In the Draft, Expect a Run on Linebackers, Cornerbacks

Only one linebacker, Ohio State's A.J. Hawk, is likely to be selected early in the first round but NFL talent evaluators are particularly enamored with the linebackers in this draft. (Charles Rex Arbogast - AP)

Front-office executives around the league don't agree about all that much when it comes to assessing how the first round of this weekend's NFL draft will go. There are differing opinions about the order in which the elite quarterbacks will come off the board, about how active things will be on the trade front and about the composition of the top five overall selections.

There is widespread agreement, however, about which positions will dominate the picks in the middle to late stages of the opening round -- outside linebacker and cornerback.

Only one linebacker, Ohio State's A.J. Hawk, is likely to be selected early in the first round, and it's possible that no cornerbacks will go in the top 10. But there probably will be a run on linebackers and cornerbacks beginning late Saturday afternoon, and some general managers think there could be a half-dozen outside linebackers and nearly as many cornerbacks chosen in the opening round.

"Once they start coming off the board at those two positions, it won't stop," one general manager said last week. "The momentum picks up, and some guys you might have thought would go in the second round will go in the first instead. Teams won't want to get shut out by waiting."

The NFL's talent evaluators are particularly impressed with the linebackers in this draft. "The linebackers are deep, I'll say that," New York Giants General Manager Ernie Accorsi said.

Said Floyd Reese, the GM of the Tennessee Titans, "The linebackers are as strong as we've had in a while."

Hawk is acknowledged as the best of the bunch. The New Orleans Saints, who have the second overall choice in the draft, are said by people around the league to be impressed with Hawk. The Saints probably wouldn't use the draft's second pick on him, but he could be their selection if they're successful in their attempts to trade down in the first-round order. Hawk also could be an option for the Green Bay Packers, who have the fifth overall pick.

Other outside linebackers regarded as strong first-round possibilities are Ernie Sims of Florida State, Chad Greenway of Iowa, DeMeco Ryans of Alabama and Hawk's Ohio State teammate, Bobby Carpenter. He's the son of former New York Giants running back Rob Carpenter and could be an option for his father's old team if he's still available when the Giants choose 25th.

The rage of last year's draft was the 'tweeners, those players who could play defensive end in a four-lineman, three-linebacker setup or outside linebacker in a 3-4 alignment. That sort of player could be represented in this year's first round as well, with Florida State's Kamerion Wimbley and North Carolina State's Manny Lawson.

D'Qwell Jackson, an inside linebacker from the University of Maryland, has expressed hopes of being selected late in the first round or early in the second. The inside linebackers in this draft have not drawn the attention as potential first-rounders that the outside linebackers have, but Pittsburgh Steelers executive Kevin Colbert praised the depth of the field of available inside linebackers during the NFL scouting combine in late February in Indianapolis.

"It's probably the strongest group I've seen in the 20 years I've been doing this," said Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations.

Virginia Tech's Jimmy Williams once was regarded as the clear-cut top cornerback available in this draft. Some scouts now seem to be wondering if he might be a better safety than cornerback in the NFL. He's still almost certain to go in the first round, perhaps just outside the top 10.

He could be joined later in the first round by cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie of Florida State, Tye Hill of Clemson, Johnathan Joseph of South Carolina and Ashton Youboty of Ohio State. None is necessarily projected as a sure-thing NFL standout. But with the league's rules being more passing-friendly than ever, teams have made getting cornerbacks who have any chance at all to defend receivers in one-on-one coverage a top priority.

"We have some speed corners in this draft," Reese said.