RealDriscoll's Top 5 by Position for the 2009 Draft

Good list. I would, however, put Eugene Monroe at the top of the T's and I like Aaron Curry more than Sintim (but you guys are right, he's good.) It still seems like a weak top 20 draft class to me, though. If I had to pick one guy coming out (not including the underclassmen QB's) to take #1 overall it might be Eugene Monroe. Safe bet, darn good player.​

 

Spread offense QB's are notoriously hard to judge in terms of NFL value especially one like Oklahoma which hasn't produced a notable NFL QB in the draft in decades. Bradford could be a good QB but I figure he could need a lot of time on the bench to adjust to a pro style offense by reading complex D's and not going 4 or 5 wide out of the shotgun most of the time (ala Aaron Rodgers). Kiper's touched off on this numerous times. If he's drafted early, it's because he either surprises in some postseason All-Star college Bowl, a team has the time to groom him properly for 3-4 years, or a team picks foolishly. Likewise for Harrell and McCoy.

Mark Sanchez has done nothing to suggest he's NFL ready right now. Even in blowouts courtesy of his RB's and defenses, he still turns the ball over at an alarmingly high rate. I wouldn't even list him as a notable right now.

Patrick Chung has lost a step in terms of coverage and really dropped past the 2nd round if you were to judge by that IMO. There were times when he wasn't even in the picture for a big play. He bites hard on play-action and routes down the middle because he's more interested in making the big hit. Reminds me a lot of the regressed S Roy Williams.

 

Is LeSean McCoy even eligible to leave school? I don't think he is.

 

He said he was coming back.

 

Regardless he has already stated he is going back to Pitt for the coming season. If I remember correctly he is a red shirt sophomore, not absolute on that one. I remember he was going to the Hurricanes but had to get some grade issues cleared up and went to a military academy. Once he was done and his grades improved his recruiting was still open and he decided to go to Pitt. Damn shame too, he could have really helped a young canes squad this year without a dominant RB.

 

They were saying on SC the other day that the league might implement some kind of rookie wage cap so I think that might have something to do with their decisions to come out or not. I don't know if it's this year or not but if it's next year then I think those who originally said they won't come out might reconsider.

 

Great job! Thanks.

Colt McCoy said he's staying in Texas but we'll see. Tebow will stay in Florida if he wants to play QB for a while longer.

You could plug in Rashad Jennings for McCoy.

Louis Murphy's size and speed combo is going to get the attention of a lot of scouts. He might also be a better route runner than Harvin. I would add Mohamed Massaquoi to your notables list. That guy has #1 WR potential.

Bear Pascoe from Fresno State is another guy to keep an eye on.

I could see the Dolphins drafting Loadholt, Robinson, Caldwell, Unger, or Luigs. We might also target Fenuki Tupou who isn't on your list.

Love Orakpo and Brown. Haven't seen enough of Hardy.

Great list. The Fins are sure to draft a NT this year. Very deep class. I would add Ron Brace to your notables list.

Curry would play ILB in our defense but he'll probably be off the board by the time we pick. I would add Tyrone McKenzie and Cody Brown to your notables list.

I would add Emanuel Cook to your notables list. Safety is another deep position in the upcoming draft. Just like NT I think the Dolphins are sure to draft a safety this year. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Peria Jerry and Rashard Johnson were our first two picks in 2009.

You forgot Darius Butler. He could be the first CB drafted. I would add Domonique Johnson to your notables list.​

 

Big Red- I don't see why Curry would be moved to ILB. He's a terror at OLB.

 

Parcells and company have a history of taking a LB who played outside in a 4-3 and having him play inside in their 3-4. They did it with Akin Ayodele, Bobby Carpenter, and Reggie Torbor. They also seem to prefer their OLB to be 6-3 or taller and on the heavier side. DeMarcus Ware is 6-4 and 257 lbs. Greg Ellis is 6-6 and 262 lbs. Anthony Spencer is 6-3 and 255 lbs. Curry is 6-2 and 245 lbs (same as Ayodele and Torbor). He is more of a tackling machine than a sack master. I believe that makes him more suited to ILB in a Parcells/Sparano 3-4 defense.

 

This will be an interesting draft imo. The second heavily loaded LT and OL draft in a row. Will they be plucked up quickly like the past one, or did enough teams draft them last year that they will fall and provide great value.
Wide reciever? We have some phenonemal talent in Crabtree and Maclin, and some huge potential in guys like Bay and Harvin. Where will they go? Will the alure return to the spot, or will they freefall like last draft? Running backs are in the same boat as OL, but 2 premier runners in Wells and Moreno.
A large question mark at the QB spot.
I can see defense dominating the first round this year. Some top CBs in Jenkins and Davis. Some top safties as well. And seems fairly deep for pass rushers and DTs suddenly.
With us sitting between 15-20 atm, its hard to gauge who might be around for us, but I can easily see us going defense. The biggest question will be whom and what position? Curry/Stintim at OLB, Malauga at ILB. A DT, end/LB hybrid, safety?
This offseason will be very busy for us no doubt. Will be exciting to see this team really start to solidify and come together.

 

Colt McCoy has actually said if he gets a 1st or 2nd round grade then he may come out.

No Louis Delmas?

 

Torbor was essentially a defensive end for Auburn.

 

McCoy has said that he will file papers with the advisory committee this fall.

 

I've seen this guy play 6 times now this season, and I have been saying it for weeks.

IF he plays at any other Pac-10 school, he isnt even on your list at all. He is surrounded by good talent in an EXTREMELY mediocre Pac-10 this year and I have seen him get run all over. Just by playing for USC promotes him to a rediculous level IMO.

Also, I would absolutely LOVE it if Jimmy Laurinaitis fell to us in the second. Dont think its any chance, but I think he is gonna be a very very solid Pro Linebacker.

 

I think that says more about the USC defense than anything else re: Maualuga.

I think McCoy will get a 3rd round grade.

 

Thats like saying that the Donks are the best team in their conference. They are, but are still not a very good team

 

I think I could name a lot of teams with as many or more NFL starters on.

Why would he get a 3rd round grade? Because I know how the Committee works and McCoy is essentially a system QB. He's not a classic drop back passer.

 

Fili Moala a starter for next year?

Moala sacres me as a prospect to be honest. He lives off of attention paid to other players, and I doubt he does that well in the pros. There is just a gut feeling I have about the guy to be honest.

 

Yes he is. He went to Prep school for 1 year before going to College. He still may enter the draft. I think Wanny will tell him to enter

 

Great post! I agree. It's going to be exciting. I was really high on Everette Brown before the Florida game. Now I'm not so sure. As of today I'm leaning toward Sen'Derrick Marks or Peria Jerry being our 1st round pick.

I don't really get all the love for Sintim. I understand the Groh connection but as ineffective as Everette Brown was against Florida, Sintim wasn't much better against Virginia Tech. If we're looking for an impact player in the 1st round it's more likely to be Marks or Jerry than Sintim.

Jason Ferguson is 34 years old and injury prone. Without a NT our defense simply doesn't work. Soliai doesn't look like the answer and you don't see talent like Marks or Jerry come along very often.

He was an OLB for the Giants. That is what I was referring to.

 

Which means the advisory committee may conveniently give him a 3rd round grade just to keep the guy in school.

Then again, that makes no sense. They should be looking for kids to graduate, and McCoy will have already done so.

I don't think he's just a system quarterback. Sam Bradford threatens to look more like a system quarterback than Colt McCoy does.

 

I'd like to see the off field issues of Greg Hardy fleshed out a little more before I discount him.

Sintim is indeed all of those things and could be a leader on this defense.

Peria Jerry to me is the superior football player to Sen'Derrick Marks and so I would take Jerry over Marks...if he made it. Jerry has started to remind me of Albert Haynesworth the way he has looked so unblockable of late.

 

Thats the main question I have with Hardy as I do think he is more athletic and a better pass rusher than Sintim. Question is, does the head office go with steady and reliable or make a move for the player with a higher ceiling?

Really close line between Jerry and Marks, still can't get over some the of huge plays Jerry made in the LSU game especially taking the 370 lb guard from LSU and holding him off with one arm to get the sack. That is a man with incredible upper body strength.

 

To be honest just take Sintim and don't worry about the transition with a DE. Not saying Hardy couldn't make it, but get a guy who can start right now. This team is gonna need guys like that for next year as the schedule will be tougher and taking players who will be slower to acclimate may not be waht this is looking to add early on.

Jerry is a guy who can play two ways to be honest. He has the quickness to play a 3 technique ala Warren Sapp, or he can play as a penetrating run stuffer like Kevin Williams in Minny. This guy is a very intriguing guy, because I don't know if you'd actually have to replace him in a 4 man line other than to rest him. He could still man the DT and help provide an up the field rush.

CK and had a little blurb about Jerry after the Ole Miss - Alabama game, where after Hardy went out with an injury, Perry dominated the interior. He created a turnover in that game as well.

I really think you'll see a wealth of DT's and DE's taken in the first round this year. With so many quality O-lineman coming out this year and last the league will try to get a leg up on the current wave of offensive line talent. DT's will be viewed as premium targets as will DE's who can flat out rush the passer. Jerry will have a hard time slipping to round 2 to be honest.

 

I'm leaning toward Jerry too.

 

No way Jerry falls out of the 1st round and in total agreement Con with DTs and DEs making a run off the board in the 1st round. I think there is a good shot we end up with our NT, OLB and and OT with our 1st 3 picks.

 

The Peria Jerry that I have seen in the past couple of games is easily a top 15 type player. He's been tremendous.

I agree on the DTs and DEs but I think LBs too because you look at what is happening and the NFL didn't just get flooded with first round OLs last year, they also got flooded with what some are already saying might go down as the deepest runningback class in draft history. Think about it. Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Steve Slaton all above 900 yards rushing through 12 games...then you have Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart, Tim Hightower, Kevin Smith, Jamaal Charles, Felix Jones, Ray Rice, Peyton Hillis, Ryan Torain, BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Tashard Choice all making contributions...most of them averaging over 4.0 yards per carry (Green-Ellis the only one not). We haven't even seen what Rashard Mendenhall can do yet, he got hurt too quick.

The NFL is awash with fresh, fast and dynamic backs and they're going to want linebackers to match up with those backs...and it's no wonder that guys like Aaron Curry, Rey Maualuga, Brandon Spikes, Brian Cushing, James Laurinaitis, Clint Sintim and Larry English are all becoming highly courted draft darlings. All of those guys could potentially go in the first round and that would be the most LBs I've seen in decades. There were 6 LBs taken in the first round in 2006, coincidentally the year after the 2005 draft when the NFL took three tailbacks in the top 5 and also managed to find great rookie performances from Frank Gore, Marion Barber and Samkon Gado (yes, he was considered to have a lot of promise after his rookie year).

 

Incidentally every now and then you have to step back and take a look at things from the mile high view and...this may be a great linebacker draft. I say that because of all of the linebackers I just named, there isn't a soul that is less than 240 pounds. Laurinaitis (6'2", 240) and Curry (6'2", 246) are the smallest of the lot. Spikes (6'3", 245), Maualuga (6'2", 260), Cushing (6'4", 255), Sintim (6'3", 254) and English (6'3", 254) are all big suckers.

The NFL is going to have a field day with a linebacker class like that.

 

I don't think you can really draw those kind of conclusions specifically. Players weights are not set, and alot of those guys you mentioned were nothing like that when Parcells took them. Ware was like mid-low 240's in college. Greg Ellis was 280 something pounds, etc. and so on.

I think arm length is nice, but it's not essential. Parcells tended to play his OLBs tighter, where our coaching staff generally has at least the weakside OLB aligned at a little bit wider a technique, to where he's shaded by the outermost blocker rather than covered in most situations. Given the amount of successful shorter guys in the league like James Harrison, Dwight Freeney, Elvis Dumervil, etc, I don't think it is that big an issue.

Parcells even drafted James Farrior, so I've been told, as an OLB at 6'1-6'2" 240ish, so even then it's still not out of the question.

 

It's just a tendency I've noticed. Willie McGinest is 6-5 270. Calvin Pace is 6-4 270. The best outside linebackers in a 3-4 tend to be taller and heavier. Doesn't mean a LB who is 6-2 can't play OLB. However, it doesn't seem to be the norm.

When you look at ILB they tend to be shorter and in the 240-250 range. D'Qwell Jackson is 6-0 240. Patrick Willis is 6-1 240. Jerod Mayo is 6-1 242. If Curry measures 6016 and 246 lbs at the Combine I'd say he's more likely to play ILB if a 3-4 team drafts him. If he measures 6027 and 249 lbs then he might line up outside.

F.Y.I. Ware was 251 lbs coming out of college.

 

Its fascinating to watch the leagues dynamics isnt it? How one draft class will affect the next one. How one position gaining prominance will increase demand for others. How a position can rise and fall etc etc.

I mean, it was 2 years ago and people were talking about how MLB was perhaps the most irrelevant position out there. Now its a huge factor in games with some of the impactful rookies in the classes that have come.

You see RBs and OLs flourish, and suddenly the demand for LBs and DLs skyrockets.

Great stuff to watch and theorize and debate over, and we havent even gotten into FA at all either! I think though that considering the health and age of Fergy, and the relative ineffectiveness of Solai, NT will be the premier position for us to address. How nice would it be to add a guy like Haloati Ngata to anchor the DL for a decade?

 

C - Luigs an old David Lee product from Arkansas? I wouldn't be shocked if he is a target some where in the draft.

 

It's a solid conclusion and yes, Aaron Curry would occupy Akin Ayodele's spot in this defense if they were to draft him.