Who will be this years Connor Barwin?

[bakes781]

Maybe -- maybe not. Lane's a worthy pick -- and so are some shorter players.

I'm really tired of hearing this guy is too short or too thin. We need playmakers on defense. I don't care if they don't match certain measurables.

On offense I love Dexter McCluster as a day 3 pick. We also need to solidify the interior line.

 

[WelshPat]

Tell you who was Connor Barwin before Connor Barwin- Quentin Groves. EVERY person on a message board wanted this guy. 2.5 career sacks to his name

Oh yeah, Toby Gerhart is this years Brian Leonard

 

[mayoclinic]

Tell you who was Connor Barwin before Connor Barwin- Quentin Groves. EVERY person on a message board wanted this guy. 2.5 career sacks to his name

Oh yeah, Toby Gerhart is this years Brian Leonard

Not every poster by any means, but he was many people's binky. And we can probably still get him, as Jacksonville is rumored to be likely to cut him in the offseason. Of course, they may have permanently ruined any chance of him being a successful 3-4 OLB.

Barwin, on the other hand, looks solid. His 18 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 4 passes defended compares very favorably with LaMarr Woodley's rookie stats as a sub for Pittsburgh (16 tackles, 4 sacks, 0 passes defended), also taken #46 in the draft. All he did was make plays for Houston when he got onto the field, and he looked particularly good in coverage. We'll probably never get another shot at him, but I still cry over missing out on Chung-Barwin-Butler-Vollmer. What a waste.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Not every poster by any means, but he was many people's binky. And we can probably still get him, as Jacksonville is rumored to be likely to cut him in the offseason. Of course, they may have permanently ruined any chance of him being a successful 3-4 OLB.

Barwin, on the other hand, looks solid. His 18 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 4 passes defended compares very favorably with LaMarr Woodley's rookie stats as a sub for Pittsburgh (16 tackles, 4 sacks, 0 passes defended), also taken #46 in the draft. All he did was make plays for Houston when he got onto the field, and he looked particularly good in coverage. We'll probably never get another shot at him, but I still cry over missing out on Chung-Barwin-Butler-Vollmer. What a waste.

I wasn't even on the board during the Groves mania, but I also wanted us to draft him. I was absolutely convinced, as well, that Barwin was as perfect a WOLB as we could possible hope to draft and develop. Strangely enough, I wanted a developmental nose tackle, too, but in the third or fourth, not the second. Sammie Lee Hill was my choice, and he's been very solid in DET this year. Chung and Butler were two guys I'd targeted in my mocks, and I've been delighted with Vollmer, so I can only imagine how ecstatic I'd have been with Barwin instead of Brace, and Hill instead of McKenzie. Let's hope Tyrone turns into a starter/considerable role player, or else I think I'll always be a little bit sad.

Man. Flashbacks to last year. This is getting a little obsessive.

 

[mayoclinic]

I wasn't even on the board during the Groves mania, but I also wanted us to draft him. I was absolutely convinced, as well, that Barwin was as perfect a WOLB as we could possible hope to draft and develop. Strangely enough, I wanted a developmental nose tackle, too, but in the third or fourth, not the second. Sammie Lee Hill was my choice, and he's been very solid in DET this year. Chung and Butler were two guys I'd targeted in my mocks, and I've been delighted with Vollmer, so I can only imagine how ecstatic I'd have been with Barwin instead of Brace, and Hill instead of McKenzie. Let's hope Tyrone turns into a starter/considerable role player, or else I think I'll always be a little bit sad.

Man. Flashbacks to last year. This is getting a little obsessive.

I also wanted a 3rd/4th round developmental DT, with Sammie Lee Hill and Vaughn Martin being my 2 sleepers. We could have traded up with the 4th round pick used to get Ohrnberger to get one of them around 112 or so (Martin went 113 to San Diego, Hill 115 to Detroit, Ohrnberger 123 to NE; the cost of trade up would have been minimal). Imagine this draft:

34. Patrick Chung, S
40. Connor Barwin, OLB
41. Darius Butler, CB
58. Sebastian Vollmer, OT
83. Brandon Tate, WR
97. Tyrone McKenzie, LB
112. Vaughn Martin or Sammie Lee Hill, DT
170. George Bussey, OL
198. Jake Ingram, LS
207. Myron Pryor, DT
232. Julian Edelman, QB/WR

That would have potentially been as good a draft as any since the classic 1986 San Francisco draft. And it could so easily have been.

As you say, it's easy to obsess.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

everyone wanted barwin because of how closely he resembles vrabel

the current leader in the connor barwin stakes is brandon graham

 

[DW Toys]

In our offense (if we had a power center) Gerhart would be a scary load for opposing defenses; especially if we went four WR's; provided he can pick up blitzers.

Spread the defense out and let Gerhart run it right down the throat of an opposing defense with only six in the box. If the defense moves a seventh defender into the box, Brady audibles to a pass and hit the guy with single coverage.

After Spiller for his different tools, the best all purpose RB in the Draft is Gerhart. Not quick? wrong, he had three long runs and one over 60 yards this year. He had over 340 carries and he can catch and block. 235 lbs and 4.55 speed which is decent. What is not to like about 28 touchdowns?
Best is like 190lbs and was injured.
Dwyer-"Slow to get started" but ok when up to speed....Yikes!
Ryan Matthews "Poor field vision" (we have one of those already why bother with this guy).

He is also a Stanford guy so let's assume he has more smarts than most to pick up our system and take teaching.

Why is it always said he must be a fullback? Was it because Alstott was a fullback? This guy is much more elusive and quick than Alstott. Because Gerhart is of one ethnicity he is pigeon holed? Come on cousins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjLh_yO41jw&feature=fvw

These other guys other than Spiller and Gerhart, No Thank You.
DW Toys

 

[BlackFrancis]

After Spiller for his different tools, the best all purpose RB in the Draft is Gerhart. Not quick? wrong, he had three long runs and one over 60 yards this year. He had over 340 carries and he can catch and block. 235 lbs and 4.55 speed which is decent. What is not to like about 28 touchdowns?
Best is like 190lbs and was injured.
Dwyer-"Slow to get started" but ok when up to speed....Yikes!
Ryan Matthews "Poor field vision" (we have one of those already why bother with this guy).

He is also a Stanford guy so let's assume he has more smarts than most to pick up our system and take teaching.

Why is it always said he must be a fullback? Was it because Alstott was a fullback? This guy is much more elusive and quick than Alstott. Because Gerhart is of one ethnicity he is pigeon holed? Come on cousins.

YouTube - Toby Gerhart Highlights 2009 the real Heisman

These other guys other than Spiller and Gerhart, No Thank You.
DW Toys

After Toby Gerhart ran his 4.55 40, did he wake up and make himself a nice bowl of Count Chochula?

 

[dryheat44]

He doesn't have proto-typical Belichick measurables.

Remember, BB is after guys at 6'4" and over and weighing 260lbs+

Hughes isn't that tall are big.

Using that criteria alone, I'll guess BB's board probably looks something like this:

Morgan
Hardy
Dunlap
JPP
Lane
Hughes
Graham

I've got Hughes at 6'3", 260. Given the absolute tatters the Patriots pass rush is in, I could see BB compromising an inch on height given his production, especially if he can run in the 4.55 range.

That being said, y'all come join me on the AJ Edds bandwagon. There's plenty of room.

As to the original question, Alex Carrington looks to be the closest thing to Barwin this year.

 

[Sciz]

I don't know how accurate it is right now, but NFLdraftscout has Hughes at 6' 1 3/4'' ... not even close to BB size.

There is room on the anti-Graham bandwagon if anyone is interested. His height doesn't bug me. His lack of arm length does.

That being said, I like Lane.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

when i read the title my first thought was lane. my second thought was it might be gronkowski, but i think i've settled on misi. my personal binky is spiller but he doesn't really qualify as a barwin type binky. my barwin type binky is hughes. i love me some hughes.

 

[Snake Eyes]

I don't know how accurate it is right now, but NFLdraftscout has Hughes at 6' 1 3/4'' ... not even close to BB size.

There is room on the anti-Graham bandwagon if anyone is interested. His height doesn't bug me. His lack of arm length does.

That being said, I like Lane.

I don't know why people make such a big deal over arm length, shorter limbs are more mechanically efficient for moving weight, that's why you don't see long armed guys dominating Olympic weight lifting.

Aside from that, there are so many WAY more important characteristics as far as pass rushing is concerned. According to Jason Taylor, who might know a thing or two about pass rushing, the initial jump a player gets is extremely important. A players initial reflexes and ability to exert strength quickly are vastly more important than arm length.

John Randle, Elvis Dumervil, and Mike Singletary were all considered "undersized" yet they've been damn effective on the field.

YouTube - Pass Rush Moves.wmv

 

[PATSNUTme]

It's not a binky until the Box man sings.

 

[Sciz]

John Randle, Elvis Dumervil, and Mike Singletary were all considered "undersized" yet they've been damn effective on the field.

John Randle was a DT. He didn't have to go around the edge like an OLB would have to. Dumervil has 32 3/4'' arms. That's 2 1/4'' longer than Graham's. Singletary had 19 career sacks, so I fail to see how he fit into this.

 

[Snake Eyes]

John Randle was a DT. He didn't have to go around the edge like an OLB would have to. Dumervil has 32 3/4'' arms. That's 2 1/4'' longer than Graham's. Singletary had 19 career sacks, so I fail to see how he fit into this.

They were damn effective despite being "undersized".

I'd like to know why, in terms of biomechanics, long arms are so important for one who goes around the edge. I've seen very skilled judokas absolutely own others who had much longer limbs. It seems to me that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, many successful guys have long arms, scouts and coaches think of it as causative as opposed to correlative, they discount guys with shorter arms and seek out those with longer arms, and then everyone says "how many top OLBs had arms that short"?

This is no different than the height paradigm that QBs exist in, which is why people discounted Drew Brees, obviously it's impossible for a 6ft QB to be a successful in this league.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

It's not a binky until the Box man sings.

And the Nut starts posting little hearts all over.

 

[Tucker]

CJ is the guy but hed cost a first rounder and Id rather go defense or TE with that pick. Your right about Ron Dayne running in the Giants scheme but I see them as simmilar backs but the diffrence is Dayne was a much better back coming out (11th overall pick) and honestly I see Gerharts legs getting cut out play after play in the nfl if hes lucky, Hes going to have broken ribs come week 3 if he runs like that in the NFL.

Edit: Joe McKnight is another possibility that could come in the late second round.

Ugh. We DO NOT want McKnight. Chronic Fumblitis

I'll take Gerhart

 

[patsfan-1982]

Lindsey Witten, UCONN. 6.5 260lbs pretty much a 3rd round pick at best but i think he's going to be a good football player for who ever drafts him.