With the NFL Draft starting in primetime three weeks from Thursday, it's time to put our Mel Kiper hats on and take a look into the first round at Radio City.
One of the most intriguing and under-the-radar battles in the first 25 picks is who's going to be the first cornerback off the board in 2010.
Following a playoff in which we had a 96-point game (Arizona and Green Bay), defense will be at a premium in the upper-half of day one. The general consensus is that the top two corners are Florida's Joe Haden and Boise State's Kyle Wilson-- the latter of which deserves much more respect.
Coming out of Piscataway High School in New Jersey (which is expected to produce three first-round picks in two years-- Malcolm Jenkins and Anthony Davis being the others), Wilson was under-recruited as a defensive back and kick-return specialist.
Standing in at 5-foot-10 and close to 200 pounds, his college career has an impressive list of highlights. Two Fiesta Bowl titles, 159 tackles, 11 interceptions and five touchdowns (three off of returns and two from picks) are detailed in his CV.
Most scouts will admit that his hip-rotation ability and footwork are on par with, if not better than, Haden's. A 38-inch vertical jump and 4.43-second 40-yard dash at Friday's Pro Day solidified his spot as an elite cornerback.
There are very few multi faceted threats in the NFL. Not many guys are willing to mark the top wide receivers around the league and then take a beating by fielding punts. Wilson is not only willing, but eager to do this.
When Wilson appeared on my show on WRSU last month, he reiterated that WAC football doesn't get enough respect. With two BCS bowl game wins in four years, you'd have to agree with him.
To sum up the confidence around the Wilson marketing machine, his brother Gerry created a bus with an elaborate image of Kyle on its side and drove it around the country to his games.
The real question is whether the NFL Draft is ready for the small-conference kid to finally get the nod over the established power. If there was ever a perfect scenario for it, the 2010 cornerback battle is the one.
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