so I would love to see Amari teamed with OBJ.Too many positives to list. They could be an all time great duo for years but unless we get some OL to protect Eli/generate a running game it's not happening.
Pugh and Richburg will need some time but are a decent start building this OL unit back to the level they need to contend. We'll see what we have in Schwartz but it would seem we have 3 good young guys, but none destined for greatness. I really can't say I've seen much of Scherff but anyone you can see the advantage teams with even 1 dominant Olineman have. From what I've read, Scherff is more mauler than athletic and the team would need to assess who fits better in what they do if both he and AC were available. At this point OBJ makes another WR a luxury but ultimately if picking high BPA is the way to go IMO.
of course is the real authority here, but I’ll make a few preliminary comments. Most years I favor a trade down, and it looks like this year won’t be any different. Football is a violent sport, many prospects bust, and we have a million holes thanks to the rotten drafting of the Reese regime. More picks means more chances. The problem of course is that you need a trade partner, which can be tough in most years, but especially since this coming draft doesn’t appear to be that deep. But there are enough good players that someone might well be enticed to move up, especially if Mariota is still on the board when we pick. With that in mind, I will list some players who I like at the end of the first and on day two after a trade down:
One guy I like a lot is A.J. Cann, the guard from South Carolina. I also like Tyrus Thompson, the OT from Oklahoma, and Clemmings from Pitt. Clemmings though is another guy who I think used to play another position, DT IIRC. Thompson dominated Oakman this year. Two safeties I like on day two are Anthony Harris from UVA, and Durell Eskridge from Syracuse. A DE I like is Eli Harold, also from UVA.
so I would love to see Amari teamed with OBJ.Too many positives to list. They could be an all time great duo for years but unless we get some OL to protect Eli/generate a running game it's not happening.
Pugh and Richburg will need some time but are a decent start building this OL unit back to the level they need to contend. We'll see what we have in Schwartz but it would seem we have 3 good young guys, but none destined for greatness. I really can't say I've seen much of Scherff but anyone you can see the advantage teams with even 1 dominant Olineman have. From what I've read, Scherff is more mauler than athletic and the team would need to assess who fits better in what they do if both he and AC were available. At this point OBJ makes another WR a luxury but ultimately if picking high BPA is the way to go IMO.
so I would love to see Amari teamed with OBJ.Too many positives to list. They could be an all time great duo for years but unless we get some OL to protect Eli/generate a running game it's not happening.
Pugh and Richburg will need some time but are a decent start building this OL unit back to the level they need to contend. We'll see what we have in Schwartz but it would seem we have 3 good young guys, but none destined for greatness. I really can't say I've seen much of Scherff but anyone you can see the advantage teams with even 1 dominant Olineman have. From what I've read, Scherff is more mauler than athletic and the team would need to assess who fits better in what they do if both he and AC were available. At this point OBJ makes another WR a luxury but ultimately if picking high BPA is the way to go IMO.
Do your best to address urgent needs via UFA first. I like Schwartz at RT, kick Pugh inside, Richburg at C, find another OG via UFA.
There's a decent chance we could land an OT in the top 10, but none look like left tackles, and none of the OGs look like proper value. Best chance is they go playmaker in the 1st round, factor need in a bit more in the 2nd round.
Draft the best players that fit your schemes, don't draft positions.
A Safety can be a playmaker if you look at what guys like Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed did in their primes. My concern is that while there are a lot of OT's getting high marks, I do not see that blue goose LT. Peat may come the closest but had he been in last year's draft there probably would have been a handful of OL who went ahead of him. Also the track record of Stanford OT's of late has not been good (Kwame Harris, Jonathan Martin). I am intrigued by someone like Shaq Thompson especially if we use Free Agency to upgrade our pass rush and Cruz looks like he will come back healthy
A Safety can be a playmaker if you look at what guys like Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed did in their primes. My concern is that while there are a lot of OT's getting high marks, I do not see that blue goose LT. Peat may come the closest but had he been in last year's draft there probably would have been a handful of OL who went ahead of him. Also the track record of Stanford OT's of late has not been good (Kwame Harris, Jonathan Martin). I am intrigued by someone like Shaq Thompson especially if we use Free Agency to upgrade our pass rush and Cruz looks like he will come back healthy
Here's a couple upcoming FA questions that will play a major role in the draft:
1) He's under contract for 2015, but what are the long term plans for Prince? If they intend to extend him, CB is unlikely since they'd have Prince and DRC locked up for a few years.
2) JPP - the elephant in the room. Based on the last couple drafts, I would guess the intention was to try and work out a long term deal as the Reese regime tends to try and get replacements on board before guys walk (obviously he effed up the OL, but those guys broke down fast). If JPP is gone, one of the first 2 picks will be on a DE. Though, even if he returns they likely need to spend a top 3 pick on a pass rushing DE.
of value there in the top 10. Furthermore, I am optimistic that hopefully Pugh comes back this season and we can see what the right side of the OL will look like with him and Schwartz next to each other. I don't think this OL is that far off, and I wouldn't necessarily invest in a top 10 pick in another OL unless they are a sure blue goose. We need strength in the middle, that has been the problem for awhile. It starts with getting the C we drafted (Richburg)to start this season in place of Walton who has been disappointing. Beatty and Pugh are your Tackles, they need another Mauler OG. I like AJ Cann in rd. 2, or some 3rd-4th rd prospect for that position. I think the line will improve as the season goes on, but they need to start putting players in their place for the future now.
If I am picking the top 10, I am grabbing the biggest playmaker available, or looking to trade down. Especially when you have multiple needs and this looks to be a top heavy draft. Cooper would be amazing, especially next to Beckham, Eli and any future QB would be set with two Home Run weapons for quite some time. If there I would take Gregory in a heartbeat, especially if JPP is not retained this becomes one of the biggest needs.
However I will reserve speculation on any Defensive players given we are most likely going to end up with a new coordinator and who knows what scheme he will employ. I would not mind them going back to the 3-4 considering they need players at all positions on the defense. Given they can't stop the run or pass, it might be best for them to seriously entertain the idea of implementing a new scheme.
...too early for me to really pick out a lot of players, but I have liked Perryman since last year. I doubt the Giants would take him with a high 1st so I am hoping he is still there for them in the 2nd.
He's a late bloomer. He didn't start playing football until his junior year of high school. By senior year he was the #1 prospect in NJ...but as a DE. At Pitt his time started to dwindle so by bowl prep in 2012 he made the switch to OT. He's started every game at tackle since and has been a 3 time OLineman of the week. He's made a huge jump in skill and technique from last year to this one. His pass pro still needs work but he's shown he's coachable. Meanwhile he's been dominant in the run and screen game and can pull. He just accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl so we'll be able to get a good look there. He's from Teaneck and went to Paterson Catholic so the Giants will be able to get a free look. Keep an eye on him.
OT Tyrus Thompson is someone I've mentioned on a few threads as well. Very high on him. I like the Sooners' other tackle Daryl Williams, too. Both will be playing on Sunday.
over Shaq Thompson from Washington. Thompson is a former safety and it shows. Great athlete and in coverage but subpar in the run game and tackling. He would get eaten up in traffic and when OL get a hold of him he's out of the play. Drag down tackler too.
Kendricks is another player I've mentioned in a few threads. Last week in an important game against USC he had 12 solo tackles (he leads the nation in solo tackles) including a TFL and a spectacular INT. This is the 3 down MLB we've needed for years but I think he can play outside as well.
If I were to take a player from the Huskies it would be OLB Hau'oli Kikaha, the most dominant pass rusher in college this year. 23.5 TFLs with 17.5 sacks in 12 games. I really think he could play a 4-3 OLB a la Khalil Mack with Oakland and Von Miller with the Broncos. What will hurt his stock is two knee surgeries while in college. He'll have to go through extensive medical testing but I really like his play.
Scherff is a nice player but not top 10. He's stiff in the hips, lacks lateral quickness and struggles against speed. I've seen him beat inside and out. He does have upper body strength but loses technique which negates it. I believe it was against Maryland this year where I saw him run over by a much smaller defender because of this. The last two Hawkeye tackles to go in the first, Bryan Bulaga of the Packers and Riley Reiff of the Lions went 23 overall. At best this is where Scherff belongs imo.
Pugh at LG. You can get a starting RT with a 2nd( Ty Sambrailo) or 3rd round( Daryl Williams)pick. There are many free safeties available in rounds 2-4.Right now I think the only OL I would take day 1 would be La'el Collins, but preferrably not with a top ten pick. Maybe Peat.
Take your pick of Prewitt, Derron Smith, Drummond,Holliman,Harris,Mills & Eskridge. Most would start day 1 for NYG.
Pugh at LG. You can get a starting RT with a 2nd( Ty Sambrailo) or 3rd round( Daryl Williams)pick. Right now I think the only OL I would take day 1 would be La'el Collins, but probably not with a top ten pick. Maybe Peat.
There are many safeties available in rounds 2-4.Take your pick of Prewitt, Derron Smith, Drummond,Holliman,Harris,Mills & Eskridge. Most would start day 1 for NYG.
In an ideal draft NYG gets Leonard Williams.
My favorite WR is Jaelen Strong and Duke Johnson or Tevin Coleman as a RB pick.
And I've read Colin's opinion on him and Colin is the best there is, but I must respectfully disagree. After watching almost every Alabama game this year, I cannot agree that Collins is SOLELY an in-the-box, heat-seeking, downhill S. He is very, very good in coverage. I think he covers like a CB. He's very well-rounded and reminds me of Antrel Rolle in that regard.
And of course, I still love Gerod Holliman.
I haven't seen a lot of Shawn Oakman, but his measurables are mouthwatering. Calais Campbell-esque, who also was somewhat of a disappointment at the U and became an excellent player in Arizona. Same with Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson.
I was thinking of Kendricks in the 2nd, similar to Lavonte David who I also think dropped because teams looked at his height/weight before talent. Navorro Bowman is another that comes to mind. In the first I'd be happy with Tyrus Thompson or Clemmings who I think will have rising stock in the coming months. Kikaha in the third. It's early but:
young, homegrown offensive linemen. I agree as was mentioned re: Pugh and Richburg. We need 1 more first year starter. GS and Beatty are the vets, 1 more quality FA OL, and Walton can back-up.
A lovely parting gift for JJerry,Brewer and other OL deadwood.
The pick could/should likely be Beatty's replacement after '15.
GS is 33 so they need to prepare for that departure as well.
If they were to , though unlikely, go all in on top OL and DL/LB or whatever other need, they could dump off the 3-5 rds and move up in rd 2 or late rd 1. We need, and will need too many players for a 7 man draft to help anyway, and unless there is a very quick decision to dump JR post season, lets get the top early best players, since his later round drafting is poor at best.
I love 2 lb's in this draft that wont get any hype. Chi chi ariguzo from northwestern would be a good pick in the 2nd round and Zaire Anderson from Nebraska could be a later pick in 4th-5th.
A RB who can also help bring speed and return kicks would be Raheem Moster from Purdue
And an OL thats a monster and under the radar would be Charles Sweeton from Tennessee-Martin
The ultimate risk/reward. He has more upside than Amari Cooper, IMO
Pugh and Richburg will need some time but are a decent start building this OL unit back to the level they need to contend. We'll see what we have in Schwartz but it would seem we have 3 good young guys, but none destined for greatness. I really can't say I've seen much of Scherff but anyone you can see the advantage teams with even 1 dominant Olineman have. From what I've read, Scherff is more mauler than athletic and the team would need to assess who fits better in what they do if both he and AC were available. At this point OBJ makes another WR a luxury but ultimately if picking high BPA is the way to go IMO.
One guy I like a lot is A.J. Cann, the guard from South Carolina. I also like Tyrus Thompson, the OT from Oklahoma, and Clemmings from Pitt. Clemmings though is another guy who I think used to play another position, DT IIRC. Thompson dominated Oakman this year. Two safeties I like on day two are Anthony Harris from UVA, and Durell Eskridge from Syracuse. A DE I like is Eli Harold, also from UVA.
Pugh and Richburg will need some time but are a decent start building this OL unit back to the level they need to contend. We'll see what we have in Schwartz but it would seem we have 3 good young guys, but none destined for greatness. I really can't say I've seen much of Scherff but anyone you can see the advantage teams with even 1 dominant Olineman have. From what I've read, Scherff is more mauler than athletic and the team would need to assess who fits better in what they do if both he and AC were available. At this point OBJ makes another WR a luxury but ultimately if picking high BPA is the way to go IMO.
Pugh and Richburg will need some time but are a decent start building this OL unit back to the level they need to contend. We'll see what we have in Schwartz but it would seem we have 3 good young guys, but none destined for greatness. I really can't say I've seen much of Scherff but anyone you can see the advantage teams with even 1 dominant Olineman have. From what I've read, Scherff is more mauler than athletic and the team would need to assess who fits better in what they do if both he and AC were available. At this point OBJ makes another WR a luxury but ultimately if picking high BPA is the way to go IMO.
The only comparison I see is that Detroit had bad drafts with busts at WR and career ending injuries to RBs.
Amari Cooper or one of the OTs in round 1 and Perryman round 2.
There's a decent chance we could land an OT in the top 10, but none look like left tackles, and none of the OGs look like proper value. Best chance is they go playmaker in the 1st round, factor need in a bit more in the 2nd round.
Draft the best players that fit your schemes, don't draft positions.
Guess he's the guy
A Safety can be a playmaker if you look at what guys like Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed did in their primes. My concern is that while there are a lot of OT's getting high marks, I do not see that blue goose LT. Peat may come the closest but had he been in last year's draft there probably would have been a handful of OL who went ahead of him. Also the track record of Stanford OT's of late has not been good (Kwame Harris, Jonathan Martin). I am intrigued by someone like Shaq Thompson especially if we use Free Agency to upgrade our pass rush and Cruz looks like he will come back healthy
A Safety can be a playmaker if you look at what guys like Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed did in their primes. My concern is that while there are a lot of OT's getting high marks, I do not see that blue goose LT. Peat may come the closest but had he been in last year's draft there probably would have been a handful of OL who went ahead of him. Also the track record of Stanford OT's of late has not been good (Kwame Harris, Jonathan Martin). I am intrigued by someone like Shaq Thompson especially if we use Free Agency to upgrade our pass rush and Cruz looks like he will come back healthy
I'd be surprised if they picked a S in the top 10. A top CB prospect still holds more value than a S, a WR even more value.
Looks like a weak crop at LT and DE, and while it's still early we're not hearing much at CB. No bueno.
1) He's under contract for 2015, but what are the long term plans for Prince? If they intend to extend him, CB is unlikely since they'd have Prince and DRC locked up for a few years.
2) JPP - the elephant in the room. Based on the last couple drafts, I would guess the intention was to try and work out a long term deal as the Reese regime tends to try and get replacements on board before guys walk (obviously he effed up the OL, but those guys broke down fast). If JPP is gone, one of the first 2 picks will be on a DE. Though, even if he returns they likely need to spend a top 3 pick on a pass rushing DE.
If I am picking the top 10, I am grabbing the biggest playmaker available, or looking to trade down. Especially when you have multiple needs and this looks to be a top heavy draft. Cooper would be amazing, especially next to Beckham, Eli and any future QB would be set with two Home Run weapons for quite some time. If there I would take Gregory in a heartbeat, especially if JPP is not retained this becomes one of the biggest needs.
However I will reserve speculation on any Defensive players given we are most likely going to end up with a new coordinator and who knows what scheme he will employ. I would not mind them going back to the 3-4 considering they need players at all positions on the defense. Given they can't stop the run or pass, it might be best for them to seriously entertain the idea of implementing a new scheme.
He's a late bloomer. He didn't start playing football until his junior year of high school. By senior year he was the #1 prospect in NJ...but as a DE. At Pitt his time started to dwindle so by bowl prep in 2012 he made the switch to OT. He's started every game at tackle since and has been a 3 time OLineman of the week. He's made a huge jump in skill and technique from last year to this one. His pass pro still needs work but he's shown he's coachable. Meanwhile he's been dominant in the run and screen game and can pull. He just accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl so we'll be able to get a good look there. He's from Teaneck and went to Paterson Catholic so the Giants will be able to get a free look. Keep an eye on him.
OT Tyrus Thompson is someone I've mentioned on a few threads as well. Very high on him. I like the Sooners' other tackle Daryl Williams, too. Both will be playing on Sunday.
By most scouts accounts, at the absolute worst he'll be an outstanding guard. Which is perfectly fine with me.
Link - ( New Window )
Kendricks is another player I've mentioned in a few threads. Last week in an important game against USC he had 12 solo tackles (he leads the nation in solo tackles) including a TFL and a spectacular INT. This is the 3 down MLB we've needed for years but I think he can play outside as well.
If I were to take a player from the Huskies it would be OLB Hau'oli Kikaha, the most dominant pass rusher in college this year. 23.5 TFLs with 17.5 sacks in 12 games. I really think he could play a 4-3 OLB a la Khalil Mack with Oakland and Von Miller with the Broncos. What will hurt his stock is two knee surgeries while in college. He'll have to go through extensive medical testing but I really like his play.
Take your pick of Prewitt, Derron Smith, Drummond,Holliman,Harris,Mills & Eskridge. Most would start day 1 for NYG.
In an ideal draft NYG gets Leonard Williams.
My favorite WR is Jaelen Strong.
There are many safeties available in rounds 2-4.Take your pick of Prewitt, Derron Smith, Drummond,Holliman,Harris,Mills & Eskridge. Most would start day 1 for NYG.
In an ideal draft NYG gets Leonard Williams.
My favorite WR is Jaelen Strong and Duke Johnson or Tevin Coleman as a RB pick.
I like Peat at RT. I'd leave Schwartz at RT, kick Pugh to LG, Richburg to C, and in that scenario I wonder if Reese would burn a #1 on a RT.
Agree there's no left tackle in this crop, so far.
sj, agreed, Scherff is similar to the other Iowa OL. I like Kendricks, he projects well to the pro's, but Reese isn't going LB in the top 10.
And of course, I still love Gerod Holliman.
I haven't seen a lot of Shawn Oakman, but his measurables are mouthwatering. Calais Campbell-esque, who also was somewhat of a disappointment at the U and became an excellent player in Arizona. Same with Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson.
1. Thompson/Clemmings
2. Kendricks
3. Kikaha
and by Saturday I'm throwing a party.
A lovely parting gift for JJerry,Brewer and other OL deadwood.
The pick could/should likely be Beatty's replacement after '15.
GS is 33 so they need to prepare for that departure as well.
If they were to , though unlikely, go all in on top OL and DL/LB or whatever other need, they could dump off the 3-5 rds and move up in rd 2 or late rd 1. We need, and will need too many players for a 7 man draft to help anyway, and unless there is a very quick decision to dump JR post season, lets get the top early best players, since his later round drafting is poor at best.
I love 2 lb's in this draft that wont get any hype. Chi chi ariguzo from northwestern would be a good pick in the 2nd round and Zaire Anderson from Nebraska could be a later pick in 4th-5th.
A RB who can also help bring speed and return kicks would be Raheem Moster from Purdue
And an OL thats a monster and under the radar would be Charles Sweeton from Tennessee-Martin
The best safety in the SEC is probably the Ole Miss kid.
As far as the Miami kids, they are the opposite. Even coaches on Bama's staff have said so to people. they have a higher upside and more room to grow.