Big linemen take priority on wish lists
By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
POSTED: 03/01/2010 01:00:00 AM MST


Ndamukong Suh (Denver Post file photo)
INDIANAPOLIS — The camera-flash setting is alive and well at the NFL's scouting combine.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has had his picture taken so often he just may be headed for an Indiana postcard. Other offensive skill players always seem to be front and center.

But this year's NFL draft is a celebration of the dirt-under-the-fingernails guys. It's the defensive tackles who are the glamour guys.

"Maybe so," Tennessee defensive tackle Dan Williams said. "The big guys are getting their due."

Among the top-rated players on the board are Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy in what is considered the deepest draft in the interior defensive line in at least a decade.

Call it good timing for the Broncos, who need help up front.

"I think we'll be able to find players," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said.

Some teams say as many as a dozen defensive tackles could have first-, second-, or third-round grades by draft weekend, when in most years the number is closer to seven or eight.

"It's an important position," said Texas defensive tackle Lamarr Houston, a Doherty High School graduate. "You get kind of a sense when you're talking to the coaches how much they want guys to play in there, guys who can rush the passer and stop the run."

The Broncos saw their run defense, as well as their playoff hopes, wilt down the stretch, surrendering at least 173 yards rushing in five of their last 10 games and at least 105 yards rushing in seven of their last 10. They went 2-8 in those games.

"We need to improve there. That's no secret," McDaniels said. "That's a bad recipe for trying to be successful in this league."

Suh and McCoy are almost certainly out of the Broncos' reach with the 11th pick, unless the team moves up significantly. But the depth at the position will enable the Broncos to have a chance at potentially productive players later in the draft.

With the Broncos playing a 3-4 defense, they are looking for college defensive tackles who can make the transition to end, a task that could be more difficult now that as many as 14 teams will play the defense at least some this season.

"I think I'd be able to adjust to anything," Suh said. "Obviously, I think our scheme was a little different at Nebraska from what the NFL is asking me to do. But I think I'm a player who can adjust to things and definitely get used to getting off the ball and not reading and reacting like in our defense at Nebraska."

Suh was an accomplished soccer player in his youth — "I had a lot of fouls. . . . I got a lot of red cards" — and Houston was a 276-pound high school running back in Colorado Springs.

That's the kind of nimble-footed quality most teams are looking for in power players.

"(It helps) the footwork, how to get around an offensive lineman," Suh said. "It's a lot easier just because it's more natural."

"Speed kills," Houston said. "Even inside, people want that speed, and I think I can give that to them."

Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com

Big on big guys

Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy lead a deep group of defensive tackles in this year's draft. The Broncos and numerous other teams will be looking to shore things up in their defensive front.

Among the others:

Terrence Cody, Alabama

Lamarr Houston, Texas

Arthur Jones, Syracuse

Jared Odrick, Penn St.

Brian Price, UCLA

Cam Thomas, N. Carolina

Dan Williams, Tennessee



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