Brett Jackson

With Brett Jackson, it's all about potential.

He's a projected first-round pick-some mock drafts have him going as high as tenth-overall-but stacked against other top prospects, Jackson doesn't seem to measure up.

Look at USC's Grant Green. The shortstop batted .374 this year and has 102 career RBI.

Or Arizona State's Jason Kipnis, who finished the regular season slugging .736 with 25 stolen bases.

Jackson? His career batting average is .303 and he's struck out 117 times in three seasons.

With all that said, though, there's no doubt that scouts love Jackson. And why not? Five minutes in the presence of the center fielder is enough to confirm it: He looks every bit the part of a major leaguer, and he's got all of the five tools.

Scouts drool over his bat speed, and there's no doubt that on a good day, Jackson is one of the best hitters for both power and average on the West Coast.

Defensively, it's hard to think of anyone at Cal who covered more ground than Jackson, who managed to almost single-handedly man the outfield in his years at Cal.

Still, his career numbers aren't the greatest, and with 61 strikeouts in 218 at-bats this season, it's hard to imagine that Jackson will be the leadoff hitter he's been touted as.

He's not the polished, ready-to-go pick. But for a team with a little time and a need for a quick, tough outfielder, Jackson could be the perfect fit.

Jeff Kobernus

There are few better-kept secrets in collegiate baseball than Jeff Kobernus.

A freshman all-American and first team all-conference player in his junior year, Cal's second baseman has somehow managed to keep an incredibly low profile while raking the hell out of the opposition for three seasons.

But even if you didn't notice, don't think the scouts haven't.

Coach David Esquer says Kobernus won't last past the third round, and his gaudy career numbers certainly suggest that his name could come off the board quickly on Tuesday.

Kobernus' collegiate career batting average stands at an impressive .324 with 89 RBI and 44 stolen bases.

At the plate he's the ultimate contact hitter-striking out only 44 times in 626 career at-bats while recording 203 hits.

And in spite of several injuries during his years at Cal-including a full ligament tear in his thumb that kept him from swinging a bat for three months before this past season started-Kobernus has never started fewer than 52 games in a season.

It's a safe bet that the average college baseball fan has probably never heard of him.

But for the team that drafts him, Jeff Kobernus might just become their next big name.

Blake Smith

San Francisco saw a little bit of everything that Blake Smith has to offer in 2009.

In Cal's first meeting with the Dons, Smith threw a runner out at home from right field. In their second, Smith homered over the left-field wall at AT&T Park and then came in to pitch the ninth inning, blowing mid-90s fastballs and earning the save.

The Bears' righty-throwing, lefty-hitting, do-everything junior is a surefire pick in tomorrow's MLB Amateur Draft. The questions are where he'll go and whether teams will see him as a position player or a pitcher.

An injury to his lat muscle kept him off the mound for the entire second half of the season and was used almost exclusively as a first baseman or designated hitter. Smith finished the year hitting .319 with 10 home runs and 38 RBI. His pitching numbers in the first half were less impressive, as he appeared nine times and threw 20 innings, recording 26 strikeouts and an ERA of 5.85.

But Smith's draft stock should be high regardless, based on his performance with the USA Baseball National (Collegiate) Team last summer. He led the team with a .327 average and didn't give up an earned run in nine innings on the mound, earning a win and two saves while helping Team USA to an undefeated record and a gold medal at the FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championship.

Michael Brady

For the last three years, one of the few constants around Evans Diamond has been Michael Brady somewhere in the Cal baseball team's infield.

Brady became the Bears' starting shortstop as a sophomore, held the position as a junior and was juggled around the infield as a senior. He played in 151 games from 2007-09 despite hitting just .257-fairly low by the collegiate aluminum bat standard-during that span.

The reason? Defense.

One of the nation's top-rated defensive shortstops coming out of high school, Brady's skills on the infield were too great of an asset for coach David Esquer to keep on the bench. He's played shortstop, third base and first base in 2009 and has a strong arm that's made for the left side of the infield. He also cleaned up his error numbers as a senior, recording a fielding percentage of .957 compared to .935 in his previous two seasons.

Although rarely an offensive threat, Brady has shown flashes of power from the right side of the plate, including a two-homer game against Arizona State in 2007 and arguably the highlight of his collegiate career-a walkoff home run against USC as a sophomore.

Brady said that he does expect to be drafted, though he isn't counting on being a high pick. As a college senior, he doesn't have much leverage over teams, but he said that he will report to wherever he is drafted and assigned.

Tags: CAL BASEBALL, BRETT JACKSON, MICHAEL BRADY, BLAKE SMITH, JEFF KOBERNUS, MLB AMATEUR DRAFT