By Brady Henderson

An underwhelming senior season at Washington might not hurt Alameda Ta'amu's draft stock as significantly as some assume.

That was the word from ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay, whose conversation this week with "The Kevin Calabro Show" included the topic of where the former Husky defensive tackle projects to be taken in April's draft.

"It won't surprise me if he is still a second-round pick," McShay said. "It's so hard to find guys that are, what, 341 pounds that can move a little bit and can be very disruptive in the middle. So I think when it's all said and done, even though his stock quote, unquote 'dropped' a little bit, I still think he winds up in the second-round range."

McShay said that "maybe is a little bit lower than we expected going into the year but it's not a huge drop."

Ta'amu capped off a strong finish to his junior season with a dominant performance in the Huskies' Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska. That, combined with his 6-foot-3, 337-pound frame, led to the notion that Ta'amu could be a first-round pick following his senior season at Washington.

He was never the dominant force he was expected to be, though, posting 30 tackles and 3.5 sacks. At one point in the season, defensive coordinator Nick Holt said a hand injury was likely affecting Ta'amu's play.

"He didn't play as well this past year as he did in years past," McShay said. "I can't figure out why it is other than the obvious of maybe players don't want to get injured or maybe they're thinking too much about their pro careers or maybe it's the fact that teams are preparing for them, but I've seen a lot of defensive linemen this year -- (Quinton) Coples, Brandon Thompson from Clemson, a defensive tackle -- a lot of these guys did not play as well in 2011 as they did earlier in their careers. And I think with Ta'amu that's the same case."

Ta'amu drew mixed reviews during the Senior Bowl, some noting his physical tools but questioning his leverage. McShay said he liked what he saw.

"He played really well during the week of practice and I thought he was the most dominant interior defensive lineman in the game," he said. "So he still has the skills there."

McShay added that he pegs former Husky Senio Kelemete as a fourth-round pick, possibly the sixth or seventh guard to be taken. Kelemete played left tackle at Washington.

Follow Brady Henderson on Twitter @BradyHenderson

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