Name: OG/C Rodney Hudson
School: Florida State
Size: 6'2, 300 lbs
Expected Round: 2nd
40 Time: 5.27s
Career Stats: Click Here. Started at left guard since his freshman year.
Player Previews: CBS; Walter Football; NFL Combine [If you would like your website included, please e-mail me!]
Strengths: Plays to the whistle. Has surprising strength to handle bull rushes and quickness to counter speed rushers. Does an excellent job of mirroring the opposition to prevent them from getting into the backfield. Highly intelligent player who uses his intelligence to get in position to take advantage of the scenario. Gets into the second level to run block. Extremely quick and can get his hands in position.
Weaknesses: Played at 285ish pounds, which is light, so it'll be important how he plays with additional weight. If he can convert it into muscle, he'll be fine, but if he added bulk weight, he won't be impressive. His size could lead to some problems against bigger nose tackles in the ever-more-frequent 3-4 defense.
Why and Why Not the Patriots after the jump, and my final verdict!
Why the Patriots?: There are very few technical holes in Hudson's game. He's a very sound player who could play all three interior line positions in the NFL. He's smart enough to play center, strong enough to play right guard, and quick enough to hold left guard. He's an ideal interior linemen if his added weight is all muscle. He has the size of Ryan Wendell who didn't do terribly against the Packers, except that Hudson is a much more sound athlete and technician.
Why Not the Patriots?: Well, who knows where Hudson's ceiling is in the NFL. He's a little undersized, even if he adds the weight, so he may be a center, but converting into a center is a risky position to use the second round pick needed to take him. While there are other pure guard prospects with lesser college pedigree, they all have a lot more upside due to their frames. We all know Dante Scarneccia can work wonders, so why not take a guard in the middle rounds with more upside and try and mold him?
Verdict: I actually like Hudson as a player. I think that he produced in college and that he can continue to produce in the NFL, regardless of his size. However, his maxed out size is still a factor to include in the overall evaluation. If he drops to 60, I would consider it. If he's around at 74, I'd say it's a no brainer. He can ball.