The Football Fan Spot

Middle Linebacker 

Florida

6-3 245

40 time (projected): 4.64

Draft board overall prospect rank: #23

Draft board middle linebacker rank: #3

Overall rating: 85*

1/23/10: Spikes could slip out of the first round because of his position. He may have made a mistake by returning to school this year. Not only did his tackles total drop for the 2^nd straight year, from 131 to 87 to 52, he was also exposed in coverage a lot, though he did have two picks, and he had some injuries issues, as well as one character red flag when he tried to poke out the eye of an exposing player through his facemask. He may just be a 2 down run stopping middle linebacker at the next level unless he can improve in coverage.

6/23/09: Brandon Spikes is the most decorated college linebacker this season because of his role in the Florida Gators’ 2008 “National Championship”. He’s 245 pounds, up 15 from the beginning of last season, which means he might have room still to grow. He hits like a ton of bricks and is extremely aggressive in bringing down the ball carrier. Sometimes, he’s too aggressive and will miss tackles or forget to wrap up, but that very rarely happens. There really isn’t one thing he’s bad at that’s his biggest strength. As a linebacker, he is amazing is pass coverage and has great hands. He picked off 4 passes last year, looking like a cornerback in the process, and then returned 2 for touchdowns in kick returner esque fashion. He could probably play running back, but not well enough to do it on a professional level, so he’ll obviously stay on the defensive side of the ball. He’s a very smart player who can do whatever you ask of him. He was used on blitzes occasionally last year and did very well in pass rushing for a middle linebacker. He doesn’t have great speed and he’s certainly not a sideline-to-sideline type middle linebacker, but he’ll still going to run a mid 4.6s 40 which isn’t bad. However, because of his speed, he’s likely going to only be able to play middle linebacker in the 4-3, though his skills set might indicate that he is someone who can play more than one position. He’s about 10 pounds too small to play 3-4 middle linebacker, not a good enough pass rusher to play 3-4 outside linebacker, and not fast enough to play 4-3 outside linebacker. His motor isn’t great and he’s not one of those players that you can say never takes a play off, but he’s certainly not lazy. He’s just an all-around solid middle linebacker, who has a great knack for the game and should have a solid NFL career. 

NFL Comparison: EJ Henderson 

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here