manxman2601
PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club
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I was thinking about Devin Funchess today and I remembered seeing a comparison, pre-combine, between Funchess and Jon Baldwin. Knowing that Baldwin was a prospect BB really liked (from the discussions with Dimitroff and his trade up for Julio Jones), I decided to examine Baldwin a little more closely.
Note I'm using Mockdraftable for a lot of this research.
So firstly, here are Baldwin's measurables:
6'4", 228lbs, 33.5" arms
4.49 forty, 1.58 10 split
42" vert
129" Broad
7.07 3cone
4.34 shuttle.
Baldwin's closest comp on Mockdraftable is Mark Harrison who, of course, was a Patriot for a little while albeit unsuccessfully. Mark Harrison's closest comp was Baldwin but his second closest comp was Mike Evans, someone the Patriots worked out last year. Two more Baldwin comps are Marcus Lucas and Martavis Bryant. Guess which team worked out both last year? And let's not forget that we had contact with Kelvin Benjamin (BB worked him out personally) and Brandon Coleman.
It's pretty clear that there's a WR type here that BB likes. In each of the last four years, the Patriots have drafted, signed or worked out a player on either Baldwin's or Harrison's comparison list. By the way, the Chris Matthews that gave us all that trouble in the Senior Bowl? We worked him out in 2011. See what I mean.
So where does that take us in 2015:
Firstly, I don't know if Funchess fits the description. Baldwin ran a 4.49 (1.58) and Mark Harrison ran a 4.46 (1.58). Funchess ran a 4.70 (1.67). Funchess also didn't do the 3cone and shuttle whereas both Baldwin and Harrison had good 3cones for the size, 7.07 and 6.99 respectively.
The second possibility is Dezmin Lewis of Central Arkansas. He's 6'3 1/2", 214lbs with 32.5" arms. He ran a 4.58 forty, albeit with an unspectacular 10 split of 1.64. His jumps were good, but not explosive like Baldwin or Harrison but he did have a 7.11 3cone. The reason I included him is because he's one of three at the combine that fit the height criteria. There's one other reason. Yep, of the four WRs we met with at the combine, Lewis was one.
And then there's Darren Waller. He's bigger than Baldwin at 6'6", 238lbs but he's clearly of that type and his arms are over 33" too. Baldwin ran a 4.49 forty, Waller ran a 4.46 with a matching 1.58 10 split. Waller jumped 37" and 125" and his 3cone matched Baldwin exactly. Measurable-wise, Darren Waller is a 2" taller Jon Baldwin. And there's the Georgia Tech question. One thing you can be pretty sure of from a WR in that offensive system is that they are put in blocking situations more than any WR in CFB. And considering the praise BB gave Lafell over his blocking, we know the importance of it.
There is one other name that appears as a comp on Waller's, Baldwin's and Harrison's mockdraftable pages and that's Marques Colston who had all the necessary HWS numbers. He's due 15m from the cap-strapped Saints over the next two seasons and has to be a potential cap casualty. Signing him might just be an interesting alternative.
Note I'm using Mockdraftable for a lot of this research.
So firstly, here are Baldwin's measurables:
6'4", 228lbs, 33.5" arms
4.49 forty, 1.58 10 split
42" vert
129" Broad
7.07 3cone
4.34 shuttle.
Baldwin's closest comp on Mockdraftable is Mark Harrison who, of course, was a Patriot for a little while albeit unsuccessfully. Mark Harrison's closest comp was Baldwin but his second closest comp was Mike Evans, someone the Patriots worked out last year. Two more Baldwin comps are Marcus Lucas and Martavis Bryant. Guess which team worked out both last year? And let's not forget that we had contact with Kelvin Benjamin (BB worked him out personally) and Brandon Coleman.
It's pretty clear that there's a WR type here that BB likes. In each of the last four years, the Patriots have drafted, signed or worked out a player on either Baldwin's or Harrison's comparison list. By the way, the Chris Matthews that gave us all that trouble in the Senior Bowl? We worked him out in 2011. See what I mean.
So where does that take us in 2015:
Firstly, I don't know if Funchess fits the description. Baldwin ran a 4.49 (1.58) and Mark Harrison ran a 4.46 (1.58). Funchess ran a 4.70 (1.67). Funchess also didn't do the 3cone and shuttle whereas both Baldwin and Harrison had good 3cones for the size, 7.07 and 6.99 respectively.
The second possibility is Dezmin Lewis of Central Arkansas. He's 6'3 1/2", 214lbs with 32.5" arms. He ran a 4.58 forty, albeit with an unspectacular 10 split of 1.64. His jumps were good, but not explosive like Baldwin or Harrison but he did have a 7.11 3cone. The reason I included him is because he's one of three at the combine that fit the height criteria. There's one other reason. Yep, of the four WRs we met with at the combine, Lewis was one.
And then there's Darren Waller. He's bigger than Baldwin at 6'6", 238lbs but he's clearly of that type and his arms are over 33" too. Baldwin ran a 4.49 forty, Waller ran a 4.46 with a matching 1.58 10 split. Waller jumped 37" and 125" and his 3cone matched Baldwin exactly. Measurable-wise, Darren Waller is a 2" taller Jon Baldwin. And there's the Georgia Tech question. One thing you can be pretty sure of from a WR in that offensive system is that they are put in blocking situations more than any WR in CFB. And considering the praise BB gave Lafell over his blocking, we know the importance of it.
There is one other name that appears as a comp on Waller's, Baldwin's and Harrison's mockdraftable pages and that's Marques Colston who had all the necessary HWS numbers. He's due 15m from the cap-strapped Saints over the next two seasons and has to be a potential cap casualty. Signing him might just be an interesting alternative.
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