2011 NFL Draft: The Countdown To The First Round Selections Has Begun

Another Big Ten first round draft pick, another defensive lineman taken. Cameron Heyward became the seventh Big Ten player selected in the first round and the fifth defensive lineman taken of the seven. At 6'5" 288 Heyward is a tall but not overly stout defensive tackle, for Ohio State, his relative lightness has allowed him to explode past offensive linemen and break into the backfield, including a fantastic game against Arkansas and QB Ryan Mallet in the 2011 Sugar Bowl.

Cameron Hayword heads to a Pittsburgh team that is already built around a powerful and efficient defense, and there is little doubt that Mike Tomlin will figure a way to capitalize on Heyward's pass rush ability and get him one on one opportunities to go after the quarterback, there is already speculation that Heyward will be moved to the defensive end position at the pro level.

At Ohio State Hayward was a standout on a very effective Buckeye defense,  finishing his career with 15 college sacks,  and playing in every single game in four years at Columbus. Heyward is a great Big Ten player, but he hasn't really mastered any of the skills of a defensive lineman yet, if he does will likely be a very good NFL player.

The sixth Big Ten player selected in the first round, and the first offensive Big Ten player selected, Gabe Carimi will be a Chicago Bear this fall after being drafted at 29th overall.

The 6'7" 327  Badger is certainly not lacking in the size department, and was part of Wisconsin offensive line that went to the 2011 Rose Bowl. Carimi won the Outland Trophy, the Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the year award, was a first team All American, and first team All Big Ten.

Carimi will step onto a Bears offensive line that has shown its age lately and could very well be starting from day 1 in Chicago. Protecting Jay Cutler is going to be his first, second and third responsibilities as the Bears gave up far too many sacks last year, and when combined with Cutler's propensity to hold onto the ball, and get injured Carimi will have his work cut out for him. Luckily, Carimi's Badgers went up against the likes of Adrian Clayborn and Ryan Kerrigan in college, and practiced against J.J. Watt in college, all first round NFL defensive ends Carimi certainly will be no stranger to top end pass rushers.

Adrian Clayborn was the fifth Big Ten player of to be selected in the first round, and the fifth defensive player from the conference to be taken on the night, when he was selected as the 20th overall pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 6'3" 285lb Iowa defensive end has long been known to be one of the best pro prospects on a Hawkeye defense that scored victories in the 2010 Orange Bowl and the 2011 Insight Bowl, and probably could have jumped to the NFL after his junior year had he wanted to.

Clayborn was a 2010 All American, and a 2010 1st team All Big Ten player as well as being a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award. Clayborn has plenty to offer Tampa Bay in terms of pass rush as he finished with 19 career college sacks, including 11 in his breakout junior year. At the NFL level however, he will not benefit from being much stronger than the man who is lined up across from him, so it might take him some time to add the weight and gain the needed technique to still be a major force in the pros.

One thing he wont have to work on is his speed, whether breaking into the backfield or chasing down running backs or mobile QBs, Clayborn has fantastic closing speed that will benefit him well at the professional level.

Prince Amukamara, cornerback from Nebraska, was selected by the New York Giants as 19th pick in the 2011 NFL draft. Amukamara left Nebraska without getting to make the move to the Big Ten, and plenty of midwestern offensive coordinators are probably pretty happy about that. The 6'1" 205lb defensive back  was a 2010 All American and named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, is a fantastic shut down corner who plays the ball very well.

Amukamara is a converted running back who doesn't lack in agility or or toughness and is a very strong tackler. His speed is not top end though and while he may be able to keep up with most wide outs, he will lose more than a few open field foot races.

Amukamara recorded 5 interceptions as a junior but none as a senior for Bo Pelini's defense, but made up for this by denying reception after reception from great wide outs in the pass happy Big 12.

In New York, Amukamara could be a contributor for many years to come and will likely quickly become one of the bright spots of the Giants defense.

Corey Liuget , defensive tackle from the University of Illinois has been selected by the San Diego Chargers as the 18th overall pick in the first round.

Corey played for three years as an Illini under Ron Zook, and was only a last minute decision to actually enter into this year's draft. Once he started working out for pro scouts and participating in the combine however, Liuget jumped up on the radar for many NFL teams, and was soon in the same conversation as Nick Fairley as the best DT's available in the draft.

He had a breakout season as a junior for a suddenly reinvigorated defense under new defensive coordinator Vic Koennig and was dominant in his games against Indiana, Purdue and Baylor.

Liuget was a terror his junior in the middle, and made pass rushing his greatest strength. Liuget explodes off of the line and gets O-linemen on skates. In San Diego, under the coaching Greg Manusky, Liuget should have every opportunity to grow into his role as an NFL Defensive Lineman, and for a defense that was already ranked No. 1 last season he will probably get lots of open shots at quarterbacks.

The second player taken from the Big Ten was another defensive end and a familiar face in Purdue's Ryan Kerrigan. The 2010 First Team All American was easily the stand out on defense for the struggling Boilermakers squad, and made a name for himself as one of the best pass rushers in a Big Ten that also features the likes of Corey Liuget, J.J. Watt, and Adrian Clayborn.

At 6'3" 267 lbs, Kerrigan was a one man pass rush for the Boiler defense and routinely overcame double team after double team to  record 70 tackles and 13 sacks in his senior season, finishing his career with 33 sacks in four years.

Kerrigan is the effort guy who actually has the physical ability and natural talent to make him more than "just" and effort guy. For the Redskins, Kerrigan will likely be seeing plenty of snaps early as a fantastic third down player, and will likely be good fit for Washington.

Earlier this week, our very own Brad Wells interviewed Kerrigan about the prospect of being drafted in the first round.

No Big Ten players were drafted in the top 10, but with the 11th overall pick the Houston Texans selected DE J.J. Watt from the University of Wisconsin. At 6'6" 290 lbs, Watt has the size and speed of a game breaking defensive lineman.

Watt was a redshirt junior who transferred to Wisconsin from Central Michigan and was a huge part of the Wisconsin defense that went all the way to the Rose Bowl.

In 2010 Watt led the Badgers in sacks, QB hurries, forced fumbles and blocked kicks, and is a very difficult to block defensive end, with stats of  61 total tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks, and was named first team All Big Ten.

Watt heads to a Houston team that desperately needs more pass rush and needs to improve defense overall in order to compete in the same Peyton Manning. With Watt's combination of strength size and leadership, he should be an excellent fit on a Texans team that is looking to make a move.

As has been expected for a month or so, Cam Newton was selected first overall by the Carolina Panthers, making it two straight years that a Heisman Trophy winner has been taken with the top pick, as Sam Bradford went No. 1 overall to the Rams last season. Newton will compete with last year's 2nd round pick Jimmy Clausen for the starting job in Carolina.

The rest of the top 5 was also fairly predictable, with NFL Network's Mike Mayock nailing all five picks:

• No. 2 - Denver Broncos - Von Miller, LB, Texas A&M
• No. 3 - Buffalo Bills - Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama
• No. 4 - Cincinnati Bengals - A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
• No. 5 - Arizona Cardinals - Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU

The draft should get more interesting as we go forward.

For more on the 2011 NFL Draft, follow our StoryStream here at SB Nation Indiana, and our Colts coverage at Stampede Blue. For great overall coverage of the draft, check out SB Nation's NFL Draft blog, Mocking The Draft.