I also just read that he was dealing with an ankle injury that caused him to perform not as well as he would have liked. I hope our scouts get a good take on Unga as he could ease or complicate our inevitable RB transition the next few years.
I alerted the forum early on about Unga, a real Parcells guy & definitive solution to the inevitable RB crisis on the horizon. would be an excellent immediate addition to the running stable. in a word: Unga!
He's their all time leading rusher, it's the least they can do. If you read the articles there really isn't any animosity on either side as far as the honor code violation. I say it's a show of class by the university.
The guy had pre-marital sex with his girlfriend. If BYU didn't even allow him to work out at the school they'd look downright effing evil. He's two weeks off an ankle sprain, did a 35" vertical and 4.62 at 244 lbs. That's plenty good. Don't worry about the shuttle or anything like that, he got kicked out a short while ago and has had to make a quick gear shift from getting ready to play a season to getting ready for a Pro Day. You don't ace every test under those circumstances because you don't have the time to study that most of the Combine guys got. The thing that attracts the Miami Dolphins to Harvey Unga is his durability. Look into it and you'll find that over the last three years he's missed only one or two games, max. He's carried a full load during that time as well. If you go back and look at all of the backs that we've had CONFIRMATION of Miami's interest in as draft prospects over the last three years, they've all had one thing in common and that is shows of extraordinary durability. The most questionable was Lex Hilliard who took one major injury and the rest of his time at Montana missed I think one game, got lots of carries and never broke down. This is the issue that Parcells cares about most in college backs, durability. It's the reason he's stated he won't draft a RB high in the first round, because he believes that you never know if those guys can take the NFL hits until you see them actually do it. He's got speed and he's got explosion, he's able to catch the ball and he's able to carry a load without breaking down. It also doesn't hurt that he's a big back, although actually if you really look Miami has been into all kinds of different backs over the years from a size/speed standpoint. They liked Ray Rice a lot and he was a slasher. I keep hearing this 5th round grade on him. I think Miami might be willing to do that. We'll see. They'd have a high priority in the Supplemental Draft. And finally, a guy I know for whatever it's worth claims that he's had contact with a member of Unga's family and that member says that the Dolphins have really honed in on him. I think it's a lot more unlikely than likely, but it wouldn't shock me if Unga ends up a Fin. In that scenario he'd be competing with Hilliard for the 4th HB spot. Truthfully, I've seen 6 RBs on a roster before, usually 4 HBs and 2 FBs. Unga might be considered a hybrid HB/FB.
He certainly looks like he would be a solid help with our RB situation down the road, give us more options. My only worry is at the expense of what RB? I really like Hilliard, would hate to lose him, and he seems about like Unga size and speed wise.
It's a tough call because in my eyes he's definitely worth a fifth rounder, but if we want him that badly he'll cost us a fourth just to leapfrog all the potential suitors. That said, he's extremely versatile. He can run, catch, pass block, and lead block. You could send him in motion to create space and mismatches because you've gotta respect his pass catching ability. He can chip block and peel off and do damage in the open field. My only question is if he can be an effective inside runner in the NFL because of the wide open style of BYU. Most of his highlights were with wide open running lanes. In the end, I trust our staff to have done their homework on the kid and will feel really good if we do pull the trigger on him.
That's not true. I don't know if it still works the same way but what happens is the NFL works out a Supplemental Draft order. This is done by breaking up the NFL into three groups. The first group is teams with 6 or fewer wins. Those teams are placed in a weighted lottery, weighted by their records. For instance the Rams were the worst team in the league so their weighting would be the highest in the group of 9 teams that finished 6-10 or worse. The Bills finished 6-10 and so they would have the worst odds. The second group is teams that didn't make the playoffs but have better than a 6-10 record. This includes the Dolphins and 10 other teams. They also do a weighted lottery system. Miami, Jacksonville and Chicago would all have the highest weightings so when they pick the order randomly, the likelihood is that Miami, Jacksonville and Chicago would pick earliest. Then they do the same with the playoff teams. Do I know exactly where Miami would come out? No. The earliest they could pick would be #10. The latest they could pick would be #20 (but odds are much more skewed to #10 than #20). Best guess would be we pick the same spot we picked in the real draft, #12 overall. The four teams thought to be the most interested that I've read of are the Dolphins, Patriots, Chiefs and Cardinals. Kansas City will be picking in the top 9 but the Patriots and Cardinals are guaranteed to pick after the Dolphins. So if the Dolphins decide to submit a 5th round bid then they'd only have to worry about the Chiefs also submitting a 5th round bid.
Don't forget the Seahawks and Bucs, but I didn't even know about that part of the process, thanks. I still maintain that it will take a fourth round bid for Miami to land him.
So it would mean that the Chiefs, Seahawks and Bucs would all need to pass on using their 5th rounder for us to get Unga with a 5th. I could definitely see the Seahawks using a 5th on him.
Just say no Say no to 2011 picks in 2010. Everyone in the supplemental draft is always horribly overvalued. I'm guilty of it too. The long NFL summer gets boring. We want to add some excitement and we want it now. But seriously, when's the last time you were watching the real draft and said "wow i'm glad we spent that supp pick on (Manny Wright) last year, even though (insert better prospect here) is still on the board?" Just say no
Maybe it's just me, but from watching Highlights of him, his change of direction seems very slow. Most NFL rb's can cut real quick and change direction, Unga seems to stutter step and lose a lot of momentum, with how slow it makes him, in the NFL that could allow a LB to get right on top of him. He is not very fluid changing directions, that is my main concern of him.
