Wozzy's 2022 Draft Review (with grades... kinda)
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Thumbs up
1 Cole Strange 29 OL Chattanooga
I wanted to write
“he reminds me of Joe Thuney” and be done with it, but inevitably that would lead to
“Joe was taken in the third round.” To which I would say, that isn’t what one should be comparing. If the 2016 draft were done over, where would Joe Thuney be taken now is the question and
"much higher" is the answer. He just got paid 80 million dollars, teams know his value now.
Cole is tall at 6’5” but he doesn’t have long arms, so naturally that would move him inside. But his athleticism and mobility is such, he could probably mirror anyone and use his feet instead of his arms to defend. And while his arms might be average in length, they’re strong… he benches the moon. It’s King Kong
“play now” type strength, so he isn’t letting go once he gets a meat hook around you. He plays mean, plays angry, plays downfield making multiple blocks at the next level… assuming health, he’s a blue-chip offensive lineman. He seems a likely a candidate to win the
“Dan Connolly Award” for playing all 5 positions along the line.
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Boom/Bust
2 Tyquan Thornton 50 WR Baylor
Forty times make people sit up and take notice. Yeah, they’re pretty overrated when talking about football speed, but in combination with a great vertical leap and knowledge a deep threat WR could be dangerous with really ordinary agility by almost exclusively working the field vertically and being a naturally crafty route runner. You run to spots on the field and a great QB will throw to spots. You can only run a three tree route, but if you’re open and fast that’s enough. A receiver who comes to mind is Desean Jackson, he’s slight of build, fast as all hell, consistently gets open deep but isn’t overly mobile…. and only needs 2-3 catches a game to burn the opposition. A middling version of this is David Patten, the worst version is Bethel Johnson. I think this Thorton pick has the biggest boom or bust potential of all these picks, and WR is already a position with the highest failure rate offensively in every draft for every team. But one thing that really gives me hope is his college stats.
Tyquon was 5th in receptions in the Big-12 with 62 catches, he was 4th in yards receiving with 948, he was 6th in yards per reception at 15.3 per… but most impressively ranked second in the entire conference with 10 receiving TD’s.
Why are these ^ random stats impressive, we’ve seen stats from college prospects who’ve failed before as pros… it’s because Baylor ranked 8th out of ten teams in lowest number of passing attempts in the Big12. Thornton made the most of his opportunities, must have caught them at a fairly high rate, got open, and had great instincts around the red zone. He also loves route running as a craft by his own admission. Boom or Bust.
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Thumbs up
3 Marcus Jones 85 CB Houston
In 1998 Allen Rossum was drafted in the third round by the Eagles, his consistency led him to #2 all-time in kick return yards, tied for 3rd all-time in kick return TD’s, 10th all-time in punt return yards and tied for 9th all-time in punt return TD’s. He is the only player in NFL history to have a kickoff return for a touchdown with five different teams… he was also tiny and played a little slot CB.
This is a player I thought of when trying to pin down Marcus Jones. But watching Jones offensive highlights, he looks like Tyreek Hill. He didn’t work out, but obviously he’s a next level athlete based on stats and film alone. You can’t fake that kind of production, or fake looking that much faster than everyone else on the tv screen. I’d love to know how the Pats use him if Jon Jones returns healthy and looks like his old self. They may try to use this kid in the slot offensively and craft some Tyreek-like plays just the get the ball in his hands.
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Thumbs down
4 Jack Jones 121 DB Arizona St.
Jack Jones is a slot cornerback with one thing going for him physically… mobility. He is good at that. Beyond that he is tiny, like Marcus Jones but without the extreme athleticism you want… almost need.
He’s 5’11” 171 pounds… featherweight. He ran a 4.5 forty, average speed. His vertical was 35” so average explosion and lastly he benched it 11 times… so he’s just plain weak. He’s Myles Bryant but a tenth of a second faster. He maybe a better football player as well, a willing hitter, an instinctual guy… but in the 4th round there were better CB prospects there. Zyon McCollum taken in the 5th might be a more of a finesse CB, less inclined for the big hit, but he is a substantially better athlete and cover corner prospect. I thought for once this weekend the critics were right, the Pats took a player who should have been taken rounds later much too soon. He will require a year just to get strong enough to play, either on our practice squad or elsewhere.
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Thumbs up
4 Pierre Strong 127 RB South Dakota St.
He was my draft binkie at the RB position, he is James White’s new understudy but I think he could add a dimension to the running game that doesn’t exist currently. One that the team tried to find when they drafted speedster Laurence Maroney years back… a home run hitter. He's the fastest RB on the roster by far, his agility is best among all RB’s, his vertical leap was bested only by the other rookie in the RB room Kevin Harris. He’s even got decent strength, but has room to get a little stronger. I think they may use him as a 3rd down back, especially if White’s injury prevents him from coming back after all. But if White is back they may roster this kid just to hand it off to him and get him the ball a few times a game... a long as he plays special teams and can pass block. With Harris in a contract year, White’s health up in the air this was a great pick here.
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Thumbs up
4 Bailey Zappe 137 QB Western Kentucky
After the Jack Jones pick, I needed a crisis manager to talk me off the Tobin ledge. The Pierre Strong pick was the one, but it was followed soon after by the Zappe pick. What does Zappe have wrong with him that dropped him to the 4th in a “QB weak” draft? Being a short (6’.05”) and a small school prospect is enough to sink you… even in a weak draft for QB’s.
But what does Zappe have right with him… everything else. He was to the FBS what Mac Jones was in 2020 for Alabama, he led the nation in every meaningful stat… and by a lot. His single season passing ranking in 2021 for historical context: his 5967 yards is 1st all-time in NCAA history, his 62 TD’s is 1st all-time also, his 686 attempts 7th all-time… and look, we expect this type of production from an air raid offense but he completed 69.2% of his passes and he had the highest QB Rating of any rookie in the draft class. And while he may only be as tall as Drew Brees, Zappe also weighed 217 pounds… he’s stocky and muscular, not soft. He’s a smart kid who does the little things well and plays a cerebral game… like the current guy. I don’t think BB saw this kid and said
“good back-up,” I think he saw this kid and said
“good QB.” You don’t draft back-ups, you draft potential starters and competition determines pecking order. They got arguably the best QB available in this draft class in the 4th and it was a position of need.
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Thumbs up
6 Kevin Harris 183 RB South Carolina
In 2020 Kevin Harris ranked second in the SEC behind only Najee Harris in rushing yards, he had the third highest yards per average in the SEC, he rushed for the second most rushing TD’s in the SEC… there’s no bigger college conference than the SEC.
In 2021, a month before camp began, Harris had surgery on his back to remove a cyst from a spinal nerve. The injury didn’t cause Harris to miss any games during the 2021 season, though he did miss the season-opener due to an illness and when he came back he struggled to repeat his success from the previous season… but he got stronger as the season went on. A year removed from surgery means the Pats may have gotten a steal here, but at worst they got a grinder. At 5’10” 221 pounds he reminds me of a healthy Stevan Ridley, who also played in the SEC. They have similar size, strength, agility and running style… Harris may be a shade faster and more explosive even.
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Boom/Bust
6 Sam Roberts 200 DE NW Missouri St.
This pick is a lot like the Marcus Jones pick, he didn’t work out except for vertical leap (good), forty (average) and bench press (average) but his production and film at division two are eye popping. He won an award that amounts to the best defensive player in all of division two. He was a scholar who got a big GPA, works with the elderly in his free time and oh yeah and he’s a Pat’s fan. At 6’5” he projects to play that Deatrich Wise DE position… which is funny because I beg them every year to improve there and they never do. But he’s a little bigger than Wise with shorter arms. He looks really strong on the interior and plays in opposing team’s backfields, he was unblockable at division two. There’s some boom or bust here, he could be Deatrich Wise or perhaps better… or he could be Brandon Deaderick.
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Thumbs down
6 Chasen Hines 210 G LSU
No
Rnd Player Pick Pos College/Univ - Thumbs down
7 Andrew Stueber 245 OL Michigan
No
These last two picks sucked. They did better in UDFA with O-Linemen.
This is a copy/paste job but here ARE the
UDFA’s.
Kody Russey, C, Houston - Guy is a plus athlete with a lot of starts in the pivot under his belt. Forty and vertical were good but his shuttle and bench were great. His 38 bench reps would have made him the strongest player at the combine had he attended.. and by a lot.
Brenden Schooler, S, Texas - Another guy who every measurable was in the plus column. At 6'2" 203 his 4.43 forty is good, as was his 37.5" vertical, 16 bench reps, 128" broad jump but lastly his agility drills were superior with a 6.71 Cone and 4.10 shuttle.
Devin Hafford, CB, Tarleton - If this guy ran his forty a tenth of a second faster he would have been drafted, but he seems to fit what they are looking for now at CB. Guys who can play zone. He is really strong for a CB, had he attended the combine his 24 reps would have been tops amongst all DB's. Every measurable besides forty and broad jump are good or great, and even those two are still decent. When you're that strong and athletic, a 4.5 forty is less of a hindrance because you can toss WR's around at the line of scrimmage and knock them off their routes. AJ Bouye or Richard Sherman are good examples of this. Another solid UDFA signing.
The guys above ^ are my favorites (thumbs up) to make the team despite the rooms they're entering being crowded already.
Liam Shanahan, C/G, LSU - I wouldn't necessarily put at the above guys level but he was a good athlete in many regards, his forty wasn't good but his vertical, bench and both agility drills were in that good not great area. He's a little tall for Center with short arms. He's on the outside looking in IMO but he's not without talent. He might make the PS here or on some other team.
Jake Julien, P, Eastern Michigan - I don't know **** about punters so I just copy/pasted his bio on his school page.
"Julien was previously drafted No. 31 overall by the Ottawa RedBlacks in the 2021 Canadian Football League Draft. A special team standout in Ypsilanti, Julien was a 2021 Second Team All-Mid-American Conference selection. EMU's all-time record holder in punt average at 44.0 yards per kick, Julien had 9,726 yards on 221 tries. Additionally, Julien is the only punter in Eastern Michigan history to record two 70+ yard punts in his career. In 54 career contests, he has 51 kicks of 50-or-more yards to go along with 71 placed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Throughout his career at Eastern Michigan, Julien garnered two Second Team All-MAC honors and seven MAC West Division Special Teams Player of the Week honors. In 2021, Julien was named fourth team preseason All-American by Phil Steele's College Football Preview and selected first-team Preseason All-MAC by Phil Steele while grabbing second-team accolades from Athlon Sports."
Do I think we need a punter... not necessarily, but I suspect the team is negotiating with their current one who is slightly overpaid and this is a leverage/insurance move. The rest off the UDFA's are jags.
None of the other UDFA’s are likely to make it, they’re not good enough athletically.
