Why No Billy Winn?

We picked the rugby player, Nate Ebner, at #197, who looks to become a fan favorite playing ST, though he had free agent written all over him.

But going over the sixth round, I see Billy Winn, DE, Boise, was drafted at#205. He would have been super value for us at #197. Prisco gives our pick a C and the Browns pick of Winn an A. I agree.

Why not go after him?

Billy Winn, Boise State, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com Projected 2nd or 3rd round.

Seems strange.

Maybe because they'd already acquired Fanene, Scott, Jones & Bequette?

Obviously, BB believes you can never have too many ST gunners

BTW, a little lost in all the rugby talk is the fact that Ebner is an absolute elite athlete.

6'0" 202 4.53/2.64/1.56 23 39 10'08" 4.04 6.59

Straight-line speed is pretty average, but try to find any player at any position who can beat that combination in bold.

Any 6th-round pick was going to be a long shot to make this roster. An ST hot shot has as good a chance as any, and an ST hotshot with very little football experience, elite athleticism and intangibles, and a strong personal recommendation from Mike Vrabel is a nice upside pick.

Billy Winn isn't that good. If the Senior Bowl is any indication, he'll never make an NFL roster. He was complete garbage that week.

It's not like Dennard did himself any favors going to the senior bowl either. He got torched by McNutt before leaving with a injury. {More like hurt pride}

Major red flag was the attitude/off field behavior. I'm sure his senior bowl was also added into the mix of his drop off.

Still love the value in the 7th freaking round though. If that is not a wake up call to this kid then he might well not even show up to camp here cuz Bill will literally tell him to get off the field and pack his locker at the slightest screw up to set an example.

Patriot Missile said:

It's not like Dennard did himself any favors going to the senior bowl either. He got torched by McNutt before leaving with a injury. {More like hurt pride}

Major red flag was the attitude/off field behavior. I'm sure his senior bowl was also added into the mix of his drop off.

Click to expand...

This is part of the reason why I'm a lot less excited about this pick than most people. Not only does he have all the character stuff, but I don't think he's a good player. Sounds like a 7th round value to me.

Ebner has a shot to make this team as a special teams ace. Winn had no chance at all, we're absolutely stacked with front 7 players, why waste a pick on a guy with no chance of making the team?

I think Winn would have had a good shot at making this team as a Big DL. Wilfork, Fanene, Deaderick and Love are locks. Pryor and Brace have produced little in 2 years. I don't think Winn would have competed w/ Scott, Bequette and Jones in the pass rusher role.

That said I'm just as happy with the UDFA signing of Marcus Forston as I would have been with the selection of Billy Winn. Forston is a better athlete who has had an injury plagued college career. He was a project mid round pick.

Patriot Missile said:

It's not like Dennard did himself any favors going to the senior bowl either. He got torched by McNutt before leaving with a injury. {More like hurt pride}

Click to expand...

Actually I think his injury may have been a real factor because Dennard did OK against him in the regular season game

Alfonzo Dennard vs Iowa 2011 "Marvin Mcnutt" - YouTube

But like Sciz, I have some reservations about his play. However he is in the NFL and some of these guys who respond well to coaching can clean up some of their deficiencies in their game and become serviceable at the very least.

The truth is generally the opposite of whatever Pete Prisco says

patchick said:

BTW, a little lost in all the rugby talk is the fact that Ebner is an absolute elite athlete.

6'0" 202 4.53/2.64/1.56 23 39 10'08" 4.04 6.59

Straight-line speed is pretty average, but try to find any player at any position who can beat that combination in bold.

Any 6th-round pick was going to be a long shot to make this roster. An ST hot shot has as good a chance as any, and an ST hotshot with very little football experience, elite athleticism and intangibles, and a strong personal recommendation from Mike Vrabel is a nice upside pick.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's well worth repeating, as it likely got buried in most minds.

I don't give a rat's @$$ about "40" times, because it rarely helps win Championships.

That combination of a ludicrous 390 on the Vertical and 659 on the Cones ~ I'm too busy for decimals!! ~ makes it crystal clear that we're talking about a kid with nothing less than phenomenal Raw Core Strength and Raw Fluidity.

As a Gunner, he may get downfield an half second after the next guy.

But I do not want to be the guy standing in his way when he gets there.

And don't anyone sell'm short as a D Back Project: If his Intelligence matches his Raw Passion and physical talents, he could evolve into a BEAST, over the next couple years.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAST!!!

Patriot Missile said:

It's not like Dennard did himself any favors going to the senior bowl either. He got torched by McNutt before leaving with a injury. {More like hurt pride}

Major red flag was the attitude/off field behavior. I'm sure his senior bowl was also added into the mix of his drop off.

Still love the value in the 7th freaking round though. If that is not a wake up call to this kid then he might well not even show up to camp here cuz Bill will literally tell him to get off the field and pack his locker at the slightest screw up to set an example.

Click to expand...

Sciz said:

This is part of the reason why I'm a lot less excited about this pick than most people. Not only does he have all the character stuff, but I don't think he's a good player. Sounds like a 7th round value to me.

Click to expand...

mrscruff said:

Actually I think his injury may have been a real factor because Dennard did OK against him in the regular season game

Alfonzo Dennard vs Iowa 2011 "Marvin Mcnutt" - YouTube

But like Sciz, I have some reservations about his play. However he is in the NFL and some of these guys who respond well to coaching can clean up some of their deficiencies in their game and become serviceable at the very least.

Click to expand...

Great Points and Counter Points, all.

Nobody Shorted Alfonzo Dennard more aggressively than I, last Autumn, when he was a 1st Round Projection, and I heartily agree that his Game was vastly overrated.

But that wasn't because of a lack of Talent.

It was because of a lack of Discipline.

There are tremendous skills, there.

And while his behavior is unquestionably anal ~ in the correct sense of the word ~ both on and off the field...there are rather awesome Skills to work with, here.

And plunging to the 7th Round may ultimately prove to be the best thing that ever happened to'm.

It's called a Wake Up Call, Brother Alfonzo.

And if you answer it...you may yet become Great.

mrscruff said:

But like Sciz, I have some reservations about his play. However he is in the NFL and some of these guys who respond well to coaching can clean up some of their deficiencies in their game and become serviceable at the very least.

Click to expand...

I do as well, but he does show promise. I'm actually a little high on him actually for some aspects of his game. He can jam at the line as good as any prospect in the first 2 rounds imo. I hear when the Wr gets behind him he's toast because he doesn't have good recovery speed. We'll have to see on that one. By all accounts he did a real good job on Blackmon when he had to fill in for Prince Amukara in the 2nd half of a 2010 game. And i don't mind the ferociousness of his attitude on the field. Hi A Jeffrey!!

For a 7th round pick it is super value and you never know how these types of things motivate people. Maybe this is Brady 6 on the defense for all we know?

One note for OTG: the 40 doesn't matter too much, but the first 10 says something.

patchick said:

BTW, a little lost in all the rugby talk is the fact that Ebner is an absolute elite athlete.

6'0" 202 4.53/2.64/1.56 23 39 10'08" 4.04 6.59

Straight-line speed is pretty average, but try to find any player at any position who can beat that combination in bold.

Any 6th-round pick was going to be a long shot to make this roster. An ST hot shot has as good a chance as any, and an ST hotshot with very little football experience, elite athleticism and intangibles, and a strong personal recommendation from Mike Vrabel is a nice upside pick.

Click to expand...

The closest I can think of: 21 40.5 10'08" 4.18 6.87 @ 6'4" 256#.

ctpatsfan77 said:

The closest I can think of: 21 40.5 10'08" 4.18 6.87 @ 6'4" 256#.

Click to expand...

Just when I'm starting to forget...

Patriot Missile said:

I hear when the Wr gets behind him he's toast because he doesn't have good recovery speed.

Click to expand...

From what I can tell watching the youtube game cut ups, he's playing trail technique. There are times where he does catch the reciever at the last instant and bat the ball away. There are also times where the S never shows and the wr made the catch. In general I think he's above average playing the deep ball.

mrscruff said:

Actually I think his injury may have been a real factor because Dennard did OK against him in the regular season game

Alfonzo Dennard vs Iowa 2011 "Marvin Mcnutt" - YouTube

But like Sciz, I have some reservations about his play. However he is in the NFL and some of these guys who respond well to coaching can clean up some of their deficiencies in their game and become serviceable at the very least.

Click to expand...

IMO he did more than ok. His mistakes were the following: He gave up 1 short pass for 5 yards. 1 play he got legitimately beat for a 15 yard reception. 1 play he got beat but it required a PERFECT pitch and catch b/c McNutt who had been squeezed to the sideline by Dennard. And a missed tackle on a RB.

Since McNutt was one of the best recievers he faced I'd say that's pretty good.

I fell in love with Winn's mobility for a 300 pound big ugly. He can shed tackles with the best of them and plays upfield. However, his core strength is questionable, and as the grizzlie he'd have to be for us, that is unacceptable. He gets blown up too often, and that is against a lot of crap competition (Nevada ). One thing you have to do in the trenches for us is build a wall, and Winn can't do that with the best of them.

Patriot Missile said:

It's not like Dennard did himself any favors going to the senior bowl either. He got torched by McNutt before leaving with a injury. {More like hurt pride}

Major red flag was the attitude/off field behavior. I'm sure his senior bowl was also added into the mix of his drop off.

Still love the value in the 7th freaking round though. If that is not a wake up call to this kid then he might well not even show up to camp here cuz Bill will literally tell him to get off the field and pack his locker at the slightest screw up to set an example.

Click to expand...

Watch the actual Iowa v Nebraska game. Dennard dominated McNutt pretty much the entire game... and I'm a huge McNutt fan.