Toucher & Rich: Dan Shonka's NFL Combine Review
BOSTON (CBS) - With this weekend's NFL Combine in the books and the draft almost two months away, scouting guru Dan Shonka joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich to offer his takeaways from the weekend. Shonka is a former NFL team scout and current general manager of Our Lads scouting services.
Shonka spoke to Toucher & Rich about how this upcoming draft class features depth in a position relevant to the New England Patriots: running back.
"You never know what Bill [Belichick] is going to do, but there are plenty of running backs and just because of that I think that [Shane] Vereen and [Stevan] Ridley are probably in jeopardy of getting resigned. They'll probably take somebody in the third or fourth round," said Shonka.
Shonka also explained how the NFL Combine may be overrated in terms of determining a player's worth, but individual physicals and team interviews are certainly meaningful.
"Your interview is your whole time there. It's not just 15 minutes -- scouts will ask group leaders if they're cooperative, do they get their butt out of bed, do they get out there on time, things like that. So it's quite an interview process behind the scenes," said Shonka.
The radio duo mentioned that Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota had previously been the consensus first pick, but now he appears to have fallen in various mock drafts. Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is now expected to be taken first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"The only reason [Mariota] was at the top was because of Jameis Winston's off the field problems. Now he's beaten down those problems and he's back on top," said Shonka.
"The rest is going to be a battle of can Philadelphia get up to number two to get Mariota, or is he going to go to Tennessee. That is going to be the intriguing part of these next few months."
While Shonka believes Winston will be the number one overall pick, he gave the nod of best overall player to Leonard Williams, a defensive end out of USC. He also noted a pair of wide receivers, West Virginia's Kevin White and Alabama's Amari Cooper, that will make significant impacts for their teams-to-be.
White is a 6'3" jump-ball target while Cooper is a balanced receiver that won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver.
"It's going to be between one of those two guys who's going to be the top receiver, it's just a matter of preference in what you're looking for," said Shonka.
The 2015 NFL Draft will take place April 30 - May 2 at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Listen below for the full discussion:
