Random Thoughts: Sleepers

by Drew Boylhart 

My definition of a sleeper is a bit different than most everybody else’s.  My definition of a sleeper is a player on a team that is being over looked because everybody is too busy evaluating and promoting the star of that team.  He is hiding right in front of your eyes.  That being said here are just some of the obvious sleepers too me.  

Mike McGlynn OL Pittsburgh - Mike is being over looked because everybody is struck with the potential, size and athletic talent of Jeff Otah.  Mike might not have the pure LT talents that Jeff has but Mike’s versatility and talents reminds me a lot of Ross Verba OL Lions.   Mike has the ability to play tackle, guard or center.  He has excellent leadership qualities and mental stamina.   The team that drafts Mike will be drafting a player who should start and impact in one of those three positions the day after you draft him.  

Corey Lynch S Appalachian St  - Corey is being overlooked because everyone is looking at Dexter Jackson WR, who has excellent speed and quickness.  The truth is that Corey has the developmental talent to be one of the best safeties in this draft class.  His tackling skills and leadership skills along with solid athletic talent means that in a year or two he should be your starting Safety and a core player for the team that drafts him.  He is also an ace special teams player.         

Matt Flynn QB LSU - This one really baffles me.  Matt worked out at the combine and just had his Pro day, and still not a report that the kid exists in the football world.  All this kid did was bail his coach out everytime his coach decided to get fancy and replace him in the middle of a game that Matt was leading his team in.  He makes good decisions in the pocket and has a good arm and shows overall good athletisum to play his position.  Lets just say for the hell of it that I am totally wrong about Matt Flynn and he is not a very good QB for the next level.  Why haven’t we heard that opinion from somebody, anybody!  I mean I have had many people who disagree with me about a player’s talent for the next level.  The one thing I’ve never seen is a QB in a high profile college who leads his team to two championship games - not be discussed by anybody at all!  Matt Flynn is not a sleeper.  Matt Flynn is the definition of a player who is a coma patient of the NFL draft!  I mean really how do you not talk about this kid good or bad - at all?      

Marcus Monk WR Arkansas - As far as I can tell the new way to evaluate players for the draft is to consider injuries and not talent as a deciding factor for that player to be a future impact player at the next level.  Of course if that were true then there would be a lot of impact player’s who play right now in the NFL that would not have been drafted at all!  Before his knee injuries Marcus was considered to be one of the better WR’s in the country.  My point is that he did this while playing on a team that had Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.  So Marcus had two knee operations and all of a sudden he has no more talent!  Marcus comes back and play’s this year before he is all the way back from his knee operations and this means he has lost his talent!  We all know that players who have knee operations never come back from them - right!  You have got to be kidding me that Marcus is not being considered as a top WR in this draft.  If leg problems can drop a talented player to almost being out of a draft then why is everybody so high on Glen Dorsey?