There are six weekends remaining before the arrival of the 2011 National Football League draft, and there are even more candidates for the top overall pick.
“Everybody is kind of all over the place with who the No. 1 player should be,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper said this past week. “There are eight guys who are definitely worthy.”
Among Kiper’s eight are five from the Southeastern Conference, including Auburn quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus and Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green. Kiper’s top three prospects – LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson, Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley and Alabama’s Dareus – hail from the SEC, with Texas A&M outside linebacker Von Miller and Clemson defensive end Da’Quan Bowers rounding out his top five.
Kiper’s projections differ from his rankings, as he pegs Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert going No. 1 to Carolina, Fairley second to Denver, Dareus third to Buffalo, Newton fourth to Cincinnati and Miller fifth to Arizona. New Panthers coach Ron Rivera attended Auburn’s pro day last Tuesday and watched Fairley and Newton.
“What Ron has to do first of all is assess where Jimmy Clausen is,” Kiper said. “He’s a quarterback he inherits, and he wasn’t 100 percent coming off the foot injury and had no talent around him. Do you think one of these other guys is a franchise guy, or do you think you can move forward with Jimmy?