Nice work as usual man. I really like Alualu. He's one and done as a pass rusher IMO but his hustle is tough to match.
Yeah, what I like about his rush is that even though he doesn't have the pace to get to the QB consistently, he's so forceful off the corner and he has a variety of rush moves that will keep tackles on their toes. I really believe that he could be an inside player in a 3-4 because he's so damn strong. He looks a little maxed out in his frame and he's unlikely to be able to get up past about 310.
Do me a favor Simon and keep a bookmark of these individual game reviews that you've done, send it to me. What we'll do for the site is post them as individual blog entries, and I can draft video on the players from the games in question as visual aid to demonstrate what you're talking about.
Soon. Right now, we've collectively got our heads up a DVD or PC screen's ***. We are working through a good many games as we speak. Speaking of which Jerry Hughes is next on the list for me.
Chris, I have kindle ready in terms of game play notations. I will do Hughes and send them both to you.
BTW, toss Luke Kuechly onto that pile as well. He's done a pretty tremendous job replacing the irreplaceable.
Not a fool, but I can't agree. What makes Jerry Hughes stand out from a normal one dimensional speed rusher is his ability to work against OL double teams. He has been on radar of every team he's faced this year and he gets regular OL double teams (which, contrary to popular opinion, are not really that common) and he is able to work them, split them, and keep getting after the quarterback. I think Hughes is the best prospect there and it wouldn't surprise me if Washington or Priest end up starters.
Watched Georgia/Texas A+M earlier. Will start with the Aggies. Jerrod Johnson has had a lot of love this season and rightly so, especially for the way that he’s looked after the ball but he’s not NFL ready. He needs another season and wisely he seems to be intent on staying because he’s a long way from the finished product. His upside is intriguing because he has high round skills but low round rawness. I like his leadership and his ability to change plays at the line of scrimmage. When I saw the Aggies against Texas, he was checking out of plays that were sent from the sideline into something that he felt more comfortable running against a particular Longhorn front. His arm is good, although he holds the ball at that ¾ height and has a somewhat slow and rather elongated delivery that reminds me some of Byron Leftwich. He can make plays outside the pocket, displaying an ability to throw on the move and whilst not blessed with great speed, can get down the field using his feet. He’s a shotgun QB however and I’d like to see more of his footwork when coming out conventionally from under center. He was getting a lot of pressure from the Bulldog front four and as the game wore on, he started to force things a lot more, to lose his accuracy and his touch – he started throwing high repeatedly – and then simply hung a couple of his receivers out to dry. I was semi-surprised that Mike Sherman didn’t sit him for the last 10 minutes or so. He doesn’t have a lot of targets to throw at although Jamie McCoy has the look of a late round/FA h-back type. Kevin Matthews at center had his toughest assignment of the season with Owens, Atkins and Weston. He did OK. He certainly dominated the much bigger Kade Weston and fundamentally he looked very sound, using his hands well inside and playing with good knee bend. Defensively the big man on campus is Von Miller who’s been getting some first round grades and flying up boards. He’s a junior and there’s some questions as to what he’s going to do. Tough call because I doubt his stock’s going to be any higher in a years time, coming off a 17 sack season that led the nation. Unfortunately he barely played in this game; if he was in on 25 snaps I’d be surprised. I’m not sure why he played so infrequently but he had very little impact. He’s the Jack linebacker which means the Aggies essentially just line him up where they feel they can get a better match-up. Clearly that was generally going to be on Vince Vance the RT who is awful. But Miller never quite threatened what his great season promised. He was much better against a better tackle, Adam Ulatoski in the Longhorns game, recording a couple of takedowns of Colt McCoy. This time however, there was something lacking. I called him in the past ‘everything that Sergio Kindle isn’t’ but if you’d only ever seen this one game you’d wonder what on earth I was on about. Let’s condense the two game reports and this is what you have; he plays from a two point stance and only goes forwards. He’ll not put his hand on the ground and he’ll not drop off in coverage. But he has the frame and the length and indeed the size – at around 242 – to be a 3-4 OLB on the weakside. Right from the snap he has excellent get off and can get on top of his opponent in a hurry. I timed him on 5 separate snaps with a stopwatch and within 2 seconds, he had taken a minimum of 5 steps and on every occasion was underneath a pretty good left tackle in Clint Boling. Boling is no mug and at under 300lbs and has decent feet as well, so this was impressive. At times I’d like to see more consistency with his shoulder drop and turn when running the arc. He does it a couple of times, then doesn’t do it, then does it, then doesn’t and I see no discernible reason why he doesn’t do it all the time. I also want to see him using that inside arm to gain better leverage and to force his opponent off balance. But he can set his foot in the ground and bend upfield very well. When he got faced up by Boling, he had a pretty good slap and a quick inside dart under Clint’s shoulder. A couple of times on Vance he tried a spin move which was slightly pronounced and rather telegraphed a little so that needs work. He also has a very good outside in move where he’d set up Boling a couple of times to the outside with a hard rush to threaten the edge on previous plays, then rushed again, only to stick his foot in the ground and cut in without any lack of pace under the tackle and collapse the interior of the pocket. This is his signature move. They never really ran at him so he was a little hard to gauge on that front; A+M only really ran twice directly at him. The first time he cut inside the tight end and threw a shoulder in, which I never like to see. The second time was much more impressive; on 1st and goal at the start of the 4th quarter, he’s on the tight end on the weak side of the formation. Pre snap he comes inside onto the left tackle and in the immediate contact it’s about equal leverage wise. But then it’s clear he’s got his hands under Boling and as they come up, he’s pushing the left tackle up and out of the play and he has the inside look at the run play. As he gets the inside he then has the fullback coming straight at him, but he takes him on and holds him up as the back crashes into the back of his lead blocker, intending to go through a hole he’s created but the play has been stuffed because of an outstanding play by Miller. He pursues very well from the backside; a couple of times he made touchdown saving tackles at the goaline on the opposite sideline from where he’d started. If he’s going to be a 3-4 OLB then I have to see how he drops and whether he can and I’d want to see him become a little more screen aware. I’m not sure he’s a first rounder based on the two games I saw, but I think he’s probably a top 40/45 pick at worst. For Georgia, I think Boling’s not a bad prospect at left tackle. He’s light on his feet and certainly in pass protection he was doing enough against Miller to keep him off Johnson. He gave up the corner a few times, but not without making Miller work for it and he was never in danger of recording a sack. He used his arms well to re-direct Von away from Joe Cox. AJ Green is of course the stud, although that group of Julio Jones and Jonathan Baldwin has separated itself a little from Green and Michael Floyd. I think that speak more of Jones and especially Baldwin who’s the number 1 sophomore WR in college football than it does of Green and Floyd. There were a number of defensive prospects on the Georgia sideline of interest. Up front, the games best player was Geno Atkins who is probably going to be a star in the NFL. He flashed enormous potential as a sophomore and looked a probable high first rounder, then rather struggled as a junior, came back and was somewhere halfway between greatness and mediocrity in 2009 although he was greatness for much of the Bowl game. He’s always been blessed with tremendous natural ability. He can stack and shed very well, both laterally and with plays coming directly at him. He made a few terrific plays both against the pass and the run all night; the first came after the Joe Cox pick in the 2nd quarter. The Aggies ran a halfback gut play between the C and G. Atkins drew a double from that pairing, got great leverage on both with a really good base, forcing the back to re-direct to the B gap. But as he did, Atkins span out of the double team and nailed the runner as he tried to get to the second level. It was a terrific piece of defensive tackle play. He was very active all night, either with an interior pass rush or stunting both sides and playing with a nasty streak that usually means he’s ‘on’. Again, he showed remarkable desire and tenacity with under a minute to go before the half. He lines up as a pure NT over the center and crashes down left but seems to catch himself on one of his team mates legs and goes down with the center on top of him. Most 300lb men would give up and get back to the huddle. Not Atkins; he gets up, sees Johnson moving around the pocket trying to create time and closes like an exocet, getting to him just as he releases it. That was an NFL play. Very next play he’s doubled inside, but gains terrific leverage and bursts through the double team, closes quickly, wraps and sacks. It was hugely impressive stuff. Then in the second half, he showed another side to his game with an awesome bullrush where he stepped a pretty decent player in Kevin Matthews almost 8 yards into Johnson and then disengaged. Only bad luck cost him a second sack as the QB got out from his grasp. It was a very impressive showing and if he plays like that week in and week out then they sky’s the limit for him. The question is, can he play like that week in and week out? If he can, then he’s going to be a terrific three technique. Jeff Owens looks huge. He had a pretty decent year for the Bulldogs inside, but never quite regained the heights of his pre-ACL days. He’s been a little blighted with injury, but looks to me like a decent starting DT at the next level. Generally he’s doubled on every play and although he made little impact in this affair as A+M threw almost exclusively, he was still able to flash decent leverage and lateral movement, allowing his line mates to make plays. He gets off the snap quickly and gets his arms up and into his opponent and his hand positioning is great. He moves his feet well and certainly made Kade Weston look better than he is. Like Atkins, he also does an excellent job of following the ball and the ball carrier on every play and he’s certainly quick enough and strong enough. He’s also much more consistent than Atkins on a game to game basis and with 35 career starts in the SEC, and at around 310lbs, he’s going to be a solid pick for someone. Critically, he started all 11 games this season with no problems on the reconstructed knee. He has Shrine game and Senior Bowl invites and Mobile could be where he really pushes his stock back up. Kade Weston benefited from playing with Owens and Atkins. He’s the biggest of the three interior linemen at around 318 and like the other two is strong although he is far more inconsistent with his leverage and will struggle to get off blocks. For such a big man it was a worry to see Kentucky’s RG move him so consistently out of the rush lane. When he has his mojo going, he will attack his man and wedge his arm under his opponent and turn his body and push him back which he did a couple of times, redirecting the guard towards Jerrod Johnson. But it all came a little too infrequently for my liking. Similarly, he would engage and then spy into the backfield, before shaking free and trying to make a play. But all too often it’s a lot of effort for not a great deal of reward. Clearly he has potential as a NT and bears watching in the latter rounds. I’ve always like Rennie Curran at WLB. I think he flows to the football very well and is fundamentally a very sound player. He tackles hard and with good form, plays with good anticipation and despite checking in around 5’11 and 235 he brings his A game on every play. Always around the ball, he’s very sudden and I just think he’s got tremendous potential. He has an irritating habit to jump step into the play at the snap of the ball but it doesn’t seem to hinder him too much. His size and athletic ability allow him to get through trash quickly and with ease and he’s often making plays on the strong side perimeter in front of the SLB. He was benched for the first quarter of this game because of a disciplinary issue and sat out much of the first half of the 3rd quarter but overall it was another impressive showing from the junior. He was outstanding earlier in the season when I saw him against LSU and whilst not hitting the same heights in this game, he flashed time and again. Curran is an absolute workout warrior and his workout regimen is a thing of legend - his guns are ridiculous. But he’s not just a gym rat and that’s why I like him. He looks smooth in coverage, is terrific in pursuit and whilst he didn’t match his output of 2008 where he was a Butkus finalist, I think someone’s going to get a terrific 4-3 linebacker in the first 3 rounds. He pairs up with Daryl Gamble who plays the strongside who’s another good player although not quite in the same league as Curran overall. That said, he offers some interesting SOLB potential for Miami at 6’2 and 252lbs, he’s very comfortable making plays in space, moves very well and similarly looks smooth in coverage. If he declares he’s well worth keeping an eye on. Prince Miller at weakside corner was a heavily recruited kid and the number one ranked prep recruit out of South Carolina. He’s not a bad corner either, although at 5’8 he looks a little limited at the next level which is a shame because he has decent hips, a smooth back pedal and plays the ball very well in the air. The supposed star of the secondary is Reshad Jones at FS who’s always flattered to deceive when I watch him. 1 career forced fumble for a run stuffing strong safety is an ugly number. I’ve always found him an inconsistent tackler despite the hype around him - he goes from one extreme to the next; he’s either laying Justin Blackmon out or he’s whiffing on runners in the open field. There was a play in the second half where Johnson completes a ball underneath to Morrow and instead of finishing the play off, Morrow, who had fallen onto Prince Miller but never touched the ground, got up and ran another 38 yards whilst Jones stood and watched. Coverage wise he’s no great shakes either. With about 3.40 to go before the half he drops back into coverage and then sees Johnson flushed out of the pocket to the strong side of the field. Knowing that he has deep coverage, Nwachuku, the A+M wideout who’s sitting in front of Jones, peels back towards his scrambling QB to help out. But Jones, whose responsibility is Nwachuku doesn’t track the receiver back to his QB, he just stands in coverage, finally moving when the ball’s in the air and allowing a completion. To me that shows a lack of understanding of the basic fundamentals of coverage. He then proceeded to drop a stone wall pick six before doing a better job of picking off Johnson in the second half, although Jerrod was staring his receiver down for a full three seconds. He’s had 11 picks in three seasons at Georgia which is a pretty decent number for a strong safety, but much like his namesake Chad Jones at LSU, I just don’t quite see it. Georgia have some good young talent at defensive end in Cornelius Washington and Justin Houston who I think has already said he’s staying in and at LG in Cordy Glenn.
Atkins could go as high as 3/4 or as low as 5/6. Owens is probably a 6th rounder. Curran, in the right system is, IMO a first round calibre linebacker.bright, hard working, a great kid who as Mel Kiper says is 'born to play football'. As I said in the piece, he runs well, gets off blocks brilliantly, is as strong as an ox, rarely misses a tackle and can cover as well as any LB in the draft. If he was 3 inches and 25lbs higher, I'd be bleating that he should be Miami's pick.
He does seem underszied but I noticed he plays with very good instincts. I really like Geno Atkins as a player. Might be too small for our defense
IF the 2011 draft happens then you could have Locker, Ponder, Snead, Mallett, Gabbert, Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin, Case Keenum at QB, Mark Ingram, Clay, Vereen, Brandon Bolden, Ryan Williams and depending on which backs don't declare, Jahvid Best and John Dwyer at TB. Baldwin, Jones, Floyd, Green, Tori Gurley, Brice Butler at WR, Kyle Rudolph and Gronkowski with possibly Hernandez at TE, Bulaga, Carimi, Tony Castonzo, Marcus Cannon, Nate Solder, Josh Oglesby and Mike Adams at tackle with Boling, Rod Hudson, Mike Pouncey, etc. at G and Kris O'Dowd, Wisniewski and Maurkice Pouncey at center. And that's just offense. The defense is even more loaded.
Imagine draft Dez Bryant this year and Jonathan Baldwin next year....Just dreaming... Defensively...Patrick Peterson, Da'Quan Bowers, Jarvis Jenkins, Marcus Forston, Greg Jones, Janoris Jenkins, Marvin Austin, Stephen Paea, and Mark Herzlich are names that stand out to me early. Could make for a nice draft
What a draft next year could be. At QB I think first and foremost is Andrew Luck who could have a tough decision after his redshirt sophomore year. By then, Harbaugh could move on to greener pastures (if not this year) and no doubt Luck will have seen what staying in cost Sam Bradford. After that you have Jake Locker and Christian Ponder, both of whom I feel confidence that they'll become NFL quarterbacks. Right after them is Ryan Mallett for me, and after scrutinizing him a little more this year than in the past, I do see STRONG NFL potential there. He needs to develop more consistency but he could get right in with that Ponder/Locker group, or even beyond it. If Jevan Snead stays in school, he could also improve. He's definitely got NFL tangibles. After him I'm really eyeing Andy Dalton, because I think he has an NFL arm and accuracy, the ability to run an offense, and his leadership is top notch. I forgot about Robert Griffin, he was quite the dynamo last year and then got hurt this year, if he lights the world on fire next year and comes out, then he could grab headlines, though I'm not sure how confident I'd be in his pocket passing. Blaine Gabbert is a physical specimen, though scouts will no doubt hate his offense. I really think we ought to watch out for Greg McElroy, with the way he's played in his last couple games. This is his first year starting, and he really seems to be coming on. If he handles this championship game like a...a champion...then watch for him to possibly have a great year next year as well and he could be talked about in first day action. There are really are a mess of guys that I also consider to be in the same area as guys like Dalton, Griffen, Gabbert and McElroy...guys like Case Keenum, Ben Chappell and Colin Kaepernick. I really think it could be a bumper crop at QB next year. Tyler Thigpen or no Tyler Thigpen, Pat White or no Pat White, I'd love to sink my claws into one of the QB prospects in 2011. And that's just the QB class. At RB you have Mark Ingram, probably Jahvid Best, watch out for Jamie Harper next year now that C.J. Spiller will be out of his way, no idea whether Jonathan Dwyer will come out or not but if he doesn't, he'll be in with that company. At TE, you have Rob Gronkowski possibly coming out, as Boomer says. At WR, you could have Jonathan Baldwin in that draft, whom I already believe to be playing at an NFL Pro Bowl level...along with Julio Jones, Michael Floyd and A.J. Green...and it wouldn't surprise me if Leonard Hankerson bumped his name right in there with those folks. Watch out for Terrance Toliver, Greg Little and perhaps Austin Pettis too, if Pettis doesn't come out this year. Hard to tell on the tackle front because there aren't any sophomores that I'm in love with, and some of the juniors could come out this year. I'll assume that Anthony Davis and Bruce Campbell are out. That leaves guys I'd concentrate on as Bryan Bulaga, Gabe Carimi and Nate Solder...but also Orlando Franklin who will in all likelihood kick out to tackle next year, and has some serious talent. On interior you could be looking at both Markice Pouncey and Mike Pouncey, to go along with a very talented Kris O'Dowd and the great bloodlines of Stefen Wisniewski. Then you'd also have the very talented Rodney Hudson to work with. Get to the defense and I would just be salivating all over Cameron Heyward, and you know what I haven't been as down as some on Carlos Dunlap, he may stay in school and I'd watch for him to be really good next year because he has a great motor. You know we'll be drooling on Jason Pierre-Paul if he takes another year of coaching. Then you have guys like DaQuan Bowers and Robert Quinn, both of whom might come out and both of whom I would dish very high grades. And just LOOK at the potential some time, of a guy like Akeem Ayers or Zach Brown. They're very impressive guys. Amongst the bigger guys, you could have a draft with Marvin Austin, Allen Bailey and Steven Paea. That's cooking on gas. Who knows what will happen with guys like Bruce Carter and Navorro Bowman? I particularly like Carter, and with seemingly everyone at UNC deciding to stay in school, he could also come back. Add to them guys like Mark Herzlich and Greg Jones...there are some people I'd love to get hold of. Wonder if Rolondo McClain will even declare? Imagine if you could toss him onto that pile. At corner, boy do I like Amari Spievey now that I've started watching him more, and we've no indication that he might come out. You look at another guy in Prince Amukamara that has all kinds of potential, and the advisory committee seems intent on scaring Ras-I Dowling into staying another year a la Antoine Cason. Kareem Jackson also has all kinds of potential if he doesn't come out, and we haven't even gotten into the North Carolina duo of Charles Brown and Kendric Burney, both of whom I really like. At safety, I've been a fan of Deunta Williams who apparently will be staying in school. I really have no read on what Morgan Burnett will do but at one time I had him right there with Eric Berry. I haven't been the biggest buyer on Chad Jones but I know his coaches consider him sure fire NFL talent. Everyone lately seems to be salivating over DeAndre McDaniel. I have been a huge fan of Duke Ihenacho but he might not time very well. What will Tyler Sash do with another year at Iowa? What about the dynamic Rahim Moore? Both could come out. As I've said in the past, I've never walked into a draft with such a clear vision of who and how many people I like in the the NEXT draft...2011 could really be a special year. It burns my bacon that Bill Belichick will have Oakland's first rounder in that year.
You can add Adrian Clayborn, Jarvis Jenkins, Jerrell Powe, Rennie Curran, Quan Sturvidant as seniors to be and Jurrell Casey, Jared Crick, Marcel Dareus, Chris Galippo, Dont'a Hightower, Pat Peterson, Aaron Williams, Mark Barron as juniors to be. Chuck in redshirt sophomores like Ryan Williams, Aldon Smith, Jerel Worthy, etc., then 2011 is looking like the draft of the century.
So guys, what are your thoughts on Dexter Mcluster? Does he have a place in the NFL and if so where at wideout or RB?
He's very small and he has little strength. Falls down easily. However, he can make people miss and he's very quick. He's got good hands from what I've seen. He's an all purpose type of player, as he can play special teams for you too. McCluster could end up being used as both at the next level IMO. I haven't seen a lot of him at running back but I have games in which he's played, just haven't looked at it yet.
I've watched the man. The speed at which he can make decisions and cut with the football in his hands is scary. He can make three moves before an NFL-size defender can make one move. The problem for me is at the NFL level he's going to have to enter as just a return guy and you hesitate to put a guy that small even at that spot. At some point you have to just worry about a guy's safety. That small, he could get killed. Literally. The issue with him at receiver is he's too small of a target. If you have a REALLY accurate QB throwing to him, then he could really pay off for you there...but if not, ouch.
Just finished up watching Bowling Green/Idaho, my fourth game of today, so will write it up tomorrow as we're off out now, suffice to say that he catches everything but is a bad route runner, will not block anyone and can't get off press coverage. I have no idea why Idaho were playing off him. I don't see him threatening the first 4 or 5 rounds.
How dare you offer hard work and insight into a player's technique and skill! You're just a...a...a...a doody head!!! Oh, but I don't really care. Really. I don't. Honestly. [/Wolf]
I also see what CK sees in him as a 3-4 DE..because Allen Bailey just keeps getting heavier and more muscle bound by the day. he is weighing around 290 pounds these days and looks to be able to carry more weight. Now I don't know if this was a concious decision to beef him up like this by the canes weight training staff..but he was weighing around 260 pounds at seasons end last year and had lost weight throughout the year. he has GAINED weight throughout this year. I always thought he was athletic enough to stand up in the pros, but he has grown waaaaaaaaay out of that this year. They (Canes staff) seem to know something most did not at the start of the year. he is not quick enough or athletic enough to play in space or in coverage. That is why they insisted on starting him at D-Tackle this year. It has been tradition for the Canes to always try to project a players speed to fit a position. THEY seem to think he was never quick enough to stand up or they would have stopped his growth to play him as a Defensive end. They seem content in allowing him to continue to beef up and eventually play inside. He is a 3-4 DE..CK is right. This might seem homoerotic...but have you guys seen him with his shirt off?
I'd love to hear what he said about getting pushed around by the tight end. I was astonished to see Garrett Graham dominate him one on one.
Landry Jones throws a nice ball. This must be the 4th time I've seen Oklahoma since he took over and he's gotten better and better.
