Illini DT Corey Liuget: Top Ten NFL Draft Material? Some Experts Think So.

Corey Liuget has probably been Ron Zook's best kept secret for the past three years, being a disruptive and terrifying defensive tackle on some bad teams, before coming into his own this year on an Illini squad that won the Texas Bowl.

For a long time, I thought there was really only one slam dunk first round player on the 2010 Illini roster, running back Mikel Leshoure, and while I knew Corey might have the talent to have be drafted well, I held out hope that he would stick around for one more year. If scouting reports are to be believed though, Liuget might end up being drafted very, very early indeed.

Russ Land of the Sporting News writes the following:

Corey Liuget, DT, Illinois. Perhaps no player is flying up draft boards quite like Liuget. As a junior, few scouts had dissected his game on film until he entered the draft last month. Some had told us that he was a second- or third-round prospect, but after grinding his film we think he could/should be a top-10 pick. He had an outstanding 2010 season, showing great strength and athleticism. For such a big and powerful defensive tackle, he has rare explosiveness off the snap to blow up plays in the backfield by driving offensive linemen backward or by shooting a gap. Defensive tackles Nick Fairley of Auburn and Marcell Dareus of Alabama still rate higher on most teams' draft boards, but Liuget is closing fast and ultimately could be drafted higher than one or both.

A top ten pick?  To the Tennessee Titans? Drafted in front of two National Championship winning SEC defensive tackles? This is way way over my highest expectations for Liuget.

Bucky Brooks, the NFL.com columnist and combine reporter, has a much more reserved take on Liuget, but still puts him all the way up at 15.

15. Corey Liuget, DT, Illinois: A talented interior defender with good strength and power, Liuget effectively occupies double teams and flashes sneaky athleticism while slipping through cracks. Although his sudden emergence will lead to a potential "one-year wonder" tag, he is too talented to pass up in the first round.

Regardless,it now seems that Liuget has leap frogged Mikel Leshoure to become the top prospect from Illinois in the NFL draft, and is doing it behind what is apparently a very very good showing at the combine. The possibility now exists that the Illini will have first round draft picks from three out of the last four drafts, with Arrelious Benn still being picked up early in last years second round. If you ask me, this constitutes an NFL track record that Zook can and should recruit off of.