Mitch King Draft Update

Mitch King had a decent showing at the NFL combine. He ran a 4.83 40yd dash (20- 2.63 split 10- 1.66) which was amongst the fastest for a DT at the combine. He posted 23 reps of 225 lbs, a 33.5 inch vertical leap, 9' 01" broad jump, and a 7.60 sec. 3- cone drill. He excelled in the position drills and it really helped him to follow Michael Johnson a highly touted defensive end prospect in every drill. Mitch showed incredible balance, tecnique, hands, and short area speed(burst). It was kind of funny to see him outperforming players who will be drafted ahead of him because they will run a hair faster or they look better with their shirt off. I can only guess that Mitch did well in the interview process. I also expect he passed the medical evaluations easily.

Mike Mayock, the lead analyst, also caused a bit of a stir when he said (paraphrasing) if you could put Mitch King's heart into Michael Johnson(DE Georgia Tech, physical freak) you would have a hell of a football player. Mayock is in my opinion a cut above most analysts and I like him better than Mel Kiper and Todd McShay from ESPN. Complements from him, and criticizm for that matter should be taken seriously because I think that he has the connections to front offices that most draft analysts dream of. He also nails the picks on draft day. He was very complentary of Mitch when he spoke of him.

The last factor is what has happened in free agency. Right now the trend in the NFL is to move to the 3-4 defense. Denver and Green Bay are moving in that direction really limiting the # of teams that I personally see Mitch going to. Teams that still employ a Tampa style 4-3 are the Bears, Bengals, Bills, Buc's, Colts, and Vikings. Other 4-3 teams are the Falcons, Giants, Jaguars, Lions, Panthers, Raiders, Rams, Redskins, Saints, Seahawks, Texans, and Titans. I would eliminate Washington, New York, and Atlanta from this list. New York signed two Dts and already had decent depth and will look to go into another direction with their picks, Washington has committed a 115 Million dollors to Albert Haynesworth (41 guaranteed) and needs to address the offense in the first three rounds, Seattle actually signed Hawk alumnus Colin Cole and will probably be looking to draft a defensive lineman earlier than the third round. Scheme wise I think that one of the cover two teams make the most sense. A good team that has some depth could draft him to be a purely nickel pass rusher early in his career. It would be fun to see him line up next to Babineaux in Atlanta. King coud sneak into the second round that way depending on how many defensive lineman have been drafted in the first round and early part of the second round. I personally see Mitch going to the Colts in the third round. It would be a good fit for him and the Colts tend to draft character and speed at every position.