DRAFT WATCH: Virginia Tech Edition

When I was younger, each year a new black and white covered composition notebook would be my "draft book". I would then steal the draft preview issue of my dad's Sporting News and start predicting. No lie, I would do multiple seven round mock drafts in that notebook. So many so that the magazine would eventually fall apart from wear and tear. Then I would have to staple it back together.

I think it goes without saying, I didn't have a ton of friends growing up.

So, it's obvious that the NFL Draft is one of my favorite sporting events of the year, and it has been for quite some time. I'm not a draftnik by any means (things like a girlfriend and a drinking habit keep you away from seven-round notebook mocks), I just love it because it's one of the few times in a year that college football and the NFL worlds collide.

This year is even more entertaining, as four Virginia Tech players that we have watched grow over the past four years are all considered draftees: Kyle Fuller, Antone Exum, James Gayle, and Logan Thomas. I think this is a better time than ever to delve into my inner nerd and look at the stock of these four gentlemen.

Kyle Fuller

Stock Watch: HIGH. As we've all noticed, Kyle's stock has been skyrocketing ever since the season ended. While some may find it confusing that a player who only played meaningful snaps in seven games during his senior year has seen his stock rise, it makes sense when you think about the timeline of the offseason. The biggest push in draft preparation comes after the season has ended, in which you take the tape of countless draft eligible players and figure out which ones you like in order to watch them at the NFL Combine.

Well, if you remember, Fuller had some outstanding games when he was healthy. Scouts would go back and watch him shut down Amari Cooper, be all over the field against Marshall (4 pass breakups and a blocked punt) and serve as a human missile against Georgia Tech. That's some pretty outstanding tape that would be fresh in people's minds as they watched him run a 4.49 second 40-yard dash at the combine. All of a sudden, Kyle was considered one of the elite corners in the draft.

The Grade: Solidly in the first round. There are five corners who have been in the first round conversation post-combine: Fuller, Oklahoma State's Justin Gilbert, Michigan State's Darqueze Dennard, TCU's Jason Verrett, and Ohio State's Bradley Roby. Usually, in positional group so loaded with top-end talent, someone falls into the second round. With Robypleading down from a DUI last week, it looks like we've found the guy most likely to drop out.

The Projection: I think we'll see Fuller go anywhere between 15 (to the Steelers) and 27 (to the Saints), but he won't get past the 49ers at 30. I could be selling him short, however, because it looks like teams even higher could be interested.

Antone Exum

Stock Watch: Up considering the injury? Down considering where he was at the end of his junior season? Things could be better for Exum, who's been behind the 8-ball ever since the now-infamous basketball fiasco. We've seen guys get drafted even after a big time injury, but now the biggest problem that Antone faces is the dreaded "tweener" status. Often reserved for basketball players, it is applies to Exum because teams aren't sure if he's a corner or a safety.

Sure, he has about seven games of good cornerback tape on his resume before the injury, but the problem is that's it. The other six games were, well let's just call them a work in progress, and his junior season was his only at corner. Will teams be willing to even give him a shot at a position that he's only played 13 games at? After reading this article by Andy Bitter, it seems like teams wanted to see if Exum was open to the idea of playing either position (corner or safety), and let's hope for his sake that he is.

The Grade: Depending on who you ask and when you asked them, Exum has been anywhere between a second rounder and a fifth rounder. It seems like things are settling down closer to the fourth round, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him go anywhere from the third to the sixth round (and I'm tending to think the latter part of that range.) That sucks, and I know everyone hates reading it, considering everything Antone has done for Virginia Tech. I mean, the guy literally sacrificed his professional draft stock for the good of the team, switching from safety to corner in the middle of his career like he did and this is how he gets repaid? More importantly, should we officially add off-season basketball to the list of things that young athletes should avoid?

For the record, this is the list of things that young athletes should avoid: motorcycles, mopeds, anything involving booze, anything involving women, anything involving both booze and women, pro days, shopping at Publix (no link required), signing things you're not supposed to, not signing things that you're supposed to and FINALLY, of course, playing for Mike London.

The Projection: I think Exum ends up going to a team in the fifth round who would have the luxury of "redshirting" him if need be, meaning that they can sit him on the practice squad to make sure that he develops. I don't think that that would be a good fit in Carolina or Atlanta (two teams that he's worked out for), but maybe in a place like Arizona, San Francisco, or Seattle. All could use secondary depth, and all have smart enough coaches to know Antone's talent is worth developing.

The Bane

Stock Watch:James Gayle's stock hasn't moved for a calendar year. After being told by the NFL Draft Advisory Board that he would most likely be a mid-round pick in 2012, Gayle came back to Blacksburg for another season. After that season, it looks like he's going to be a mid-round pick again. The depth at end is a muddled mess, as Jadeveon Clowney clearly sits at the top of the class, with Missouri's Kony Ealy, Notre Dame's Stephon Tuitt, and Auburn's Dee Ford forming a second tier. After that, it's anyone's guess as to who goes next. Guys like Gayle, Texas' Jackson Jeffcoat, UNC's Kareem Martin, and Louisville's Marcus Smith all fill the middle rounds, with no one prospect overtaking the others.

The Grade: That blurry middle group makes it hard to figure out where Gaye could go. Does he get tabbed as one of the best of rest and get taken in the early third, or does he slide to the mid-fifth round if scouts didn't like the way he answered the brick question? My gut says that he will go solidly in the fourth round to a team in need of a pass rushing specialist.

The Projection: According to Norm Wood, the only team that Gayle has met with was the Titans, which would definitely be a fit at pick 112 (fourth round). Tennessee could be in the midst of a defensive scheme change after hiring a new coach, and guys like Gayle who could play in either a 4-3 or a 3-4 would be important for the switch. Personally, I think that a team should want to use him as a 4-3 end as opposed to a 3-4 linebacker, allowing him to do what he does best—wreck havoc in the backfield—without having to drop much into coverage. Jacksonville would be an interesting fit, head coach Gus Bradley turned pass rushers into savants during his time in Seattle, as would Atlanta, Denver, New England and the Giants. If a team thinks he can move well enough in space to convert to 3-4 linebacker, though, the Steelers, Texans, Eagles and Saints could all use depth help.

(If we're being honest though, I'm pretty sure all 32 teams would like some depth at pass rusher. It's one of those things that you can't really get enough of, kind of like Photoshopped crab leg pictures.)

Logan Thomas (The Mystery)

Stock Watch: \_()_/

The Grade: \_()_/

The Projection: \_()_/

In all seriousness Logan is one of the biggest mysteries in the draft, and we all know why. Built like a mix of Cam Newton, Rob Gronkowski, and The Incredible Hulk, Logan has all of the measurable ability that one could desire. For instance, he threw what was thought to be the fastest ball in the history of the combine this winter, and turned heads in numerous workouts. Then, you go look at his film and see a pro-caliber pass mixed in with two or three dumbfounding turnovers.

The thing that's working most in Logan's favor is ego. The NFL is full of it, and any coach who considers himself to be a "quarterback whisper" (and there are a ton of them) has to look at Thomas and think about the positive what-ifs as opposed to the negatives. Sure, at this point in time he's not as good of a quarterback as Aaron Murray, Derek Carr, or A.J. McCarron. Five years down the line, though, he has the potential to be better than all of them. The problem with that line of thinking, though, is that he also has the potential to be out of the league in five years, so this relies heavily on the team that chooses him.

Before we get to the projection, let's look at two interesting draft-day comparisons to Logan, one from a few years ago and one from this year.

In 2011, a six-foot, three-inch quarterback with a ton of talent came into the process with a lot of questions. He was one of those guys that had been endeared by scouts since drawing John Elway comparisons in high school, but never quite lived up to the hype in college. He never completed more than 58 percent of his passes, and threw 35 interceptions in 36 games.

Despite all of the questions about his accuracy, Washington's Jake Locker flew up draft boards due to his athleticism and arm strength, and was eventually take eighth overall by the Titans (a reach, but he was still rated the 25th best player by both Mel Kiper and Todd McShay). While he has shown flashes, Locker has never been able to put it all together on the field, battling injuries and the elevated expectations of a top-ten pick.

This year, another quarterback has skyrocketed up draft boards. He's big, athletic and raw, recruited as a tight end by most schools before ending up a quarterback at a school in a non-power conference. He put up good stats, but struggled to find consistency when playing bigger conference opponents. Despite questions about his footwork, throwing motion and arm strength, Blake Bortles looks like a near-lock to be a top draft pick. Chris Brown wrote an interesting feature on the three big name quarterbacks for Grantland, and Bortles' section stuck out the most. Is he benefitting from playing at a school that wasn't on ESPN every week? Does he have an advantage because he "looks like what a NFL quarterback is supposed to look like," especially compared to Teddy Bridgewater and Johnny Manziel? To me, he seems like more of a project than some scouts are willing to admit, but when a team in desperate need of a quarterback selects him, will Bortles be able to withstand the pressure of being a young QB on a bad team?

The point I'm trying to make is that sometimes it's not a bad thing when you're stock takes a little bit of a hit. Sure, it's a big deal financially (which can't be understated), but look at where Logan is right now on draft boards: he's considered a guy who needs to sit for a while, while learning and refining things under an NFL coach. Pressure? There won't be any, considering that he'd more than likely be sitting behind an established starting quarterback.

The best case scenario is that he'd be given what I like to call the Kaepernick treatment, sitting for over a year while being groomed to take over a team. The worst case in this scenario is that he goes the way of Ryan Mallett, the talented quarterback out of Arkansas who's best known for giving Tom Brady high fives in New England. Somehow, this has translated itself into Mallett being an interesting commodity for other teams over the past two years.

I think Logan is in a great place right now. I've been convinced for a while now that he'll go in the second round, and while I may be cooling off of that hot take a little, he will still likely be a day two (second and third round) pick. As far as team fit goes, I've seen mocks that put him in San Francisco, San Diego, Baltimore and more. One of the more underrated fits for Logan would be in Chicago, where they could grab him with the 82nd pick. They just signed Jay Cutler to a massive extension, so there's no pressure for Logan to take over the job immediately. It would also give Marc Trestman, one of the best quarterback gurus in the league, a young guy to groom.

Situations like Logan's is what makes the draft fun, we don't know where anyone is going to go and most of us will tune in to watch. What we do know, though, is that this is just the first step in many of our favorite players' road to professional football.