In early 2008, USC wrapped up a strong class after losing just two games. Going into the next year with a strong competition ahead between Mark Sanchez, Mitch Mustain and Aaron Corp for the starting QB spot, the Trojans brought in a stacked selection of offensive linemen - Khaled Holmes, Tyron Smith, Daniel Campbell, Matt Meyer and Matt Kalil.

At the time, Kalil was loaded with potential. He had a tall frame that had yet to be filled out. He had the pedigree - his father, Frank, was drafted by the Bills, and his brother, Ryan, was quickly ascending up the Carolina depth chart at the time.

Fast forward four and a half years, and Matt Kalil is one of the best offensive tackle prospects (if not the best) in the country.

After the jump, I break down what makes him such a valued prospect.

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  Everyone's favorite shoe-in #1 overall pick, Andrew Luck, has a bit of pressure to work under this year.  NFL fans will be watching him closely as the Suck for Luck campaign heats up.  He'll anchor a top-10 team that is the second highest ranking Pac-12 team behind BCS Championship runner-up Oregon (the November 12th meeting between the two teams should be a damn good one).  And yes, he tried the 1970s Bill Walton look for most of the summer.  Or is it the Abe Lincoln?  I'm not good with beards.

  Forthcoming pressures aside, Luck has established quite the reputation going into his redshirt junior year.  During last year's Orange Bowl, John Gruden showed three aspects of his play that make him such a coveted prospect:

  In this edition of the Prospect Playbook, we'll look at the mechanics of his throwing motion (pretty much perfect), I'll tackle the three aspect from that clip in reverse order (accuracy, mobility and falsified movement details), and I'll address what I see as the two major deficiencies in his game (arm strength/deep ball passes and overconfidence).  Bring your beard with you after the jump.

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Over a 20-year period, hundreds of players heard their names called in the first round of the NFL Draft. But of those hundreds of players only a small percentage actually lived up to their potential, and even a smaller percentage has gone on to be considered some of the games best.

The All Score 1st Round Defensive Team consists of 11 players – two defensive ends, two defensive tackles, a middle linebacker, two outside linebackers, two cornerbacks, a free safety and a strong safety – who were drafted in the first round between 1991 - 2011. There were a lot of tough decisions that were made when assembling this team, and that's to be expected when you're dealing with many all-time greats.

It’s likely that some of the selections will be challenged, but for the most part I believe the team will be universally accepted and recognized as a solid depiction of the best players at their respective positions.

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Over a 20-year period, hundreds of players heard their names called in the first round of the NFL Draft. But of those hundreds of players only a small percentage actually lived up to their potential, and an even smaller percentage has gone on to be considered some of the games best.

The All Score 1st Round Offensive Team consists of 11 players - one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, two offensive tackles, two guards and a center – who were drafted in the first round between 1991 - 2011. There were a lot of tough decisions that were made when assembling this team, and that's to be expected when you're dealing with many all-time greats.

It’s likely that some of the selections will be challenged, but for the most part I believe the team will be universally accepted and recognized as a solid depiction of the best players at their respective positions.

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  In this final installment in the Prospect Playbook series, we'll go back to the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl and look at some more play from Pittsburgh and North Carolina.  I would have liked to have squeezed one more in, but, alas, the draft is nearly upon us.  And were it up to me, I would have looked at another game.  But I am a sucker for egalitarianism and the people spoke.  So it is.

  I'll try to put more of these together throughout the year to get more analysis done, not just the space between the Super Bowl and the draft.  And if there are any suggestions or criticisms that you could lob my way to help improve the playbook, hit me up.  (early apologies for the sync issues with the audio)

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  To this point in the Prospect Playbook series, we've looked at individual prospects; however, as I prepared to investigate which suspended UNC Tar Heel (or is it Tarheel?) to apply the next installment to, I couldn't decide.  So instead of just looking at one prospect, in this edition of TPP, we'll look at some notable plays from the 1st quarter of the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl between UNC and Pittsburgh, rife with graduated alumni now in the NFL as well as prospects relevant to this year's draft..

  Join me, as we say goodbye to the old Meineke Car Care Bowl, now called the Belk Bowl though the Texas Bowl will be known as the Meineke Car Care Bowl...aw screw it, let's watch some tape.

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(Temporary note: If anyone is a YouTube pro and knows how to get rid of the spacing issues on plays 1, 8 & 9, I would appreciate a lesson.)

  So far in the Prospect Playbook, I've put together pieces on Julio Jones in the Capital One Bowl, Marcell Dareus' performance from the same game, and the battle between Gabe Carimi and Adrian Clayborn from their late October matchup.

  Today, I'll go back to the Oregon St.-USC game from November, a lopsided game which drew a poor outing (trying to be nice to the USC fans here) from QB Matt Barkley before being sidelined by an ankle injury.  For the Beavers, Jacquizz Rodgers put together an impressive game: 128 yards rushing with a TD and 43 yards receiving, all coming on the night he passed St. Louis Rams RB Steven Jackson on OSU's all-time rushing leaders list to move up to 3rd.

  It was a pretty impressive showing for Jacquizz, and I've clipped nine plays to look at in today's installment.

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  Welcome back to the playbook, peoples.  Having looked at Julio Jones' performance in the Capital One Bowl and his teammate Marcel Dareus in the same game, I decided to go back into the middle of the season for this matchup.

  Wisconsin was coming off a huge 31-18 victory over then #1 Ohio St., while Iowa had left the Big House with a win the prior week.  It was an important game for both teams, and they certainly didn't disappoint in this one.  The Badgers would escape with a 31-30 victory, but the battle between Wisconsin's LT Gabe Carimi and Iowa DE Adrian Clayborn left many wondering where these two will land in this year's draft.

  I've got 11 plays to look at that give a pretty balanced view of both players' performances.  Honestly, I didn't think either player "won" the battle.  Each of them had their highlights, and I think it gives a pretty honest view of their talents.

  In all the video clips, Carimi, number 68, is lined up at LT; Clayborn wears 94 and lines up at RDE.

  (Jeezy voice) Let's get it.

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