2016 Draft Prospect Thread

[meatface]

He has.

I saw, that was quick.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

From Ohio State LB Joshua Perry's CBS pre scouting report:



Joshua Perry, OLB, Ohio State, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com

This is a guy that I like a lot. But I still have that urban Meyer uneasiness telling me to stay away.

 

[manxman2601]

Another Ohio State guy declared today in WR Jalin Marshall. I've seen him get Percy Harvin comps and at 5-11, 205lbs he reminds me of Josh Boyce a fair bit in terms of size/athleticism. He certainly looks like the type of guy BB would go for (based upon highlight film at least). The knock on him from a Patriots perspective is that he's a RS sop hand BB usually likes more experience.

 

[manxman2601]

I'm a sucker for athletic late round guys so this from Tony Pauline interested me:

Everybody loves a sleeper come draft time and the name of Justin Zimmer from Ferris State has been quietly spoken about in scouting circles.

Unmentioned by scouts prior to the season, Zimmer posted 81 tackles, 13 sacks and broke up 5 passes this season. The thee time Academic All American who measures 6-feet/3-inches and a shade over 290-pounds, has reportedly timed under 4.8-seconds in the forty and completed 46 reps on the bench press last summer.

Under 4.8 seconds at 290 plus whilst also having 46 reps? A quick check of previous combine results suggests this guy is unique if there's a 290lb cut off. There was one guy, Justin Earnest of Eastern Kentucky, who ran a 4.79 and benched 51 at 281lbs. He went Undrafted and spent a year on the New Orleans PS.

 

[manxman2601]

I like this time of year when you get interesting declarations that no-one has been talking about until now. One such happened yesterday in Stephen Weatherley, a DE/OLB for Vanderbilt. Apparently he's smart - a chess player that wanted to build robots for NASA (paging rocket scientist Matt Patricia) and his coaches speak highly of him:

He could anticipate plays, and he listened to everything we talked about during film,” Montgomery said. “If a guy’s hand is light, he’s probably going to pass, if a guy’s hand is heavy, you know he’s going to run. From what he saw on film, he could anticipate what was going to happen.”

“I remember one time he intercepted a ball going to a back out of the backfield. He was supposed to keep containment because their quarterback was a running quarterback from film, but he could tell by formation and where the ball was aligned that there was a high percentage chance that he was going to throw that little bubble screen, and he intercepted it and went to the end zone with it.”

Vanderbilt football's renaissance man | Vanderbilt Hustler

He's also got good size, 6'5", 255-260lbs, with reasonable length. And athletic - he hopes to run a 4.5 at the combine/pro-day. I wonder whether he can play a linebacker role for us:

Weatherly looks the part of an NFL prospect with broad shoulders and long limbs. He is often used off the edge as a pass rusher, showing enough burst to cross the face of tackles. He needs to add more functional strength to threaten as a bull rusher, as well as improve his awareness of cut blocks. Weatherly shows agility and awareness in coverage, quickly changing directions and pursuing with passion.

Scouting the SEC: Vanderbilt's top prospects in 2015 NFL Draft - CBSSports.com

Has that Chandler Jones body type:

 

[manxman2601]

Just started really watching Draft Breakdown videos, starting on WRs. All I can say is, "LaQuan Treadwell, my goodness. Beast!".

 

[BobDigital]

I just wanna throw this question out there.

I know most people here want to go OT and I do as well but how many OTs are really all that good from the late 2nd onwards? I don't have any information on that. Solder was the 17th pick IIRC and Vollmer was 58th. So it is possible to find a guy like Vollmer at that spot on occasion but how often does it happen? If we don't pull the trigger in the late 2nd how low do our odds get in the 3rd?

Trying to do some research on this myself but is it slow going.

 

[manxman2601]

So apparently Paxton Lynch has 11.5" hands.

 

[manxman2601]

Boston College linebacker Steven Daniels ladies and gents:

 

[BobDigital]

So apparently Paxton Lynch has 11.5" hands.

These kind of things illustrate one of the issues i have with this process. Notes should be made for smallish hands that have been proven statistically to be an issue. It should be said his hands are big enough and leave it at that cause that extra grip will make absolutely 0 difference on if he will be a NFL worthy QB or not.

 

[manxman2601]

Says Beckwith is seen as a first rounder.

 

[manxman2601]

Could be a Belichick surprise pick. I've seen him described as a real on-field leader and play caller on defense. And we drafted his teammate last year (Matthew Wells).

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I just wanna throw this question out there.

I know most people here want to go OT and I do as well but how many OTs are really all that good from the late 2nd onwards? I don't have any information on that. Solder was the 17th pick IIRC and Vollmer was 58th. So it is possible to find a guy like Vollmer at that spot on occasion but how often does it happen? If we don't pull the trigger in the late 2nd how low do our odds get in the 3rd?

Trying to do some research on this myself but is it slow going.

Haven't done any research myself either but I do know that Matt Light was pick 48. So they've hit home runs on the only 2 tackles they picked in the 2nd round. Despite no 1st rounder, the Pats will still have a lot of draft picks this year because of the 4 comp picks they're likely to get. So if they see someone they like, they have the ammo to move up if needed.

 

[BobDigital]

Haven't done any research myself either but I do know that Matt Light was pick 48. So they've hit home runs on the only 2 tackles they picked in the 2nd round. Despite no 1st rounder, the Pats will still have a lot of draft picks this year because of the 4 comp picks they're likely to get. So if they see someone they like, they have the ammo to move up if needed.

I did a little more research after that post. Though I don't feel totally confident in it I think I have a feel for it better now to say something.

So I took at list of the top 20 OTs in the game (The list was about 2 yrs old but that doesn't matter) made but a football site and looked up their draft spot. Here is what i found out. About half of this sites top guys are first round picks and tend to be in the top half of the first round. About 5 give or take were 2nd round picks. and another 5 was round 3 to undrafted.

So the odds seem to drop pretty low after the first round (the top 10 or so picks) and particularly the 2nd of getting a really good OT but it does not seem to drop off any more than most other positions from a quick glance.

 

[manxman2601]

Says Beckwith is seen as a first rounder.

Further to this.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

Further to this.

So we do follow all the same people on twitter.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

@manxman2601 did anything jump out to you from Matt millers new rankings?

A lot of guys I like were far lower than I expected, which is a nice surprise.

 

[manxman2601]

@manxman2601 did anything jump out to you from Matt millers new rankings?

A lot of guys I like were far lower than I expected, which is a nice surprise.

• Think he has Treadwell too low and Michael Thomas too high. I wasn't especially impressed by Thomas, think there's some serious risk to his game.
• I like that he has Jack, Ramsey, Alexander and Buckner in the top 10. I would have Ramsey higher than 8 though.
• For me, 45 is WAY too low for Bullard. I think he's a better prospect than Easley personally and he'd be a top 20 pick as far as I'm concerned.
• Cayleb Jones at 68 really surprised me. He's someone I highlighted and really like but he could run a 4.7 as a WR. I think of him more as a priority day 3 pick personally. Having said that, if I was looking for a WR that offers size and a deep threat, Jones is one of my favourites despite his seemingly slow speed.
• Sterling Shepherd is too low. Only a slot guy but I love his tape. After the success of Tyler Lockett, I'd be cautious about letting dynamic receivers fall too far.
• Just noticed he has Steven Daniels at 144 and LeRaven Clark at 155. I would snap both of those up at that range. Daniels is an outstanding linebacker moving forward but is problematic in coverage.
• He also has Derrick Henry, Kevin Peterson, Rashard Higgins, Braxton Miller and Alex Collins in the 3rd round. sign me up for all five at that level.
• Jonathan Williams as a 5th rounder. Yes please on getting first round talent in the 5th round!

I liked his BB. There was nothing I found particularly offensive to it.

Edit: @I.M. Fletcher . What about you?

 

[manxman2601]

By the way, Matt Miller has posted his archived rankings going back to 2007. Should make for interesting reading.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

• Think he has Treadwell too low and Michael Thomas too high. I wasn't especially impressed by Thomas, think there's some serious risk to his game.
• I like that he has Jack, Ramsey, Alexander and Buckner in the top 10. I would have Ramsey higher than 8 though.
• For me, 45 is WAY too low for Bullard. I think he's a better prospect than Easley personally and he'd be a top 20 pick as far as I'm concerned.
• Cayleb Jones at 68 really surprised me. He's someone I highlighted and really like but he could run a 4.7 as a WR. I think of him more as a priority day 3 pick personally. Having said that, if I was looking for a WR that offers size and a deep threat, Jones is one of my favourites despite his seemingly slow speed.
• Sterling Shepherd is too low. Only a slot guy but I love his tape. After the success of Tyler Lockett, I'd be cautious about letting dynamic receivers fall too far.
• Just noticed he has Steven Daniels at 144 and LeRaven Clark at 155. I would snap both of those up at that range. Daniels is an outstanding linebacker moving forward but is problematic in coverage.
• He also has Derrick Henry, Kevin Peterson, Rashard Higgins, Braxton Miller and Alex Collins in the 3rd round. sign me up for all five at that level.
• Jonathan Williams as a 5th rounder. Yes please on getting first round talent in the 5th round!

I liked his BB. There was nothing I found particularly offensive to it.

Edit: @I.M. Fletcher . What about you?

I agree with you on most of that.

• Treadwell is not going below 5, and not just because hes the top WR. Hes a legit talent and I cant see a reason he would possibly fall
• Tunsil at 5 is a headscratcher to me. He is the top pick, no questions asked. There are other talents, but that one stood out as odd
• If 60-100 is a true picture of range where some of these guys willf all, this is a heck of a draft. If we had 5 3rds and nothing else, you could have 5 starters/key backups in 2 years.
• sterling shepherd isnt falling out of the 2nd. No way, no how. Tough, smart, athletic, leader, productive. Doug Baldwin gets thrown around, but its Deion branch for me.
• Deonte Caroo cant go that high, can he? I just dont see anything that gets me excited.
• Sua Cravens has forever been my prototypical linebacker that we are missing right now. Hurts that hes listed at 31
• Noah Spence at 41 is going to be really intriguing. All world talent, drug addict, supposedly clean. He has probably the fastest step around the corner I have ever seen from an edge rusher, but also gets held up on runs alot, or runs right around the play. May not be a more talented guy in the draft
• Hunter Henry keeps moving up as I expected, while OJ howard is slipping. He is the type of guy where even one big bowl game could move him up a round. He just hasnt had a single game, and he needs that tape desparately
• I still like Prosise over Collins, but its a pick'em situation stylistically. They are back to back on the rankings
• Interested to see if Vadal Alexander rockets up boards through combines and physicals.
• Justin Simmons is getting some interest among safeties, but those hips worry me for our D. He will get grouped with other late day 2, day 3 guys. He has the instincts and ball skills
• People keep complaining about this TE class, but I think its better than its been. I am not convinced that Engram isnt coming out yet. He could be an early 2nd at this point. Had a great bowl
• De'Runnya is really low compared to other things I have read. I havent checked him out at all, but that stood out
• Byron Marshall in the 5? yes please.
• James bradberry in the 6th? YES
• Terrance Smith in the 7th? Passed out
• Kolby Listenbee will get a lot of pub around the combine for his incredible numbers. He is not a football player, at least not yet. He runs go routes all day. Eric Murray did a number on him, and Murray is not in his stratosphere athletically.
• Derek Watt is going to land somewhere. He has the genes and enough athleticsm for a fb to stick.