2014 Draft Prospect Thread

[JerseyShore99]

Thoughts on taking Shazier in the first or second if we trade down? Looks like the quick, smart, athletic LB this team needs so desperately

 

[Snake Eyes]

It's not completely ridiculous because of Gronk's injury. You need someone you can target in the red zone, and, if Gronk is injured, maybe you need that to be a receiver. The problem with drafting a tight end is that let's say you draft ASJ, if Gronk does come back, ASJ+Gronk strikes me as an unwise redundancy, whereas Gronk+Kelvin Benjamin seems realistic. Still, there are only about 2 receivers that should even be on your draft board in the early rounds. Cody Hoffman is a late round sleeper to look at. BYU stopped passing this year, especially downfield, and I can't blame them because their quarterbacks have sucked the last couple years, but Hoffman has that Eric Decker like body control and strength in the red zone.

Do you think Amaro would be redundant with Gronk? What about Lyerla?

 

[mackenzie45220]

Do you think Amaro would be redundant with Gronk? What about Lyerla?

Amaro would be less redundant, but still not a great fit. Lyerla wouldn't be very redundant at all, but the guy is crazy. He thinks the Newtown shootings were a conspiracy created by the federal government to advocate gun control. He thinks the parents who lost their children are liars. It's not just a matter of "personal issues." The guy is crazy.

 

[s3antana5757]

Amaro would be less redundant, but still not a great fit. Lyerla wouldn't be very redundant at all, but the guy is crazy. He thinks the Newtown shootings were a conspiracy created by the federal government to advocate gun control. He thinks the parents who lost their children are liars. It's not just a matter of "personal issues." The guy is crazy.

Where's this info coming from?

 

[Snake Eyes]

Amaro would be less redundant, but still not a great fit. Lyerla wouldn't be very redundant at all, but the guy is crazy. He thinks the Newtown shootings were a conspiracy created by the federal government to advocate gun control. He thinks the parents who lost their children are liars. It's not just a matter of "personal issues." The guy is crazy.

Not that I want to derail the thread but there are many aspects about Newtown/911/Oklahoma City/Ect that really make you scratch your head, I'm not going to hold those opinions against him but I certainly do think he needs some counselling, many people claim that he has anger issues and being busted with coke wasn't exactly an example of him putting much forethought into his actions.

As far as ASJ, who I have no interest in, being redundant, why would a double Gronk offense be a bad thing? The only thing better than having Gronk on the field is having 2 Gronks

 

[BritPat]

Thoughts on taking Shazier in the first or second if we trade down? Looks like the quick, smart, athletic LB this team needs so desperately

We've got on of them, sadly he's on IR....

Borland is your boy if you want an athletic, rangy LB, by the way.

 

[mackenzie45220]

Not that I want to derail the thread but there are many aspects about Newtown/911/Oklahoma City/Ect that really make you scratch your head, I'm not going to hold those opinions against him but I certainly do think he needs some counselling, many people claim that he has anger issues and being busted with coke wasn't exactly an example of him putting much forethought into his actions.

As far as ASJ, who I have no interest in, being redundant, why would a double Gronk offense be a bad thing? The only thing better than having Gronk on the field is having 2 Gronks

If you ask me, Rob Gronkowski is almost indistinguishable from Jason Witten, except in one sense: Gronk is one of the top 3 tight ends in the NFL when it comes to getting yards after the catch, whereas Jason Witten has been below average in this respect since his existence. Guys like Gronk and Witten run outstanding option routes to find holes in zone coverage, and use their size to make catches in traffic, as opposed to guys like Vernon Davis, who use their ridiculous athleticism to be an unfathomable mismatch against any linebacker. One thing that should be noted: these guys are less common because they have to be better blockers than Gronk types (Gronk is actually a good blocker though), or teams would just use tall safeties to cover them. Vernon Davis is quietly an above average blocker, and he can murder any defensive back he tries to block. The problem with having 2 Gronk types is that is their routes may often conflict. Gronk is at his best running the seam route, and, if there was another Gronk on the field, if they both ran a seam route, they would just run into each other. Against zone coverage, two Gronk types running the same option route (and that's what they are best at) would frequently find the same hole in the same zone and end up in the same place, which is less than ideal spacing. That being said, if (and this isn't the case) ASJ was actually as good as Gronk and was available late in the first, you take him, because you are still getting 2 Gronks. But you will likely avoid taking another Gronk because the law of diminishing marginal utility actually applies to football players with similar strengths and weaknesses (Edelman's marginal utility is reduced when you have Welker) as well as economics.

Lyerla would be a great fit by Gronk, but I think he's crazy.

 

[manxman2601]

Thoughts on taking Shazier in the first or second if we trade down? Looks like the quick, smart, athletic LB this team needs so desperately

Just want to jump of this linebacker related post and ask people about Kyle Van Noy. Last year he was probably my favourite prospect headed into this draft year and I'm surprised more here haven't talked about him. If there's any prospect in this draft that's a better fit character wise than Van Noy, I'd love to know who they are. There isn't a fantastic fit in terms of need, but Van Noy is the type of guy that would be a loyal and very effective defensive leader for the next decade. And his athleticism is underrated; I've seen him run down field with receivers on a number of occasions. My only question is his less than ideal size at 235lb.

 

[manxman2601]

This probably puts him in that late first, early second range as they tend to be fairly conservative.

#UW TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins has received a 2nd round grade from the draft advisory committee, per sources.

https://twitter.com/DraftInsider/status/414125410864357377

 

[BritPat]

Just want to jump of this linebacker related post and ask people about Kyle Van Noy. Last year he was probably my favourite prospect headed into this draft year and I'm surprised more here haven't talked about him. If there's any prospect in this draft that's a better fit character wise than Van Noy, I'd love to know who they are. There isn't a fantastic fit in terms of need, but Van Noy is the type of guy that would be a loyal and very effective defensive leader for the next decade. And his athleticism is underrated; I've seen him run down field with receivers on a number of occasions. My only question is his less than ideal size at 235lb.

I've said it before about Van Noy and I'll say it again - he either ends up Reggie White, or he ends up Barry White. There is no in between. He needs to fill out and look at Von Miller.

 

[Sciz]

Just want to jump of this linebacker related post and ask people about Kyle Van Noy. Last year he was probably my favourite prospect headed into this draft year and I'm surprised more here haven't talked about him. If there's any prospect in this draft that's a better fit character wise than Van Noy, I'd love to know who they are. There isn't a fantastic fit in terms of need, but Van Noy is the type of guy that would be a loyal and very effective defensive leader for the next decade. And his athleticism is underrated; I've seen him run down field with receivers on a number of occasions. My only question is his less than ideal size at 235lb.

I've all but ruled out the Patriots taking him after they took Jamie Collins. I consider them to be quite similar players.

 

[JerseyShore99]

We've got on of them, sadly he's on IR....

Borland is your boy if you want an athletic, rangy LB, by the way.

I do like Borland as well, but you bring up Mayo but even with him we lack an even more athletic LB... Baltimore AFC Championship loss should make you think about that

 

[manxman2601]

I've all but ruled out the Patriots taking him after they took Jamie Collins. I consider them to be quite similar players.

Good point.

 

[manxman2601]

I do like Borland as well, but you bring up Mayo but even with him we lack an even more athletic LB... Baltimore AFC Championship loss should make you think about that

I was thinking this about Mayo too until I took a look at his combine performance. If you take Lavonte David as an example of a recent "athletic linebacker" (and this isn't cherry picked - he was the first name I thought of), Mayo compares very favourably. Mayo has the faster straight line speed, slightly better strength and better explosivity* whilst David is very marginally better at COD (7.28 3cone to 7.31). Now bear in mind, that Mayo was 9 lbs heavier.

* David outperformed Mayo at the combine's vertical jump(36.5" to Mayo's 32"). However, Mayo obviously had a bad day because he came back at his pro day to jump 40.5" which is up there with Jamie Collins.

I never realised just how good Mayo's numbers combine numbers were. In terms of middle linebackers, there are hardly any in the NFL more athletic than him.

 

[ausbacker]

I was thinking this about Mayo too until I took a look at his combine performance. If you take Lavonte David as an example of a recent "athletic linebacker" (and this isn't cherry picked - he was the first name I thought of), Mayo compares very favourably. Mayo has the faster straight line speed, slightly better strength and better explosivity* whilst David is very marginally better at COD (7.28 3cone to 7.31). Now bear in mind, that Mayo was 9 lbs heavier.

* David outperformed Mayo at the combine's vertical jump(36.5" to Mayo's 32"). However, Mayo obviously had a bad day because he came back at his pro day to jump 40.5" which is up there with Jamie Collins.

I never realised just how good Mayo's numbers combine numbers were. In terms of middle linebackers, there are hardly any in the NFL more athletic than him.

Mayo's a specimen (no homo).

 

[JerseyShore99]

I was thinking this about Mayo too until I took a look at his combine performance. If you take Lavonte David as an example of a recent "athletic linebacker" (and this isn't cherry picked - he was the first name I thought of), Mayo compares very favourably. Mayo has the faster straight line speed, slightly better strength and better explosivity* whilst David is very marginally better at COD (7.28 3cone to 7.31). Now bear in mind, that Mayo was 9 lbs heavier.

* David outperformed Mayo at the combine's vertical jump(36.5" to Mayo's 32"). However, Mayo obviously had a bad day because he came back at his pro day to jump 40.5" which is up there with Jamie Collins.

I never realised just how good Mayo's numbers combine numbers were. In terms of middle linebackers, there are hardly any in the NFL more athletic than him.

Will he stay at MLB or be moved to OLB with Spikes and Hightower being slow as phuck

 

[Snake Eyes]

I was thinking this about Mayo too until I took a look at his combine performance. If you take Lavonte David as an example of a recent "athletic linebacker" (and this isn't cherry picked - he was the first name I thought of), Mayo compares very favourably. Mayo has the faster straight line speed, slightly better strength and better explosivity* whilst David is very marginally better at COD (7.28 3cone to 7.31). Now bear in mind, that Mayo was 9 lbs heavier.

* David outperformed Mayo at the combine's vertical jump(36.5" to Mayo's 32"). However, Mayo obviously had a bad day because he came back at his pro day to jump 40.5" which is up there with Jamie Collins.

I never realised just how good Mayo's numbers combine numbers were. In terms of middle linebackers, there are hardly any in the NFL more athletic than him.

Ok, but does he play with that athleticism? Plenty of players have great athleticism on paper but it doesn't necessarily show up in their play, and vice versa.

 

[JerseyShore99]

Ok, but does he play with that athleticism? Plenty of players have great athleticism on paper but it doesn't necessarily show up in their play, and vice versa.

Exactly what I'm thinking

 

[manxman2601]

Has anyone watched Cal this year?

Richard Rodgers TE California 6’4” 245 (Added 12/26/2013) – After tipping the scales at 278 pounds while recovering from injuries this past offseason, Rodgers became the target of some…well, tough love from Cal Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin. According to the coach, “I told (Rodgers) you will not play a down if you don’t (lose weight) because you’re slow and fat and out of shape and you can’t play.” Rodgers cut candy out of his diet, dropped 30 pounds, and became a slot receiver in the Golden Bears’ offense. He finished his junior season with 39 catches for 608 yards and a touchdown. Rodgers decision may come as a slight surprise, but he likely received some solid advice, including from his father, who works as the Carolina Panthers’ special teams coach. Draft insider Tony Pauline tweeted that some evaluators have second round grades on Rodgers, and that the tight end prospect has been compared to Antonio Gates. Not too shabby.

2014 NFL Draft Underclassmen Tracker | DraftBrowns.com

He's not someone I know anything about.

 

[stelfans]

Has anyone watched Cal this year?



2014 NFL Draft Underclassmen Tracker | DraftBrowns.com

He's not someone I know anything about.

Uh! Interesting.
I've got no idea who that is but i'll take a look. Him and Clive Walford who might declare as well. The TE class could turn out pretty good after all.