Newby here, just working on my mock and lurking to see your opinions of what you guys need. It sounds like (moreso than any other board I've been on) a lot of you rate Pollack pretty high.
I'm a UGA and Falcon fan, so let me give you my take on Pollack. I watch UGA about every weekend or listen to their games over the net, and I always try to watch Pollack objectively. It's always been (until this past year) my opinion that he's overrated. In trying to be a critic though, I've found there really isn't anything to dislike about him (believe me, I've been trying). He continually bull rushes OTs that outweigh him by 50 or more pounds and seems to always fight through double teams and sometimes through three blockers when you throw in the RB. For a guy who is said to have short arms, I've never seen anyone make as many sacks by throwing the OT back in the QBs face, then reaching around both sides of the OT to grab the QB and throw both of them to the ground. Pollack does ocassionally get flagged for the personal foul (blow to the helmet) on the QB, mostly because an OT has him buried, but he still manages to find the QB behind the blocker that's masking him and shielding him from the QB. Simply put, he just leaves me shaking my head sometimes, wondering how in the heck he can pull off some of the feats that he does (and more or less disprove me in my attempt to discount him).
So, after another year of trying to be his worst critic, I got to give him all the props in the world. I can't find a thing wrong with him.
That said though, #13 might be a little early for him, but not much.
Keep in mind though that Pollack is a DE. He has never played a down of OLB at UGA (not one single snap, and I've seen almost all of them). Playing 5-10 yards further off the ball, I'm just not so sure about. He plays DE on both sides and/or seems to rotate from one DE spot to the other at any time in a series.
I've also heard/read a lot about him being an OLB in a 3-4. I'm sure he could do it to, but that's an aweful large risk for someone who never has, especially at a juncture between college and the NFL. I just think moving him to OLB is too big of a risk to take (unless the team that drafts him is also week at DE and could use him there) unless it is done very late in the first round.
Pollack's strength is getting into the opponant's backfield. I don't think he could cover a WR (maybe he could play a zone as a LB). He could probably cover a TE. I think putting him into a roll where he is required to go laterally (for longer distances) or back (in coverage) is just not something he could get use to. Even if he could, his fire comes from his ability to just charge forward. He has tremendous leg drive and lower body strength if you ask me, and he will be getting after QBs in the NFL, just not as a LBer.
I wouldn't mind him being a Texan though, if it came to that. I just hope it isn't the Cardinals, Cinci, or some team that's a perennial sumphole that drafts him. He deserves some place respectable.
Oh, and as they always do, I think RBs will fall in this draft too, and Carnell Williams will be available at #13. TB will take Mike Williams if even half of what I read is true (basically that Gruden is "enamored" with him, and their rookie WR Clayton - I think is his name - is pressing hard for a Mike Williams signing). As a Falcon fan, I really hope it's all smoke and mirrors and BMW goes somewhere else. I'd hate to be seeing him line up against us every year.
Anyway, good luck in the draft and next year.
celtik