Thomas Claiborne Scouting Report

Thomas Claiborne's draft stock would be higher if the Boston College line was being at least somewhat productive during the 2010 campaign. However, the line has rarely been productive this season and the Eagles have stumbled to a 4-5 record thus far. The good news is Boston College has beaten Clemson and Wake Forest during their last two contests and have looked better lately. Yet, that may not be enough to boost Claiborne's draft stock.

Claiborne started his collegiate career on the other side of the ball and spent his redshirt freshman campaign on the defensive line. The following year he moved to offensive guard spot and started 14 games. In 2008 the offensive line paved the way for a solid rushing game and did an admirable job protecting a couple of inexperienced quarterbacks. The case was more of the same in 2009 when running back Montel Harris had a breakout campaign.

The lack of production in 2010 and Boston College's lack of success has kept Claiborne off the radar. At 6-3 and 332 pounds, he does have good enough size for a guard and he is relatively mobile. Claiborne will need to have some good workouts leading up to the draft to sneak into the late rounds, but he does have room to improve after only playing on the offensive side of the ball for three years at Boston College.

2/8 Update: Claiborne finished off his senior season strong and earned All-ACC Honorable Mention accolades. The relative mess that was the offensive line has hurt his draft stock since the assumption was that tackle Anthony Castonzo held everything together. Yet, now that Claiborne is out on his own, he can move into the middle rounds with a couple good workouts.