I talked to Russ Lande for a few minutes today about Maryland's prospects taking part in the East-West Shrine Game this week in St. Petersburg, Fla.
I also asked Lande for his take on former Terps star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who recently decided to forgo his senior season at Maryland and enter the NFL draft.
Lande, who is an analyst for the Big Ten Network, was a scouting administrator for the St. Louis Rams, an area scout for the Cleveland Browns and is now the director of college scouting for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
Here is what Lande had to say about Diggs:
On Diggs' draft prospects:
"He's a gifted kid. He's got big-play ability. I don't think he's produced at the level in every game that he has the talent to. I think he's probably going to be anywhere from a third-to-fifth rounder if I were to guess. But a lot of underclassmen who come out early, a lot of where they go comes down to how they work out. Teams don't have a great feel for the underclassmen and a lot of them start looking at them now, so they haven't taken a close look at them physically. If he performs well at the combine, performs well at his Pro Day and if the tape is backed up — and I think the tape is pretty good — he's got a chance to be a third or fourth rounder. He's a good football player, and that's sort of what I look at him as."
On the main concerns he has regarding Diggs aside from the lack of consistent production and how he will test out:
"When I watch him, I'd like to see a little more consistency in terms of the route running. I think at times he gets a little upright when he's running his routes. That's something I would like to see him improve upon. When he gets upright, he's not crisp and clean out of his breaks, and it makes it a lot easier for a defender that may not have the athleticism to cover him, it makes it easier for them to cover him because they're able to flip their hips and stay with him because he's not as crisp and clean out of his breaks."