By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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Bailey dazzled at the weigh-in, showing off a chiseled frame that became college football lore during his time in Coral Gables.

The Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama is underway and many players are making headlines as they look to improve their status roughly three months out from the 2011 NFL Draft. A number of players have prompted great interest, see Boston College’s Mark Herzlich for example. Former Miami defensive end Allen Bailey has stood out more than most, both as an size and strength rarity and a versatile, unrefined player with a lot of upside.

Bailey measured at 6’3”, 278 pounds with a 10 and 1/2 inch hand and 35 and 3/8 inch arm. Only two defensive players had bigger hands than Bailey, only one defender bigger arms. He dazzled at the weigh-in, showing off a chiseled frame that became college football lore during his time in Coral Gables.

“In seven years of coming to the Senior Bowl, he’s the most physically impressive looking prospect I’ve seen,” explained Scott Wright of NFLDraftCountdown.com.

While his look, “…is built like a marble statue,” Wright wrote, speaks for itself, Bailey lacks polish in some ways. Having grown up on a small barrier island reachable only by boat, Bailey doesn’t have years upon years of experience playing organized football. His high school career was shortened due to injury and his college career has seen Bailey play three spots: linebacker, defensive tackle and defensive end. Such diversification gives the dynamic athlete great versatility, but means he lacks some of the subtle nuances that come with time spent perfecting a position.

“Miami’s Allen Bailey was a bit of a mixed bag today. He is extremely athletic with very good speed and doesn’t look like a defensive end on the field. He looked explosive early and dominated undersized Florida State center Rodney Hudson with strength,” wrote SidelineScouting.com. “However, he looked a little slow to redirect and only flashed the bull rush, so I want to see more of an arsenal before saying I’m completely sold on him.”

Current mock drafts have Bailey slotted anywhere from the top half of the first round to the late first round. He is being projected as a potential end in a 3-4 scheme or maybe a tackle in a 4-3 scheme. His play-anywhere-along-the-line athleticism remains part of his appeal, part of the hesitation.

We will find out much more about the prospect ESPN’s Bruce Feldman once ranked as college football’s second-best workout warrior (behind only Taylor Mays of USC). Feldman pointed out than in 2009, Bailey had a vertical leap of 39 inches at 288 pounds and a clocked 4.65 forty yard dash time.

“He is the freakiest of all of the freaks since I’ve been here,” longtime UM strength coach Andreu Swasey told Feldman.

He might be college football’s most impressive physical specimen. He might be the most versatile defensive player in this year’s draft class. Bailey might, with improved consistency in workouts at events such as the Senior Bowl, solidify himself as a high first round pick.