Kevin Boothe in Shrine game today at 4 EST

Televised on ESPN2. Boothe will (we hope) be opening holes for Brown's Nick Hartigan.

I turned it on a few minutes ago just in time to catch one of the announcers talking about Boothe. He mentioned his "long arms", "ability to move laterally", and "good overall strength." But he also said he'll have a learning curve in the NFL and may have to move to guard. He thinks somebody will take a chance on him late on the first day of the draft.

He's playing right guard and wearing #75.
It's good to see that C helmet among all those I-A helmets.

He's looked pretty good to me, particularly at pass blocking.

jhib
He thinks somebody will take a chance on him late on the first day of the draft.

I think Kiper has him going higher than that. I think he said that he was the top prospect in I-AA.

Any chance he could be a long stick defender for a couple months before graduation?

billhoward
Any chance he could be a long stick defender for a couple months before graduation?

If he can skate we could sic him on Yale in the ECACs.

Kiper has him going late 1st round early 2nd round. He is the best I-AA prospect, but mainly he is the best lineman prospect for all of D-I!

exposcohen
Kiper has him going late 1st round early 2nd round. He is the best I-AA prospect, but mainly he is the best lineman prospect for all of D-I!

I just read this...and unfortunately you are wrong. Here's his rankings post Senior Bowl (Feb. 1) and I've never seen Kiper rank Boothe higher than 3rd on the Guard list. [insider.espn.go.com]

Lutui, the consensus best guard of the draft shouldn't go until the very end of the 1st round.

Tackles
1. D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Virginia
2. Winston Justice, USC (Junior)
3. Marcus McNeill, Auburn
4. Ryan O'Callaghan, California
5. Jeremy Trueblood, Boston College
5a. Andrew Whitworth, LSU
5b. Eric Winston, Miami


Guards
1. Taitusi "Deuce" Lutui, USC
2. Max Jean-Gilles, Georgia
3. Kevin Spencer, Pittsburgh
4. Kevin Boothe, Cornell
5. Fred Matua, USC (Junior)
5a. Rob Sims, Ohio State
5b. Davin Joseph, Oklahoma


Centers
1. Nick Mangold, Ohio State
2. Jason Spitz, Louisville
3. Greg Eslinger, Minnesota
4. Ryan Cook, New Mexico
5. Todd Londot, Miami (Ohio)

Here's his entire profile [insider.espn.go.com]:

Kevin Boothe
OG | (6'4", 312, 5.4) | CORNELL

Scouts Grade: 70
View by: Player | NCAA School | Position | NFL Team | Flag | NFL Draft History
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Strengths: Possesses outstanding overall size. Possesses very good overall strength. Has long arms and massive hands. Is a strong, powerful, aggressive and tough run blocker. Shows the ability to drive defensive linemen off the line of scrimmage. Possesses a powerful upper body; will jar defenders with his hand punch. Is quick and shows adequate agility in the short area. Takes good angles as a run blocker. Is a natural knee bender. Can anchor versus the bull rush. Does a good job of using his long arms and strong upper body to keep separation in pass pro. Shows adequate lateral mobility. A hard worker and tough competitor. Is intelligent and picks up new schemes/techniques quickly.

Weaknesses: Level of competition is a concern. Can he anchor versus stronger bull rushers and hold up on the perimeter versus faster edge rushers in the NFL? He shows good quickness for his size but lacks ideal mobility and speed. He will have some trouble consistently reaching the second-level and hitting the moving target in space in the NFL. He also has had durability issues throughout his high school and collegiate careers.

Overall: Boothe redshirted in 2001 and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle at the end of that season. He returned healthy in 2002, when he started 10 games at right guard. Boothe missed one game due to broken bones in both hands as a sophomore in 2003 but he started the other nine games at right guard  even when he had a cast on both hands. He moved to the right tackle position and started all 10 games as a junior in 2004. He has moved to left tackle as a senior in 2005 and has been a fulltime starter at that position so far this season. Boothe is a late-blooming prospect who showed up on campus in 2001 weighing 368 pounds. Since then, he has lost 50-plus pounds while greatly improving his agility, strength and stamina. Boothe has had some durability issues throughout his career but he also has played through a lot of pain and has shown great competitiveness. He has proven to be a versatile lineman throughout his collegiate career and could serve as a swingman type at the next level, but Boothe projects best as a guard in the NFL. There are obviously questions regarding his level of competition coming from the Ivy League, which is why Boothe is a bit of an enigma right now. If he proves himself against better competition in an all-star game and impresses during post-season workouts, Boothe could elevate his draft stock to the late-second or third round range. At the very least, Boothe warrants consideration early on the second day of the 2006 draft.