When someone disagrees with you about a prospect, you act like you're the only one who watches college football.
Sometimes I word things in that manner (IE: "anyone who's watched them should know this") simply because the point seems obvious to me. How else should I word it? "Your wrong, Willis is faster....blah"? If it seems obvious to me, I'll tell you.
Thinking you're the only person who watches college football would be a complete joke. That still doesn't mean you can't question how often someone has watched a prospect, and if they actually know what to look for when scouting a player, if you believe their opinion is false. Also, developing my own opinion of players has served me particularly well over the years, so I might come off a bit strong at times. Not sure if you remember this, but last year Meriweather had a number of doubters, and we got into some pretty heated arguments concerning him on this forum. After the Patriots selected Meriweather (and Lua), I decided to listen to the opinions of others, but to always form my
own opinion after watching that player, and stick to it.
You tell me not to give you artificial numbers, then tell me Willis "killed it" during his pro day. So which were the artificial numbers? The ones at the combine? Or the ones at the proday?
I was almost going to add on to that since I knew it would become a point of contention, and that the accuracy of Pro Day numbers would get brought up. Pro Day numbers and Combine numbers are artificial, to a degree. The basic point was that Willis looks faster on the field when you watch them play, and while I think workout numbers are somewhat artificial, Willis was even faster during his Pro Day, so Mayo still wouldn't seem as fast.
I am not underrating Willis at all. I was an advocate of him last season- not just during draft time, but throughout the whole college year I posted updates on him and discussed him at length with Ochmed Jones, especially his improvements vs the pass. Willis has great speed, but he does take false steps due to recognition issues. That's not an unusual problem for a young ILB, and I expect him to correct those going forward. His best fit was a simpler 3-4 scheme like the one the 49ers ran, which didn't require chameleon changes every week. IMO his rookie year was excellent but overhyped. He was on a terrible losing team which gave him plenty of opportunities for tackles. A good argument can be made Willis was outplayed by Beason in pass coverage and Harris overall once Harris replaced Vilma. I give Willis great credit for durability, attitude in an awful situation on an awful team, and for delivering that devastating body blow to Bulger that broke his ribs and basically ended the Rams season before it began.
Didn't actually say you're underrating Willis. What I did say was that "you're underrating what Willis did in the SEC", when comparing him to Mayo. It's a slight difference, but a difference none the less. I will say that in my opinion, he's a little bit better than even your follow up would suggest. Willis is a very special LB, and he will be considered one of the top 2-3 ILB's in the league within the next few years.
As far as Mayo goes, there are real scouts, who get paid to watch college football, who believe Mayo is the best LB in this draft and potentially the next Al Wilson or Ray Lewis.
Never said Mayo sucks, and I do see a good amount of potential, but he also seems like more of a 43 prospect to me, and a lot of these rankings usually aren't taking the Patriots system into account.
You're comparing him to Ray Lewis seems funny to me, since a number of Patriots fans have said Lewis wouldn't be so great in NE's system. Remember, Lewis doesn't like playing in a 34, and wanted the protection of a 43. I think Mayo needs that same protection, and has issues he would need to overcome in order to be successful within NE's system. I'm not sure he would be able to fully overcome those issues, but strong coaching has developed what looked like a turd in waiting, so who knows...
Also, are these the same scouts who thought Tom Brady didn't have a chance in hell of making it at the pro level? The same scouts who absolutely fell in love with a number of players who became complete bust?
Oh, and I've got one of those future bust for you...JaMarcus Russell. Said it during the 2007 draft, and I still believe he's not going to be anything special in the NFL.