NFL.Com's Bucky Brooks top 16 Senior Prospects

[Irish Hooligan]

Clemson RB Spiller continues making big plays, rising up the charts

I was interested to see the six of the sixteen are being presented as pass rushers. I was wonder for those of you who are more familiar with these guys if any would fit that Pats as I would like to have a focus when I watch the Senior Bowl. Thanks.

 

[Metaphors]

Since I get to see a lot of ACC games, here are my impressions of those guys:

Spiller is the top RB in the draft but he needs space to be effective. If you don't like Maroney, you really won't like Spiller (though he is much faster).

Robinson has tremendous skills but he is faaaaaaaaaaaar from a lockdown corner. He gives up way too many plays to inferior talent and bites on pump fakes and double moves. If the light goes on, he could be a good one, but not a CB that I would use a 1st round pick on.

Sapp is a one-trick pony but that trick is in demand. He uses his speed and quickness to knife into the backfield. He can tackle a RB if they happen to be there when he arrives. For folks that wanted to get Matthews last year, he is that same type of player.

I would take Spiller if he lasted into the 2nd round (he won't).

I would think about Sapp if he was around late in the 2nd round (he probably won't be).

I would let another team take Robinson and hope he gets his act together. There are better options for the Pats.

 

[dryheat44]

Clemson RB Spiller continues making big plays, rising up the charts

I was interested to see the six of the sixteen are being presented as pass rushers. I was wonder for those of you who are more familiar with these guys if any would fit that Pats as I would like to have a focus when I watch the Senior Bowl. Thanks.

Kindle and Hardy. Both very productive guys with the length and quickness to thrive at OLB. Given a clean bill of health, Hardy is my preference.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Kindle and Hardy. Both very productive guys with the length and quickness to thrive at OLB. Given a clean bill of health, Hardy is my preference.

But can they set the edge on running plays? Kindle was mauled by Alabama and almost single handedly responsible for giving up over 100 yards to Ingram.

Hardy is more stout, but far from a Vrabel type on the corner.

I am thinking a Dunlap or Romeus sized guy that runs well needs to be at OLB. Really hard to find complete guys like that in the draft, but easier to develop raw guys like that, ie: Lane of Murray State or Carrington of Arkansas State or Jorgenson of BYU. (Provided they run well.)

 

[mgteich]

This list will change over the coming months. It might be labeled
"Players that the patriots cannot get without a major trade to get a lower pick"

And yes, I know that juniors will be added and it MIGHT be possible that one or two that we seek might drop all the way to us.

So, this is our "trade up to list" with some juniors to be added. Almost all the blue-chip player should almost always be expected to be in the top 16.
Things happen. Sometimes we are able to get guys like Wilfork for a steal. But that is what the Wilfork pick was. It should not be expected to be repeated.
=================
Now we need the 17-50 list which is a reasonable zone to expect us to get three red-chip players.

I would note that scout.com has given 55 players a 5 star rating. This seem high with players still undeclared, but perhaps not.

http://profootball.scout.com/a.z?s=127&p=9&c=12&nid=83&lnid=124&yr=2010

 

[BritPat]

Taylor Mays a 5 star prospect?

Jesus H Christ.

 

[BelichickFan]

This list will change over the coming months. It might be labeled
"Players that the patriots cannot get without a major trade to get a lower pick"

And yes, I know that juniors will be added and it MIGHT be possible that one or two that we seek might drop all the way to us.

Look at the list, a lot of them will be available for us. It's a questionable list anyway but McCoy won't be going in the first round, let alone ahead of us and a WR like LaFell almost certainly will be there for us if we wanted him.

 

[mgteich]

I agree that this is a questionable list. My point was that when there is a much more solid top 16, we should understand that the only way we are likely to get any player in a reasonable top 16 list is with a serious trade up.

Look at the list, a lot of them will be available for us. It's a questionable list anyway but McCoy won't be going in the first round, let alone ahead of us and a WR like LaFell almost certainly will be there for us if we wanted him.

 

[BelichickFan]

I agree that this is a questionable list. My point was that when there is a much more solid top 16, we should understand that the only way we are likely to get any player in a reasonable top 16 list is with a serious trade up.

This was advertised as SENIORS. Even if it were the most complete list ever, about half of them would be available to us.

 

[Seneschal2]

After the first three, I see only one prospect Belichick would covet. The rest are too iffy IMHO.

 

[BelichickFan]

After the first three, I see only one prospect Belichick would covet. The rest are too iffy IMHO.

I could see Cody and maybe Hardy other than the top three. There's not a lot to get excited about there, though. The Juniors, again, will make this draft especially in the depth from the mid first round on.

 

[alvinnf]

Taylor Mays a 5 star prospect?

Jesus H Christ.

You're so right. When you watch him play he get's caught lookin in the backfield and often takes bad over aggressive angles. He is a prospects who lore and physical numbers outweigh his abilities......

 

[mayoclinic]

After the first three, I see only one prospect Belichick would covet. The rest are too iffy IMHO.

I'm not sure what you mean by "covet". I could see BB considering Cody, Kindle, Graham and Hardy. But it's certainly a very sparse list.

There are a number of senior prospects who aren't on that list who probably should be, like OG Mike Iupati, DE/OLB Jerry Hughes, DE/OLB Eric Norwood, and DT Dan Williams.

If you consider the players who have declared so far, the list is much richer. In some rough order:

QB's Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen
RB CJ Spiller
WRs Dez Bryant, Golden Tate and Damien Williams
TE Jermaine Gresham
OT Russell Okung, Bruce Campbell, Brian Bulaga, Anthony Davis and Trent Williams
OG Mike Iupati
DT Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Terrance Cody and Dan Williams
DE Jason Pierre-Paul, Everson Griffen, Greg Hardy and Brandon Graham
LB Brandon Spikes, Sean Weatherspoon, Sergio Kindle, Jerry Hughes, Eric Norwood and Navorro Bowman
S Eric Berry, Earl Thomas and Taylor Mays
CB Joe Haden

That's 32 solid prospects right there, not including undeclared guys like Rolando McClain, Derrick Morgan, Carlos Dunlap, Greg Romeus, Von Miller, Travis Lewis and Jonathan Dwyer. I would think quite a few of those guys would be interesting to BB.

 

[mgteich]

OK, I'll bite. Why would Belichick not include Spiller and Iupati? And are wejust going to ignore that belichick likes 1st round TE's?

I'm not sure what you mean by "covet". I could see BB considering Cody, Kindle, Graham and Hardy. But it's certainly a very sparse list.

There are a number of senior prospects who aren't on that list who probably should be, like OG Mike Iupati, DE/OLB Jerry Hughes, DE/OLB Eric Norwood, and DT Dan Williams.

If you consider the players who have declared so far, the list is much richer. In some rough order:

QB's Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen
RB CJ Spiller
WRs Dez Bryant, Golden Tate and Damien Williams
TE Jermaine Gresham
OT Russell Okung, Bruce Campbell, Brian Bulaga, Anthony Davis and Trent Williams
OG Mike Iupati
DT Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Terrance Cody and Dan Williams
DE Jason Pierre-Paul, Everson Griffen, Greg Hardy and Brandon Graham
LB Brandon Spikes, Sean Weatherspoon, Sergio Kindle, Jerry Hughes, Eric Norwood and Navorro Bowman
S Eric Berry, Earl Thomas and Taylor Mays
CB Joe Haden

That's 32 solid prospects right there, not including undeclared guys like Rolando McClain, Derrick Morgan, Carlos Dunlap, Greg Romeus, Von Miller, Travis Lewis and Jonathan Dwyer. I would think quite a few of those guys would be interesting to BB.

 

[mayoclinic]

OK, I'll bite. Why would Belichick not include Spiller and Iupati? And are wejust going to ignore that belichick likes 1st round TE's?

I'm confused by your question. Not sure if there is a misunderstanding here.

Seneschal2 said there was only 1 player on Bucky Brooks' list of 16 senior prosppects outside of the top 3 which BB would "covet". Spiller was #3 on Brooks' list, so I assumed that Seneschal2 included Spiller in the list that BB would at least seriously consider (I'm still not quite sure what "covet" means in this context).

Iupati wasn't on Bucky Brooks' list at all. I said that he should have been on any list of top senior prospects.

So I certainly would include both Spiller and Iupati as prospects that wiould definitely be of interest to BB and the Pats.

As for 1st round TE's, I assume Brooks didn't include Jermaine Gresham because he was a junior and Brooks' list was restricted to college seniors. I certainly included Gresham on my expanded list.

 

[mgteich]

Thanks for the clarification.

I was sure that I had misunderstood you.

I'm confused by your question. Not sure if there is a misunderstanding here.

Seneschal2 said there was only 1 player on Bucky Brooks' list of 16 senior prosppects outside of the top 3 which BB would "covet". Spiller was #3 on Brooks' list, so I assumed that Seneschal2 included Spiller in the list that BB would at least seriously consider (I'm still not quite sure what "covet" means in this context).

Iupati wasn't on Bucky Brooks' list at all. I said that he should have been on any list of top senior prospects.

So I certainly would include both Spiller and Iupati as prospects that wiould definitely be of interest to BB and the Pats.

As for 1st round TE's, I assume Brooks didn't include Jermaine Gresham because he was a junior and Brooks' list was restricted to college seniors. I certainly included Gresham on my expanded list.

 

[mayoclinic]

Thanks for the clarification.

I was sure that I had misunderstood you.

I thought Brooks' original list was silly and not very useful. First, 16 is too small a sample size. Second, even when he first came out with it (a month ago) he excluded juniors who had declared such as Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham, and Dez Bryant.

I think at this time of year that "junior" vs. "senior" is a silly distinction. If a player has declared, then he should be considered in any ranking of prospects for 2010. If he hasn't, then he should be considered for 2011.

Mel Kiper does his positional rankings for seniors and juniors. I think it's silly to include declared juniors separately from the seniors. The top 5 OT's should include whoever will be available in the draft, regardless of how many years they played in college. It's not real useful to know that Kiper ranks Brandon Graham #1 among senior DEs andGreg Hardy #2, and Jason Pierre-Paul #2 among junior DE's, when all 3 will be coming out in 2010. I'm more interested in how he ranks them relative to one another.

Regarding the Pats interest in prospects, they are nothing if not diligent. I'm sure they will give due consideration to any and all prospects of interest, regardless of how they eventually confuse us all by whom they actually take.

 

[BritPat]

You're so right. When you watch him play he get's caught lookin in the backfield and often takes bad over aggressive angles. He is a prospects who lore and physical numbers outweigh his abilities......

He is absolutely horrific in the passing game.

Can't tackle (unless you count throwing your body at players as tackling), is often out of position, has no discipline, can't diagnose plays, bites on every single piece of play-action or misdirection, hasn't a clue about ball skills, awful stiff hips, can't shadow receivers, terrible back-pedal........

Apart from that he's not bad.

 

[mayoclinic]

He is absolutely horrific in the passing game.

Can't tackle (unless you count throwing your body at players as tackling), is often out of position, has no discipline, can't diagnose plays, bites on every single piece of play-action or misdirection, hasn't a clue about ball skills, awful stiff hips, can't shadow receivers, terrible back-pedal........

Apart from that he's not bad.

Great size/speed ratio, though. And imagine, many people on this board last year were lusting after Mays.

 

[BritPat]

Great size/speed ratio, though. And imagine, many people on this board last year were lusting after Mays.

I'll be honest, I did like him at this point last year, although the questions about his tackling and coverage abilities have always been there.

You've seen this season just how average he is though.

I personally think he'll be better off being converted to a WLB and playing in a Tampa 2 somewhere. The Colts wouldn't be a bad landing place for him.