B1G draft prospect superlatives with Pro Football Focus

With the NFL draft just two short weeks away, we called our friends at Pro Football Focus for some perspective.

Pro Football Focus B1G analyst Josh Liskiewitz came out with a mock draft this week, which included several B1G prospects. Rather than just talk about the prospects he included in his mock, we opened things up a bit.

Liskiewitz handed out 10 B1G draft prospect superlatives.

Note: Liskiewitz’s responses were edited for length

1. Betting house on to succeed in NFL — Marshon Lattimore, Ohio State CB

Liskiewitz — A couple things I like about him. Obviously, he’s got size, he’s got athleticism, he can be physical in coverage. But what I really like about him in coverage is his ability to recover. If he gets beaten off the break, he has the speed and athleticism and awareness to get back involved with the play and try to break it up or at least minimize damage. All of that translates really well and I think he’s gonna be a helluva player.

2. Isn’t getting first-round love from anyone but you — Jourdan Lewis, Michigan CB

Liskiewitz — Obviously, he has the pending legal matter. If that wasn’t enough, I think his height is probably enough to keep him from going in the first round, especially in such a deep corner draft.

But all this guy has done is produce at the highest level the last two years of college football. He’s outstanding with the ball in the air despite his size. He’s repeatedly defended and broken up passes against receivers that are bigger than him. He has very good athleticism, he can be physical, he can play in the slot, which is a starter in the NFL now because most teams are playing in their nickel package for a percentage of time. I like Jourdan Lewis for that. I think he’s gonna translate very well, as well.

3. Will make Day-3 projection look comical — George Kittle, Iowa TE

Liskiewitz — For whatever reason, George Kittle seems to not be getting the respect. Now, I don’t care so much where he gets picked. If he does go Day 3 or deep into Day 2 where he belongs…when you look at this guy’s full skill-set, he just screams that he’s going to be a better NFL player than he was in college.

He wasn’t used properly in the receiving game. He’s an excellent blocker, especially in movement schemes like teams that run a lot of outside zone. I think he’s gonna be fantastic in that capacity, and that’s super, super valuable…he’s such a valuable player. I think he’s gonna make teams look silly if they pass on him.

4. Just can’t understand hype — Raekwon McMillan, Ohio State LB

Liskiewitz — I really don’t see why people are so gung-ho on him. There’s still some people who feel he should be a late first-round pick. I think he’s a mid-to-late third at best. Yes, he’s got size. He timed well at the combine, but that speed doesn’t show at all on film. I think he has real issues in coverage, both with speed and in terms of instincts. If you look at him against the run, he’ll show flashes of being able to take on blockers, but it’s not very consistent.

I just don’t think he’s anywhere near consistent enough of a player to be considered a first- or second-round pick, especially considering I really don’t think he can play on third down.

5. Drafted too high because of combine performance — Chris Godwin, Penn State WR

Liskiewitz — Part of that is the way this draft class sets up at wide receiver. There aren’t too many guys that are that natural ‘X’ receiver, that No. 1 that can line up outside and beat man coverage and consistently win the jump ball.

I’m not convinced Godwin can consistently beat coverage because I don’t think his speed shows up as much on film as it did at the combine. He had real big numbers there that helped him out. Certainly he can win the jump ball, but I don’t think he’s going to be anywhere near as consistent and as productive as his combine numbers measure out.

6. Drafted too low because of combine performance — Jaleel Johnson, Iowa DT

Liskiewitz — His athleticism that he showed at the combine really was stunning to me. Not that I expected him to be a top-flight guy, but to me, he’s one of the more natural three-techniques in this entire draft class in terms of ability to explode off the ball, penetrate gaps and rush the passer from the interior. I think he’s one of the more natural guys there.

There’s no sugarcoating it. He looked fat, slow and out of shape at the combine. I’m not really sure what to think of that. In terms of on-field play, he’s a third-round guy. He has a lot of value because of the lack of depth at his very specific role, at least what it should be in the NFL.

7. Biggest high-risk, high-reward guy — Malik McDowell, Michigan State DL

Liskiewitz — I think he’s probably still gonna go in the first round, and quite honestly, that terrifies me. I wrote about him last summer about how he was tracking in terms of his production his first two years and how it was similar to (former Oregon star) DeForest Buckner.

Obviously this last year was just a disaster. You look at the Notre Dame and he’s just unblockable. He’s got size, speed, power, he can rush inside and outside. But then you look at the rest of the year and it looked like he really didn’t care too terribly much to be there. Apparently he got booted from the team for the last game and when your off-field problems start to show up in your on-field play, that’s when I get really concerned. I felt like that was the case for him.

8. No combine invite but you want on your team — Austin Carr, Northwestern

Liskiewitz — I would take Austin Carr all day long. He was really outstanding this year. He had the individual performance of the entire year in terms of B1G play against Ohio State. I just think he has “NFL slot receiver” written all over him. I don’t care what anyone thinks he tests, but he can catch, he can run routes, he can after the catch. That’s an NFL player right now. That’s a very valuable guy. I think he’s gonna have a nice career somewhere.

9. First QB prospect to start NFL game — C.J. Beathard, Iowa QB

Liskiewitz — I have a feeling Beathard will start one. It’s gonna be because of an injury. It’s not gonna be because he’s worked his way up. I think he’s going to be that sort of career backup guy. His name certainly helps, so inevitably at some point down the road, I think that he’ll end up getting a start or two just because of depth chart issues.

10. More NFL production than Myles Garrett — None

Liskiewitz — There’s a reason Myles Garrett is the one sure-fire prospect in this draft, and I don’t see anyone else out-producing him. The other issue probably being that I don’t see any of the edge guys in the B1G being able to compete with him. Obviously, it’s tough to measure production of a corner vs. production of an edge defender. We have our grading system and that helps to some extent, but I just don’t think there’s anybody that can match up to what we think Myles Garrett can be.