The NFL Draft is still about six weeks away, but this is the time of year when scouts, coaches and media are scrutinizing players all over the country to determine their chances for success on the NFL level, and what kind of players they’ll be when they get there.

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SMU had two players — wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and running back Shawnbrey McNeal — take part in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, and scout Kevin Weidl of ESPN Scouts, Inc., visited with PonyFans.com to discuss Sanders and McNeal, and how league scouts view them as professional prospects.

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EMMANUEL SANDERS

I really like Emmanuel Sanders a lot. I’ve had a chance to watch a lot of film on him, and I was able to watch him practice and play in the East-West Shrine Game … and the practices are the important part — that’s where the NFL scouts really get to watch you work and learn and see how much you improve.

Kevin Weidl said that as teams stress the passing game more every year, players like Emmanuel Sanders will find work in the NFL (photo by Travis Johnston).

The thing I like most about Sanders is his ability to transition in and out of cuts when he’s running routes. He’s able to plant that foot when he’s changing direction and really get a burst when he starts in a new direction … and he never loses his balance.

He sets up defenders in man coverage and is able to get some separation, even against some really fast corners — again, that’s because of how well he gets in and out of his cuts. It’s not just speed.

He’s very quick. At 5-11, he’s a shorter guy, but he’s got a lot of juice. He’s going to have to play in the slot in the NFL, but he’ll be good there, where he can work safeties. As the NFL goes to more and more of a pass-happy league, guys like Sanders are going to make it.

I’m really impressed with his hands, and his balance getting in and out of cuts. He reminds me a lot of (Cleveland Browns wide receiver) Chansi Stuckey, but he’s quicker and a lot more explosive. I don’t think he even needs to run on Pro Day. If he thinks he can run faster, then he should, but he ran a 4.41 (tied for second among wide receivers at the Combine), and that’s really good.

I don’t think teams will hold the Run-and-Shoot offense he played in against him … partly because he didn’t play his first two years in that system under the other coaching staff, so that shows he’s versatile enough to play in a number of different offenses. But the best thing that happened to Sanders is (Miami Dolphins wide receiver) Davone Bess. He played in June Jones’ offense at Hawaii, and he has turned into a pretty good NFL receiver. I don’t think there’s that much of a stigma about playing in that offense for wide receivers.

With quarterbacks, you get a little scared about that because they usually don’t have a lot of pocket presence after playing in the shotgun all the time, but receivers … they’re used to running these routes. As long as they can read coverages on the run, and they’re smart, they’ll get a chance to play. Sanders is smart and it’s obvious he can read coverages. He’ll get a shot.

I think he’ll go in the fourth round, or maybe the third. A team like the New England Patriots would be perfect for Sanders — they’re always looking for slot receivers, inside guys. He could be a lot like Wes Welker. Maybe St. Louis, Kansas City, Indianapolis — teams that like to get into a lot of four- and five-wide receiver sets.

SHAWNBREY McNEAL

I don’t know as much about McNeal, because there isn’t as much game film out there on him. He was part of the rotation at Miami, so really we’ve only got one year of film to go on with him as a starter.

Weidl said SMU's Shawnbrey McNeal is a "fringe" prospect to get drafted, but can help his case by improving his 40 time on SMU's Pro Day (photo by Travis Johnston).

McNeal is quicker than he is fast. He can catch the ball out of the backfield — looks like he has nice hands — and he’ll have to do that in the NFL. He’s a change-of-pace back, probably a third-down back.

He measured in at 5-9, 194, and at that size, you’d like to see him run a little faster than 4.56. That’s not a bad time, but it doesn’t jump out at you. Hopefully he can run a little faster at his Pro Day, but what is really impressive about him is that he has good vision, and he runs pretty hard for a guy his size.

The Run-and-Shoot could be a little more concerning with McNeal than it is with Sanders, because it’s a pass-first offense. McNeal looked good running the ball, but again, he’s going to have to show teams that he can catch the ball out of the backfield, which he can, and that he can block when teams blitz. NFL teams aren’t going to be in the spread as much as SMU is, so he’s going to have to use his vision, and that includes running within the tackles. He’s going to have to make quicker, better reads at the next level.

McNeal is a guy who has to run at SMU’s Pro Day, and he’s got to improve. Like I said, 4.56 is not terrible, but for a guy who’s 5-9, 194 … he’s not the biggest of backs, so you’d like to see more speed. That time is not going to kill him, in terms of his chance of getting picked up, but I’d want to see more speed to make sure he gets drafted.

Right now, he’s a fringe guy, in terms of whether he gets drafted. But if he doesn’t get drafted, he’ll get in to a camp, and when he does, he’ll have to make his case and really earn his way on to the roster. He’ll have to show he can block and catch the ball out of the backfield, and he’ll definitely have to contribute on special teams. He’ll have to convince a team that he can contribute in a bunch of different ways.