Analysis of Prospects by a Youtuber

I think I've had Bitonio mistaken for another guy all along, gonna have to go back.

 

http://www.thephins.com/forums/showthread.php?78317-Targets-for-2014-Dolphins-Draft/page72

Shared that here. I dig his videos. They are only short glimpses though. He knows a lot about the trench positions. He said he was going to get around to doing Ryan Shazier and it looks like he hasn't done it yet.

 

Joel Bitonio is a great example of a pretty good prospect the media has pumped up lately, and there are a lot of fans that feel he is a borderline 1st round guy. IMO, he's not. You are asking for trouble if you draft this guy as a tackle. Honestly, I'd give him a 3rd round grade as an interior prospect. I might consider him in the late 2nd if there is a run, but he's not a tackle in the NFL, IMO. He's on the ground too much, loses his balance easily, doesn't shoot his hands in pass pro, poor pass pro footwork....etc. He's not an exception as a shorter guy that can play tackle. I think he's a left guard, possibly a guy you eventually work as a center.

Really, how can anyone look at his film and then look at the film of Ja'Wuan James and think that Bitonio is the better prospect?

 

Beats me.

I just wonder when you move Bitonio to the interior...is he going to generate POWER when he's blocking big guys and asked to move them? I think the guy can anchor alright (as an offensive tackle) but that's different from generating explosive power and continuing to push a guy, turn his shoulder and seal him off, etc. There are too many instances where I see him get into the type of pit wrestling matches with the big bears that he'll regularly get into as a guard, and the guy ends up physically overmatched and even at times thrown to the ground like a rag doll.

When I heard he's working out at Center for some teams, that is what made the most sense to me. At Center he'll get some help when it comes to blocking the big boys out there and he won't be expected to really move them purely by himself. He'll have to anchor against guys right on his nose and that'll be the big question mark and the reason you ultimately don't consider him a 1st or 2nd round guy.

 

I've seen some instances where he will get low, pop, and drive his defender, and he looks good on combo blocks. I think the issue with him being thrown to the ground is what I mentioned above. He will dip his head a lot, and when you are looking down, you are on the ground, IMO.

Honestly, he reminds me a lot of Jonathan Martin. When you watch his Stanford film, the guy was on the ground a lot. He had a lot of balance issues coming out.

What gets me is that this guy is considered a borderline first round guy, but Ja'Wuan James is a "2nd to 3rd round" guy despite the fact that he has flat out dominated some big time pass rushers in the SEC. Add in Morgan Moses, who looked as good as you can look going against Vic Beasley and Jeremiah Attachou in the ACC. Somehow, those two would be reaches in the first round, but trading down for Bitonio wouldn't be a reach.

It just goes to show you how much the media shapes the perception of a player. I'm curious to see what the fans would think if the media was going on and on about how Ja'Wuan James is in the 89th percentile of all tackles in the three cone drill, or how he is in the 82nd percentile in the 20 yard shuttle or the 58th percentile in the broad jump or 60th percentile in broad jump?

 

You listed the broad jump twice and not the vertical jump. Is one of those percentiles supposed to be for the vertical? I would have guessed the 82nd percentile was the VJ. His best performances at the combine were in order, 3 cone, VJ, Shuttle, BJ, as I recall.

I'll admit I prefer Bitonio, but I sure wouldn't complain if we drafted James instead. I like him too. I thought now that all among Moses, Kouandjio, James and Bitonio were considered possible late 1st rounders. NFL Draft Scout ranks them overall currently at 37th, 31st, 39th and 41st, respectively. Su'a-Filo is currently 30th overall. Other offensive linemen in that range include Marcus Martin, 50th, Jack Mewhort, 60th, Weston Richburg, 66th, Billy Turner, 72nd, Gabe Jackson, 77th. I don't know if Gabe fits our scheme, but he sure looks good when I watched him. In the LSU game he made Ego Ferguson look like a UDFA prospect.

 

I do not agree that he has poor pass pro footwork, and the reason I'd be fine with taking him over James would be because I like his foot quickness better. I'd be fine with James over Bitonio too, but to me it's crazy to consider Bitonio as being 3rd round when it comes to skill set.