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5) SMU DE Margus Hunt
Hunt is a unique player with a very interesting background. He grew up in Karksi-Nuia, Estonia and was a track star. He won gold medals in the shot and the discus at the 2006 World Junior Championships. He checked in at 6-foot-8 and weighed 277 pounds at the Senior Bowl. He is expected to run in the 4.7 neighborhood and leap around 9-10 in the broad jump. I had a chance to watch him train at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., last month, and he was very impressive in the shuttle drills as well.

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I wonder if Margus' age (26 before next season begins) will hamper his draft status. As good as he was for us, he's still very raw by NFL standards and will need some time to develop. You certainly can't coach his size and athleticism, though.

I kind of doubt it. Scouts are well aware, of course, that he's older than most of the other draft-eligible players, but two have told me that they're not concerned because his late start in football suggests he has loads of room for improvement, and he has taken relatively minimal physical abuse because he has played so much less football than other players in the draft, so he might have a career of similar length as some younger players of similar ability.

PonyPride wrote:I kind of doubt it. Scouts are well aware, of course, that he's older than most of the other draft-eligible players, but two have told me that they're not concerned because his late start in football suggests he has loads of room for improvement, and he has taken relatively minimal physical abuse because he has played so much less football than other players in the draft, so he might have a career of similar length as some younger players of similar ability.

Also he's young enough to last for two contracts if he pans out.

If he stays healthy, he could have more than 2. He should have three contracts of the 3-4 year range, or more if he signs any short ones.

East Coast Mustang wrote:I wonder if Margus' age (26 before next season begins) will hamper his draft status. As good as he was for us, he's still very raw by NFL standards and will need some time to develop. You certainly can't coach his size and athleticism, though.

He is more physically mature, extremely flexible and has less mileage. Believe they will look at is as less wear an tear to the soft tissues.

WildHorse wrote:If he stays healthy, he could have more than 2. He should have three contracts of the 3-4 year range, or more if he signs any short ones.

I am just using the barometer of 2 deals as a fair way for a franchise to evaluate whether it makes sense to take him. With free agency the way it is you want to get at least that so you can get at least 6-8 years out of your best picks. After that you may not have either the cap or desire to retain the player.

Being on the road I noticed USA Today mentioned Margus both Thursday and Friday (headline one day, photo the other). Not bad!

Gil Brandt's evaluation of Margus:

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2013/profiles/ ... id=2539310