Author's Note: Last year, before I became a Front Page Author, I posted a few pieces on the top college prospects at the very beginning of the college football season for '09-'10. There are roughly 22 positions (11 on each side of the ball) to focus on. Each week, leading up to the very first NCAA Football Game for the '10-'11 Season, I will take a look at one of the positions. Each position will vary in the amount of players I cover. Number of players per position will range anywhere from 10-20 of the top prospects. I will be ranking them as to where I think they will be slotted in next years draft should they all enter. Mind you, these are just my opinions, but I feel that the rankings are going to be pretty close to the opinions of the rest of the Nation. I haven't seen any preseason player rankings yet, so it should be interesting to compare to once they come out.
This year the 49ers grabbed two offensive lineman in Mike Iupati and Anthony Davis. While it is yet to be seen as to how either one will pan out, the 49ers organization seems to have high hopes for these very young and potentially talented players. The offensive line is basically the motor of the offense. Without a decent to great one, it's hard to do much of anything in the way of scoring points.
In this last draft, there weren't a ton of interior lineman selected but the ones that were selected were potentially high quality prospects. All together there were 15 guards and centers picked. In the first round, there were two interior lineman selected in Maurkice Pouncey and Mike Iupati. After that there was not another guard or center selected until the 3rd round.
Below, we'll look at the selections of this years draft class at those two positions. After the jump we'll look at next years potential crop.
Round 1
17th Pick - Mike Iupati (Idaho)
18th Pick - Maurkice Pouncey (Florida)
Round 3
68th Pick - Jon Asamoah (Illinois)
80th Pick - J.D. Walton (Baylor)
98th Pick - Mike Johnson (Alabama)
Round 4
117th Pick - Joe Hawley (UNLV)
129th Pick - Jacques McClendon (Tennessee)
Round 5
147th Pick - Mitch Petrus (Arkansas)
152nd Pick - Otis Hudson (E. Illinois)
158th Pick - Matt Tennant (Boston College)
Round 6
183rd Pick - Eric Olsen (Notre Dame)
187th Pick - Shelley Smith (Colorado State)
205th Pick - Ted Larsen (NC State)
Round 7
228th Pick - Reggie Stephens (Iowa State)
229th Pick - Erik Cook (New Mexico)
Here are the top prospects entering the 2010-'11 NCAA College Football Season:
1. RODNEY HUDSON | 6'2", 290 LBS | FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES
2. MIKE POUNCEY | 6'4", 310 LBS. | FLORIDA GATORS
3. ORLANDO FRANKLIN | 6'7", 318 LBS. | MIAMI HURRICANES
4. JOHN MOFFITT | 6'5", 323 LBS. | WISCONSIN BADGERS
5. STEPHEN SCHILLING | 6'4", 304 LBS. | MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
6. JOHN BENDER | 6'8", 325 LBS. | NEVADA WOLF PACK
7. JUSTIN BOREN | 6'3", 315 LBS. | OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
8. JOVON HAYES | 6'2", 300 LBS. | ARIZONA WILDCATS
9. THOMAS CLAIBORNE | 6'3", 325 LBS. | BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES
10. ANDREW JACKSON | 6'5" 300 LBS. | FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS
CENTERS
1. STEFEN WISNIEWSKI | 6'3", 300 LBS. | PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
2. KRISTOFER O'DOWD | 6'5", 300 LBS | USC TROJANS
3. RYAN MCMAHON | 6'3", 290 LBS | FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES
4. ZANE TAYLOR | 6'2", 309 LBS. | UTAH UTES
5. WILLIAM VLACHOS | 6'1", 290 LBS. | ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE