2007 NFL Draft - Stephen Nicholas - OLB
by oiler on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 02:13pm
The draft is just over a week away, and so far we’ve highlighted 1 tight end, 2 offensive linemen (a, b), 1 wide receiver, 1 running back, 2 defensive linemen (1, 2), and 2 linebackers (1, 2). I swear this is the last linebacker of this year’s group I’ll write about, but it’s a bit of a homer pick that deserves a little attention.
So first off, shame on nfl.com for not having a player bio for Stephen Nicholas. They don’t even have a school page for South Florida. They did at least add the USF pro day to their expansive list of reports.
The 2006 South Florida defense finished third in the Big East in points per game and second in yards per game. At times, the unit carried the Bulls through stretches of games when their offense was doing nothing. It was an unheralded, undersized bunch whose sum was greater than their parts. And this unit was anchored by senior linebacker and leader Stephen Nicholas.
A native of Jacksonville, the 6-1, 227 pounder runs a high 4.6 - low 4.7 forty time and benched 225lbs 29 times at the Combine. That bench result should have made scouts take note of the strength this athlete possesses. Nicholas is a very instinctive, sideline to sideline type linebacker who has great lateral movement and change of direction skills. He’s undersized, of course, but is one of those football players who plays the game faster than he runs. He can certainly manage the weak side in a one gap system. The guy just flat out makes plays. Nicholas isn’t a great tackler, but the NFL can improve his technique and build upon a solid skill-set of natural abilities. Nicholas can diagnose a play as well as any linebacker in the draft.
ESPN’s scouts project Nicholas as a mid-second day pick who’ll be a versatile backup in the NFL, but having personally watched a number Bulls games over the past four years, I think they’re selling Nicholas short. This is exactly the kind of linebacker who could get drafted by Tony Dungy and end up leading the team in tackles. I guess he could end up on Arizona’s special teams as well.