interesting mock. Im more in the Clint Sintim camp but I would have no problem with Raji. Barwin is definitely an intriguing guy. Watching him rush the passer you can just see the athletic ability the guy has. Could also install some interesting packages for him down around the goal line a la Mike Vrabel. Barden would fill that need for a big possession receiver. Interesting you have Harris in the 3rd and at safety. Depends on his workouts but definite possibility. Definitely couldnt complain if the draft went down like this. Rolling the dice some with the 2nd round picks but good gambles.

 

Raji was a monster in that ND game.

 

Not sure I'm ready to annoint Raji as being the 20th best player in the draft. And no way do I see Victor Harris falling down to the 4th round.

 

Looking at those highlights of Barden I would be a little concerned with his explosion. He didn't pull away from defenders; even at that level. He rounded the hell out of that slant route, and if the corner wasn't so afraid of him he could have made a play on the ball.

I'd like to see this guy in an all star game, but I have a sneaky suspicion of how he'll do once he'd there.

 

Raji could be ours in Round 2 IMO. Clint Stintim. get on the bandwagon.

 

Too early for Raji IMO and too late for Victor Harris. Only way I could see Harris falling to the third is if he runs a poor forty.

Yeah, he's a guy that I really want to see. That slant route that you point out looks awful. I wonder how his long speed is, considering many sites have him around 4.6.

 

Well, what got me was the fact he failed to outrun the competition in that game. I'm not trying to base everything off of that clip, but it definitely made me wonder how he'll do against a speedy secondary.

We'll find out how much of a project he is, as it is doubtful he comes out of that program and against that competition highly polished.

 

Is that Macho Harris going in the 4th round???

I don't necessarily think #20 is too early for Raji.

 

We're not going to know a thing about Ramses Barden until we see him in some Shrine practices and the game.

 

Yeah, but a little advance doesn't hurt. :lol:

Just from that there it is hard to tell what's really going on. Those clips are awful coverage by the TV crew, the ball wasn't even in the frame on the first TD - so who knows what happened.

I always wonder with guys like him though if they make their living by being freaks against this level of competition, or are they just a diamond in the rough? It is hard to tell without the litmus test, so we'll have to wait the 4 weeks.

Guys this size always have the "explosion" question hanging over their heads too.

 

So wait, how high have you got Raji? Because I know you don't have him higher than Jerry and I know you don't have him higher than Marks and I know you don't have him higher than Cody and I know you don't have him higher than DeMarcus Granger and you better not have him higher than Gerald McCoy. So that's 5 DT's at worst rated higher than Raji, right.

You know the last time 6 DT's went between picks 1 and 20? 199never. 2001 saw 5, but for the last 15 years, the average has been 2. No more than 3 and once none. I just don't see Raji as value at 20 given that there are at least 6 DT's that are rated higher. I mean I know for a stone cold fact that you are higher on Perry, Marks, Cody and Granger. We've not conversed about McCoy, but he's the best DT I've seen this season and in a decade of knowing you, we're rarely too far apart in our estimations, certainly not to be grading a guy at 1 and then a guy at 7.

Good player, but given the talent, he's a 2nd level DT. Now, Marks and McCoy and Granger and Cody might stay in school. But we both know that it's about 85% that all four are coming out.

 

I don't have him higher than Cody.

I don't have him higher than Jerry.

He could easily end up higher than Marks, and Marks could easily end up staying in school.

He could easily end up higher than Granger.

And since when is McCoy a definite part of the draft picture? Isn't he just a sophomore? I know he's a redshirt sophomore but I just hadn't heard anything about him coming out and I normally try not to assume all redshirt sophomores will come out.

You know as well as I do Demarcus Granger has skeletons in the closet and could easily be off the Dolphins' board altogether. As for Sen'Derrick Marks, he's a good player no doubt about that and I do like him. But this is still a moving process and B.J. Raji could end up above him, especially with the superior size.

I do not think 20 is too high for Raji. Nor is it too high for Sintim. This staff stacks their boards horizontally and they've admitted plenty of times that their board has a lot fewer players on it than will be drafted period. They've also shown that they're not afraid to take a Kendall Langford at the top of the 3rd when most would have had him as a bottom 3rd or a 4th rounder, nor are they afraid to take Shawn Murphy at the top of the 4th when most would have thought he'd be a bottom 5th or even a 6th rounder. If B.J. Raji is the right man for the job, and Demarcus Granger because of his attitude, and Sen'Derrick Marks because of his size...are both not right...they could take Raji and I don't see a problem with that.

And if McCoy comes out and clears the process I doubt he'll be in reach anyway.

 

OK, well we have to disagree on Marks. But also, if we're splitting hairs over which juniors are or aren't coming out, maybe we should simply stick to seniors.

 

I'm only going to start to list graduate students. :shifty:

 

I'm doing a Pee Wee top 10 as we speak.

 

I got a grant from National Geographic to predict the the 2039 draft class by doing research on fetuses in the womb. :shifty:

 

I realize it's subject to change, but BJ Raji being that high doesn't appear to be a huge aberration. Right now, Scouts Inc. has him 21 in their mock draft, and Mel Kiper has him #8 in his Junior-less top 25.

 

I like the Mock, but with last yrs draft so heavy on the line I dont see the logic in this yrs being so heavy in it as well, maybe its just me. I can see us taking another offensive lineman. Couple of potential studs out there.

 

I did not realize either of those things, but yes that does help lol. Kiper in particular.

 

I try not to even bother with any sophomores until I hear something solid. We've started to hear something solid on Sam Bradford and he's playing for the National Championship after all, so I think we can start to pencil him into the mix. Crabtree and Maclin have both been speculated all along. Other than that, though...I dunno. I just hadn't heard anything about McCoy.

 

To me this draft IS deep at OT, and OLB. If Cody, Marks, perhaps McCoy come out, add NT to that list. I think most would agree that OLB, NT, and to some extent OL (esp. depth) remain "pieces" the Phins need. Good for the Phins, it seems (for once) the draft appears to be deep at positions we need. I think it bodes very well that the OT class is deep and we don't need a LT. That helps in SO many ways.

What happens on the Carey front is highly likely to have some impact on the Phins selections in April. But do they address the OL situation in FA? How much does say a Smith (from Baylor) fall on Draft Day. He may be the best player on the board, and the phins decide to try and make a Smith-OLB of Preference-NT of preference Day 1 of it. Or they could figure that since the depth of OT has left some pretty good RIGHT tackles (that's what we are looking for here) sliding down the board, and the #1 way to improve any defense is pass rush, they go: OLB-NT-OLB-OT(rd 3) - the latter being my preference.

I think we are gonna need to All-Star games before we can start truly ranking players by position. By then the underclassmen will have declared, the draft order will be fairly set, and things will have come into focus better. For what its worth, I'm in the go big camp, and draft skill - if at all - in the later rounds by doubling up on specific areas of need: i.e. Phins need a big Red Zone target - those can be had later on, as they usually aren't speed demons who go early. The OLB-NT-OLB-OT variation fits with this organizations drafting past both in terms of doubling up of positions and areas of importance AND it fits with this draft class. If we come out with something that resembles that draft pattern, I'm thrilled! Given the "grocery shopper's" past history of success in drafting THOSE specific positions, I'm willing to bet they get some good ones.

 

Did you see Lombardi today pimping Bradford as #1 overall to Detroit if he declares?

 

I guess I just don't buy him that high and certainly not 8th. I'm Kiper fanboy as you know, but I found the Orakpo thing a little strange and I don't, based on what I've seen, have him up there.

 

To me Bradford would be a great guy to put into a WC style offense. He is very qucik getting the ball out of his hands. Good vision of the field, and has a good idea of what to do with the ball. To me he would seem like a good fit in that type of system.

 

I think we should go defensive line once again for the fact that we have Vonnie Holliday getting older and we need another guy to replace him and then Jason Ferguson is getting older. He has played very solid for us this year but in a year or two, he will need a replacement and I think we have to get a Nose to groom. I know Boomer has talked about a guy like Tyson Jackson possibly making a move to the interior, as was done with Jay Ratliff, but I would be interested if we could do the same with Alex Magee of Purdue. He's quick, can shed well and has good lateral quickness;however I don't know how well he holds up blocks. He may be a late first to early second day pick.

In the first round, I want Peria Jerry. I know we've all here talked about Sintim - props to Con talking him up - but I'm a huge fan of Larry English. He's my personal favorite and if we could get Jerry and somehow manage him with the 2A, that would be a helluva start to the draft. He may not last that long though.

I've seen Orakpo high on just about every board and mock I've looked at. I don't understand the love for him.

 

And Derrick Williams/Kenny Britt at 2B? :shifty:

Because he is in a lot of highlights?

 

Well, that's a Seniors-only list. If you add Juniors, it puts it more in range with the Scouts Inc. rankings, I would imagine.

 

I did not. But, it doesn't surprise me. He's a stud, IMO. I don't know if he's use to the same kind of adversity that a Matt Ryan would have been at Boston College...but he's got all the tools and he's a quick decision maker, big guy, stands tall, great arm and great accuracy, very quick learner which is where he separates I think.

 

It's 8th when you take out all the juniors. That's not that bad, really. This is a pretty mediocre senior class. And by mediocre, I mean sub-mediocre. And by sub-mediocre, I mean damn there's hardly anyone exciting.

 

Agree with all that. He's been so impressive all season. I think one of the underrated aspects of his game are his feet. He moves the pocket really well and can deliver strikes on the run.

 

It's a terrible class. Terrible.

 

I thought he was really impressive in the Oklahoma St/Oklahoma game. He saw many different looks and he struggled in the first half of the game with them. The Ok. State defense did a very good job of confusing him. However in the second half, he really started to figure them out and pick the defense apart. Hes very impressive. No doubt in my mind that he's the top QB in the nation, as you, CK and Con have alluded to in the past.