his play last season. Relies on athleticism and gambles too much. Overaggressive-outrageously so-at times. Will whiff on a tackle at times. Looks thin and needs additional strength and bulk as he can get out muscled. Needs to improve technique. Needs to improve in zone coverage. Before the Alamo Bowl he turned up in a restaurant disoriented, with minor damage to his car and no memory of an accident. He was taken to a hospital and later released. He’ll have to be checked out neurologically. Stood out in Senior Bowl practices but had to leave the game in the first half with a possible concussion.

Steve Smith, USC, 6, 197, 4.44c

Played in the shadow of Mike Williams and then Jarrett but has been steady and hard working. Against Oregon State, a loss for USC, Smith caught 11 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Very productive and consistent with solid experience. Athletic and quick with top explosiveness. Very quick in and out of breaks and is quick and smooth changing direction. Can sky and fights for ball in the air with his 38” vertical leap. Excellent body control, can adjust to the ball in the air. Very soft hands, makes some spectacular catches. Despite somewhat slight weight, is fearless over the middle and makes some of his toughest catches there. Very elusive after the catch. Always seems to get open, gets yards after the catch and usually the first down. Very good route runner. Decent blocker, gives good effort. Good return man. Needs technique to improve blocking. Will body catch at times. Generally underrated.

Jay Alford, Penn State, 6-4, 305, 5.15c

Very quick off the snap, gets penetration with a variety of moves and disrupts the play. Scrappy, has good range and will pursue on plays that are run away from him. Fairly agile for position. Has good acceleration and reads and reacts quickly. Even though he plays hard, he lacks the strength and bulk to regularly hold at the point of attack even though he has gained both strength and bulk steadily since red-shirting. Struggles to get off blocks at times, especially when he gets tall, which he does with some frequency. Needs to improve tackling and overall technique. Lacks explosiveness. Some see him as a better fit at 3-4 end though he lacks the speed and explosiveness to be highly effective on the edge.

Zak DeOssie, Brown, 6-4 7/8, 250, 4.58c

Son of former Giant Steve DeOssie. Instinctive and athletic with good fluidity. Experienced and very productive with over 300 career tackles. Usually reads and reacts well. Plays hard with a great motor. Has top explosiveness and quickness and generally takes good angles to the ball. Has sideline-to-sideline range. Can cover, and looked very fluid in his drops at the combine. Can long snap. Excellent special teams player. Plays a physical game but isn’t always as big a hitter as size would lead one to expect. Needs to improve strength and technique. Doesn’t always stack and shed effectively. Loses leverage too often. Needs to improve tackling. Doesn’t always read and react quickly. His speed and athleticism are probably sufficient to enable him to excel vs. Ivy League competition.

Played on the punt coverage unit at the East-West game and flew to the opposite side of the field to bring the runner down. Finished game with eight tackles. Oscar Lua, USC, 6-1, 240, 4.75est., didn’t work out on pro day. Intelligent with a top work ethic. Tore one ACL in ’02 and the other one the following year. Very strong, tough and a solid run stuffer. Very instinctive, reads and reacts quickly. Plays a physical game, has solid power and a non-stop motor. Hits hard and wraps up. Stacks and sheds effectively. Plays flat out with good technique and very good hand usage to prevent blockers from locking on.

Average athlete who lacks top agility in drops or change of direction. Doesn’t make quick adjustments in the open field. Has decent speed to get to the QB though some consider him to have lost speed as a result of the two ACL injuries. Reads the pass quickly but is best with the play in front of him as he doesn’t cover ground very quickly or have elite explosiveness. Has an injury history and lost his starting job as a senior following another injury. Returned to the field at the end of the season and played well.

Kevin Boss, Western Oregon, 6-7, 252, 4.74c   

Division II All-American. Long limbed agile athlete with very good body control. Can separate and get yards after the catch. Changes direction quickly and smoothly. Physical, can adjust to the ball and shield defenders off. Has soft hands and can make difficult catches. Rarely body catches. Good leaper. Explosive with good acceleration but average speed. Works to improve blocking. Developmental player. Needs overall technique improvement including route running, tends to round routes at times. Not very quick out of breaks. Needs improvement as a blocker particularly in line, is more effective down field. Tore labrum mid way through 2006 season and had shoulder surgery last November; didn’t lift at the combine.

Adam Koets, Oregon State, 6-5, 310, 5.07c

Experienced and long limbed with a frame to add more weight/bulk. Plays hard and to the whistle. Mobile with a quick first step, can get outside to engage rushers. Good athlete with quick feet and solid fluidity for size. Can pull. Usually maintains good leverage. Lacks strength and doesn’t have much of a hand punch. His feet quit working at times. Doesn’t control point of attack effectively and gets pushed back at times. Needs overall technique improvement.

Michael Johnson, Arizona, 6-2 7/8, 205, 4.62c, pro day: 4.53 and 4.55

JUCO transfer. Terrific size and athleticism. Very competitive. Among this group of safeties, his speed doesn’t look impressive but he plays fast with top explosiveness, body control and good quickness. Doesn’t usually have any problem staying with his man in coverage. Accelerates fairly well. Has a loose, quick hip flip and comes out of back pedal smoothly and changes direction with no wasted motion. Has good ball skills and instincts. Reads/reacts very quickly and usually takes good angles and has solid range. Good hitter but not always a solid wrap up tackler. Solid in run support. Plays hard and physically and will fight for the ball in the air. Shows good hands, catches ball cleanly away from body.

Generally a good tackler but misses some because of over aggressiveness going for the blow-up tackle. Loses focus and can be inconsistent. Lacks elite speed and acceleration. Bites on play fakes at times. Generally good technique but gets sloppy with it at times and fails to wrap up his man. Can struggle to shed and needs additional strength and more consistent use of technique to improve.

Ahmad Bradshaw, Marshall, 5-10, 200, 4.55c

Has some quickness and decent speed. Though not a power runner, has some strength and runs hard (didn’t bench press at the combine). Can break arm tackles and gain positive yards after initial contact. Waits for blocks to develop. Plays special teams and can return kicks and punts. Not very explosive. Lacks top agility and acceleration. Runs tall at times. Not a good blocker in pass pro, needs to improve technique. Has had off-field issues.