http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBD3yxwYZ9o

I was watching this clip, and it dawned on me that just about everywhere I looked there were not only draftable players, but downright compelling players on the Georgia defense that we can look at come April. Jarvis Jones, Ogletree, Jenkins, Geathers, Washington, Sanders Commings, Branden Smith, Baccari Rambo, Shawn Williams and Abry Jones. That's ten very draftable seniors on one defensive team- has that ever happened before? Ten, when you include Abry Jones- to me he's the most obscure guy, a 6-3, 315 LB DE with pretty good wheels who had 16 tackles in one game (Ga. Tech 2010). He's new to me, but good enough to be invited to the combine.

Anyway, there's a lot to like here, at random look at Jarvis Jones 1:32, Ogletree doing his usual playmaking stuff like tracking down RB Onterrio McCaleb, he of the unofficial 4.21 40 at the combine, here at 1:55, with replay- the amount of ground that Ogletree covers is ridiculous, and Jones covers quite a bit as well. At :45 it's interesting just to see the dynamism and speed of Jones and Ogletree.

Look at the penetration that Kwame Geathers gets at 1:20- this guy is north of 350 lbs, and S Baccari Rambo comes flying in to attack and make the tackle. The next play at 1:30 you can see to the far right of the screen Safety Shawn Williams #36 show good feet, back pedal, read and react- just moving very well for a 6' 215 lb Safety. He looks faster to me than Rambo, but I'd want to see more of the back half of the field- to his credit Rambo seems very active and aggressive. Look at the Rambo blitz at 1:45- his speed isn't very compelling imo, Ogletree looks faster. Back to 1:28 look at one of my favorites #19 CB Sanders Commings show the confidence and ability to trail the WR Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes style, I love it. I'm very interested in Commings and Brandon McGee as CBs for us to look at in the draft, I love what I see of them on film. great for press D as well- Commings is a big boy Xavier Rhodes/Patrick Peterson style and McGee is of nearly ideal size with speed and a powerful build.

At 1:28 look at #9 Ogletree slide to his left and then back pedal effortlessly- there is no one like this guy in the draft imo, one of the best moving LBs I've ever seen. You want a guy who can clean up the LOS and handle the Russell Wilsons of the world, can cover the Gronkowski's and Hernandez', can blitz and slide effortlessly horizontally or drop into coverage like a DB? Put this guy in at OLB and pass down ILB and you have a decade of speed and play making, bottom line. In the new pass happy NFL this guy is worth his weight in gold- not many seem to want to draft him at #12, but I do. An immediate 3rd down contributor and an heir apparent to the Kevin Burnett- pull a Don Shula and adjust your defense to what this kid can do, he's incredible.

Want to see some DT play reminiscent of Vince Wilfork? Key on #6 John Jenkins. Back to the 1:28 play- this guy is 6-4, 340 and he's bustng it up the middle, damn near gets a sack. He doesn't move as well as a DT like Richardson or Floyd, but this guy is a player.

The more I watch, the more I like Jones, Commings and the Safeties and the more I wonder if Washington is a coach killer- he looked pretty good at the Senior Bowl, but he's showing signs of look like Tarzan, play like Jane in the Georgia games, and that would account for his 1/2 sacks on the year- that's pathetic for a man of his talents. Jones is a monster out there and Ogletree is just ridiculous as a playmaker flying around all over the place. Commings should be ranked higher imo, heck of a CB and athlete and that is a big man at around 6'0 215.

I haven't even gotten to Branden Smith or Abry Jones yet- I didn't see Jones #93 in the clip. Not to worry, because I could watch this tape for hours. I don't know that I've ever seen more Senior defensive talent on a team ever before, and I certainly hope that we can get a player or two from this defense on the Dolphins next year.

ps in some ways I find Kwame Geathers more compelling than Jenkins, who is a beast but looks like a slab out there, refrigerator in cleats. Geathers looks leaner for a huge man and more dynamic, not sure that he's a better player though, I want to see more. Regardless, they're both good players.

 

Washington confuses me. Loved him at the combine, has every physical tool from what I see. I noticed him at the Senior Biwl #83, then CK had a good writeup on him. As he said, and a good point I thought, who really had a better game at DE, him or Ansah? If you stop to analyze- Washington did.

My initial reaction after the combine was disgust as per Damontre Moore, utter surprise as to Washington. But no matter how you cut it, Moore produced. As much as Ansah infuriates me in his inability to legitimately beat OTs 1 on 1, Moore is guilty of that as well. I hate to dump on a player after a poor combine showing, but Moore's was one for the books, and Gil Brandt and maybe Kiper yanked him out of the 1st round altogether. It's not that he looked bad, he looked awful- 4.95 40, questionable bail on the 2nd run and 12 reps- ouch.

Which brings us back to Washington- he ran with the LBs, but looked like a robo DE to me. 4.5 40 and 36 reps, chiseled physique, looked great in the agility drills. For me it's not just the times, it's how they look running- Washington looked awesome,great athlete, Moore looked like crap. Btw Werner looked a bit awkward running, more than I thought he would, but is quick as hell 1st 10 yards and off the snap. So Washington, I'm watching film, where the hell is he? How does that talent not translate to production? Vernon Gholston, Clyde Duncan, take your pick- combine does not trump production. I still like Moore, and Jonthan Banks for that matter, but Moore was way too slow and too weak for a DE and Banks was just too slow for a skinny dude- nit awful, and maybe he's not full speed post injury, I don't know.

Rambo- I like him, physical and aggressive, shows some quicks and I like how he attacks, but I question his speed after watching the film- can he cover deep? I think that I like Shawn Williams better- that's a 1st impression, I have to go back to the film. But we need a FS, not sure that either one is a high priority for me, but good players. UI like them both better than Josh Evans fro UF- Duke Williams is an interesting athlete, as is Shamarko Thomas in the Matt Elam mold. In that Georgia secondary my guy is Sanders Commings- size, quicks, speed, good instincts from what I've seen. If Xavier Rhodes is 1a for big corners, Commings is 1b imo.

ps as to the whole combine thing- I really expected more of a show out of Menelik Watson a la Hunt, Ansah and Washington. He wasn't nearly as fast or nimble as I expected (neither was Joeckel actually), but in all the film I've seen of him he never got beat, either inside or around the edge. That guy is a pure stud, no matter that he didn't run a 4.7 at the combine. Joeckel looked like crap in the 40 and wasn't even close to Lane Johnson in the agility/kick slide drills. But Joeckel dominated all year. If Jake Long bolts, count me in for Martin to LT and drafting Watson in the 2nd rd- combine or no combine, that guy can flat out play and will get nothing but better.