PFT: Players who are slipping

[primetime]

Is it just me, or do all the prospects with Hawaiian-sounding last names always end up being good NFL players?.

Kiwanuka's from Uganda. You wouldn't mistake him as a Hawaiian if you saw him.

I'd take Kiwanuka in the 2nd round if he was still there, even if Lawson or Greenway is the 1st round pick. Can never have too many linebackers. The only problem is he got absolutely dominated by Ferguson in the Senior Bowl and didn't do too well against the best college tackles during the season (he didn't do well against teammate Trueblood in Senior Bowl practices, either, and Trueblood's a mid-round pick). People have pointed him dropping into coverage as a reason for less production, but I don't buy it. I'm a BC guy, and for all his hype he was never really that noticeable. Washington was a better college defensive lineman.

 

[PonyExpress]

Kiwanuka's from Uganda. You wouldn't mistake him as a Hawaiian if you saw him.

I'd take Kiwanuka in the 2nd round if he was still there, even if Lawson or Greenway is the 1st round pick. Can never have too many linebackers. The only problem is he got absolutely dominated by Ferguson in the Senior Bowl and didn't do too well against the best college tackles during the season (he didn't do well against teammate Trueblood in Senior Bowl practices, either, and Trueblood's a mid-round pick). People have pointed him dropping into coverage as a reason for less production, but I don't buy it. I'm a BC guy, and for all his hype he was never really that noticeable. Washington was a better college defensive lineman.

The idea Kiwanuka was "dominated" by Ferguson, and now Trueblood has been vastly overstated to the point of becoming an urban myth. Kiwi was hurt by his own lack of proper technique but still gave Ferguson all he could handle. Some scouts saw this and downgraded Kiwi because in their minds he became a project and not a finished product, and therefore not a 1st rd draft pick. Those same scouts probably thought Tatupu was slow, Ellis Hobbs was too short, Mankins was a third rdr and Charles Rogers was a can't miss.

 

[DaBruinz]

I never understood the obsession with bench press reps. Let's say you have two players. In their last two seasons, player A gets: 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, compared to player B, who got 5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss. However, player B benches 3 times more than player A. Who do you pick?

If Kiwi drops, people will be talking about him like people talked about Lofa last year (as in "how did that guy drop so far in the draft?").

That is a very bad example because many people felt that Tatupu was a giant REACH in the 2nd round last year. In fact, most mocks had Tatupu going in the 3rd or 4th round because of his size and ability.