Jake Edelman of Northern Illinois had a terrific game vs Fresno State. Very disappointed in Andrew Jackson though. And Chris Smith who made all conference. And I don't see anything in Chris Carter that excites me. He makes Dontay Moch look like Lawrence Taylor.
One other name who I've been banging for ages but who has top 10 all over him is Missouri's Aldon Smith. Most violent hands in the draft and only seems to be going about 40% each play and yet he's consistently in the QB's face.
He didn't get a lot of help from his receivers, and he was harassed all night by the Ok. St. pass rush. They really had him off balance and he forced some throws.
Yeah the radar at #16 for me includes Justin Blackmon, Michael Floyd and Julio Jones (in that order, but you never know by the time the process is done)...Ryan Williams, Mark Ingram, may have to add Mikel LeShoure there (again, in this order, but you never know once the process is done)...and, awfully, Ryan Mallett. Mallett wouldn't be the first guy whose potential was obvious for everyone to see but who had things about his game that really put me off, but he ended up being awesome. I believe all of us, Simon and myself included, only got with the program on Jake Long pretty last minute, saw things in his kick slide we didn't like, questioned his ability to pass protect at the next level, etc. Jake Locker though...NO. He will not be a good pro. I would stake a lot on it.
I don't think you can force a QB at #16 if no one merits the selections. If Gabbert, Luck, and Newton are off the board than you pass on Locker and Mallett because we have our own version of them in Chad Henne. You need to take the best Offensive play-maker in the draft at #16 and to me the guy who will be on the board is Justin Blackmon. A WR core that consists of Blackmon, Marshall, Bess, and Hartline is just such a strength. The players I see being drafted in the top 15 are Luck (1), Newton (2), Gabbert (3), AJ Green (4), Robert Quinn (5), Aldon Smith (6), Von Miller (7), Ryan Mallett (8), Nick Fairley (9), Marcell Dareus (10), Prince Amukamara (11), Patrick Peterson (12), Da'Quan Bowers (13), Adrian Clayborn (14), and Brendon Harris (15). I would say the next set of players are Derek Sherrod, Anthony Castonzo, Justin Blackmon, Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, and JJ Watt. I think Blackmon at #16 makes the most sense.
For whatever reason, as recently as a month ago, Mike Gundy was confident that Blackmon, Weeden and their safety prospect would all come back to school. Weeden by the way blows my mind with his QB skills and the naturalness with which he runs the offense, considering he took a sabatical from football for 5 years while he pursued his baseball career. Even though he hasn't played much, you can tell he's been practicing pretty hard behind Zac Robinson for the last three years in order to get to this season he's having, which is a pretty damn special one. Justin Blackmon isn't having statistically the most impressive WR season I've ever seen by himself...Weeden has been pretty spectacular. He's 27 years old...if Blackmon decides to come out...Weeden might come out too. I would, with Blackmon out and Kendall Hunter out, being 27 years old, that kid needs to start his NFL career in a hurry. He would probably be my #5 underclass eligible behind Ryan Mallett...because Foles has already said he's staying.
I'm already on record with Weeden. He has tremendous value in the later rounds. The only reason he isn't a 1st round pick is because of his age. If I was GM I would draft a QB in the 1st round and Weeden in the 4th or 5th.
That's a pretty good list for me. I haven't really formed an opinion on Mallett. I've seen him a few times and like some things and don't like others. I'm really hoping this is a guy that ends up in the good graces of scouts and GMs though. If he's a legit franchise QB prospect it's huge for the Dolphins. That would make 4 of them assuming Luck and Gabbert come out and would go a long way towards one being available for the Dolphins. And if somehow a the rumors about Washington and Locker are true, that would be even better.
Both of the Nebraska corners are ****ing good. So physical, love it. Bo Pelini and his staff do a helluva job coaching. It speaks highly of the two cornerbacks with how much they use Cover 0 blitzes.
And yet Prince Amukamara is consistently seen trailing receivers on the deep post by about 3 yards every time someone throws a convincing play-action downfield. That 5 yard overthrow by Price wasn't the first time. Not even the first time against Washington. He had another just like that in the first game against Washington and Kearse caught it for a long TD. And then of course there were all the miscues against Justin Blackmon and Brandon Weeden.
Jake Locker is a worse NFL prospect than Cam Newton at this point. I don't know if there is anything he does that translates to the NFL. His footwork is horrible, even when handing the ball off. He is antsy in the pocket even though he has been throwing mostly from a moving pocket. Accuracy and ball placement? Forget it. There is a reason this guy is 0-7 passing at this point. Whoever takes this guy in the first round as a QB will be out of a job in no more than 3 years.
THANK YOU. Finally, someone realizes this guy is not a pro quarterback in any way, shape or form. Not that you and I are the only ones, but we're too few. Considering what I know you think of Cam Newton, that's saying something.
There are NFL Scouts that have him listed as a safety on their boards. I know that for fact. They think he's Malcolm Jenkins. I am not in that boat because I like him at cornerback too.
IMO, there is a rather large gap between Andrew Luck and everyone else. Right now, my #2 guy would still be Ryan Mallett. I haven't really seen enough of Blaine Gabbert to rank him ahead of Mallett at this point. I'm going to try to catch Pat Devlin in the FCS Championship game this weekend. I liked what I saw of TJ Yates today.
Man Locker's ball placement is horrific. We've all talked about him numerous times but I don't know what people see in him. I could be wrong down the road but I'll be shocked if he pans out.
One thing I didn't mention before about Blaine Gabbert is that his pre-game preparations are strict and detailed. The reason I say this is because I've seen and listened to clinics of Gary Pinkell, who has talked about quizzing his quarterbacks. They ask him things like coverage tendencies and player tendencies from the defense, the offense's game plan, audibles that he is expected to make when he sees so and so. All based off of film.
IMO Carter is the kind of guy you need to take the Q Moses approach to. Draft him, keep him around, and in 3-4 years when he's physically at the NFL level and has learned a nice repertoire of tricks, he'll be an impact player in the league. I'd take him in the 5th and hold onto him. I think he'll be a pass rush specialist within 2 years and a quality starter within 4....... that is, if a team can stay with him long enough to give him the opportunity. If he can be a ST stud, then I think he has a shot to be special down the line.
My first 3 is close: Julio, Blackmon, Ingram..... but I'd prefer to trade back and grab Rudolph. If we're going to stay with this dink and dunk, low risk, high efficiency offense with Bess and Marshall running lots of 10yard and shorter routes, then IMO a stud dual threat everydown TE who can stretch the middle would be an enormous assett to what we're trying to do on offense. We could use the redzone threat and it would make our 2 TE sets worth a darn...... and I'd have to think the blocking would eventually be improved. I'd rather have Rudolph-Greg Little than any other WR-TE combo in the draft personally. IMO Little matches to a T what this regime wants to accomplish on offense and looks for: high percentage passes, gets open quickly, great hands, move the chains, great YAC, huge target with large catch radius, awesome blocker, playmaker once he has the ball, competitor, tremendous determination & drive. This offense's strength is in 3rd and 3-7 yards when Henne is the top QB in the NFL (63% first downs per attempt with 119 QB rating) and in 2nd and <6 (70% first downs with 109 QB rating). He's also great in 1st down & 10. What's holding us back is our ground game putting us in a ridiculous amount of 2nd & 3rd & longs where our personnel does NOT allow us to excel in these situations. With an upgraded Oline and some life at RB, we should have our ground game chugging along which will put us right where we want to be passing wise: in efficient 2nd & 3rd and manageable situations where our QB is the best in the NFL at converting. I can't imagine anyone else in the draft who is better suited for this role than Little.... especially b/c of his YAC ability. IMO the one thing that will make this "potentially" highly efficient offense work is getting a #1 TE who threatens the field on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down so that Marshall, Bess, and "Little" will be afforded more room underneath to operate since most of our passes will be in the 10 yard and shorter range. Adding a pass threat at #2 TE is nice and all, but he only provides our WRs the extra operating space they need when he's ON THE FIELD, which is why I feel the #1 needs to be completely upgraded b/c this "guy" needs to be on the field a lot (just like Fasano has been). To me, Rudolph is that every down TE who accomplishes this while becoming a stud in the blocking game. Not to mention the mismatches we can create on LBs. With a good ground game, Henne excels at doing what this regime is looking for at the QB position, so I dont think he's being replaced by anyone. IF our ground game is upgraded so that we can pick up plus yardage on 1st down (and even 2nd), then this could become a VERY efficient, time-consuming offense. Unfortunately, I think the upgrade at #1 TE and upgrading Hartline are pivotal to our success.
I'm with you guys too. If we think Henne has a problem with batted down passes, cant wait to see what happens to Jake.
I'll take Gabbert as my #2, and there's no one in line behind him. But we're not drafting a QB in the first so I'm not thinking about it. Gabbert's talents would be wasted here IMO.
Added: IMO Julio and Blackmon are better receivers right now than Little, but considering our offensive philosophy, I think Little would be more effective..... and I'd love to add Jernigan to him to rotate in at the slot on 1st and 2nd down when Bess is less of a factor. I want someone in the slot during our running downs who is a threat to attack the entire field to keep the safeties more honest so that our ground game has more room to operate. Bess's true value is on 3rd and 8 or less yards, so I don't want to overvalue him on 1st and 2nd down. IMO 1st & 2nd should be for the ground game combined with the "threat" of a big play to keep the ground game at max effect. Bess doesn't play into this scenario as far as I'm concerned. Jernigan would provide that big play threat on 1st & 2nd down, help open up the ground game, and help draw coverage on intermediate-deep routes to give Marshall & Little more space underneath to make plays and pick up YAC. Bess does NOTHING to help $40 million Brandon tack on the extra yards. All he does IMO is keep defenders in closer proximity to Brandon so he can be tackled as soon as he catches the ball.
Brandon Weeden. The best pure throwing skills among all draft eligible QBs, and overall the 2nd best QB. Combination of reading defenses, ridiculous arm strength, accuracy, touch, and sense for pressure...make him the COMPLETE package. Unfortunately, he's 28 years old. But, what are ya gonna do? You don't ignore him because of that. Let's hope Justin Blackmon decides to come out, and that once Brandon Weeden looks and sees Blackmon and Hunter both leaving school, he decides...I'd better be under NFL contract before my 29th birthday.
I think I prefer Luke Stocker to Kyle Rudolph at this point. Luke Stocker, at times, looks like he has some Jason Witten in him.
Luke Stocker is a terrible blocker. It's a bad year for tight ends. So disappointed in Stocker. Still like Zach Pianalto who blocks well and has good hands, Josh Chichester at Louisville, Lee Smith at Marshall, George O'Brian at NC State. Kyle Rudolph is awful. Watch him run a route; he's captain roundoff. He's one paced and overrated. I think Amukamara's had a mediocre year given his skillset. He's not been nearly as on point as he was a year ago. He was the best trail technique CB I saw last year. This year he's a struggling to keep up CB. He was outstanding against Washington earlier in the season but two subsequent match up's I've really had some questions over him. Corey Liuget of Illinois reminds me of Da'Quan Bowers. He's a 1st rounder if he comes out. REALLY impressed with Randall Hunt, Illinois guard. Strongest guard I've seen this year and that includes Claiborne and the kid at Wisconsin. He pancaked 305lb Phil Taylor and he didn't seem to put effort in. I counted 5 pancake blocks in the first half alone. Guy was killing people.
