OT Marinelli of Stanford

[Ochmed Jones]

Not sure how many people saw Stanford and Oregon's slugfest last Saturday, but Stanford's RB Toby Gerbeck gashed Oregon to the tune of 230 plus yards.

A lot of those yards appeared to come while running behind a huge Stanford OT Marenilli. (6'7" and 310 lbs.) And although hard to tell from 1 game, it looked like Stanford's O-line was using some sort of zone blocking scheme.

OT's that excel in college in the zone blocking scheme should be on BB's radar, so this could be a guy to watch more of over the course of the rest of the season.

 

[patchick]

FWIW, Chris Marinelli is a local kid -- played at BC High. He'd also fit in with the Pats high-IQ OL...he's a classics major at Stanford, the only significant draft prospect I have ever seen who majored in classics.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

FWIW, Chris Marinelli is a local kid -- played at BC High. He'd also fit in with the Pats high-IQ OL...he's a classics major at Stanford, the only significant draft prospect I have ever seen who majored in classics.

True. I went to a fairly prestigious school (won't name names), and even there, you could tell a class was easy if you looked in the back of the room and saw a quarter of the football team there. . . .

That said, I would still love to see the Pats get Nate Solder (6'9" + a 4.8 40).

 

[mayoclinic]

FWIW, Chris Marinelli is a local kid -- played at BC High. He'd also fit in with the Pats high-IQ OL...he's a classics major at Stanford, the only significant draft prospect I have ever seen who majored in classics.

Sounds like an intriguing kid. As a Stanford alum I'm always glad to hear about Cardinals doing well.

Right now, if we were to look at OT prospects, I think my 2 favorites would be Bruce Campbell of Maryland as an LT (with Vollmer moving to RT) or Gabe Carimi of Wisconsin at RT (with Vollmer stayhing at LT). Either of those 2 scenarios would give us a much more explosive and powerful OL than we have had with Light and Kaczur (not that I have anything against either of those guys).

 

[BelichickFan]

I think we'll find we're set at OT barring a terrific value. A stud OG late in the first round (like Mankins) I could see as I expect Mankins to leave when he's a UFA and Neal is getting older.

 

[patchick]

Sounds like an intriguing kid. As a Stanford alum I'm always glad to hear about Cardinals doing well.

I'm semi-with you...I was a grad student at the Farm, so I have some unfortunate TA memories of football players colluding to cheat on exams. (No worries on that with Marinelli, though. There aren't any teammates to collude with in an Aeneid seminar!)

 

[mayoclinic]

I'm semi-with you...I was a grad student at the Farm, so I have some unfortunate TA memories of football players colluding to cheat on exams. (No worries on that with Marinelli, though. There aren't any teammates to collude with in an Aeneid seminar!)

That happens everywhere, I expect.

I had never been to a college football game until my freshman year at Stanford. There was a lot of buzz that year (1979) because they had somehow managed to recruit some local kid named Elway who was supposed to be the hottest QB in the land. Turk Schonert was the starting QB that year, but everytime Elway got on the field he generated a buzz with that rocket arm.

Fond memories.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I think we'll find we're set at OT barring a terrific value. A stud OG late in the first round (like Mankins) I could see as I expect Mankins to leave when he's a UFA and Neal is getting older.

This draft is horribly weak at OG and C. There is no Steve Hutchinson in this draft. I see no one worth spending a first or second round pick on, but maybe that will change if a couple of juniors come out early.

Besides, I think the answer to our OG problem could be Kazcur. With a solid ROT replacement, we could move Kazcur to OG.

Wisconsin has a junior, Carmini that is a bit stiff and I do not think can play OT in the NFL, but because he comes off the ball with a flat back and shows good explosion, power and burst on running plays, I would project him to be a solid OG candidate.

Mike Johnson of Alabama is a big, strong OG candidate that is a better pass protector than drive blocker, but does show decent explosion and burst. He would probably be a viable 3rd round pick, if we had a third round pick.

 

[mayoclinic]

FWIW, Chris Marinelli is a local kid -- played at BC High. He'd also fit in with the Pats high-IQ OL...he's a classics major at Stanford, the only significant draft prospect I have ever seen who majored in classics.

Marinelli is apparently majoring in classics and economics.

Interestingly, Stanford junior OG Andrew Phillips is also majoring in classics. What is it with Stanford OLs and classics? Do Virgil and Homer have hidden insights to blocking? ("Achilles has a great spin move, but if you push him outside and hit him in his heel he'll be a non-factor").

Phillips had a huge game against USC, and is a dominant pulling guard in the run game. He could be top 5 this year, and would be one of the top guard prospects next year.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Marinelli is apparently majoring in classics and economics.

Interestingly, Stanford junior OG Andrew Phillips is also majoring in classics. What is it with Stanford OLs and classics? Do Virgil and Homer have hidden insights to blocking? ("Achilles has a great spin move, but if you push him outside and hit him in his heel he'll be a non-factor").

Phillips had a huge game against USC, and is a dominant pulling guard in the run game. He could be top 5 this year, and would be one of the top guard prospects next year.

The classics provide balance in their lives.

He is easily the most impressive OG I have seen this year. I doubt he comes out, but if he does, I hope BB pounces.

 

[mayoclinic]

The classics provide balance in their lives.

He is easily the most impressive OG I have seen this year. I doubt he comes out, but if he does, I hope BB pounces.

I doubt he comes out either. But if he does, realistically where do you see him going in the draft?

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I doubt he comes out either. But if he does, realistically where do you see him going in the draft?

First of all, I think he should come back for his senior year.

But I think his draft status is tied to how teams project him as a pass protector. They know he is a nasty flat backed run blocker with good explosion, burst and he finishes blocks very well for a college interior lineman.

In last year's draft, the best interior run blocker in the draft was Urbik of Wisconsin and he went in the fourth or fifth round to Pittsburgh, I think, largely because teams thought he would struggle in pass protection.

I think Phillips is as good if not slightly better as a run blocker than Urbik. If Phillips is projected to be a better pass protector then he should go higher than Urbik, even in a 2010 draft that is much deeper than last year's draft.