Falcons offensive line coach had Zack Martin play guard on Tuesday. He excelled at left tackle for Notre Dame and was phenomenal there on Monday. However, moving him to the inside gave him problems with the size and power of the interior defensive linemen. Martin really struggled with Ra'Shede Hageman, but Hageman is a first-round talent. If Martin (6-4, 305) is moved inside to guard in the NFL, he is going to need to add more power to take on heavy defensive tackles. However, Martin may not have the frame to add much more. http://walterfootball.com/seniorbowl2014practice3.php
I would say that the chances of both being gone before #19 are approaching zero. Donald is a heck of a player but he's still undersized, he still looks about 5-11 to me, I can't figure out the 6-0.7 height. Probably a second rd pick, maybe a late 1st. As to Billy Turner, he's a heck of an athlete but you had to wonder about the competition that he faced at North Dakota St., and sure enough he's getting exposed at the Senior Bowl: North Dakota State G/T BILLY TURNER, who really got national pub this past season, especially after his team’s upset of Kansas State, is learning about life against a higher level of competition this week. There were times today in pass blocking drills where he was absolutely taken to the woodshed by some of his teammates. Some of that came when they tried him inside at OG for a while, but even back out at OT he was humbled mightily. But if he accepts the coaching he’s getting and works even harder he’ll survive this test and be a better player for it. He’s still a solid prospect, but we now know he’s also going to be a project for some NFL OL coach next summer. http://www.gbnreport.com/seniorbowlreport.htm I could see him as a mid round pick to groom for a couple of years behind a FA LT like Anthony Collins, but pick #19? No way.
I agree that both of them will be there at pick 19. But I think you really need to come off Aaron Donald's height. It's a difference of less than two inches, and what does it really matter? He's got enough natural leverage to be effective. Hell, the best 3-technique in the league, Geno Atkins, is barely 6'1".
He's a heck of a player, but he'll be penalized for his size- if he had Rasheed Hageman's size he'd be a top 10 pick- the NFL loves size, that's just how it is. Atkins had a great career at Georgia and he was what, a 4th rd pick? Because of his size. Size does matter as per getting drafted in the NFL. Donald looks so short that I was expecting 5-11, good for him that he's almost 6-1.
Don't forget that Atkins has sickle cell anemia, which likely pushed his draft stock down as well. Donald had the better collegiate career, so I'm thinking even with the height issue he's late 1st/ early 2nd off the board.
Aaron Donald has without a doubt produced the most buzz amongst onlookers of any prospect at the Senior Bowl. And he measured a full 6'1" and 288 lbs which should squelch any misguided desires to move him to middle linebacker or some such. He's the first player since Ndamukong Suh to capture the Outland & Lombardi awards for best OL or DL in the country, as well as the Bednarik, Nagurski and CBS DPOY awards for best defensive player in the country period. And before Suh did that, I'm not even sure anyone had ever done it before. If he goes in the mid-2nd round it's because he murdered or raped someone and we haven't heard about it yet. Or because he has a serious medical disorder.
Cyril Richardson (OG Baylor) had a fantastic day in the "Pit." Later, he would struggle a bit in pass-protection drills, but he repeatedly won matchups with his devastating strength in simulated run blocking. The best matchup of the day ended with Richardson bending Donald over backward—something no one really expected to happen. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ting-notes-observations-from-tuesday-practice
Something nobody expected to happen mainly because Aaron Donald had been completely tearing Richardson to pieces on pretty much every single rep prior to that.
Aaron Donald gets the award for Most Outstanding Senior Bowl Player. Last year's recipient Eric Fisher went #1 overall. http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/01/aaron_donald_earns_senior_bowl.html
One of the best performing linemen there, if not the best. Weston Richburg might be on that list too, and he was the only lineman capable of handling Aaron Donald.
Aaron Donald. I'm not sure that has changed for me since ages ago, as I've been onto Donald for about a year now. But I've also been onto Jernigan for a year or more as well. They're both good but Donald just gets me going. The real question in my eyes is Aaron Donald versus Ra'Shede Hageman. There's no doubt who performed better in college. But there absolutely is something to be said for Hageman's physical potential, which he looked to be just tapping into in 2013. That's one I'll waffle on.
If a big physical DT is the goal then I'd rather have DaQuan Jones than Hageman. I don't trust Hageman's level of consistency as many have pointed out. Even during Senior Bowl week it was noted he'd make a great play and then disappear the subsequent five or so.
Omar interviews him. http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=91082&sitesection=dash&VID=25551031
I think you've got to take the long view on this one. I hate to whip out a Dontari Poe comparison because Dontari Poe was not even very good in college whereas IMO you should be drooling every time you watch Hageman...but the principles apply. What I like about the Hageman story is the physical potential was ALWAYS practically immeasurable but the play I saw from him in 2013 was a lot better than 2012, so he's ascending that way. He's really just scratching the surface yet he's damn good. No thanks on taking DaQuan Jones over Ra'Shede Hageman.
Hoffman very underrated. I go both ways on Saunders. Understand and fully agree, hard to cover the guy 1-on-1. But the size is an issue. A legit issue.
Absent the presence of special qualities, I don't think Philbin would go in for a tiny tyke at the slot. The exception seems to have been Tavon Austin if the reports are correct. In that vein, I could see Joe Philbin liking the look of Brandin Cooks who moves on the field a hell of a lot like Tavon Austin while being a more experienced pure receiver. But otherwise I think he's going to want to players that are a little bit bigger. At the very least, just not small.
Fair enough. I still think it's a risk though considering there have been plenty of highly talented individuals who carried their inconsistencies over into the NFL.
Interesting picture, Donald next to Johnny Manziel. Manziel is LISTED at 6-1 and he's significanly taller than Donald- unless Manziel is wearing lifts in this picture I still can't figure out how Donald measured in at 6-0.7, it doesn;t add up. He looks tiny, and regardless of what he measured, that will cost him in the draft. That dude is seriously freaking small for a DT. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...e-overall-top-250-players-in-college-football
That's probably a good call, my bad, it looked like Donald to me. That would make more sense size wise as well.
Seriously...the guy was literally just measured to within the eighth of an inch and you're still trying to make him out to be 5'10" or some such? Come on man. Just admit you were wrong about it and move on.
The only odd look I see in Aaron Donald whenever I watch him is his lack of any neck. Maybe that's why he looks short. Seems like his pads are up where a 6'2" guy's pads are but his head is down at 6'1". And the guy seems like he's got an enormous wing span but that didn't really measure out that way. I mean look at him just engulf both a quarterback and a running back on this hand-off in the Duke game. I guess it's not really wing span that does this, just his forceful dominance. [video=youtube;YSlvm7kMGBg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSlvm7kMGBg[/video]
The article is actually listing the the top 250 players as per the author, with Donald chosen as #1. Given his marquee position, I assumed that he would be in the picture in the article- and given his general size, facial features and lighter skin the guy who is actually Mason came the closet to fitting the bill, actually looking pretty thick for 205 lbs. As it turns out, it's a Heisman picture and I wasn't paying attention to the writing in the background of the photo. Donald did in fact measure out at 6-0.7, and that is one of the more surprising height measurements that I can ever recall. Other than that you can, of course, get bent.
Speaking of height, here's Johnny Manziel's eye level compared with Jordan Lynch, A.J. McCarron and Jameis Winston. Winston in particular (listed 6'4") shows a pretty compelling difference. Andre Williams is listed at 6'0" by the way. There appears to be maybe half an inch difference in Manziel's and Williams' eye level, at most.
DaQuan Jones doing a nice job pushing a double team a yard or so into the backfield.... then tosses the right guard to the ground on the following play.
Garappolo has been the best QB thus far but I also think he's the best here period. Others like Carr better.
Considering their not all completely on the same line(standing wise) there could be slight differences there too.
I don't mind you not liking the player higher than mid 2nd round. I do mind blatant refusal to deal with reality, which is, Donald is 6-1 (6'-0 7/8"). Whether he looks to you 5'10" or 3'8" is irrelevant for any purpose anywhere, and then you use that in an argument, you go full retrd.
Do you actually read before you post your drivel? I fully understand that Donald measured in at 6-0.7, and even at that height, which is about 2 inches taller than I expected, he's gonna get penalized in the draft. He's one heck of a player, but he's still short and that will cost him. Even at 6-0.7 he still looks markedly short on the field- if you have a problem with me mentioning that, you know what you can do with it. He'll make a good 2nd round pick for a team, maybe Dallas or Chicago. Could be Miami, you never know.
