http://www.bleed-green.com/blog/?p=12368 http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=11546&draftyear=2009&genpos= I have him as my #4 CFL to NFL prospect, when he came out of ECU he was not a very good passrusher, however playing in the CFL even when double teamed and held etc, he still was highly disruptive, even playing inside and 1 yd off of the football. Eh, move well for a big man, gives us something to watch in Camp and OTA's, but if we also land G/T Olifioye then we will have beaten out 10 teams to sign him.
I remember him at ECU enough not to be overly excited about this. The Dolphins are still in the mix for Olifioye who is being considered the big dog among CFL prospects.
Yessir, Mitchell has moderate interest, as with CFLers the number of teams that try out a player is the best barometer of them receiving an offer and Jovon has equaled Cam Wake's number of teams that have worked him out. Mitchell had a modest 4-5 teams kick the tires. The other thing with Mitchell is when Singletary was canned in SF, he went to the Vikings and wanted Mitchell there, but he'd already signed in BC, could be one of those big guys who the light comes on for them when they are in a sink or swim situation. Jacksonville worked pretty much every decent prospect from that league save a kicker and Greg Carr, I'd expect they will sign some with there release of every member of their practice squad.
We also signed a Rb/KR from Hamilton Marcus Thigpen, my #8 CFL to NFL guy. He's explosive, but has fumblitis, could mean Steve Slaton won't be back. And to add to the Mitchell narrative, fmr SB winning (2001)Patriots Dline Coach, Randy Melvin, gets a lot of credit in BC for really pounding the Defensive Line with fundamentals such as hand placement, this alienated some vets who had success prior to his arrive but by the end of the yr he was universally praised could be his work with Mitchell upped his game. Olafioye is the last one left from that workout.
This is the CFL baby, no way to convert Super 8 film to youtube... These sorts of signings are one of the reasons why I still like Jeff Ireland's approach, these guys are low risk, high upside players, if you can find a DT/DE/NT who can rush the passer, and a stud kick returner, for less then 100k in signing bonuses, that is as good as GM work can be.
Not yet Deej, I'd still like to see us land Jovon Johnson/Justin Hickman/Jovan Olafioye. Nickel Cb, passrusher, G/T, all needs we have imo.
Which means the NFL is definetely interested, that is as many workouts as Wake had in 09. Rumor has it that the Giants really liked him, but I suspect we will land him.
I remember a lot of the posters on this forum being excited about the signing of Mark Restelli from the CFL last season. I certainly hope this player from the CFL last longer then Restelli did with the Dolphins.
True, and I drank the Tsoumpas kool aid in 2010, youneverknow with these guys, especially Lineman as the NFL game and CFL game are very different when it comes to line play. Thigpen can do it, or he can't, Returners translate into both leagues.
I comes down to scouting. I was very high on Wake, so much so that I posted that we had addressed the OLB need enough that it was no longer a priority in that draft. However, I never saw enough in any of the other CFL guys that we signed. IMO they were all guys that most likely warranted no more than a camp look. The difference is actual evaluation rather than just assuming that all CFL guys are equal.
Exactly, the other thing is some CFL positions translate to the NFL more naturally, and the player has to be DOMINANT in the CFL to do much in the NFL, not just good, if the guys who have made the jump are looked at: -Cam Wake DE 2 time DPOY -Brandon Browner 2 tme CFL all star and a 6'4 220 pd Cb -Stefan Logan 5'7 and all star kick returner -Phillip Hunt led CFL in sacks in 2010 also was a Top 10% in Football Outsiders passrusher potential index The one exception to the rule is multiple all pro Special Teamer Brandon Abendayo, Jovon Johnson was the first Cb in CFL history to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, Jovan Oifiaye did not allow a single sack in 20 games and 600 plus pass attempts, that is the sort of dominant performance that makes the jump possible. Chances are good, if they are "some guy" in the CFL, they won't do much in the NFL.
It helps! That is the sort of athletic ability a player needs to make that jump pan out, when Tsoumpas came down in 2010, he mentioned they had offensive lineman covering kick offs in the NFL and he was amazed, he is a fine CFLer but simply not that sort of athlete.
There's more to it than that though. You have to evaluate their talents/skills and project how they translate to the NFL game. It's the same thing you have to do with the draft. It's insane that some just assume that all first round QBs are equal for example.
I think Tony finally got a good night's sleep last week, and the local custom coffee shop closed after losing it's best customer.
Eh, don't agree Rafi, not with CFLers, they have a higher bar and just fitting into a system probably won't get them into the door, in some ways it is a bit like high school football scouting, you don't look for system fit, you look purely at football ability. Qb's are sort of the cpu of the offense, they must be able to function well in virtually any offense, this is one of the things that the 'first rd pick Qb's have had success!" folks are not considering, sure they can come up and fit the system designed to fit them, however the training wheels have to come off sooner or later.
Thigpen and Slaton are different types of players . Thigpen would not get carries like Slaton would, he is much more a return guy with "some" spread out plays possibilities imo. Thigpen has been dynamic for stretches to be sure , but hasn't been as much lately and if he has a chance he would have to explode in the return game imo.
Hmm, to me Thigpen was up and down, the same way the Ticats were, he'd flash great talent, then fumble at the worst time. Slaton, was not Sparano's cup o' tea, but he did rush for 50 in the last game, and he did look good on returns early in the yr, difference could be Thigpen's base salary would be 465k, Slaton's closer to 800k as a 4 yr vet
Thigpen was really explosive 2 seasons ago , he had like 4 or 5 return , special team TD's in a ridiculous period of time. Slaton will get an opportunity next year I would think , and signing Mitchell would be a smart move just to improve the chances to sign the big fish imo.
Wasn't that Marquay McDaniel? He scored 1 Td 5 different ways? That was the guy I had my eyes on for a jump, along with the Esks DE combo
He has really good movement for a large man, good hands as well, in the Grey Cup when the BC D needed a play he'd beast a double team and make a play in the backfield, he seemed to be able to be explosive when he wanted it.
You obviously need a minimum of athletic ability, but thats not what I mean. You have to see some skill that translates. For example in Wake I saw elite get off and an ability to get low with power that translates well to the NFL. It's the same with QBs. With Luck you're seeing him do everything that he'll have to do in the NFL. It isn't a matter of "we won't know until we see him do it against NFL competition". That's what you say if you can't evaluate him a QB. And some QBs spend their whole career in a system that fits them. McNabb did that for most of his career. When he finally left Philly people tried to say that he had lost, but that's only b/c they couldn't see the importance of the system fit.
Thigpen scored by punt and kick return and receiving and rushing and I believe he had a missed FG return too? Anyway he was really explosive for a stretch , so much so that he had that Devin Hester effect, he was avoided to the benefit of fiels position. He is a long shot , but worth bringing in ...it never seems we keep a "return guy" anyway...but hey new coach so we'll see.
While I like the signing, I have to ask WTF is going on why are we signing ANYONE when do not have a coach in place. What if he doesn't fit our new coaches defensive system? This leads me to believe that we are not getting any big time coach as they don't have any say in talent evlaulations it would seem. This organization is just plain lying to fans about trying to put the best team organization on the field..
You're right: http://www.cfl.ca/article/crazy-eights-thigpen-targets-eight-return-tds 8 return Td's is impressive in any league, and let's be honest here, Gates was not very good the early part of the yr, and offered nothing as a wr, of course he was not used very often in Sparano's Miami, which was sort of how things went. Thatis what a dominant performance looks like, 8 return Td's? That's better then Stefan Logan.
If you are talking about Jeff Fisher they did interview him and do have an idea of what his system would be. Hell, Fisher during the interview could have mentioned that part of his plan would be to sign him.
lol Why wouldn't we sign players we thought had talent? What coach in their right mind wouldn't want as much potential talent to work with as possible? Yikes.
