Plus with Wake on the opposite side drawing more attention, creating pressure, and disrupting the pocket (causing QBs to move around), Ansah's sheer athleticism and pursuit ability would be a nice compliment IMO and allow him to see his fair share of sacks b/c of it.
My favorite player in this draft. Been imping him hard. I love him even more after watching film on Okafor this weekend. Give Me Ansah every day of the damned week. He's the only guy other than Stedman Bailey who got me literally super excited about him. I'm actually not thrilled that his stock will rise now.
The truth is that Ziggy is much as you say.. not super explosively fast on his first step, but he does have a disruptive quality to how he reads a play, and seems to make a glorious mess of things for an offense enough times per game to create some key plays. I worry that he actually won't be that coachable though. I agree not at #12... but more and more, I wonder if we could swap 1sts with Dallas and take Ziggy at 18? We send them our #12 and #82 picks in exchange for their #18 and #47 picks. I'd be pleased. That would give us three second round picks and a 3rd round pick. There's no compelling value likely to be there for us at #12 imo. But if a Star drops, Dallas may consider grabbing a big DT.
This is EXACTLY why I am convinced he'd be a great complement to Wake. Wake puts so much pressure on a tackle's ability to get to the edge and defend the speed rush. Ansah gives tackles fits with his hands, strength, and unruliness and effort to make plays. Every week you scout the opponent. The weaker tackle gets stuck facing Ansah. The slower tackle is treated to a full helping of Cam Wake. Both are disruptive players and for my money, that is the #1 quality I want in a D-lineman's style of play. Being Disruptive.
Hey Barry, perhaps it needs to rise a tad to get us to take him it 12 ?.... or even a few spots back if we trade down like you alluded. Getting Ansah along with moving up our 3rd rounder would be awesome. Ziggy's my biggest crush guy as well. Call me a hoarder but if we had three 2nds I'd still draft Carradine if the opportunity presents itself value-wise.
I mean, all this pre-draft masturbation of ours over our favorite guys is fine, but we need to keep things in perspective. It's far more likely some other team picks these guys. I doubt Jeff ireland is so convicted about the same guys we like that he actually executes a trade to go get them. I just have wishful thinking sometimes.. then I end up with Jamar Fletcher, Jared Odrick and Ted Ginn (to be fair, I was stupidly excited about that after the anger at Brady Quinn wore off and I watched Ted's highlights). That's a Dolphins fan's life. The upside is, we do hit on players too. Jake Long. Mike Pouncey. So maybe we go Chance Warmack. lol. And we have too many holes to be double-dipping at DE, imo. But if we miss Ansah in the first, and don;t take a DE in the first, we better take Tank. Then Stedman Bailey.
A lot more would need to happen between now and draft day, imo. Question marks about Milliner. Health. Or major gaffes in interviews. But this kid has great tape and comes from a very very respected program and is endorsed by one of the NFL's best former secondary coaches / D-co-ordinators in Nick Saban. If Milliner can play Saban's defense, and played well, he can ball-out in NFL systems. Plus he has the physical tools. Top ten pick.
Around the ball a lot, made a couple really nice plays against the run. I don't remember any plays by him against the pass.
I don't agree on milliner, good in run support but isn't dynamic and not sure you would call him a playmaker in the nfl
It's a local rumor. I don't know how much credence to give to it. With pretty much every prospect there's usually a push in public papers to make them out to have strong work ethic, so you have to be a little more sensitive than normal to hints that that may not be the case. What it usually means is that I give no credence to it unless I see corroborating evidence. I'm not sure I see not knowing what a 2-point, 3-point or 4-point stance as corroborating evidence, but it does raise an eyebrow.
On that play Nassib moved to his right, which allowed Zeke to take a different angle, an angle that the offensive tackle wasn't blocking.
That's not how I remember it. I'll rewatch the game and that play over again, because I recall Nassib moving to the offensive left a little and having his back to Ansah when he got stripped. If my memory was playing tricks on me, I'll gladly admit it.
Some interesting notes about the Senior Bowl game itself. 1. I thought Lane Johnson was the best offensive tackle in Mobile before I saw any practices. I heard all the hype about Eric Fisher and saw some of the practices before, so I kept my mind open to him being the top guy after all. But after re-watching all the practices back to back to back on Saturday morning, there was no doubt in my mind. Lane Johnson was still the best offensive tackle in Mobile. That flowed through to the game itself. I'm not sure I saw Lane come even close to being beaten, whereas several times during the game I felt Eric Fisher got walked back to the quarterback for a pressure. The matchup between Lane Johnson and Michael Buchanon was just unfair. I saw Michael Buchanon actually do some damage against Eric Fisher once or twice in team drills on the televised conferences. In the end, it's just a preference, but I think Lane Johnson might even be the best offensive tackle in the Draft. Another tackle that really stood out in the practices was yet another guy I expected to look good and that's Xavier Nixon. Just don't put him at guard. He's a tackle all the way and a pretty good one. Terron Armstead is the only other tackle worth a damn in this game. Pugh's got to move inside or to right tackle. 2. The defensive ends that performed really well in practices to me were Alex Okafor, Cornelius Washington and Datone Jones. You heard all the hype surrounding Datone Jones. I was shocked to watch all of the South practices and find that really Cornelius Washington had outperformed him in practices. I felt that Okafor was the best overall end, the most polished, made plays in both phases, the most consistent. It's a shame he didn't play in the game. But I did not at all expect to come out with more respect for what Cornelius Washington had put out there than I had for what Datone Jones put out there. Washington is 6'4" and 264 lbs with 34 inch arms and an 82 inch wing span. This is a hell of an unheralded prospect coming from a big school. My favorite was just listening to the "clack!" every time he would meet an offensive tackle off the edge. During the game itself he was every bit as impactful as Zeke Ansah. He had a sack-strip if I'm not mistaken. He pressured the passer more than Ansah. He drew two holding penalties and was held at least two more times that were uncalled because the refs tried to relax the rules a little because it was an All Star game. You could even argue that during the practices he outperformed not one but both 1st round defensive ends. Clearly he outperformed Zeke Ansah during the practices. That's not even arguable. But he arguably outperformed Okafor. I tend to give Okafor the edge because of the range of skills he showed during practices, but there's no question Washington looked more explosive and dangerous as a pure pass rusher. I tell you what, I'm going back to a lot of Georgia tapes based on what I saw...and this guy could rocket up my own rankings. 3. Everyone seemed to be down on Terrance Williams from the practices. I don't know why. From what I saw, he looked good. He looked just as physically compelling as I had hoped. People say he had trouble getting off press in the practices. I'm not sure I agree. He certainly had trouble dealing with blatant pass interference, which was happening all over the practice field as well as in the game itself. But he also did exactly as you would hope him to do in showing the ability to torch people deep. I thought he had a decent game. He drew Charles Davis' attention once during the game because he couldn't get off the press. Mayock quickly pointed out to him, you're not allowed to press in this game. Well, that kind of explains why Williams couldn't get off it then, doesn't it? If you know pressing is illegal then you're not executing moves to defeat the press! 4. Marquise Goodwin was another guy that impressed during the game and the practices. I'll accept that you can get your hands on the small guy and do some damage, but that speed is hard to play against. People will point out a few times he ran deep routes during the game and it looked like the corner was right there with him. If you don't mind, I would point out how huge a cushion and what kind of technique they played on him in order to stay with him deep like that, and I would note to you how many EASY underneath catches he had because of it. 5. It was tough picking between Larry Warford and Brian Winters as the best guard present at the Senior Bowl. But I picked Brian Winters, off the practice tape. I love Warford's build and his power. But I did not feel like he showed me the full range of skills to be a diverse player. Brian Winters showed the ability to anchor at the line of scrimmage, get movement in power blocking, AND to get out in space and do damage. That was what Warford was missing a little bit because he's kind of pigeon-holed as a power right guard. Winters' attention to blocking angles and footwork is impressive. In the game itself, Warford often had the unlucky duty of blocking Kawann Short, and so he looked dicey at times. Another guy who was EXCELLENT during the practices but ended up looking bad on a lot of snaps due entirely to Kawann Short's being so good, was Brian Schwenke. He looked to me like the second coming of Nick Mangold during the practices. But Kawann Short was just too good for him during the game. 6. The other defensive tackle that impressed most in the week of practice and was also sneaky good during the game itself is Missouri Southern Brandon Williams. At 6'2" and 341 lbs the way he moves is pretty darn impressive. He's very stout. He's a guy I'd like to see played on the nose and he stood up well to the double-teams during the game, doing a pretty thankless job. I thought he was the second best DT in Mobile. 7. Vincent Williams of Florida State, HELLO. He made some plays during practice so this was not entirely out of the blue, but he really helped himself a lot during the game when the linebackers could finally go full speed. Very explosive. I guess on that Florida State defense so ridiculously jam packed with stars, it can be easy to overlook a guy like this. This guy could find himself surprising the same way Jacquain Williams did. Khaseem Greene had some ups and downs. Sio Moore really helped himself a lot for the second week in a row, not least by putting his hand down and pass rushing and getting a sack that way. I forget who he beat to do that, might've been Terron Armstead which would say a lot. I still like to point out Travis Johnson because he looked genuinely decent as a linebacker and I think this is the first he's played that, as he's been a defensive end at San Jose State. 8. I felt like the two best performing corners in Mobile were actually Robert Alford and B.W. Webb, not Desmond Trufant, Jordan Poyer, Jamar Taylor or Blidi Wreh-Wilson. I thought they showed well during the game. All of the corners generally showed well during the game itself because the quarterbacks were playing so poorly. But I thought Alford was the best. 9. The running backs really did impress. I thought Mike Gilislee and Johnathan Franklin had the best game performances followed by Kenjon Barner who caught a lot of underneath passes. Franklin is just a really good prospect period, as he was excellent all week in pass protection. Juszczik continued to impress me as a fullback. On one play he even stoned Ezekial Ansah right where he stood in pass protection. Ansah had a good head of steam and Juszczik just stoned him. 10. God the quarterbacks sucked. I'm nowhere closer than I was to trying to figure out the Landry Jones, Ryan Nassib, E.J. Manuel, Mike Glennon clusterf-ck. On the one hand you could say that Geno Smith did well not to show up because he couldn't damage himself like these guys did. On the other hand, if Geno really IS the prospect people make him out to be (I don't think he is, personally) then he could've done himself well by showing up and standing head and shoulders above this group. Tyler Wilson missed an opportunity during the game but he showed up better than the other guys during practice.
I know what you're thinking of. You're thinking of the moment just before Ansah actually tackled Nassib. I'm talking about before that. It's just a fact that on the play, Ansah was chipped by a back and blocked by a tackle, but Nassib felt pressured and moved backward and to his right (toward Ansah), which changed Ansah's angle to the quarterback and put the offensive tackle at enough disadvantage that Ansah was able to disengage and chase Nassib. Simultaneously, Kawann Short had looped around Ansah to the outside and took up the attention of the tight end that had previously been chipping Ansah's shoulder. Once Ansah had already disengaged and was practically on Nassib, that's when Ryan saw him and turned back the other way to try and get away from him, but by then it was way too late. That's the turn you're thinking of, but it was Nassib's moving to the back and to the right that allowed Zeke to get off the block, and that's a lot more important from an evaluation standpoint. Zeke Ansah made plays like you'd hope a base 4-3 defensive end would make plays. He did it with his exceptional athleticism, his motor, his power rush, long arms, etc. What I question is his ability to transition to a third down defense and still make plays. You need to believe he's going to do that in order to take him as high as 12 overall. There's a reason why he's drawing Justin Tuck comparisons. Or from me and a few others, Israel Idonije. He's going to probably move inside on pass rush downs because he can't be trusted to consistently rush the passer from the outside. The best example I can give is the final two minutes of the game. Zeke Ansah who is having this monstrous game as a pass rusher, is rushing the passer from the outside in a situation that very much resembles two minute comeback situations, where you need your pass rushers to close out the game. Ansah really wasn't getting any pressure though. He got a coverage sack, but that was another situation where the QB pulled down the ball and ran right to where Ansah could get him. Ansah wasn't beating the offensive tackle on that play. My concern with Ansah is that for a guy that's probably going to move inside on pass rush downs, we don't even know if he'll be successful pass rushing from the inside. That's why I can't take him at 12.
It may sound surprising but I don't disagree... Though I am framing it through what I think Ireland may do, as opposed to what I want. I would love a pure pass rusher if I thought Ireland were likely to draft one... But really, I don't see one that fits the 4-3 and who is available to us at 12 anyways (with value). I do see Ireland considering a guy who is a three down DE. And to Ireland, given Odrick and Vernon being played as third down ends, I have to think Ireland would be fine seeing Ansah as a third down DE (whether I fully agree or not is less important, since I wont get to build this team the way I would do it). As a real possibility as a three down end who can still get to the QB better than Odrick or Vernon, Ansah is a likely fit, IMO. Secondly, I agree that he is nt worth a 12th overall. I have loved Ansah for several reasons, but agree with you on his shortcomings, which is why he is not worth a 12 overall. However, if we could trade down to the early twenties, I'd be fine taking him there. In sme ways I prefer Tank Carradine, as a third down pass threat, but when I consider what Ansah will do the first two downs I like Ansah's ceiling a bit more. The other concern I have with Ansah is... There is no way he is younger than 27 or 28, I bet.
I would absolutely draft an injured Tank Carridine over Ansah any day. I really wish that I saw the whole Senior Bowl game, because what I saw, besides some nice sideline pursuit and getting his hands up, which I expected, was Ansah getting tied up with OTs and basically standing there, like he didn't know what to do. And that's pretty much what reports said that the majority of his practice week looked like. I'd like to see footage of the sacks, because I'm guessing from the comments here and what I saw of him personally that he wasn't blowing by OTs on a regular basis. Sacks imo are not all equal, and if he got a couple of garbage sacks, good for him because at least he got them and he was after all a game MVP. I'd just be hard pressed to take him in the 1st round, I just don't see it. Too high a price to pay to see if he'll actually develop into a quality pass rusher, I have my initial doubts about that anyway. But, as I said, he got 2 sacks and MVP recognition so good for him. ps anyone know who #83 was for the South team, RDE I think? I only saw a few plays of him and he looked like he had some pass rush to him, couldn't read a name on the jersey and can;t download rosters from Senior Bowl website.
It was: 2 sacks (led all defenders) 3.5 tackles for loss (led all defenders) forced fumble (tied for first among all defenders) 1 pass defended (tied for first among all defenders) 7 tackles (led all defenders) a would be 3rd sack if Washington didn't beat him to it handful of pressures a nice backside pursuit & tackle an open field chase down of of Denard Robinson for a loss South team's Most Outstanding Player Nothing special.
I have no problem with kicking Ansah inside in nickel b/c ideally we'd have a nickel pass rusher coming on the field in nickel anyways, or at least the SAM linebacker coming down to end, so regardless Ziggy should either be kicked inside or be mixing it up at end and tackle in nickel.
I disagree, Barry. Pass rush is pass rush. I don't see taking Carradine in the 2nd as having anything to do with what we do in the 1st round, even if it's to temporarily use him a situational pass rusher. If that were the case Seattle wouldn't have spent a 1st on Bruce Irvin, and San Fran wouldn't have used a top 10 pick on Aldon Smith who was initially a nickel pass rusher. Eventually Wake will need to be replaced in base defense. There's nothing wrong with drafting that guy this year in the 2nd round and giving him time to develop into a stud so there's a smooth transition at the position rather than waiting for Wake to hit the wall and being left having to scurry to find his replacement, potentially reach in the draft to do so, and then endure early growing pains while he's forced into more action than is desirable.
Good for him, good to see Ansah bounce back after a disappointing week of practice. He's just not my cup of tea, but to each his own.
This site lists his dob as 1-1-1991. http://vikingsauthority.com/player/ezekiel-ansah/ Could not find any other site giving a dob though.
Of course his week of practice would be disappointing; he's trying to learn the position and will obviously be doing a lot of thinking now that he has NFL coaches in his ear helping to build him up as a pass rusher, as this is still fairly new to Ziggy considering he spent much of his time lined up either over or inside the tackle at BYU rather than off the edge like he's done this week. This week was more about helping him transition to 7 technique (and wider at times) and subsequently gauging if he possesses the underlying natural talent to succeed there, which he obviously does. In just one week you could see the improvement he made.
Saw this twitter feed on another site that says: http://interceder.net/latest_news/Ezekiel-Ansah @dpbrugler is Dane Brugler who is one of the draft gurus for nfldraftscout.com and cbssportsline.com
On a dline with Wake messing things up I don't see why not, especially with Ansah's athleticism, quick twitch ability, nose for sniffing out the QB, and closing burst to where he could probably develop into a menace in the stunting or delayed rush department. I just think we desperately need a guy like Ansah who can take advantage of all the broken plays and QBs who are forced to scramble by Wake's doing, and with the emergence of the athletic, mobile QB, and read-option stuff, Ansah's value grows even higher b/c he's the type of player who can limit that aspect IMO, as we saw when he tracked down Denard Robinson. Just look at him playing Ga Tech where he shows good discipline and the ability to contain. Plus he takes outstanding angles and is tremendous at keeping his feet clean (both of which serves him well facing all these mobile QBs capable of changing games with their feet alone). I don't see why he can expand upon plays like this as a nickel DT (0:50 mark): [video=youtube;Aya0wRxQklU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Aya0wRxQklU[/video] .... and as far as limiting the read-option and countering the mobile QB, Ansah gives you that needed edge presence as seen below: 3:31 mark....... plus the 3:00 mark.....and the stack and shed at 2:54 [video=youtube;HpiOSwicEkk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpiOSwicEkk[/video] 1:07 mark [video=youtube;GEe0b0bqmAI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GEe0b0bqmAI#t=68 s[/video] 3:28 mark [video=youtube;Aya0wRxQklU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Aya0wRxQklU#t=20 7s[/video] back to back plays starting at 0:51 [video=youtube;MFYELG3ItAk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MFYELG3ItAk#t=59 s[/video] The entire Ga Tech clip serves as what type of impact to expect from him IMO. I honestly don't see another DE better suited for where today's game is headed with the read option stuff and frequency of spread offenses. Because of today's mobile QBs, I'm inclined to say Ziggy's pursuit ability, especially when protection breaks down, should be regarded in the same light as edge rushers who can run the arc.
I don't this.k he has to. I think he will develop to be better rushing from the outside. I would say we run nickel just as much as base. and if we re-sign Starks and pair that with solai and Odrick, while drafting ansah and another passrusher we would have a nice, versatile line I know you like a few later round situational rushers or we could even go as high as drafting a guy like carridine in the second. On passing downs we could have Wake and Ansah shrinking the pocket from the outside and a mix of Starks, Odrick inside pushing the pocket back and maybe Vernon as the Blitzer, or our other de/Kobe draft pick. I think this will give us the smallest pocket for opponents and it would he hard to break the pocket with wake and ansah on the edge.
You draft a Ziggy Ansah to help prevent all these busted-play TDs like we just witnessed from Russell Wilson.
Its fair to say that Ryan Tannehill would blow these guys out of the water if he were in this draft class.
I laugh because Ryan Tannehill was held up to such a ridiculously higher standard than these guys are being held to. Some of Ryan Tannehill's faults weren't half as bad as these guys' faults but where Ryan kept absorbing the venom of criticism about those faults and deemed to be a 2nd round quarterback that was really going to go 1st round only because of need, these guys are talked about being 1st round even in the face of overwhelming negatives, which are glossed over so that we can all focus on the positives instead (which mostly have to do with size and arm strength, which Tannehill had going in spades). Mike Glennon over Ryan Tannehill? Are you effing KIDDING me?
