Everyone in the league is now going over their NFL Draft board looking for the next Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or Drew Brees to build their offense around. But the emergence of pass heavy offenses in the NFL gambling competition has also profoundly affected the defense in the NFL as well.

More teams are playing 3-4 defenses now in order to allow more pass coverage on the field at any given time and CB, once an afterthought in most people’s mind might just be the most important defensive position on the field. Consider that the winner of this year’s NFL Defensive Player of the year went to a CB. The runner up was also a CB.

That means the focus on the CB position this year in the 2010 NFL draft will be as intense as it’s ever been. Florida CB Joe Hayden grades out as the best shutdown CB in the NFL draft and will taken in the top ten, even if he struggled a bit at the pre-NFL draft combine. But he’s proven his talent shutting down WRs in the SEC for three years and will likely do more of the same in the NFL. The beauty of the CB position is that players can step in immediately and make a difference their rookie year. And that’s why so many teams are willing to reach in the first round for a quality CB.

With teams throwing 40-50 times a game and gigantic WRs becoming more and more of a homerun threat thanks to PI calls this CB spot can no longer be ignored. It wasn’t so long ago that CB was almost an afterthought in the NFL draft. You could always drop a safety back to help or drop into a zone coverage to cover up for any deficiencies at the CB spot in the NFL gambling action.

Not anymore. The passing games have become more and more intricate and the CB is arguably the second most important position in the NFL draft, after QB Florida’s Joe Hayden is the only CB that seems to grade out universally as a Round 1 pick, likely a top ten pick. His 40-time at the NFL Draft combine was poor (4.57) but it had more to with his starting stance than lack of speed and he’ll run much faster at this pro day.

While other CBs may not grade out at Round 1 on everybody’s board there will be at least three taken in the first round of the NFL draft. Kyle Wilson of Boise State is a lock for the first round as well, not only for his coverage skill but as a return man.

Alabama’s Kareem Jackson will likely get a team to bite in the first round; excellent 40 time at the combine (4.41) and proved himself in the very tough SEC. Two ACC CBs that could also get taken on Thursday are Wake Forest’s Brandon Ghee and Virginia’s Chris Cook. Cook is a physical specimen and will draw a lot of interest but the better player is probably Ghee.

Pike has had injury questions over the past several years but with a big day at the combine could have secured a at least a second round slot for himself with a productive showing at the NFL draft combine. But instead he was erratic with his throws and with his slow 40 time and less than stellar body, many NFL gambling experts have him sliding to the late rounds and probably the sixth or seventh QB taken.

RB Jonathon Dwyer perhaps the most highly rated of the bunch heading into the NFL draft combine, perhaps slid the most. Dwyer was a likely first round pick but after running a 4.59, registering one of the worst broad jumps at the Combine and doing only 16 reps on the bench, he’s fallen way out of the first round and likely landed in the third round according to most NFL gambling observers.

McCluster another RB and intriguing NFL draft prospect did himself no favors at the Combine either. Usually you love to see a guy participate in drills at the combines when so many players choose not to perform. McCluster worked out RB and WR but hurt himself by posting a 4.6 40 time. At just 5-9 and 172lbs he’s a Darren Sproles type player without the speed, not that attractive for NFL scouts.

But players willing submit to such degradations as a good performance in front of the NFL betting lines scouts can be all it takes to lock up a multi-million dollar contract and financial security for life. One player that benefitted greatly from the NFL Draft Combine was Notre Dame WR Golden Tate.

He put up great numbers in college and helped to pad QB Jimmy Clausen’s stats with some spectacular catches but many people doubted his speed and strength. At the combine he put those doubts to rest as he ran a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash and did 17 reps of 220-lbs. NFL betting lines scouts were left with their jaws agape and Tate, already known as a terrific route runner secured himself a spot in the first half of the first round.

Another player that added greatly to his stock was another player named Tate, Auburn RB Ben Tate. Auburn has a history of producing top RBs in the NFL draft and Tate could be the next. Prior to the combine Tate barely registered on many Draft boards, projecting to the a Day Two guy, perhaps even taken in the final rounds. But with his solid workout numbers (4.43 40, 40 inch vertical and 26 reps on the bench) he’s likely positioned himself as second round pick, leap-frogging several other highly touted RBs in the process.

But after Bradford’s season was torn apart by injuries, McCoy failed to live up to the hype and Tebow’s mechanics were torn apart by NFL draft experts, this QB crop now looks mighty average in the eyes of most NFL betting line’s experts. Bradford is still the number player in this bunch, if perhaps only for the fact that his potential has yet to be revealed because of the injuries.

But he’s got all the tools you expect in a successful QB (size, arm strength, accuracy and leadership) which is more than be said for the other QBs. Notre Dame junior Jimmy Clausen is widely viewed as the second best QB in the NFL draft but there are plenty of questions about him as well. He has the advantage of playing a pro style offense in college which helps with the preparation but many feel he’s reached his potential and won’t improve much in the NFL.

McCoy’s stock has dropped the most of any QB this year and while he’s got great accuracy and a high completion percentage, great indicators of NFL success, he doesn’t throw deep well and didn’t read defenses well his senior season. Tebow remains the wildcard of this group and with work on his mechanics could still turn out to be the best QB in the draft.

For months Ndamukong Suh has been the consensus number overall pick on every NFL betting lines board on the Internet. And why not? He’s a prototypical DT that can collapse the pocket and stuff the run and is exceptionally adept at getting sacks up the middle –a rarity in NFL betting lines competition.

But after the NFL Draft Combine it seems as though he’ll have some competition for that number one spot. Oklahoma product and fellow DT Gerald McCoy has now surpassed Suh on some of the draft boards as the likely first pick overall by the St Louis Rams. McCoy has basically all the same talents as Suh but is widely thought to be the better run stuffer and perhaps better suited for the Rams 4-3 defense.

But it may not be a DT at all that takes is taken first in the NFL Draft. If history is any guide a QB could also very easily sneak into the top spot on draft day. McCoy’s teammate QB Sam Bradford is widely considered a very real prospect at the number one spot as the Rams have little talent at that spot and Bradford is seen as the consensus number one at that spot.

The unanimous top player in the 2010 NFL draft is defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, far and away the best player out there according to NFL gambling reports. But he’s hardly the only top defensive player receiving consideration in the first round and by the time the first day of the NFL draft is over we could a lot more defensive players taken than offensive players.

Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma is another interior defensive lineman that will be taken in the top three picks. Yet another Big 12 DT he’s just a step below Suh according to most NFL gambling draft gurus and should have an immediate impact. Another D-lineman that could jump up the NFL draft board, especially with a big day at the Combine is DE Derrick Morgan from Georgia Tech.

A terrific athlete and a guy that draws a constant double team he’ll be at least a top ten pick in the NFL gambling Draft, maybe even higher. Off the line of scrimmage, S Eric Berry is a phenomenal talent that will almost certainly be a top ten pick in the NFL draft. He’s incredibly versatile and is in the Troy Polamulu, Ed Reed mold, a future superstar in the making. Also look for some team to take Florida CB Joe Haden off the board early. He’s the best cover man in the draft and could have a Derrelle Revis like impact in the pros.

Right now there are two to three RBs that could go in the first round of the NFL draft. At the top of that list is Clemson RB CJ Spiller. Spiller is not a big back by any means and some NFL gambling gurus even question whether or not he’ll be able to be an every down back. And he might not be but that doesn’t’ mean he won’t be productive. He’ll play from day one thanks to his blazing speed and quickness.

The bonus here is that he’s extremely versatile and can return kicks and punts as well line up wide as a receiver. Jahvid Best of Cal is another likely first rounder. He’s a similar player to Spiller, very quick and deceptively fast, yet durability is an issue and a team may not want to drop their first pick on a player that might not be an every down guy or is chronically injured. For NFL gambling fans that like big backs there’s also plenty that in this year’s NFL draft.

Georgia Tech’s Jonathon Dwyer is a massive north-south runner who has ran over ACC defenses for the past three years. The only knock is that he plays out in an option style offense and won’t have those kinds of lanes in the NFL. And the dark horse of this RB class is Stanford power back Toby Gerhardt. He’s a Mike Alstott clone and could have a similar career.

There are plenty of big names in this year’s class but none that really stand out as instant successes. Depending on which NFL Draft board or NFL betting lines mock draft you look at there are a couple QBs that are expected to go first, though there’s not likely to be more than one or QBs that goes in the first round.

Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame has gotten a lot of hype lately even though he won relatively very few games in college. He finally put up big numbers during his junior season and scouts like that he plays in a pro style offense and should be ready to play relatively quickly. Another player at the top of most people’s NFL betting lines draft board is Sam Bradford of Oklahoma.

Bradford had a stellar junior year and likely would have been the #1 overall pick in last year’s NLF draft had he not stayed for a disastrous senior season in Norman. Injuries sidelined him and he played in the spread offense but he has arguably the most upside of any QB in the draft and could very well be the first taken at the position.

Colt McCoy of Texas also came back for a senior season and probably hurt his draft stock. Nonetheless he’ll likely be among the top three or four QBs taken. But anyway you look at it there isn’t really any QB worth trading up to take this year.

No other major league sport enjoys the same type of following as the NFL draft and this year should be as exciting as it’s ever been. In recent years there have been some changes to the draft format which most NFL betting lines fans agree has improved the event. The most visible change has been moving the start of the draft to a Friday and stretching the NFL draft action over three days.

This allows for the first two rounds to be televised on a week while the successive rounds are played out over two days. That makes for a better audience as many people, no matter how big of NFL betting lines they might be, have a hard time sitting through two straight days of drafting. By breaking up the action the NFL has made this unique event more fan friendly.

The other change made in recent years was limiting the time between picks to speed up the action. This has also made the viewing much more pleasurable. The NFL draft now has no peers when it comes to major sports drafts. The NBA draft is just two rounds and most people stop watching after the lottery picks.

The MLB draft is way too long and the NHL draft generally isn’t accessible as it’s aired on little known cable networks, if at all. This year the NFL’s draft will be the king of drafts once again.