I don't like Mallet much at all. I see a big arm and question marks with everything else. Newton, I have above Mallet, but I see him as a project with potential character issues. I'm not sure I'd characterize either of those as "smart picks" for us.
I think it would take a RW type deal (whole draft) to start with and I'm not sure that would get it done.
To be honest , I have not formed a solid opinion on Mallett as of yet. I see some things I quite lke , see potential and certainly am intriqued enough to view him as a potential pick in the 12 to 20 range. For that to happen , the results from the combine will have to be positive as would be the background checks. I do like his arm strength , think he has produced , and has performed when it matters. I don't know all about Newton , but I do know some and from that and what he has shown on the field , and I have seen 7 or 8 Auburn games this year, I would have zero hesitancy in picking him at 15 or there abouts. For me Newton would be a very smart pick , but hey I have been wrong before.
If the player is a bipolar 1 to where I'm worried about him jumping off the deep end or having a crazy hallucination that causes him to stab his positions coach, then yeah, I'm not touchin the guy. However, if he's well grounded etc and is hypomanic BP 2, then IMO it can benefit a player during this elevated mood level where there's an increase in energy & drive for success. Hypomanics also experience a serious increase in goal-directed activity, are highly competitive, and are sometimes more productive than normal. Then you have them during their gameday "superman" manic mode where the adrenaline rush & high can turn them into a relentless beast like Randle became. For instance, Cam Wake exhibits hypomanic symptoms, and it wouldn't surprise me if he actually were. Marecic may not even be bipolar, so this may be a mood point.
These are 2 ways I might approach the draft if I'm Ross knowing that Sparano is a temporary stop-gap in case we don't land Harbaugh. Either: 1. I focus the draft & offseason on improving the line, ground game, and adding playmakers and depth to the skill positions so that: A. the offense is basically set, allowing a 2012 coach to arrive only needing to select the QB he wants (and who fits the system he wants to run) B. Henne's allowed to sink or swim with Sparano so we don't have to waste a valuable 2nd or 3rd on a QB whom might not fit the future staff's offense (and instead grab a vet in FA to compete who doesn't cost us a pick if possible). Or: 2. I move up in the draft to grab Gabbert whom virtually any future coach would want to keep (and continue building an offense around)
I think I'm leaning toward that option too. If Harbaugh goes to SanFran, I wonder if he could get his fellow Michigan QB (Henne) back on track if we traded him and next year's 1st & 2nd to move up for Gabbert. I'd love to keep this year's 1st if at all possible. IMO Henne can still be a good QB under the right coach etc.
I don't think 1 Bowl game performance helps his stock on what's been a pretty average season. National TV and all? Fling on the Gabe Carimi tape and let's see you go mano y mano against a real stud LT.
Further to this , Chris Mortenson was saying if there is no rookie wage scale this year , he feels there is no way Carolina's Jerry Richardson would pay a 50 million plus contract . So a trade isn't that out of the question perhaps. Trent Dilfer was also talking about QB's and he said he sees Andy Dalton rising through the scouting season. Not sure what area he feels he will be picked or should go though , but maybe there are some options Miami will look at outside the top 3 or 4 QB's in this draft.
There are (although IMO Dalton should not be one of them). There always are. But your chances of finding a good QB later are greatly reduced. There is always a second tier of guys that people are high on. Unfortunately that tier has in the past consisted of names like John Beck, Trent Edwards, Ryan Brohm, and Chad Henne to name a couple of the recent guys. There are also some guys in that tier that have made it as well just as there are guys in the first tier that have failed. But if you want to get a big time QB, you're best bet is to get one in that top group.
Agreed, as I have mentioned , this is the year to address the QB position , providing Miami has the proper conviction on one of the top 3 or 4 QB's.
1. Trent Dilfer says a lot of things that are silly. Andy Dalton can't challenge the perimeter of the field and his ball placement is pretty bad. 2. Cam Heyward should be a DT and therefore I wouldn't expect him to look impressive edge rushing the likes of Gabe Carimi. He had a good bowl game and he definitely increased his draft stock. He was unblockable. 3. Option #2 please, do the research and figure out which guy you believe to be a franchise QB, then go out and make sure you get him. That is not a position to be trifled with.
So Michael Brewster Ohio St Center is thinking about declaring. Was by far the best linemen on Ohio St.
Now that the season is over, I have been looking at some draft sites like WalterFootball and looking at some of the top players at each position. Anyone know much about OLB, Dontay Moch from Nevada? I only saw one video of him on youtube and it was against Mizz in 09. I liked what I saw. I feel like if we can grab this guy in the 4th, then he could be our solution to getting an extra pass rusher opposite of Wake and be our 3rd down rusher with Wake. I still want Misi to start, but this guy could be a very good situational pass rusher from what I have seen and read. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gtsE4RxIt4 I wouldn't mind going defense in the 4th if we can this guy or someone very similar. Situational guy that can come in for 15-20 plays a game and help get to the QB.
Moch will rise pretty hard and heavy especially after the Combine, you'd have to use a 2nd rounder on him...and we don't have one, and if he did have one there are other priorities.
Not that there's any inclination he'll come out, but I'm impressed by Cyrus Gray of Texas A&M (JR RB).
Yeah, I read on WalterFootball that he is a freakish athlete and is a beast in the weight room...but also, he has a lot of things he needs to work on. Supposedly he isn't a great over all football player and basically just plays off of pure athleticism. If that is the case, I am thinking he could fall late 3rd-4th. But, if he puts up freakish numbers at the combine and plays well in the senior bowl, I guess he will be roughly a 2nd. (I'm assuming he will be in the senior bowl). Any other 3-4 OLBs that are projected in the 3rd-5th round range with insane athleticism? I want us to focus this draft mainly on offense, but if we can snag one of those types of pass rushers later, I wouldn't mind that at all.
Jonas Mouton is an inside linebacker but Simon said that in the game against UConn Michigan used him as a rush linebacker and he looked an absolute wunderkind in that role. I think he'd be interesting. He has rush and cover potential. I doubt he'd go higher than the area you mention. Moch is a good football player. I've looked at him up close, analyzed him. He's very good. I like him as a WLB in a 4-3, kind of like a Lance Briggs or Rosevelt Colvin before he went to the Patriots. You could put him at 3-4 OLB though and I don't think you'd be disappointed, he's just not a hugely physical player in his line play. You want him in run and chase position. He could be like a smaller Julian Peterson.
Indeed he runs with vision and a great burst; I'm watch A&M and LSU. He run thru LSU 1st and 2nd level like a hot knife thru butter.
I'm guessing Ck would cream himself if we drafted Blackmon in the 1st and added Weeden in the 3rd to get him the ball since they already have chemistry.
Yup. Bad move IMO. He's still growing into his 230lb body and is getting better and better by the game. He needs an extra year. On the other hand, he could be a bargain to pick up this year. Clemson has Ellington back and CJ Spiller 2.0 coming in next year so he could be worried about losing playing time.
If Sparano has any input in this year's draft, I'm not sure he'll be thrilled about grabbing a QB early considering his job is hanging by a thread and will need all the immediate production he can get.
That was my thinking as well. The TD catch vs Auburn surely would've put him on my radar if his running didn't on its own.
His hands are tremendous..... but he'll drop an easy pass from time to time. He's got a lot of untapped potential left but a lot of learning to do. When/if he puts it all together, he could be a really nice feature back. I'd throw a 5th or 6th at him, maybe a 4th if he has a great combine.
What if they moved back in the 1st and picked up a 2nd and somehow ended up with Blackmon, Hunter, and Weeded? I think Chris' head might explode. (Mine too)
Wow, pretty impressive work you did Adam! I rarely post in this forum because I do not know enough about all the prospects available to us not do I have the time and energy to do so. However, I think I do know pretty much about the ones I'm familiar with. One of the most I am familiar with is UDs Pat Devlin. I was talking about him the other day to CK and CK wasn't really thrilled with him. I have to concur with him simply because we already have QBs like him on the roster. Actually, most of the time, he's better than what we have. His youtube shows just what he is capable of doing. He's extremely quick at reading the D and even quicker checking down his receivers and makes excellent decisions. He can make all the throws needed but his long ball is not as accurate as Flacco's was. But, he can zip a ball to a WR in stride which allows for RACs. He can run well and likes running the fake play action to the left with usually good results. He had only 2 picks in the regular season this year. So, some may think that if he can do all this then why don't I really want to have him here. Well, here is why. I also told CK last week that even though he can do all those things, when he is hurried up or gets slapped around a bit, he tends to lose focus. For anyone who watch the FCS game [1AA] last Friday could see what I mean. UD was up 19-0 at near the end of the 3rd. UD was taking it to them in a big way. Even the announcers kept talking about how bad it was for EWU all game long until one thing happened. Devlin hit one of his guys right in his hands, perfect pass but hardly perfect results. The ball went thru his hands and skipped off his helmet up into the air and was picked. net Devlin's fault at all mind you but what came next was. That play happened with enough time on it to give EWU a chance of new hope. They took the ball and scored and momentum really switched right there and then. Next UD possession saw EWU getting pressure on Devlin and smacking him around a bit. UD was not able to do anything the rest of the game. Momentum affected the D and they fell apart. What we saw was a classic "Texas Fold'em" game. [game was played in Frisco Texas]. Anyway, just thought I'd mention this.
Actually no, I don't want to have that much leverage toward one team's trio...even if they are the most productive trio in the history of college football (I believe). I've watched so much Oklahoma State tape that I come away thinking the pro talents on that roster are Weeden and Blackmon, then Hunter. I hate to be down on Hunter but I think he's legitimately a 2nd/3rd rounder...whereas there could be some 2nd/3rd rounders that I feel are a little underrated.
I concur with everything you said, as well as your assessment of the championship game. It came down to two drives for Devlin, where he had a chance to reclaim the momentum, put points on the board, and make Eastern Washington's comeback impossible. Mind you, his WRs were dropping and popping up perfect passes all game, and I counted 11 to 15 points for Delaware that were left on the field because of poor skill position play...two touchdown passes Devlin threw where the limited talent at the skill positions resulted in incompletions, and another pass over the middle that should have been a big gain and would have put them in easy field goal range with the prospect of potentially getting more than just the field goal. But, the fact of the matter is, you need a QB that can give you those two drives at the end...and Devlin didn't. And the reason he didn't? The two biggest criticisms of him as a pro prospect are his arm strength and handling of pressure. Both failed him, on those drives. Eastern Washington put on the pressure and he couldn't handle it, and if he doesn't have his feet set under him and room to follow through, he doesn't get any heat on the ball he throws. Pressure screwed up the first drive where he could have extended Delaware's lead and outpaced Eastern Washington. Pressure screwed up the second drive where Devlin took an unnecessary sack on a delayed blitz, going deer-in-headlights as I've seen him do in other games (William & Mary, New Hampshire). Then it comes down to a 4th & 10, he's got an open receiver but because he's not a big guy in the pocket and because he doesn't have a big arm, when he's throwing the ball while having guys bumping into him, he can't get it there. Ball was around the receiver's ankles where if it'd been at his waist he might have run after the catch for the first down. There are a LOT of things to like about Devlin, and you outlined a lot of them. But he seems to me like he might have a serial mistrust in his arm, and that is a problem. It casts a different light on his "quick reading through his progressions" and "good decision-making". Simon brought it up as he's first viewing him, he's checking off guys before they even have a chance to get open. That's a sort of Henne-itis that has to turn us off as Dol-Fans, as we're currently living through the negative results of that kind of tendency. The potential mistrust in his arm could also be responsible for his nervousness inside the pocket and under pressure, because he knows he NEEDS his feet set and room to follow through in order to drive the ball. In the end I could see him going in the late 2nd round, maybe 3rd round, maybe 4th round. Miami doesn't need him. They don't need a "solid QB prospect", a fix-er up-er that could take a few years. They need a slam dunk. Taking a solid QB prospect that'll take a few years before you know enough about him to close the book on him or go with him...is exactly why we're in this mess. We need a guy that has the physical skill set to play immediately, so that we can start finding out right away if we made the right choice, or if we fvcked up. This is a new NFL. Rule changes and spread concepts have changed the passing game. Every year, QB Ratings inch higher. In 2002 there were only 4 QBs with QB Ratings of 90+. In 2010, there were 13 of them...and that's been a gradual incline, too...not just some weird year. Last year I believe there were 12, the year before 11, etc. Rule changes about pass interference and defensive holding have taken root, as are rule changes involving the ability for a defense to hit and affect a quarterback. This has resulted in more and more spread concepts hitting the NFL, making it easier for quarterbacks to push up their completion percentages, throw fewer interceptions, and end up with higher QB Ratings. While some see this as a fundamental devaluation of the QB position (after all, anyone can now get a 90+ rating, right?), I see the opposite. The QB Ratings are higher because the ability of a QB to affect the game is greater than ever. This means that the impact of the elite quarterbacks is maximized, rather than minimized. The NFL is a quarterback's game more than ever before. In this NFL, Dan Marino sure as sh-t would have won a Championship.
I don't know why people can't just accept this CK. Our holes at RB, guard simply won't matter if we can find a QB. We do not have any priority other than finding a QB. On your top five lists of things to accomplish it's numbers 1-4. All I know is, I'm watching the guy I think might be our guy tonight. And I am looking forward to it
Change doesn't come easy. Becoming harder and harder to hold out and fail to recognize that the NFL is a quarterback's game...by design.
That's why you need a pocket passer to have success in the NFL and not some numb nutts that breaks out of the pocket at the first sign of pressure or when his first option isn't open. However, having that quarterback means very little if you don't have a running game. Of the 8 playoff teams stills tanding, 5 of them are in the top 10 in rushing attempts. Only one is in the top 10 in passing attempts. You have to be able to run the ball to win in the NFL.
