by: Chris Sullivan
We've been focusing a lot on what the Seahawks might do with their first round pick, but with another 6-10 picks in the draft, who else might the Hawks have their eyes on?
This one is a bit of a stretch, because he is not the prototypical Ruskell draftee -- in this case because he did not attend a major school. Jarron Gilbert is a defensive end/tackle tweener not terrifically unlike newly acquired Cory Redding. Gilbert has been a four year starter at San Jose State and has three solid years followed by an excellent 2008. He was a DE for the first two seasons and finished his career as a smallish defensive tackle. In his first two years (DE), Gilbert recorded 54 tackles including 8 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. In the last two years (DT), he logged 90 tackles including 14.5 sackes and 29.5 tackles for loss.
The big caveat here, of course, is that he played for San Jose State. Their 2008 schedule was: UC Davis, Nebraska, San Diego State, Stanford, Hawaii, Utah State, New Mexico State, Boise St, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, Fresno State. Here's his scouting report, courtesy of Draft Countdown:
Strengths:
Good size with a large frame and long arms...Very athletic...Extremely quick...Terrific natural strength and power...Big, strong hands...Nice balance and agility...Is able to penetrate and make plays in the backfield...Decent range and pursues well...Smart with good instincts and awareness...Offers positional and schematic versatility...Reliable tackler...Decent production...Is still improving and has a lot of upside.
Weaknesses:
Inconsistent...Bit of a classic 'tweener...Needs to be more physical and aggressive...Doesn't use his hands well...Has some trouble shedding blocks...Needs to use better leverage...Not a great technician...Motor runs hot and cold...Immature ?...Did not always face elite competition.
He is projected as a 2-3 round pick by many, but after having a great pro-day (4.76 second 40-yard dash into a breeze,37-inch vertical leap and a 10-7 broad jump) some think he might be gone at the top of the second round or even peek into the first. Would the Hawks take him in the second? It seems unlikely with the advent of Redding, Cole and Bryant on the D-Line in the past 365 days, but anything is possible with Ruskell. My guess is no, but its kind of fun to think about him getting going in 3 years or so.
Gilbert of course, is already fairly famous for this clip of him getting out of the pool in a somewhat untraditional manner:
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