bolden was my first thought as well -- he's at least one where physically and from an athleticism standpoint he probably surpasses the guy you would compare him to from 01 (lewis). lewis was drafted in the 6th round but never played in the NFL -- bolden will likely get drafted higher and play snaps in the league. it's not guaranteed but seems likely. whether bolden would have been a better player in college than lewis is hard to say because of context (coaching etc)
mallory is another one who realistically would not have played, i mean shockey kept winslow on the bench, but i do think mallory is of the size/athleticism build to have played on that team in some event where shockey and winslow didn't exist. i think he's better than kevin everett, he's prob a better athlete than shockey tho not as durable.
i don't agree on harley vs beard, sands and jones. i don't think harley is a better athlete than those guys -- he will have a better career and may even play in the NFL but i think that's just due to offensive evolution in college football. just in terms of size, speed, WR ability etc ... beard, sands and jones were pretty good athletes, those dudes could run. they were more impressive than harley to me. daryl jones in a spread, RPO, screen heavy offense would've shredded ppl.
i also don't agree on don chaney -- i mean don is a beast but i don't think he's on the level of portis, mcgahee, and gore. the bar is ludicrously high but i would put don fourth of those guys in terms of raw talent. i think duke is the one recent guy we've had who i would put in that group -- his game breaking ability would have played in any era.
01 team had enormous DEs so it's hard to see how guys like phillips and rousseau would've been viewed, greg is huge obv but skinny. i think both would have played snaps on that team situationally tho. phillips as a pure athlete is better than the DEs on those teams, certainly once you hit the second string.
i think nesta could have been on the 2 deep. he's being underrated in this discussion. the 01 team just had huge guys everywhere so nesta wouldn't have fit in the scheme every down, but he has a skillset that would've been unique to the DT rotation just in terms of his get off and penetration, being a bit smaller and quicker.