Some interesting notes from todays report. http://tfydraft.com/news.php?newsID=446 Versatility to play several positions along the line will be really important to the head office. Tupou was considered a 3rd to 4th round pick in the previous updates I have seen. Know nothing about this guy since I have not seen any of Houstons games this year. Nice size, Con have you seen any footage of him? Spartans moved him inside to play DT this year, too light in the pants @ 6'5" and 240 lbs. to play there in the NFL. Maybe another name to add to the OLB conversion list?
Yeah he could be. He does show up on tape. He has some long arms on him IIRC. I do wonder if he can handle the left side full time. But if he has gone against Phillip Hunt on a regular basis he should be able to handle speed. I guy I like at OT is William Beatty from UCONN. That guy looks like another Donald Thomas; the sleeper people aren't talking about.
Yeah, I remember you and Alen going back and forth on Beatty. One question I have been wondering. Is there anyway for a scout to pickup and determine a linemans natural strength ala Donald Thomas? Weight room strength is one thing, but being naturally strong and heavy is a whole new ball game.
To me I always look at what he does when he plays. There are plenty of guys who can bench a house, but can't redirect their man at all. I look more for a power clean number to be honest, more football related in my mind anyways. Take Fili Moala for instance. How many times has anyone seen this guy bull rush an O-lineman. How many times does he get pushed wide of the play, unable to plant his outside foot, create a leverage point and move back through the O-lineman to the ball? Now I ask the same of a Peria Jerry. A players strength shows up on film. As they always say, the eye in the sky don't lie. In an O-linemen I look for him to jolt a defender. In Thomas' case, you routinely see him jolt defenders, either slowing or stopping their forward momentum. Thats his strength right there, on display for all to see. In terms of quantifiable numbers those mean only so much in terms of bench as I said. I still really go on what I see when I watch these games, right or wrong thats what I personally do. I also look for the speed at which they fire off the line. Andre Smith is a classic example of this. He is routinely the slowest off the LOS amongst Bama's O-lineman. A great deal of power comes from speed too. There are a few things I watch. But technique can't be overlooked either. If the guy plays too tall, it doesn't matter if he is Hercules reincarnate, he'll get his *** handed to him more often than not. Strength isn't always about weight, but that does play a role.
Ubrick I really like, his sidekick Andy Kemp isn't bad either. Unger has been noticed before, and Canfield would actually fit the mold size wise that we have seemed to go after recently.
Nor a poor, unsuspecting islander to play a trick on either. Dam English sovereigns.........this Dependent Territory stuff is driving me nuts.
Urbick's a good player. Gets some decent push at the LOS and is pretty adept at walling defensive linemen off and clearing holes.
Watched Canfield in the Bowl game and cam away with a few things I did not like and a lot of things I really liked. He is very aggressive, almost too much sometimes as it can get him out of position by lunging a bit. But man, when he gets on a defender he relentlessly rides him until the whistle.
If Brian Hoyer is the best quarterback at Shrine practices, then there isn't a single quarterback there worth a damn.
May sound extreme but I could see Jarron Gilbert sneaking into the first round. He's 6'5" and 287 pounds, his arms measured out at just under 36 inches. He had 22.0 tackles for loss as a defensive tackle at San Jose State this season alone, which included 9.5 sacks. He's got 21.5 career sacks, 42.0 career tackles for loss, has batted down 15 passes...and he's out there dominating people in All Star practices. He'd make a fine 3-4 DE. Wonder if our guys would draft him and then tell Merling to lose some weight...
Is Chase Daniel doing anything at these practices? I know that he's a marginal prospect but I've always liked the guy.