Impressed with Raiders' MLB Kirk Morrison

[PonyExpress]

Alot of Pats fans debated picking Morrison a couple years ago when he came out of SD State. He was very solid last year for the Raiders and is playing extremely well this year. He was tagged with the "too slow" label. He ran very slow, I believe 4.8 or worse. The Eagles reached in Rd 2 2005 for Morrison's teammate, Mccoy i think his name was, over Morrison because McCoy ran faster, seemed like more of an athlete. They were wrong. Just another example of how raw speed is an overrated trait for MLB/ILB. Recognition skills and instincts are more important. A combination of speed and instincts is ideal of course.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I agree, instincts are very important to ILBs and MLBs. There is another guy coming out this year that is a lot like Morrison only taller. Harrington of Mizzu. They moved him to OLB this week and he didn't look good there on Saturday. However while at MLB, you can see that he has the instincts but is maybe a step slow getting into position. It'll be interesting to see where/if this guy goes in the draft.

 

[cstjohn17]

Alot of Pats fans debated picking Morrison a couple years ago when he came out of SD State. He was very solid last year for the Raiders and is playing extremely well this year. He was tagged with the "too slow" label. He ran very slow, I believe 4.8 or worse. The Eagles reached in Rd 2 2005 for Morrison's teammate, Mccoy i think his name was, over Morrison because McCoy ran faster, seemed like more of an athlete. They were wrong. Just another example of how raw speed is an overrated trait for MLB/ILB. Recognition skills and instincts are more important. A combination of speed and instincts is ideal of course.

A player I will be watching on Thursday (Louisville versus West Virginia) is Kevin McLee, ILB, West Virginia #43.

Pros
- has ok size, 6'0, 250
- pretty good speed 4.7
- is a leader of a top ranked defense
- shows some versatility, can play OLB or ILB. He may not come in and be an impact starter but seems to have the right make-up to be a contributor on special teams and a solid reserve.

Also I think he can be picked up in round 6 or 7.
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Has any seen any film of Steve DeOssie's kid?
Zak DeOssie, ILB, Brown he has great size 6'4, 250 and speed low 4.6s but hasn't seen a lot of top competition. also has injury concerns with past shoulder surgery. Still he is impressive physically and I was curious if anyone has more details.

 

[Return of the Nizz]

Alot of Pats fans debated picking Morrison a couple years ago when he came out of SD State. He was very solid last year for the Raiders and is playing extremely well this year. He was tagged with the "too slow" label. He ran very slow, I believe 4.8 or worse. The Eagles reached in Rd 2 2005 for Morrison's teammate, Mccoy i think his name was, over Morrison because McCoy ran faster, seemed like more of an athlete. They were wrong. Just another example of how raw speed is an overrated trait for MLB/ILB. Recognition skills and instincts are more important. A combination of speed and instincts is ideal of course.

Conversely, I was watching the Eagles game on sunday and McCoy was absolutely horrible. He reminded me of a poor man's Monty Beisel.

 

[rookBoston]

I wanted Morrison for the Pats.

Another guy I wanted was Bradie James, who fell all the way to the 4th round in 2003. We could have easily tapped him instead of Bethel. Hindsight is 20/20

 

[Water Boy]

I agree, instincts are very important to ILBs and MLBs. There is another guy coming out this year that is a lot like Morrison only taller. Harrington of Mizzu. They moved him to OLB this week and he didn't look good there on Saturday. However while at MLB, you can see that he has the instincts but is maybe a step slow getting into position. It'll be interesting to see where/if this guy goes in the draft.

What is your opinion on Buster Davis of Florida St? Is this guy a legit first rounder?

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I remember seeing him one game and thinking he's real short, only 5'9" or 10". I don't know about other teams, but for us, I don't see him being on BB's draft board, unless he's a ST demon extradinaire.
If he runs extremely well, I could see Indy or Tampa or Chicago being interested in him, despite the lack of size.