Will Toby Gerheart be the guy on TT’s draft board?

It’s interesting – neither a former 1 Heisman winner nor last year’s Heisman runner-up are projected to go in the first round of the NFL draft. Tim Tebow in one mock I just checked out was projected to go deep in the 3rd round. And RB Toby Gerhart is projected to go in the 2nd or 3rd rounds.

But as I read through this article today by Michael Silver at Yahoo, I developed a sneaking suspicion that TT may have Toby Gerhart rated reasonably high. And, if he sticks to his “taking the best player available” draft strategy that he contends he follows, I wouldn’t be surprised if come pick #23 (if he doesn’t trade the pick), Gerhart might be a consideration.

I’m not saying he should be or shouldn’t be. I’ve never actually seen the guy play and RB isn’t a major need position. But based on a few articles I’ve read, sounds like he at least merits consideration for a 1st or 2nd round pick. While many Wisconsinites might worry that he seems to have Ron Dayne-like qualities – we loved Dayne at UW but we all saw his NFL fizzle-out – there is a solid group of scouts and personnel dudes who think that Gerhart could be a really, really good RB in the NFL. And, it doesn’t seem like a bad thing that he’s coming into the NFL with an obvious chip on his shoulder. One concern I’d have would be his pass catching abilities. On the packers, he wouldn’t start over Ryan Grant and would need to be good at catching the ball out of the backfield and blitz pick-up.

Again, I’m not writing this to say we need to pick this guy, I’m just writing this because there is something about this guy that makes me think he’s on TT’s radar.