I stopped playing college football in 1991 and I have never looked back.  I rely on the experts to educate me on who, what and why for the NFL draft.

Recently I have had two dozen people tell me that the Giants need LB Brandon Spikes from the Florida Gators. Excited about a big time linebacker…I looked up his stats.

Brandon Spikes, is the cousin of Takeo Spikes who has been a linebacker in the NFL for 11 years with the Bengals, Bills, Eagles and currently the San Fransisco 49ers.  Brandon has done some nice things for the Gators; including coming back for his senior year instead of entering the draft as a junior.

Brandon is no doubt a very good football player; however, I was concerned that his production slipped every year since his sophomore season at Florida.   He started off in 2007  fantastic, posting 131 tackles, including 16 tackles for loss.

His junior year was still impressive but dropped in tackles dramatically with only 93 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and four interceptions - two of which he returned for touchdowns…nice!

His senior year he only produced 52 tackles and three sacks.

Now, I have never seen Brandon Spikes play and numbers aren’t everything, so I pulled up some 2010 draft research and some bowl game pre-game footage.

The first thing I found was something I thought was very interesting.  Former Eagle and Miami Dolphin, Mike Golic now ESPN anchor was describing “eye-gouging” at the bottom of a pile.  “It does not happen, he said…there’s a lot that does happens at the bottom of a pile, but eye-gouging is not one of them.”

Evidently, Mr. Spikes lost his cool during a recent game against Georgia and he tried to remove the eye balls of Bulldog running back Washuan Ealey during a 41-17 victory. Video evidence shows Spikes reaching into’s Ealey’s face mask as Ealey lay at the bottom of a pile-up. Brandon Spikes was benched for half a game following an incident during Saturday’s game.

I’m not sure this is the right guy for the Giants…eye gouging?

The next thing I found was ESPN’s NFL Draft expert , Mel Kiper’s analysis on who is the #1 college player in the upcoming 2010 NFL draft who’s stock has dropped the most.   That player in his evaluation was…Brandon Spikes.

Now, I don’t love Mel Kiper, but he’s payed a nice check to watch a lot of football and a lot of video on college football players.  A year ago, Kiper said Spikes was a sure thing for a first round draft pick.  “Spikes surprised me by going back(college),” Kiper said. “I thought had he come out, he was the No. 1 middle linebacker in this draft.

This week with the Bowl Games complete, Mel was signing a different tune.

“A good MLB is Brandon Spikes from Florida, but the question for him will be speed.  I think Spikes is a second round pick.”

He painted a picture of a player who just does not have the explosion that is necessary to make certain plays…exposing him at the next level or at least drop him down into the second round of the 2010 draft.

In Brandon Spikes defense…he might have had some nagging injuries in 2009 because this was not the same production that I expect after all the hype.   The “eye gouging” also raises a red flag.

Maybe my expectations were too high…I’m just not that excited about Brandon Spikes being the guy for the Giants.

Where ever Brandon Spike lands it’s worth stating he has over come some major tragedy in his life as his brother, Breyon Middlebrooks, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole in North Carolina after arrest in 2001.

Mel Kiper believes…the Giants should seriously be looking at middle linebacker Daryl Washington from TCU. He’s the most athletically gifted linebackers in this draft. Micah Johnson from Kentucky and Darryl Sharpton from Miami.  The most athletic is Washington. The middle linebacker the Giants should take in this position is Rolando McClain from Alabama. He’s an outstanding player. Outstanding speed to the sideline.

He’s the best middle linebacker by far.  He’s a stud