We did not need to get Jordan Hicks in this class but we will need to address the position next year. It is not priority number one. We are still looking at some really talented young guys who can step into holes in 2011 but we do not want to see the talent level drop off. Brian Rolle, Ross Homan and Jermal Hines will all be seniors next year.

There are three players this early in the process that stand out. Michigans Lawrence Thomas, Trey DePriest and James Vaughters from Georgia.

James Vaughters is a tackling machine. A tackling machine with speed and a motor that will not stop. He is physical enough to line up at nose tackle sometimes. He may have the most to learn as he has played a lot with his hand in the dirt. I don't see a single play out there of him playing the pass and he does not have the size DePriest and Thomas have. Explosive at the point of attack. It would be easier to list the schools he does not have an offer from than it would be to list all his offers. Before you write off a superstar from the state of Georgia, Vaughters family is based in Ohio. His parents are both from Ohio. His grandparents and several cousins still live here. He was here for the USC game and was up to look around last summer.

When I first saw Trey DePriest he did not leap out at me. He was all over the field but too often he was making plays downfield and he was a drag down tackler. Where he is now is what has me excited about him. He is getting better at an accelerated pace. Fans started talking about DePriest when things started looking bad with Hicks. I remember thinking that this is not a kid who is going to make up for losing Hicks. I still rate Hicks the better player but the film I have seen from DePriest's junior year shows me a player that at least belongs in the conversation. I see a player who is just as good at blitzing as Hicks, and that is saying something. Some linebackers just have the timing down. I see a player who reads the game so well and he has become a really strong tackler. I give Hicks the edge now. At the rate DePriest is improving that might change.

What a beast Lawrence Thomas is. He is huge but very lean at 6-4 and 230. He has a reported 4.6 forty. I don't know whether that is accurate. It is a reported number not one he ran at a camp or combine. I know what I see on film. His game speed is most important and there is no question about that. His read and react, are top drawer. He has the ability that I call "ghost", which is the uncanny ability that some linebackers have to keep themselves clean of blockers. So often blockers are not getting a hand on him. He has only a couple of negatives. He has too many arm tackles and too much drag down tackling. A linebacker has to bring it. If he misses you have a ball carrier in the secondary. The other negative is the size. He is a really big kid and might grow into a DE. If you absolutely must have an LB then this kid gets pushed down the list some. I would not worry about it. I would be all over this kid. The Buckeyes are working hard but Michigan State is the team to beat.

I know someone is going to ask me which is best. These kids are so good that I would call them 1a, 1b and 1c. I would probably pick DePriest. Vaughters is the fastest and most explosive but I don't like his lack of reps at linebacker, particularly the fact that he has spent so little time in coverage. Thomas is such a specimen but he reminds me of Sergio Kindle and Chris Martin, the top twenty national recruit from this year, both tall high school linebackers. Kindle is headed to the NFL as a defensive end and Martin is no longer listed by anyone as an LB. I would take Thomas and Vaughters as athletes and as football players but I would take DePriest as a linebacker.

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