Budda Baker v Desmond King v Chidobe Awuzie

[Snooky97]

I don't really consider him a match for these three but here's a quiz for you.

• Who was PFF's highest graded coverage defender in CFB?
• Who had the most passes defended in CFB?
• Who had as many interceptions as Malik Hooker?
• Who is listed approximately at the same size as Jamal Adams?
• But for some reason is ranked at 206 by CBS
• Plays, for a large part, as a single high FS?

It's one guy. Answer below.

PS. His highlight real is awesome.

Spoiler

Tedric Thompson, Colorado

Do you have a link for this?

 

[manxman2601]

Do you have a link for this?

Most passes defended: Passes Defended | FBS Football Statistics - NCAA.com


best coverage defender:

Best coverage defender
Tedric Thompson, S, Colorado
PFF grade: 83.8; Pos. rank: 11

The Colorado Buffaloes’ performance and them getting to the Pac-12 Championship Game was one of the surprises of the season. A big part of Colorado’s success was the play of their secondary and how they could shut wide receivers down for entire games. While there were three elite performances from cornerbacks on that team, the award goes to Thompson, who lined up occasionally as a cornerback, but played the majority of his snaps as a free safety. His position, combined with his playmaking ability, made quarterbacks think twice about targeting the middle of the field and his range forced opposing signal callers to be more precise on sideline passes as well.

2016 PFF College Football Award winners | PFF

coaches film highlights



TV highlights

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Why not stay local in the mid to late rounds with John Johnson? He has decent size at 6' and 200 lbs and has played both safety and corner.

Hard to keep anyone quiet now. Def binky type player. Had a pretty good week from everything I heard.

Smart. Tough/physical. Size. Versatile background

 

[jboston19]

Hard to keep anyone quiet now. Def binky type player. Had a pretty good week from everything I heard.

Smart. Tough/physical. Size. Versatile background

I'm a BC fan and would love to see him on the Pats. He seems like he'd fit in well here.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I'm a BC fan and would love to see him on the Pats. He seems like he'd fit in well here.

JJ and Milano are Patriot-type players imo.

 

[patsinthesnow]

My early take on the draft is that I want King or Lamp at pick 32. For reasons others listed King is the prototypical Patriot. I think he has a high floor as well which is a quality of Pats first round picks (Easley being an outlier).

King can play man, zone, tackle, hit, outside, slot, and maybe safety. I think he would be a natural replacement for Ryan as he could start across Butler in the base defense and move to the slot in the nickel with Butler/Rowe on the outside.

BB may be planning on having the two Jones' battle it out for that role though (Or resign Ryan).

 

[long distance]

My early take on the draft is that I want King or Lamp at pick 32. For reasons others listed King is the prototypical Patriot. I think he has a high floor as well which is a quality of Pats first round picks (Easley being an outlier).

King can play man, zone, tackle, hit, outside, slot, and maybe safety. I think he would be a natural replacement for Ryan as he could start across Butler in the base defense and move to the slot in the nickel with Butler/Rowe on the outside.

BB may be planning on having the two Jones' battle it out for that role though (Or resign Ryan).

Looking from outside Id be surprised if they go DB or OL with first pick but its too early to know since both Ryan and Harmon are still on the team, Cyrus Jones will certainly get another good chance and Jonathan Jones looks like he can possibly step up on D. Moreover CB position is very young and maybe a veteran corner in FA could be added. On OL we don't know what's the future of Tre, how they see Karras or even Andrews going forward.

On the other hand who knows what remains of DL. If Sheard leaves and Branch and Long don't return it will be a very thin position and expensive in FA or trade.

So hard to predict anything with so many key FAs up in the air..

We can always enjoy prospects while the big roster game plays out though.

 

[Wilfork#75]

Most passes defended: Passes Defended | FBS Football Statistics - NCAA.com


best coverage defender:



2016 PFF College Football Award winners | PFF

coaches film highlights



TV highlights

I'm really torn on Thompson. I absolutely love him in coverage and think he has 1st round talent. He has great size, length and athleticism. His range is incredible and his instincts in coverage is fantastic. The problem is the guy is such a poor run defender. Unlike in coverage, against the run he takes poor angles, shies from contact, is too easily blocked and doesn't wrap up well.

If he were only an average tackler I would probably be comfortable spending a high pick on him, even still I would probably take a shot in the late 3rd/4th and hope he can work on his tackling because he is so good in coverage.

 

[manxman2601]

I'm really torn on Thompson. I absolutely love him in coverage and think he has 1st round talent. He has great size, length and athleticism. His range is incredible and his instincts in coverage is fantastic. The problem is the guy is such a poor run defender. Unlike in coverage, against the run he takes poor angles, shies from contact, is too easily blocked and doesn't wrap up well.

If he were only an average tackler I would probably be comfortable spending a high pick on him, even still I would probably take a shot in the late 3rd/4th and hope he can work on his tackling because he is so good in coverage.

You don't often see Harmon make a tackle. That's the role I envision for him, a deep safety in the main back playing single-high. 3rd or 4th is where I see him.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

Baker has incredible instincts. I understand the Earl Thomas comparisons, but I highly doubt he puts up the testing numbers Thomas did. Still, he's a great player, and we do play with 3 safeties a lot of the time. Is that worth a 1st? I'd be tempted, but I'd rather go for Eddie Jackson in the 2nd/3rd. He's tailor made for our defense, and would instantly replace Harmon, whom I expect will start elsewhere. Jackson is probably my favorite safety in this draft. I think he's capable of playing at McCourty's level in a few years. We have so many other directions that I'd prefer in the 1st.

I've got to be honest, I don't see it with Desmond King. I liked Cyrus Jones better last year, and I still wasn't super happy about the pick, even though I did have a pretty strong feeling we'd go for him.

Awuze I like. I'm just as intrigued by his teammate Witherspoon, though. Good pair over there in Colorado. Either one of them would be fine by me. They're tough, competitive football players, and I don't care about the metrics or testing numbers. They're welcome on my squad (haha, as if I were an actual GM).

Douglas has been a favorite of mine for a few months. I'm pretty sure I've talked him up ad nauseam, so I'll just say I support him coming on board. He's a more instinctive version of Rowe, and for me that's high praise because I like Rowe a lot and think he's still improving at corner.

If I had to make a single guess about the most Patriots-like DB in the draft, however, it would be Gareon Conley. I think I have a pretty good track record of figuring out what they're looking for (I correctly predicted Butler, Chung, Dowling, Ryan, Harmon, Roberts, and Jones). Whether they were good players or not, I still saw qualities that made me think the Patriots would be interested. I don't have a perfect record, but I do think I've gotten a handle on their tendencies. Conley stands out for a bunch of reasons.

I'm tired though, and the wife is sick, so I'm going to cut this short and not keep her up with my bright laptop screen and clacking keys. I'll expound on Conley's virtues later.

Still curious to hear your Conley breakdown.

 

[fightingirish595]

King has too tight in his ankles and hips in my opinion. same with awuzie. I like Lampkin better

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

King has too tight in his ankles and hips in my opinion. same with awuzie. I like Lampkin better

Strongly disagree about Awuzie. His fluidity allows him to change direction and line up in so many different places.

Rn Hes a chess piece on the board but w/ tons of potential. Quicker than fast.

Again tho, he doesn't have tight hips.

Check out @Obee1ne's Tweet:

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Still curious to hear your Conley breakdown.

I'll make good on that tomorrow. Work has been relentless lately. Sorry!

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Still curious to hear your Conley breakdown.

Count me as well. I like Conley a lot but his run support is ... lacking. I think Bill's head would explode with that respect.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I'll make good on that tomorrow. Work has been relentless lately. Sorry!

I hear ya pal. Take your time.

 

[fightingirish595]

Strongly disagree about Awuzie. His fluidity allows him to change direction and line up in so many different places.

Rn Hes a chess piece on the board but w/ tons of potential. Quicker than fast.

Again tho, he doesn't have tight hips.

Check out @Obee1ne's Tweet:

Awuzie plays mostly zone right? You have probably seen more tape than me on him. Most of the tape Ive seen on him is from last year. In both years I thought I saw some stiffness in the hips. Im not saying Awuzie wont be good, I thin, he will be way better than king. I am just OCD against guys That I feel may have fluditiy issues. Ill have to see what he does at the combine, but I do take your analysis that he is not stiff very seriously

 

[BobDigital]

Not that we all need to agree but it be nice for the board to talk about this more and see if we all line up fairly close on who are the CBs really worth taking.

Right now my list is tentatively.

#1 Lattimore
#2 Wilson
#3 Humphrey
#4 Jones

-gap- Everyone above here is clearly a first round CB and likely top half first round.

#5 Tabor (but he is off my board generally)
#6 Tankersley
#7 King
#8 Awuzie
#9 Lewis (maybe should be on his own list though... Being a slot CB knocks him down a bit).

-gap- Very good CBs who could go in the first but no lower than second and where they are picked depends on team need and how much people like each or look past potential issues.

#10 Conley
#11 T. White
#12 Jackson (clearly i personally am not sold on him. Seems like too much of a risk talent be damned. I see him as Cyrus Jones minus the fumbles who MAYBE turns into a good CB as well as a great returner).

These are the only guys i have looked at reasonably closley to this point.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

Not that we all need to agree but it be nice for the board to talk about this more and see if we all line up fairly close on who are the CBs really worth taking.

Right now my list is tentatively.

#1 Lattimore
#2 Wilson
#3 Humphrey
#4 Jones

-gap- Everyone above here is clearly a first round CB and likely top half first round.

#5 Tabor (but he is off my board generally)
#6 Tankersley
#7 King
#8 Awuzie
#9 Lewis (maybe should be on his own list though... Being a slot CB knocks him down a bit).

-gap- Very good CBs who could go in the first but no lower than second and where they are picked depends on team need and how much people like each or look past potential issues.

#10 Conley
#11 T. White
#12 Jackson (clearly i personally am not sold on him. Seems like too much of a risk talent be damned. I see him as Cyrus Jones minus the fumbles who MAYBE turns into a good CB as well as a great returner).

These are the only guys i have looked at reasonably closley to this point.

I was thinking about starting a thread around this type of idea.

 

[BobDigital]

By all means do. I think it be a good idea. I will move this post there if you do.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Still curious to hear your Conley breakdown.

Okay, I'll be adding commentary throughout the day, so don't get too worked up one way or the other just yet! The bulk of what I have to say probably won't be done until tonight, but I'm going to edit this and update it when I get a few minutes here and there.

One of my favorite comments I read about Conley: some draft site called him a "boring technician" as though that's a mark against him. On the contrary, I love seeing that, and it reinforces how I feel about his play. Patient, calm, always keeping the play manageable. He just does what he should do, and nothing else. More on that later.

I'll be up front and say he's got some bad tape. Wisconsin definitely shows some deficiencies in the run game. I think he gives effort, though. I don't think he's soft. He will sometimes give up underneath stuff (see Michigan for example). I also don't rate him as a high 1st rounder or anything. I think his value is somewhere in the mid-20s onward. I wouldn't hate the pick at 32, but I think there's better value. If we went with him, however, I feel very comfortable projecting him as a McCourty / Ryan type of player.

I'll get into more details later on today. Sorry this is kind of piecemeal .

I'm probably going to break this up into a second post for when I finish tonight. I can only do 5 embedded gifs per post, so I'm up against my cap. I'll do more specific trait analysis in the second post. This one is more for play breakdowns. He's really good at understanding the angles of how the offense will attack the defense, and then putting himself in a position to make a play. He's not the fastest or the quickest, but he's almost always composed and in a good spot.


First: head's up special teams play.




Against Mike Williams, presumed top five pick, watch how comfortable he is playing inside, maintaining leverage, not panicking through the route, and making a play on the ball. Yes, Williams slipped, but Conley was still in better position than the WR and could have undercut the route regardless. I call this the Logan Ryan special. They look so similar defending this route. (Also: Lattimore has more hype in the press, but OSU put Conley on Williams. Just food for thought.)




On deep vertical throws, I often see him in better position than the receiver:




Consistent disruption at the catch point: