Okay, so with his final defensive pick, Sands takes Denzel Perryman, LB. First-Team Freshman All-America, and one of the best young LBs I've seen in years. This is a projection, no doubt, but there are some other guys who's UM time was cut short, and are projections too, in effect. And I'm okay with that all around.
I struggled here because there's a LB on the board who deserves to be taken. Tano and I discussed him. He led UM in tackles 3 times in the '80s and completed his time at UM as the school's all-time leading tackler (since broken by Dan Morgan). I went for Conners with that spot, based on my NFL production view described above. At my last LB spot, from a team construction POV, I wanted a guy who I think can play inside and out, as I like the flexibility to put Hendricks at DE or LB, and can't do that if I have two pure ILBs to go with Webster (who also could play inside and out). So I'm taking a risk with Denzel, but also think this is a pick that could make me look good in a few years, similar to a Graham, B. Wash, CC and some other guys. This is the biggest projection yet, because of his youth. But I like that I've got a guy who will play for UM this fall. And I think he'll end up being a better pro than the guy I'm passing on (who didn't end up being a pro, despite his UM success).
So there it is.