Joey Dorsey, who already is 24, can be a useful NBA player right out of the gate because of how physically strong he is and the impact he can make on the glass.  

In reality, though, he will have to be because a player of his age is already about as good as he?ll ever be.  

There are few people in the world that can combine such a staggering amount of strength and athleticism.  He will never be a serious threat (or even much of a concern) offensively, but his effectiveness on the offensive glass allows him to put occasional points on the board.  He shot 64.7% from the floor, which is obviously nothing to scoff at, but he shot just 37.8% from the free throw line to give some perspective on his range.

Dorsey isn?t horrible with the ball and has some semblance of touch, but the vast majority of his shot attempts are dunks.  He does do a nice job of using his wide body to get his inside shot off although he could do a more consistent job of that.

Because he?s so strong, stripping the ball is very difficult, and blocking his shot on dunks is equally tough.  He is a powerful dunker who really attacks the rim with good hang time .

When he catches the ball down low in the halfcourt offense, it is more typically in the very middle of the paint instead of either block.  He will occasionally make a nice post move here primarily because he gets the pass so insanely low and close to the bucket.  

After the opening tip against Kansas, Dorsey caught the ball here and used his shoulder to clear some space and made a three-footer off the glass.

His hands are far from great, but he is strong enough to catch just about anything and will easily finish lay-ups and dunks.

But in the NBA, as he was on the college level with Memphis, 98% of his value comes from rebounding and defense.  

He was the country?s second most prolific rebounder behind Michael Beasley, grabbing 15.1 per 40 minutes with 5.6 of those coming on the offensive end, which is extraordinary considering how infrequently he has the chance to rebound his own misses.  This is where Dorsey gets the vast majority of his shot attempts.  He has a very quick second jump and has impressive length to the ball from a standstill position both on the offensive glass and on lob passes.

Also impressive on offensive rebounds is how he often tries to get underneath the defenders on the baseline side and back them up to, in effect, box them out of the position.

He is very conscientious when it comes to boxing out defensively, as well, getting his wide body even wider, and he impressively tips out any ball in his reach he can?t fully grab.

Because he has good lateral quickness, Dorsey defends the pick and roll very well, not looking overmatched when forced to defend a dribbling guard.

Although on the short side for a big, Dorsey is a great shotblocker.  Unlike some shotblockers, Dorsey will use either hand to block, depending on which side he is on, and he also looks to actually get a hand on perimeter shots and not simply contesting them.

He protects the rim in a very physical and intimidating manner, but he?ll also get out into the passing lanes and picks up a good number of steals with his anticipation and quickness.

Dorsey?s age and lack of height are working against him in this draft, but it?s hard to imagine him not being given a legitimate chance to prove he can contribute in big enough ways on the glass in a league with a dearth of quality rebounders.

- Click here to see our full list of 2008 Draft Prospect Reports

Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM.  He can be reached at Chris.Reina@RealGM.com where he may use your draft questions in a future mailbag edition