The consensus is that Kouandjio was "exposed" for his weakness against speed rushers on the outside. I'm not completely sure I buy into it but there is no doubt he was beaten by speed a lot against certain opponents, especially toward the end of the season.
Inside counter on Kuandjio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcGMgbc_DRU#t=69 Spin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcGMgbc_DRU#t=258 Dip rush https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcGMgbc_DRU#t=357
CBS' short list of combine snubs. Not as in-depth as some posters' opinions here, but a who's who nonetheless. http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/draft...1883/nfl-draft-combine-snubs-at-each-position
Wow. This may be the biggest oversight in years. Worst I've seen. It's just crazy. How can you not invite a first team all-big 12 LB to the Combine? Surely someone will write a letter and get this guy in there. This is crazy.
I guess just not everyone feels the same way about the guy. He's only like 5'11" or 6'0" and 220-225 lbs after all.
This is just one play, but this is the kind of football player that Eddie Lackey is. You won't find this play ANYWHERE on a stat sheet to where it's attributable to Eddie Lackey. But LOOK what he did to make this play happen. He starts off in the middle at Left Linebacker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iS6yPglkJ8E#t=1721 His fellow linebacker (and good friend) Bryce Hager picks up a fumble at the 10 yard line and starts to return the thing. Who is there to accompany him and serve as his straight up ninja-style body guard over 90 yards of real estate, en route to a touchdown? That would be Eddie Lackey...who blocks #50 straight to the ground, cuts over and shoves #71 away from contention, speeds back up and seals off #18, sticks around to get in the way of #81, then speeds back up to make sure #89 wasn't going to be able to tackle Hager just shy of the goal line. I mean christ, what is he an anime character? Did I just watch a football clip or Terminator 2: Judgment Day?
It's funny I just got done laying out some haughty lecture about how potential in a quarterback is tied to mental/technical ability and not physical ability, and how once quarterbacks have certain de minimus physical abilities then marginal increments in physical ability don't necessarily make for greater potential. Then I fall for a small school West Texas A&M signal caller whose best attributes are that he's 6'5" and ignites the air with his throws. [video=youtube;3sBXKL9VFHU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sBXKL9VFHU[/video] Seriously though, this is a good late round prospect. Given his cartoonish arm strength it's no surprise the Combine made him a surprise invite from West Texas A&M. Threw 447 of 675 for 5401 yards, 53 TDs and 10 INTs this year at West Texas A&M. Took 30 sacks, also rushed 28 times for 106 yards. Cartoonish production too. I mean...check out the WORK ETHIC on this kid. Heart of a champion: (seriously you've got to watch this video I'm pissing myself laughing...oh god that christmas sweater!!!!) [video=youtube;qGsJ5hpdjqs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGsJ5hpdjqs[/video]
Don't understand the Wheeler hate. Try and play anyone in a scheme that goes against their strength and is the opposite of what they have had success doing. Then tell me how good they are.
Ryan Tannehill went to Texas A&M...Dustin Vaughan went to West Texas &M. Ryan Tannehill was a pre-med major...Dustin Vaughan was a pre-med major (3.9 GPA, Dean's List, President's List, NCAA Division II Acadamic All-America Player of the Year). Ryan Tannehill has a great arm...Dustin Vaughan has a cartoonishly good arm. He's even got Ryan Tannehill's hair cut.
This gif of him getting tossed by a true freshman (Lawson) is kinda funny... He's a solid prospect, imo, good tools. Just not a for-sure first round guy. Could use another year in school to smooth out his technique, like dj said. If he's there in the 2nd round I'm in.
I saw the same exact thing on Finheaven. He's a thumper, I'd draft him at #19 for LT and worst case scenario I think that he's a road grader at RT, great natural strength. pretty good athleticism. I'll be keeping an eye on Carl Lawson in the coming years, he's a talented DE and that's one heck of a play.
Eddie Lackey vs. Oklahoma Pursuit http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=121 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=334 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=354 Blitz http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=166 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=453 Tackle http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=345 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=443 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=464 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=475 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=480 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cY4d0rJsOD8#t=609
Todd I need your input on Bashaud Breeland. I know nothing of his background and I'm sure you do. The film makes me think he's...not smart (putting it kindly). Is there anything to that or am I barking up the wrong tree? I see he majored in "community recreation, sport, & camp management" which sounds like a joke. Like actually a joke, like a ha ha joke, like this is not a real thing and he put that down as a joke. Also is he supposed to be fast? He doesn't look fast to me.
I have to say there are things that bother me about Wisconsin LB Chris Borland, but I get it about his instincts. They're good and he's a good pass rusher and he plays an aggressive style with pass rush and blitzing tendencies that really meshes well with Miami's style of defense with Philip Wheeler's position. But Virginia Tech LB Jack Tyler's instincts to me are on a different level. I recognize that, like Eddie Lackey, this guy is not a physical specimen at all. He's 6'0" (maybe) and 230 lbs (he looks legit heavier than Lackey). But Tyler reads the play from eye level on the field quicker than a video watcher can read the play from a bird's eye view. He has THAT quick ability to read the action in the backfield and what is about to happen. His key reading is in my eyes off the charts fast. The only thing is...sometimes he just doesn't have the physical ability to do anything about it.
Carl Lawson is a stud. He made a lot of great plays as a freshman. Because Gene Chizik's last year (the one without Malzahn) was so, so bad, people forget that for quite a few years in a row, Auburn had several Top 5/Top 10-ranked classes. Gus Malzahn, Curtis Luper, and Trooper Taylor... well, those guys could recruit. Malzahn may have been the only one that could really coach, but they could recruit. Some of the fruits of those recruiting classes are coming to bear out with guys like Greg Robinson, Tre Mason, and Jay Prosch (a transfer, but still recruited) gonna be drafted and probably make teams this year. More Tigers will be coming.
I retract my vampire comment about Lache Seastrunk. Bring this guy to Miami. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hbgUsMRX2o
You've clearly not seen the chaos and disorganization of these recreational camps without a college education in the related field guiding the way. It's serious shit man. Breeland is like a handful of Clemson's corners of the recent past- hard to get a read on b/c they seem to have the talent to play at the next level but few have convincingly put it together on film first. Kinda like Byron Maxwell who had 4 INTs in like three years as a starter but was a very good player for us regardless. Coty Sensabaugh 2 years ago. Marcus Gilchrist 3 years ago who had 1 INT in two years of starting but then went in the 2nd round. Breeland has been more consistent and probably the best member of the secondary the past few years. He makes plays all over the field and bounced back nicely after an injury plagued 2012 season. I haven't really broken him down yet, however I can tell you the staff and fan base were praying he'd return another year b/c he was a pretty important piece to our D. I'll do some digging for you about which way the hamster in his head is running b/c I haven't heard much about it, and I don't recall him being particularly fast either.
Some twitter rumors that the Texans are seriously pondering scenarios that involve trading for Ryan Mallett. That would be interesting. I cannot imagine a more fearsome pass rushing combination than J.J. Watt and Jadaveon Clowney.
Buddy of mine form Arkansas swears Mallet is as dumb as a bag of hammers. Really surprised me when the Pats took him.
This is something that people probably accuse me of being partial toward simply because I liked Mallett coming out but so be it. I had a high evaluation of the man coming out, thought him worth about a mid-1st rounder or so which to me means about a 40-50% chance of turning out to be a franchise starter at the position. But I no longer believe that drafting a QB in the 1st round is the only available opportunity to find a franchise guy. The reason I don't believe that anymore is I think the league's hunger for QBs the last few years has created some opportunities. In 2011 there were at least 6 quarterbacks and possibly 7 that were taken with the idea that they would eventually get the chance to be a franchise starter (7th being Mallett whom I believe NE always intended to trade). In 2012 I believe there were about 6 or 7 (depending on what you feel the Eagles' intentions were when they took Foles) more of those. That's enough QBs to supply nearly half the league. It's no wonder that the following year only three or four teams did the same thing (Manuel, Geno, Glennon...possibly Barkley). It used to be that if you didn't get a QB in the 1st round then you were sunk...but the rules have been changing. Russell Wilson is the best QB from the 2012 class and he was taken 3rd round. Nick Foles is another 3rd rounder outperforming 2nd and 1st rounders. Mike Glennon the 3rd rounder outperformed 2nd round Geno Smith and maybe even 1st round E.J. Manuel. The 2nd rounder Colin Kaepernick has certainly outperformed 1st rounders like Gabbert, Ponder and Locker. I think the hunger for the position has created so much turbulence in the evaluation process that there's been a lot of market inefficiency as a result. And it's not just the 17 or 18 guys taken in those three drafts who might find themselves with the opportunity to try and earn franchise starter jobs. It's also the guys that are going to be left by the wayside to make room for them. Last offseason Carson Palmer changes teams with no transaction cost, and the Cardinals go from 5-11 to 10-6. Matt Schaub will change hands this offseason and he's the type of player that typically has one more renaissance year in a new location before fizzling into retirement. Sam Bradford could change hands. Michael Vick will change hands. Alex Smith changed hands. And where the hell did Josh McCown and his 109.0 passer rating come from? And who is to say that some of these 17 or 18 guys that got churned and burned from 2011 thru today won't end up starters despite current struggles? Are we sure that Christian Ponder won't resurface with a bit more experience and in the right system? Even Jake Locker, whom I hated coming out of the draft, hasn't really proven himself deficient yet...mostly just injury prone. He had a 99 passer rating as a rookie, like an 86 or 87 passer rating this year...has run well in all three years. Then you have guys like Ryan Mallett and Matt Barkley who will be forgotten for no other reason than that they're stuck behind quality starters. Bottom line is, what is important is that you invest in the position and get players that you have conviction about, ones that have higher than normal chances of becoming a franchise guy. Taking Teddy Bridgewater or Blake Bortles may still be the best way to do that but it isn't the only way. There's so much turbulence at the position now that you can probably attack the position a number of different ways. And in fact let's say you do trade for example a 2nd round pick for Ryan Mallett, while simultaneously taking a Jadaveon Clowney. The brilliant part of that strategy is that doesn't have to be everything you do. If you take a Teddy Bridgewater at #1 overall then that's the only thing you do. It's ride-or-die with Teddy B. You take a Mallett by trading a 2nd or 3rd round pick and you still get to do other things to try and juice up your odds even more. You have to look at it from a Seattle total investment standpoint. That's what I love about that front office. It wasn't just Matt Flynn. It wasn't just Charlie Whitehurst or just Tarvaris Jackson. It was all of the above until they found their guy in Russell Wilson. It was about the total investment not about falling in love with one guy. As for Mallett himself, I think most agreed he was somewhere between mid-1st round and borderline 1st/2nd round talent but with some admitted marijuana use and rumors of partying habits that made him drop a bit. Well we're three years out from that and the character questions look exactly as overdone as Simon and I predicted they would be. He's not rubbed anyone (that we know of) the wrong way in NE. He's not said anything to the press. He does a bunch of charity work. No rehab vacations. No arrests. No rumor mills (that we know of). Just a guy that's quietly served as Tom Brady's backup for three years. So yeah, I think in addition to the training he's received in NE which has almost assuredly made him a better QB now than he was coming out of Arkansas, he's also proven the character concerns overdone which should result in his increased value.
All that, and the fact that Bill O'Brien does good work with quarterbacks. McGloin pre- and post- O'Brien was night and day. He's the type of coach that can afford to take a Garoppolo later in the draft and have him be a serviceable if not an above-average quarterback.
That's a possibility as well. And just grabbing a Ryan Mallett doesn't mean you can't also take a Jimmy Garoppolo. But if you took Teddy Bridgewater or Blake Bortles at #1 overall then yeah I think Garoppolo is out of the question.
I'm starting to really hone in on some underrated linebackers. Eddie Lackey I've talked about quite a bit. Jack Tyler of Virginia Tech is a guy that I've honed in on as well. Incredible key reading speed and instincts. Very squat, powerful body. A third now is Christian Kirksey of Iowa. I see why Kirk Ferentz is so high on him. His total package of agility and movement is pretty unreal for a 6'2" and 234 lbs linebacker. He plays a position on Iowa's defense that I'm a little ambivalent toward because it's where A.J. Edds played and fooled me into thinking he was good. But Kirksey moves like he's controlled by a joystick and he's got a hair trigger, very aggressive. He's another guy like Eddie Lackey that has found a way to score touchdowns (plural) in 2012 and 2013...with 3 of them over that span. [video=youtube;rqA0Jln6w5A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqA0Jln6w5A&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Roosevelt Nix remains the Spud Webb of defensive tackle prospects. Really hard to say what to do with the guy. I keep seeing him pegged as a ILB but we're not even close to knowing whether he's got the skills for that, I don't think. For now I say just make him an outside pass rush specialist a la Lamarr Woodley, Elvis Dumervil, Brandon Graham, etc. [video=youtube;DyOn41Um_Kw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyOn41Um_Kw&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Shaquil Barrett is a guy that I've talked about a lot. Coached by Joey Porter at Colorado State, the guy has blossomed into such a good all-around football player but the problem is projecting what he's going to be at the next level. He's got more pass rush skills than for which he's generally given credit. He beat Cyrus Kouandjio for a big sack when he lined up line an outside linebacker and then got so low in his stance he accidentally got his hand on the ground like a 3-point start. That should give you some idea though of how you can maximize his pass rush. A lot of the pass rushing he does with his hand down is too tight to the formation. But in reality you're buying him to be a Jarret Johnson. That's what he is. You want him to be physical against tight ends, erase them, play zone and be an all around physical run stopping presence that can also pass rush some. When CSU lined him up on the inside against a guard he did well there. You need him to play in a multiple style defense like a Nick Saban defense or like Miami's defense. He's a gifted all-around football player. Kind of a Courtney Upshaw clone.
Total aside but what a way to make a living as an NFL player. Limited reps so you can go all out and plenty of kudos and love when you get a sack. Sigh. If only I were a little taller, faster, stronger, hard-nosed, gifted atheletcially......
I'd rather be a 2nd string quarterback. You're a professional football player and you get to say so to whoever you meet every time you go out at night. Everyone in the city loves you and calls for you to come on the field every time the starter throws an incomplete pass. You get paid upwards of $4 million a year for not even playing a single snap.
round 1 - zach martin, ot, notre dame round 2 - travis swanson, c, arkansas round 3 - bishop sankey, rb, washington free agency: brent grimes, 4 yrs, 32 mil branden albert, 4 years, 35 mil jon asamoah, 4 years, 20 mil paul soliai, 2 years, 8 mil cut list: dimitri patterson - saves 5.4 mil left tackle: branden albert left guard: mike pouncey center: travis swanson right guard: jon asamoah right tackle: zach martin subs: mckinnie, brenner, thomas
I don't understand the whole move Pouncey to OG thing. I get he was highly touted as a OG when being recruited and did well there in college but still. Leave Pouncey where he is is the best option to me. Sign Anthony Collins, Geoff Schwartz, Shelley Smith maybe an Austen Howard and this gives us enough flexibility in the draft.
i dont think the bengals will let collins get away. also i dont think schwartz will get away from kc, asamoah is probably the guard they let walk. as for my pouncey at guard scenario, i believe he helps us more at guard than he does at center. when garner had to play center last season i didnt even notice the difference. the top rated center in this draft should be available when we pick in the 2nd round and i think he gives us good value at that pick.
Bengals don't have much cap room as it is and word is that they'll be trying to extend A.J. Green sooner rather than later. They're already seeming pretty content to let Michael Johnson walk via free agency this year. That could change if they start slashing some of their high-priced vets: Leon Hall, Terence Newman, Andrew Whitworth, James Harrison, Jermaine Gresham, etc.
For a long time Matt Cassel was the most blessed man in sports. He was Matt Leinart's backup at USC so he never had to go out on the field and take the risk of stinking and being hated by everyone. He was on a championship caliber college football team at a school filled with attractive women, in a city filled with attractive women (and no professional football team). Then somehow despite being just a backup he actually gets drafted to the NFL and becomes Tom Brady's backup. Obviously Boston is a big downgrade compared to Los Angeles where the women are concerned but now he's making all kinds of money and again all he is is a backup. Both places he gets to say he's a football player on a popular team, but never had to go out and prove it...until 2008 when Bernard Pollard wrecked everything. But then again that season throwing to Welker and Randy Moss in their primes with a record-breaking offense surrounding him got Cassel tens of millions of dollars.
