Schiefelbein: Let's start speculating for 2010 draft

• By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Apr 29, 2009 - Page: 1C

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The latest NFL draft, held over the weekend, is already so last weekend.

So, let’s start the process of mock drafts and rankings and big boards all over again right now.

Among the top 200 listed by NFLDraftScout.com, LSU receiver Brandon LaFell is slotted at No. 14, with left tackle Ciron Black at No. 16.

Defensive end Rahim Alem checks in at No. 60, with running back Charles Scott at No. 80, linebacker Perry Riley at No. 91, tight end Richard Dickson at No. 123, running back Keiland Williams at 146 and safety Danny McCray at 166.

Scout.com has Black at No. 24 and LaFell at No. 27, with Scott No. 95 and free safety Chad Jones, who will be a junior, at No. 96. Riley is 123rd, Dickson 137th and Alem 142nd.

These rankings come before any amount of variables, from early entries to fate — from injury to performance on the field and at postseason workouts — can intervene.

Plus, certainly, the real pro scouts do the real drafting, and their rankings and picks matter most.

Take the numbers for what they’re worth: speculation.

Still, consider the weight of those slots, both in projecting the most recent draft and the one a full year from now, on guys like LaFell and Black and Scott, who looked hard at all this in January and will be watching to see if they made the right decisions.

LaFell was considered to be a second- or third-rounder when he initially declared for the draft in January but ultimately decided to return for his senior year.

Scott and Black announced at the same time they’d come back.

Black heard from the NFL’s College Advisory Committee he could be a first- or second-round pick. Scott said his feedback had him as a third-rounder.

The only player to leave early this time was end Ricky Jean-Francois, who had a rocky road at LSU. Suspended for all but the two 2007 postseason games, he nevertheless was the MVP of the BCS title game.