With the pro day circuit winding down and NFL teams furiously finalizing draft boards, it’s easy to feel the draft coming soon.

Between way too many hours of watching film and DraftBreakdown.com cutups, I’ve been working on my own big board of rankings. It’s not yet complete, but we’re getting there.

I’ve also had talks with sources from a couple of different teams, including a lengthy sit-down with a regional scout after Notre Dame’s pro day last week.

Here are some of my observations, as well as nuggets from talking to NFL folks and trusted others in the NFL draft media:

--The hullaballoo over Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater falling out of the top-5 is very real. My sources from two different teams, one of which is definitely in the QB market, both advised me they do not believe Bridgewater will be drafted anywhere before Minnesota picking at No. 8 overall. When I asked one where his team projected Bridgewater’s draft ceiling and floor, he gave me the range of 11-25 overall.

The biggest concerns are over Bridgewater’s small hands and frame, as well as a view that his skills were greatly augmented by his offensive system.

While the frame issues do concern me, Bridgewater remains firmly atop my own QB ratings. His ability to throw strikes in the short and intermediate passing game, seemingly always making the correct read and delivering the ball where and when it needs to be there, vastly outshine Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel or Derek Carr. While his arm strength isn’t booming, it’s plenty good enough. Bridgewater has a chance to be a very good NFL quarterback very early in his career.

--While I vehemently disagree with the assessment, do not be surprised if Texas A&M wide receiver Mike Evans is a top 8 overall pick. Evans offers great size and strength, and his ability to operate in concert with a freelancing QB like Johnny Football is outstanding.

Yet I have grave questions about his ability to legally get separation from coverage and be productive in a more traditional NFL offense. Keep in mind that over 40 percent of his 2013 production came in just two games, albeit very high-profile ones (Alabama and Auburn); add in an outing against I-AA Sam Houston State and that figure jumps to 55%.

That means in the other 10 games he accomplished very little. Against the two best corners he faced all year--EJ Gaines of Missouri and Russ Cockrell of Duke, both 4th-5th rounders--Evans managed just 8 catches, 80 yards and no touchdowns in 17 targets.  He is my fourth-rated wideout overall.

If you’re wondering why I chose the eight pick, which is currently held by the WR-laden Vikings: any team that wants to guarantee they can get Evans has to cut in front of the Bills at nine and (more importantly) the Lions at 10. Of course, Evans might not last even that long…

--Both teams I talked to have removed Alabama tackle Cyrus Kouandjio from their draft boards for medical reasons. Also, both advised me their team concerns predated his medical evaluation at the Combine, where his issues became more widespread knowledge.

It’s an amazing fall for a player who was once one of the most prized offensive line recruits in college football history.

Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome once told me (in a small group setting) that he was always cautious with highly-recruited players. He felt that too many of them blossomed and peaked early athletically, and often they got by too much on that athletic superiority. That appears true of Kouandjio, and now that his athletic ability is very much in doubt it’s hard to see any team risking much on a reputation that dramatically exceeds on-field results. I do not have Kouandjio in the first three rounds of the upcoming mock draft, which is still in the rough draft stages. It would be a stunner if he came off the board in the top 64 picks.

--Speaking of that mock draft, my exchanges with one team scout made me scrap my initial outline. Without getting into more specific detail, he told me I was far too high on where the cornerback class projects. After the top CB (Justin Gilbert in his opinion) comes off somewhere in the 10-15 range (his numbers), he strongly believes only one or possibly two other corners will be drafted in the first round. My initial outline projected four, along with three safeties. The updated outline has two corners and two safeties.

Replacing them is a projected run on linemen, both offensive and defensive, in the middle portion of the first round. Initially I had just two defensive tackles in the first: Aaron Donald and Timmy Jernigan. The new edition will feature Louis Nix, Rashede Hageman, Stephon Tuitt and perhaps even Dominique Easley, though I’m struggling with where any may wind up.

I also have to somehow shoehorn two additional offensive tackles quite a few slots higher than I anticipated. Both Clemson’s Brandon Thomas and Nevada’s Joel Bitonio appear to be solidly in the top 40 picks, and perhaps in the first 32. Virginia’s Morgan Moses was already there, and that projection was reinforced. Exact quote from out text exchange, “Beef sells”. Beef might indeed sell, but who’s buying?

--The annual “32 Fearless Draft Predictions” is also in the outline/info gathering stages, but here are two teasers:

1. Louisville safety Calvin Pryor will be sitting by the phone a lot longer than expected. Measuring in at under 6 feet tall really cooled the first-round jets, as he was listed at 6’2”.

2. The team that takes Jadeveon Clowney in the first round follows it up by taking a quarterback, perhaps Jimmy Garoppolo, with its next pick.

--One of the more pleasant surprises for me in this film season has been my late-to-the-party discovery of LSU guard Trai Turner. He was a surprise early entrant as a redshirt sophomore, and I had not evaluated him until binging on LSU games about a month ago

I couldn’t help but be consistently reminded of Larry Warford of the Detroit Lions, who for my money deserved Offensive Rookie of the Year honors last season. Like the War Daddy, Turner has an outstanding initial punch, and he follows it with impressive lower-body drive. It’s rare to find his man anywhere close to the line of scrimmage on run plays.

He’s not very technically polished in pass protection, but the potential is there. A good O-line coach can teach him to stay patient and sit in his stance instead of lunging out, and if that happens Turner has the potential to be great. Not quite Warford great, but a reasonable enough facsimile to make a team very happy in the third round…which happens to be where the Lions scored Warford a year ago. He’s my second-rated guard In This Moment (great band, by the way!), though I have yet to break down the full class. Stanford’s David Yankey pales in comparison.

--There are three players that I am unapologetically higher on than most evaluators, including my NFL-employed brethren.

First is South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw. He’s widely projected as a seventh round pick or priority free agent, but I see a lot to like in Shaw. His improvement in 2013, in part because he finally stayed healthy, really showed promise. It appeared as if the game slowed down for him, and he’s got experience running Steve Spurrier’s NFL-style offense. His arm strength isn’t ideal, and his durability will always be a question, but teams could do a lot worse than Shaw as a potential backup QB with upside. I would consider him as early as the fifth round.

Next is Tennessee offensive tackle JaWuan James. He’s less heralded than fellow Vols linemate Tiny Richardson, but James projects to be the better NFL player. James has good length at 6’6” and shows good balance and lateral movement skills. While he’s not overly powerful, James has sound technique and has proven durable over the course of a Tennessee career where chaos reigned all around him. He’s a late 2nd/early 3rd rounder in my book, though James is more apt to be drafted at least a round later.

Finally, Oregon defensive tackle Taylor Hart is a criminally underrated talent. He has positional versatility, able to play all over the line in a variety of schemes (save nose tackle). Hart exudes a high football IQ and a relentless motor, two qualities teams look for in a lineman. He best projects as a 3-4 defensive end that kicks to strongside DE in a 4-man front, a la the role Antonio Smith played for years in Houston. The Texans could very well replace Smith with Hart in the 3rd round and I would not object, though it’s more likely he comes off in the 4th or 5th round.