Everybody seems to have been raving about Da'Quan Bowers, with many mock drafts having the Carolina Panthers taking him #1 overall, and all the others seem to have him in the Top 10. Me on the other hand, I am not so impressed.
First he came out of high school ranked as a consensus top 10 recruit with most recruiting agencies having him ranked #1 or #2. With that sort of high school pedigree I would expect him to be a difference maker at the collegiate level, but he never did much until his final year at Clemson. In 2008 he registered 1 sack, in 2009 he registered 3 sacks, then he had his breakout year in 2010 with 15.5 sacks. One year wonders always make me hesitant....I don't think all one year wonders are going to be busts, I happen to think Nick Fairley is going to be a very good NFL player, but that is based on the fact that I watched almost every single Auburn game and even my fiance picked him out as a great football player, and if she notices someone then they must be a BEAST! The reason I worry about 1 year collegiate wonders is that there are a few of them in recent years that I do not think lived up to their billing: Devin Thomas, Mario Williams(more on him below),
The other recent 1 year wonder that comes to mind is sure to be quite controversial is Mario Williams, drafted by the Texans #1 overall in 2006. Yes, I know that he has made a couple of Pro Bowls and that he averages 8 sacks a year, but that is not the production you expect from a #1 overall draft pick. The guy was a 1 year wonder at North Carolina State racking up 6 sacks in 2004 to 14 in 2005, and then put up some unbelievable numbers at the combine and that pushed him way up draft boards. Everything but the combine reminds me of Da'Quan. From what I remember Mario just did not show up in big games, racked up big stats against inferior opponents similar to Bowers. Bowers multiple sack games came against powerhouses: North Texas, Wake Forest, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, & Wake Forest. While he racked up 1 or 0 sacks against Auburn, South Carolina, Florida State, Boston College (against future 1st round pick Anthony Castonzo) and he racked up 0 sacks against Presbyterian (who???).
The other thing that worries me about Da'Quan is that he injured his knee in 2009 and missed a few games, and now he was unable to work out at the combine due to another knee injury. He had surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and at the combine it was reported that his recovery was going slower than expected. That draws a red flag from me, was he not rehabbing hard enough, not a hard worker, lazy? Injury worse than reported? Does his body just not recover fast enough? All of those are questions that need to be answered, and I am sure teams will get to the bottom of it, but since I do not have access to that I can only speculate.
Anyways, I just do not see Da'Quan Bowers as a top 10 pick, this is just based on the limited information that I have and my gut instinct, the last time I had this "gut instinct" it was when the Texans drafted Mario Williams and I was at least partially right there. The difference is I feel stronger about Da'Quan not being as good as advertised. The other area where I am lacking in being able to make a more educated argument against him is that I did not get to see many Clemson games, but the one game I did see and remember (Auburn) he did not appear to be a difference maker. I would love to see his film and break it down, I think it would provide the evidence I need.
Next Up: Why I believe Nick Fairley is the better D-Line prospect than everybody's new favorite Marcell Dareus!
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