Sports Buzz-Ireland vs Hickey drafting philosophy for LBs

I tend to think of shedding blocks as a bit of an overrated aspect of the evaluation, to be honest. If a blocker is coming out to you and you haven't identified the play so quickly that you beat the blocker to the spot you need to get to, then you're probably better off occupying that blocker and steering him into obstructing the flow of the play rather than shedding him.

 

I'd agree with that. I just remember thinking that was one of the aspects where he needed the most improvement after his junior year, especially during the UF game two years ago where they ran all over him. I dont remember it being an issue at all his senior year. I can definitely see this improvement coming from him learning how to react quicker and beat the defender to the spot.

 

In personnel departments a 50% success rate is pretty good. The NFL is just more savage with the bottom 50% than most other industries.

If you take elite military units like the USN SEALS or the British SAS, they have incredibly high entrance standards selecting only the very best of the best to get into their selection courses yet they still bounce out 90% of people that get onto the selection courses.

 

Telvin Smith really is front and center though of this "prototype" controversy.

He led his star-studded defense in tackles per game by a wide margin (6.4 vs. next best at 4.9).

He had 3 interceptions on the year, tied for 2nd on that same star-studded defense. But he's a linebacker and the other linebackers on the team combined for another 3 interceptions.

He had 4 PBUs on the defense which tied for 3rd most. Again, the rest of the linebackers on the defense COMBINED for 5 total PBUs. He matched that by himself.

He had 9.5 TFLs on the defense, tied for 2nd most. Timmy Jernigan a DL had the most at 11 TFLs and Mario Edwards another DL tied with Telvin with 9.5 TFLs.

And oh yeah, he scored 2 TDs himself.

And like I said he's been the unquestioned leader of the defense. I remember when I was looking at Clint Trickett as a potential QB transfer to USF this year. Trickett lost the QB competition to Jameis Winston and it wasn't so much that he was upset but rather he just wanted the opportunity to play somewhere. I watched some interviews with Trickett on YouTube and he mentioned that he had taken over where E.J. Manuel left off in terms of organizing the offense for practices during off times. He noted that Telvin Smith did the same with the defense. And on the field he plays like it.

Essentially if Telvin Smith were 6'3" and 238 lbs instead of 6'3" and 218 lbs, we'd be talking about him as a potential 1st round guy. The reason he's not going to go high is prototyping. So if you're really not about the prototypes then you throw caution to the wind and draft him anyway.

Here's my "All Anti-Prototype Team"

QB: Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
RB: Tre Mason, Auburn
RB: Lache Seastrunk, Baylor
TE: Eric Ebron, North Carolina
TE: Gator Hoskins, Marshall
WR: Brandin Cooks, Oregon State
WR: Jalen Saunders, Oklahoma
WR: Dri Archer, Kent State
OT: Zack Martin, Notre Dame
OT: Brandon Thomas, Clemson
OG: Xavier Sua-Filo, UCLA
OG: Wesley Johnson, Vanderbilt
OC: Weston Richburg, Colorado State

DE: Dee Ford, Auburn
DE: Scott Crichton, Oregon State
DE: Michael Sam, Missouri
DT: Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh
DT: Will Sutton, Arizona State
DT: Dominique Easley, Florida
LB: Chris Borland, Wisconsin
LB: Eddie Lackey, Baylor
LB: Jack Tyler, Virginia Tech
LB: Telvin Smith, Florida State
CB: Jason Verrett, TCU
CB: Chris Davis, Auburn
CB: Lamarcus Joyner, Florida State
FS: Jemea Thomas, Georgia Tech
SS: Jimmy Ward, Northern Illinois

 

What is closer to a crap shoot is 'beating the market'--much like in stocks. When everyone has access to pretty much the same info, then it makes finding a diamond in the rough a hard-to-repeat skill. But it sure seems some folks are able to do it beyond luck.

 

I do not agree. It seems the opposite to me. Zach Thomas did not fit any prototypes, unless undersized and average speed are a prototype. Conceivably, IMO, Hickey could draft another Zach more likely than Ireland would have, or sign a guy like Larry Izzo as a UDFA. Ireland would say too short, too small, too slow, don't want. Hickey would more likely see guys who make a lot of plays and show instincts, let's take a chance on them.

 

You look at teams that have 'beaten the market' when it comes to drafting NFL talent I think that three things are consistent.
1 - They draft players that fit their schemes - physically and mentally
2 - They develop the players they draft
3 - When a special talent comes along they alter their schemes to fit the talent.

I think the Steelers and Patriots are poster children in the modern NFL of that.

Where the 'Phins have epically failed is step 2 of that process. In the last decade or so the only players that have surprised us with their development have been players with exceptional inner motivation - guys like Wes Welker, Davon Bess. The list of players we thought were busts who've gone on to decent careers in other NFL cities is a very long one.

The list of Dolphin players that have been developed by the coaching staff to be better than advertised in the last decade maybe just Paul Solai. Olivier Vernon and Charles Clay may be examples that the trend is finishing but I'd rather see next year before saying we have a track record of developing the talent we draft.

 

What I do is look for football players that move with great fluidity that their position requires, then I look at their frames, I don't really care if their short, but if their frame concerns me, I do take that into account, sometimes dropping them down, and sometimes taking them off the board..

 

I think the article overstates Ireland's adherence to the prototypes and probably also overstates the differences between him and Hickey in that regard. As has been mentioned, they have been working/drafting for teams that had very different defensive styles and wanted different kinds of players to fit those styles.

I have relatively little faith in the prototypes. There are just too many players at every position who have missed the prototype by wide margins and nonetheless gone on to be among the very best at their positions. That's not to say one should purposely chase after players because they don't fit the prototype, but when you see one who doesn't fit the prototype but has nonetheless been extraordinarily productive, you need to look hard at how he's done it. In many instances, he's done it in a way that will work just as well in the NFL as it did in major college football. And those guys are almost always undervalued in the draft and, therefore, represent incredible values. To me, height is a characteristic that is very often over valued. There are few, if any, positions where a certain height is a real requirement for success.