Raiders are a 4-3 team right. He would be too slow in a 4-3 but as a run stuffing 3-4 ILB and special teamer maybe . Then again he may just be another Freddie Roach type player who doesn't translate to the pro game. I wouldn't mind seeing the Pats put in a waiver claim.
I'd be surprised if they did, per the recent Urban Meyer interview posted in the main forum, teams are going to incorporate more spread offense into their systems as they adjust to the shifts in the college talent pool. As good a player as Joseph was in college, he's just too heavy-legged to be much of a value in the face of the spread offenses.
BB transitioned his offense as we saw in 2007. His 2008 draft began the transition of the defense:
- Mayo 4.54/40
- Guyton 4.47/40
- Crable 4.61/40
- Redd 4.56/40
Two Round 1-3 draftees and two UDFA, all with good speed. Pass coverage needs speed and decent quickness, but adjusting to single wing/spread attacks by QB/TB hybrids needs speed for both phases. In the secondary BB has gone after three CBs in the past two drafts who are roughly the same player:
Wheatley 5-10 187 4.37/40
Wilhite 5-10 185 4.38/40
Butler 5-10 183 4.41/40
He drafted a hybrid S/CB in 2007, Meriweather 5-10 195 4.47, and tried him at CB before moving him back out to Safety. If Meriweather stays at SS (as I expect him too) then you could see three CB-CB/S hybrids playing 10-12 yds off the LOS with four speedy LBs ranging underneath them.
Now compare Chung 5-11 212 4.49/40 and Sanders 5-11 214 4.65/40 and you see strong similarities. Sacks, FF, FR, PD, and TFL are fairly similar. Chung played "Rover" and that may have given him an edge in TT as he averaged 96/year over his four year Oregon career vs Sanders 80/year over his three year career. Sanders has 3 BK to his credit and came out after his junior year. Chung returned punts. BB went and got himself a slightly more athletic version of James Sanders as his first pick in 2009, he got similar numbers at a slightly higher level of competition, in a hybrid S/LB role. Chung started college at 16, so he may be academically more gifted.
Should we think only of Sanders/Chung/Meriweather as competing directly for starting time? Why not consider them as a Nickel/Dime Safety trio who puts a CB/S hyrbrid and a S/LB hybrid in the box for 3rd and moderate/short situations where a pass or run is equally as likely from single wing/spread formations. Tank Williams is (or was) a fast S/LB hybrid. McGowan was 6' 190 4.47/40 FS in 2005, now he's 207, a little lighter than Sanders/Chung and a little heavier than Meriweather, his change of direction numbers say more S/LB than CB/S.
BB has retooled his defense to be more responsive to spread attacks, and not just the Colts going three and four wide, but college spread attacks with hybrid QB/TBs. It should be considered that he retooled his offense first to beat that trend, and waited a bit longer to retool the defense because the offensive trends where going to drive defensive adjustments.
Frantz Joseph looked like a good kid to consider as a UDFA/late pick going into the 2009 draft, but now he looks like a poor fit, I'm mildly surprised BB drafted Ty McKenzie.
