Last year we saw Sean Smith and Brian Hartline surpass their draft partners Vontae Davis and Patrick Turner during camp. Two years ago Kendall Langford and Donald Thomas showed up Merling and Shawn Murphy. Who will be this year's surprise rookie or rookies to make a splash? I have my eye on A.J. Edds.
well if you go out of the first three rounds, i would say it would be nolan carroll if he can get the mental aspect of the game. if not i expect him to shine big time in 2011
I think Misi is in position to make an early splash. Odrick's chances increased due to Merling's situation. I also think that the door is open RGM to make a splash as a returner.
Misi, I HOPE! We need him to... Odrick if he wants to start. I hope Sheets or anybody else beats out Bess and his clone RGM for the return job. We need better speed back there! Edds, yeah, and Spitler. I have a good feeling about both of them. Edds is just intelligent and Spitler seems to have good football smarts.
rookie = surprise......misi or odrick starting are not surprises. hell jerry starting wouldnt be a surprise. youve gotta pick someone who will surprise if i understand the OPs original question
I expect Misi to play well and probably start. So I agree he doesn't qualify. That being the case I have to go with Edds.
I am going to go with Chris McCoy. If he makes the team on the active roster that will be a surprise. The light went on during his senior year of college, will the light continue to stay on?
I am an Edds fan as well ... as i've maintained all along -- if he were stronger, i'd give him a shot at earning SOLB -- to me that is the weakness of his game .... well outside of not being incredibly fleet of foot. other than that -- i expect, as much as others that Odrick will earn a starting spot on the DL by game 4 ... and Misi to earn starting SOLB out the gate on non-passing downs -- these are not surprises. i think Carroll, Amaya, Wallace and Wallace will show solid potential and mostly find their way to the PS this year ... our depth right now will make it hard to keep them like we did for Nalbone last year .... for 2d year players ... i expect Smith, Hartline, Davis, Nalbone and Clemons to really step it up and be contributors this year. Nalbone has his doubters right now -- as does Clemons, but i think both will show vast improvement over last year. Sometimes i think this regime does better with developmental players in rds 3> than it does in rd 1 & 2.
Any rookie starting is a surprise. And in the 1st post of this thread, a 2nd round pick (just like Misi was) was listed as an example of one of last year's surprises.
With so many linebackers drafted this year one or two of them should certainly move ahead of the pack. Misi and Odrick are expected to be fighting for starting spots, it would be great to see them show themselves capable by week 1. I think it's interesting in the last two years the positions double-drafted had the later round pick moving past the higher pick, such as 2nd round pick Smith starting week 1 ahead of 1st round pick Davis rotating during games... until Will Allen was injured.
I'm not sure if I see anyone who will surprise. AJ Edds is expected to be a contributor, based off of what I seen of him in college. JMO. If I had to pick one, it would be Nolan Carroll winning the KR job. The real ones first name is Gerald.
Ryan Grice Mullens, we are looking for a KR, he made 45k in the CFL last yr and has DBess helping him. Jonathon Amaya, granted two UDFA's, for drafted cats: Chris McCoy.
I don't know if it'd be surprising or not, but I'd be pretty happy if Chris McCoy makes the 53 man roster. As for a surprise, I think we'll hear Reshad Jones name a little bit more now that the pads are on. I still don't think he'll beat out Clemons or Culver for the starting job though.
I really like McCoy's chances to make the roster. I think he has the talent to be a star level player, but he's just so raw that it may take a year or two before we get to see it. So I think he'll make the roster on his potential but be stashed for a year, possibly on the PS depending on if they think he'll clear waivers.
Think there's any possibility they might, for lack of a better term, "Lionel Dotson" him? In other words, keep McCoy on the roster a la Dotson and Andrew Gardner, but not activate him. I feel like he might be poached like Jalen Parmele if he was on the PS.
All kidding aside Rafi, the problem with McCoy, or the upside, is he is coming from a small college and already has tremendous athleticism. NFL caliber Conditioning program coupled with all football, all the time (this isn't Middle Tn State anymore) and having no idea what level of coaching he had in college and he is just a wildcard and impossible to project performance wise. all anyone can know about him is that he has nice burst, good quickness, but not takeoff, and has crude passrushing moves. That is where Big Jake helps, hot shot rook meets all pro tackle, if they earn it, then they have to show something.
I don't know that the MTSU weight program has much to do with McCoy's making the team. He's had 3 months in our program, and our very own Erik Walden, an MTSU alum himself, managed to play in 15 combined games for Kansas City and Miami as a rookie. I'd argue McCoy's got just as much if not more athletcism than Walden, so I think if McCoy can do something things on special teams, he might very well take Walden's spot given his upside as a pass-rusher.
I think that's what will happen. I've watched him before, made a thread in the Club a while back about him. He's very, very explosive IMO. Problem is he's not the brightest lightbulb in the box nor is he well developed. He's very raw and has done little work in space. His first step will give him a chance though because if you can work on his pass rush skills, you could have a nice situational pass rusher. EDIT: http://forums.thephins.com/showthread.php?t=46924
Ah, but that is the thing, Walden is a 4 core St player, everything from punts to kick coverage, McCoy was the stellar MTSU athlete who rarely played ST. He has to show enough as a passrusher/DE/OLB to allow himself the time to learn to play ST at a NFL level, ie, EW has a huge advantage. Before going completely negative, what McCoy does well that EW doesn't is..he can drop his shoulder and run the Arc, but his takeoff, whether or not his first step lands where his hands were on the snap of the ball, is just..not..that good. He is a sort of a poor man's Greg Hardy.
Nice thread alen, kudos for the call! I remember reading McCoy didn't start playing football until he was a high school junior. Obviously the NFL learning curve might be pretty steep for him right off the bat, but I think if he shows some ability on special teams prowess, he's got a spot on this roster as a rookie. In fact, it wouldn't shock me if every pick made the roster, save for Austin Spitler.
How many starters at the college level play special teams? The rosters are so big, not many do play all 4. I think that's something McCoy can learn. I don't think it's that difficult. Cameron Wake did it right off the bat last year.
That is the thing, keep in mind these are Roster slots say 48-53, the team is loaded and not only will he have to show he can passrush, he has to show he can play ST at least marginally well. The dude is looking at 50 snaps..tops...in 2010, and even then, he has to beat out his ex teammate for those 50 snaps who was arguably better than he was in college. What I am banking on with him is, he is a great athlete, and driven, which big picture means absolutely -0-, he has to perform and I think he will.
I think that athleticism is why he'll stick. I expect that he'll flash in camp and/or during the preseason games enough that they'll find a way to keep him.
I have to go with Jared Odrick. A lot of people think he will struggle going from the 4-3 to the 3-4. I don't. I think Odrick is too good of a football player. Koa Misi starting wouldn't really surprise me. I thought before the draft he and Jason Worilds were the two guys I think would make the smoothest transition to the 3-4. He's also going to be facing Quentin Moses and Charlie Anderson as competition. I'd be more surprised if he didn't win the starting job. I think he's a great fit as a SOLB in Nolan's scheme. As for Edds, I see him as a nickel LB. I'd be surprised if he's anything more this season, though I could definitely see him as a starting LB in this league in the future.
Well, I said at draft time, we needed to get at least two starters from our class this year. Misi and Odrick have to be those two, given our lack of OLBs and loss of Merling. That said, I love me some RGM. He has what can't be taught...speed. Something we lack in the WR group that we have. But truthfully, his impact this season is most likely in the return game. If we can get Misi and Odrick as day one starters and then have a Reshad Jones on nickel or dime situations with RGM and/or Sheets as a returner (which we no longer have any since we got rid of Ginn), then we could be in good shape. Nolan will figure a way to use the athletic DEs we have in rotation, and if Soliai matures a little...it could be special...
