Brian Price
Another day and another position ranking gets shaken up by another under classman declaring for the NFL Draft. This time it is UCLA junior DT Brian Price who will forego his senior season, and make himself available for the upcoming NFL Draft.
Price will enter the draft as the third highest rated DT, behind Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh, and Oklahoma’s Gerald McCoy. While the draft advisory board has yet to give Price their guide as to where he will be drafted, there is little doubt he would stay on the board past the first round. In fact he seems a lock to be a top 20 pick next April.
The great thing about Price is his play got better as the 2009 UCLA season progressed. In his final regular season game for the Bruins he had a sack on Arizona State QB Samson Szakacsy, where he was able to strip the ball on a play that led to a UCLA touchdown.
Price was tied for third nationally this year with tackles for a loss (20.5) a number that included 7 sacks. In 2008 he had 14.5 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks. The fact that he got better later in the year is more impressive when we consider that many teams started to double team him.
At 6-2 and 300 pounds, Price is the model of a NFL DT. It seems he is yet another junior looking to cash in before a potential NFL work stoppage, and the likely addition of a Rookie pay scale that will limit how much money rookie players can make based on their draft position.
By
Josh Lobdell
