Mercilus Whitney looking to go pro

[supercowboy8]

Mercilus ready to bolt?
I continue to hear a lot of buzz about Illinois DE Whitney Mercilus preparing to leave school a year early for the NFL draft. Mercilus is a bit of a one-year wonder who leads the nation with 14.5 sacks (after notching just one sack in 2010), lacks elite first-step explosiveness and he has just adequate athleticism.

However, he has a great frame (6-foot-4, 265 pounds), long arms and he has shown vast improvement in hand-to-hand combat. Mercilus also shows good speed-to-power moves as a pass-rusher and the ability to bend the edge with good body control. His motor has been running hot all season long, he is a fumble-forcing machine and does a nice job getting his long arms up to affect passing windows.

Mercilus is by no means a first-round lock, but he has a chance to work his way into the top 50 picks, assuming he plans to be playing on Sundays next season.


http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2012/notebook?page=12draftbuzz1202

 

[Dwight]

Mercilus ready to bolt?
I continue to hear a lot of buzz about Illinois DE Whitney Mercilus preparing to leave school a year early for the NFL draft. Mercilus is a bit of a one-year wonder who leads the nation with 14.5 sacks (after notching just one sack in 2010), lacks elite first-step explosiveness and he has just adequate athleticism.

However, he has a great frame (6-foot-4, 265 pounds), long arms and he has shown vast improvement in hand-to-hand combat. Mercilus also shows good speed-to-power moves as a pass-rusher and the ability to bend the edge with good body control. His motor has been running hot all season long, he is a fumble-forcing machine and does a nice job getting his long arms up to affect passing windows.

Mercilus is by no means a first-round lock, but he has a chance to work his way into the top 50 picks, assuming he plans to be playing on Sundays next season.


http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2012/notebook?page=12draftbuzz1202

I would love for him to drop in the second or third round. He would be a steal for the Cowboys. He could play OLB in the 3-4 Defense.

 

[VACowboy]

Long arms and good hands help cover up the burst issue, but it sounds like he has good pursuit speed. Mebbe he'll slide like Dumervil did.

 

[JerryFan]

It's looking about 50/50 right now whether Mercilus leaves or not. A guy to keep an eye on for later in the draft is Illinois bandit Michael Buchanan. He is prolly gonna go pro but not quite ready and will slide into the later rounds. This kid has all the skill in the world just needs some more PT. He had a decent year also just not the year Mercilus had.

 

[burmafrd]

the burst is exactly what Spencer lacks

 

[Phrozen Phil]

Why has nobody gone for the obvious? We take him at some point and then annoint him Mercilus the Merciless.

(Perhaps too obvious?):