With the NFL Scouting Combine just days away, NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock is talking up a 2013 NFL Draft class low on quarterback gems, but deep with talent in the trenches.
Finding a premier pass rusher could be a chore, however, with Mayock questioning whether Florida State's Bjoern Werner and Texas A&M's Damontre Moore are being overvalued at the defensive end position.
"I have a little different opinion than what I'm hearing a lot of people have on these -- quote -- 4-3 defensive ends," Mayock told reporters during a Monday conference call. "I'm not as high on these guys as some people are. For instance, I don't think Bjoern Werner or Damontre Moore are top-10 players. They might go in the top 10, but I don't see it that way.
"As you start dropping down later, what happens is Ziggy Ansah from BYU, he's got as much upside as anybody in this draft. I don't think he gets to 30. Sam Montgomery, the defensive end from LSU, is a guy that could be there. And (LSU teammate) Barkevious Mingo gets a lot more of the attention, but I kind of feel like Sam Montgomery brings it every snap more than Mingo does. He's not as quick, he's not as gifted, but he's very physical and tough."
Mayock later described Mingo -- seen by many as a future outside linebacker -- as a late first-round pick, pouring cold water on some assessments touting the underclassman as a potential top-10 selection. Mayock last week tagged Werner as the year's top end, followed by Moore, Ansah, Montgomery, and then UCLA's Datone Jones and SMU's Margus Hunt.
It's early in the process and Mayock acknowledged Monday on "NFL AM" that players ripe for a transition from end to outside linebacker -- namely Mingo, Moore and Oregon's Dion Jordan -- could blow up at the combine because they're viewed as freakish athletes, appealing to teams hunting for the next Aldon Smith prototype. That desire alone could push these players up the draft board.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
