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Defensive linemen have noticeable flaws

By BOB MCGINN

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The fact that Oklahoma's Tommie Harris and Ohio State's Will Smith are so routinely trashed by personnel people should tell you all you need to know about the defensive linemen available in this National Football League draft.

There's a hole in every one of them.

Take Harris, the top-rated defensive tackle. He had nine sacks - count `em, nine - and 49 solo tackles in three seasons (37 starts).

"There's people who think he's like Bryant Young, but he's not as productive as Bryant Young (18 sacks, 121 solos from 1991-`93 at Notre Dame)," an AFC personnel director said. "He's very quick and when they don't get a hand on him, he can disrupt, but he gets washed when they get a hand on him."

Or take Smith, the top-rated end. His numbers are fine but only two of four scouts said he was better than Jamal Reynolds, the 10th pick in the 2001 draft who has been a bust in Green Bay. The comparison is valid because they have almost the same speed and were almost exactly the same dimensions at the combine.

"I can't say he was better than Jamal Reynolds coming out," an NFC personnel director said. "One thing about Jamal, he played hard all the time. Smith really doesn't do that. Similar athletes. I thought Jamal was probably a better pure pass-rusher than Will Smith."

Harris and Smith should both be gone by the 15th pick but that might be more by default. Only once in the last 20 drafts has there not been a defensive lineman among the top 10 picks. In 16 of those 20 drafts, at least one defensive lineman was a top-five pick.

Three scouts used the adjective "awful" to describe the collection of ends.

"After the top two (ends), all you can try to get is good, solid, hard-working rotation guys," Buffalo Bills assistant general manager Tom Modrak said.

Fifteen scouts agreed to rank the defensive ends and 16 scouts ranked the defensive tackles on a 1-to-4 basis, with first place being worth four points, second place three points and so forth. Some voters had to be pestered to fill out a ballot at end because it's such a down year.

"I'm not excited about anybody after Will Smith," Indianapolis President Bill Polian said.

Thirteen players got votes, led by Smith with 55 points (10 firsts). Rounding out the top seven were Southern California's Kenechi Udeze with 48 (five firsts), Western Michigan's Jason Babin with 16, Ohio State's Darrion Scott with 11, Alabama's Antwan Odom with seven and two players, Louisiana's Marquise Hill and Texas Christian's Bo Schobel, with three.

Purdue's Shaun Phillips got two votes, followed by five others with one: UCLA's Dave Ball, Georgia's Robert Geathers, Central Missouri State's Roderick Green, Delaware's Shawn Johnson and Hawaii's Travis LaBoy.

"There's probably more depth at tackle than end," Tennessee Titans director of player personnel Rich Snead said. "But I think finding tackles is always easier than finding ends."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel poll of scouts saw Harris ranked as the No. 1 tackle with 57 points (nine firsts). The top five included Miami's Vince Wilfork with 48 (seven firsts), Texas' Marcus Tubbs with 20 1/2, Florida State's Darnell Dockett with 12 1/2 and Oregon State's Dwan Edwards with nine.

Rounding out the vote-getters were Washington's Terry "Tank" Johnson with five, Maryland's Randy Starks with three, Hawaii's Isaac Sopoaga and Oregon's Junior Siavii with two, and Oregon's Igor Olshansky with one.

Rendering the evaluation process even more difficult at tackle is the number of character risks and inconsistent competitors in the group.

In the last three drafts a total of 27 defensive linemen were selected in the first round. Look for about six Saturday.

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