Travis Beckum, TE, Wisconsin Badgers
Travis Beckum is part of a new wave of tight ends in not only the Big Ten, but in football in general. Like Dustin Keller last year, Beckum is essentially an H-back and/or a big slot receiver. Beckum’s versatility allowed him to set school records for a tight end in 2006 with 61 catches, 903 yards and 5 touchdowns. In 2007 Beckum went out and re-broke all three of his records by posting a 75 catch, 982 yard, 6 touchdown junior year. His 75.5 receiving yards per game average led the Badgers last season.
These numbers look all the more impressive in light of Wisconsin’s run first, run second style of offense. Beckum is similar in a lot of ways to the Indianapolis Colts’ Dallas Clark; More wide receiver than traditional tight end. His comfort ability playing in the slot causes match-up nightmares for opposing defenses. At 6?4? and only 235 lbs., he is slightly undersized for the position; however, he more than makes up for his lack of size with great speed and athleticism for a tight end. One of the most impressive things about this prospect is that he has only been playing tight end for 2 1/2 seasons. Beckum came to Wisconsin as one of the most highly sought after high school linebackers in the country.
After a freshman year spent playing mostly special teams, Beckum switched to tight end before his sophomore year and became a huge part of the Badger passing attack. Beckum’s production has dropped off this season, partly due to injury (he missed 7 games), and partly because the emergence of fellow Badger tight end Garrett Graham has diminished his touches in the passing game some. Beckum needs to recover from his various injuries and have a good Senior Bowl and Combine to raise his draft stock back up to its prior level. He is currently a late fourth round prospect, but a good off season could see him shoot back into the late third round.
Travis Beckum’s showing at the NFL Combine in February may have helped his draft stock some. He is coming off of injury so he didn’t run, but did participate in the bench press which opened a few eyes. Beckum put 225 pounds up 28 times, which has NFL scouts more confident that he has the strength to become an effective blocker on running plays. Because there are a lot of quality tight ends available, he may still last into the early fourth round; however, he could see his name called in the third if teams start making a run on the top players at his position.
Travis Beckum ran a less than impressive 4.61 40 yard dash time at his Pro Day workout. He is recovering from an injury, but the impressive performances of many of the other tight ends could push him into the fourth round.
Jasper Brinkley, LB, South Carolina Gamecocks
Brinkley played two seasons at Georgia Military College before transferring to South Carolina, where he was the defensive star when healthy. In 2006 he led the team in total tackles with 107 — a whopping 85 of which were solo. As a result, Brinkley went into the 2007 season on the Pre-season All-SEC First Team. An ankle injury, however, slowed him in the beginning before torn knee ligaments sidelined him for the year. Because that happened in September, Brinkley received a medical redshirt and returned to Columbia in 2008 for his senior campaign. Nevertheless, the linebacker was never the same and he recorded just 54 tackles last season. As such, physical concerns are the main red flag surrounding Brinkley among NFL personnel.
Original Story:
http://www.mkrob.com/six-sleepers-to-...
