I was just looking for old footage of Derrick Harvey, to see what sometimes 'fools' people in draft assessments of edge rushers. I mean, what a bust he was. Didn't find any good footage (other than Jake Long erasing Harvey from a Mich-Flo game). I did find this video of Derrick Harvey. [video=youtube;izWmTJE7prU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izWmTJE7prU[/video] Full version, if you want to see his feet, hips and movement skills. Great hand use. Lacks explosion though. [video=youtube;qSnqncT5FZ4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSnqncT5FZ4[/video] Or if you prefer inspiring 80's rock soundtracks: [video=youtube;8WcKRVHZAQ8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WcKRVHZAQ8&feature=player_embedded#![/video]
I like Sheldon Richardson as a player, but I don't think this is the move the team should make. At this point in time, the team appears to be willing to resign Randy Starks. Money will be a deciding factor obviously, but my guess is, the two sides will ultimately come to an agreement. If and when that happens, then Richardson is a redundant player. He might be an upgrade to Odrick, but Odrick isn't necessarily in need of being upgraded unless you want to add a more dynamic pass rusher. To me, this would be a move similar to the trade down and selection of Odrick in the first place. The team already had Randy Starks and Kendall Langford on the team, and Langford was a great draft pick as a third round guy. The drafting of Odrick had a trickle down effect, as it pretty much ensured Langford's exit from the team. IMO, the team would have been better off, in hindsight, had they addressed a need position at that point and focused on resigning one of their solid draft picks. Langford isn't ideal for a 4-3 defensive end, but neither is Odrick. IMO, Miami's two biggest needs are playmakers out wide on offense and defense both. I agree with Chris. Miami has to be looking at Dee Milliner, Johnthan Banks, Cordarelle Patterson, and I'll even add Keenan Allen because he is such a good fit for Miami with what his strengths are. Jeff stacks the board horizontally, and if need and value marry, the team will go with a need pick. They also place a little more value on their need positions, but not to the point where they would select an obvious 2nd round guy with the 12th pick.
Agree that if Starks stays, it makes little sense at 12th overall to draft a guy that is depth or moves Odrick to depth behind Starks. That's not getting us farther ahead on the field. We need more talent where it will get on the field and have an impact. I've actually been toying with the idea that they should trade Paul Soliai for a pick, and commit to Starks and Odrick as their interior, then draft a bigger body as a run DT to rotate with Kheeston Randall and Tony McDaniel as needed. That would aloow any 1st round DE to come in and start as a 3-down DE. That's getting your money's worth out of that DE, out of the 12 spot, and out of Odrick (who will play better inside anyways, imo.) Plus, picking up another pick for Paul Soliai can help fill another hole (not sure what you could get for Paul. I'd hope a 3rd or 4th). At 12, I'd love to see them go Milliner, Damontre Moore, or (by some miracle) Bjoern if one of them falls. I don't know yet if I'm on board with Banks that high until I see his shuttle time. His lack of speed concerns me at that spot, unless he has a great shuttle time to compensate for lack of straight line speed. Cordarrelle, imo, is a reach at 12. Keenan Allen is safe but not inspiring.
I agree that this is the likely scenario for the free agency period. I feel Hartline and Smith have priced themselves out of Miami. Long value is not there. So the likely re-signee to me is Starks. This totally places Banks on top of their list for 12. Also I believe that they will target a Chase Thomas or Sean Porter with one of their 2nds.
I believe Hartline is signable. Smith may be another story. If one or the other leaves, then that position immediately goes to the top of the list.
What if you love the player KB...I believe I can argue that he (richardson) has the potential to be the best football player, most explosive player along the Dline in the draft..can we not find a way to make that work? Dion Jordan has that ceiling as well, I'm glad there are some elite players that up til this point are a bit under the radar..I don't think either will make it to us when it's all said and done.
If you could convince me that Sheldon Richardson is one of those players where the value of the player is well above the needs of the team, I would agree. From my point of view, the only DT whose ability would convince me to take him is Star Lotulelei.
Well, I'd like for the combine to come because I have a feeling that both players, Richardson and Jordan, will test off the charts. With Sheldon, were talking about a 300 lb man, who is fast, strong, very explosive, a bit nasty, elite agility/size ratio, with a relentless motor, and very rarely I will look at a player and think, I'm a little scared for what he could do to a player at full speed..I felt that way with Richardson.. I see qualities of a top 5 pick..I said before, I can't find much in terms of weaknesses.. With Dion, once in a while you have an athlete that breaks new territory with their size/ athletic combination..This kid has groundbreaking size and movement skills, he can do things that Jason Taylor couldn't do..some things I've seen, I've never seen anyone do.. This is what I know, if either of those boys are on the table at 12, it's gonna be hard to take an offensive player over them...I think both are elite prospects that would provide excellent value at 12.. .
If the Dolphins re-sign Starks then for me, that eliminates the possibility of a defensive lineman or pass rusher at #12 overall. Again I'm not saying they shouldn't, I'm saying they wouldn't. The only chance they take one would be if they do something in the linebackers unit, perhaps release Karlos Dansby and try and move Koa Misi inside, something like that, which then frees up the opportunity to take a Dion Jordan or Jarvis Jones and make them a SAM that comes down onto the line in pass rush situations. That is certainly a possibility to keep in mind but to me it wouldn't happen unless they make a move in the linebackers unit first (e.g. releasing Dansby). Either way we'll know a lot more about options at 12 once free agency gets underway.
I think the Dolphins' diva alarms might be set off a little bit on Keenan Allen. On the other hand, they may come to view Cordarrelle Patterson's personality to be too similar to Vontae Davis. That's a possibility, though I don't know how strong. I could also see them liking his personality and thinking of him as just a genuine kid that loves football. Yet, they would also have to realize that a big part of Cordarrelle's value is as a return man, whereas they probably feel like they've got a pretty good one already in Marcus Thigpen. That's why I said before there's maybe a 5 or 10 percent chance they make (some of) us happy and take a Cordarrelle Patterson at 12 overall. It's not about what they should do, just looking at the likelihoods. To me, Dee Milliner and Johnthan Banks are still the top two possibilities with Cordarrelle Patterson in tow, and then if they don't re-sign Starks that is when Zeke Ansah and Sheldon Richardson come into it IMO.
I think that it's a great idea, and I would be very interested in the possibility of Dansby out, Misi at MLB and a weapon like Jordan at OLB/situational DE. Misi played well this year, but for all the talk of our lack of QB pressure I rarely hear any criticism directed towards Misi and Burnett in this regard. Burnett played pretty well, but where's the pass rush? Personally, I'd like to see a LB crew of Jordan/Misi/Sean Porter. That's a possible solution imo as to getting more heat on opposing QBs. I also hope that we look at LBs like Gerald Hodges, Arthur Brown, AJ Klein and Jake Knott. Hopefully Ireland's size requirements have been lowered, and speed/quickness play a greater role in the evaluation process. That might translate into less moments like Jason Trusnick grasping for air as Kaepernick runs right by him for a 50 yard TD. It's time to get playmakers, at LB and most other positions.
If we draft Milner or Banks, I think we end up with a player about the level of Patterson, Smith, maybe Talib at CB (eventually, after a couple of years of growing pains). IMO that's not enough upside, not enough impact.
And yet if you draft a Dion Jordan you could end up with just another Manny Lawson. It's all relative.
You can't pass rush if you're not a pass rusher. Burnett blitzed 115 times and affected the QB 15 times which is a good number. Dansby was the guy pulling a lot less weight in this regard, only affecting the QB 11 times on 126 blitzes. As for "blaming" Koa Misi I think he escapes attention simply because it's accepted he's not a great pass rusher and was only forced into the role due to inadequacy on the depth chart.
It comes down to your assessment. I think the odds of Teo becoming Ray Lewis or Willis are far greater than the odds of Jordan becoming an Dumervil or a JPP. That's the difference in the impact of the position. To get equal impact Teo would have to be one of the 2 or 3 best at his position. Jordan could have a major impact by just becoming say a top 20 pass rusher.
Implied in this argument is that guys like Brian Urlacher, Navorro Bowman, Sean Lee, Lance Briggs, Derrick Johnson and Daryl Washington are not as valuable as Elvis Dumervil or any of the top 20 pass rushers. On this point, I disagree...pretty strongly. So no I don't see this being purely about assessments. There's a philosophical argument you're making that I view to be a fallacy.
I would say not as valuable and not as easily replaceable. Urlacher I would not include in the group though as he was a big factor on pass defense and as a pass rusher. That's really the key. Is the player going to have a big impact on the pass defense? If he doesn't, then he's not going to have as big of an impact in today's game. I see Teo as more Rolando McClain than Patrick Willis. That assessment is a big part of it.
So you believe Manti Te'o is a worse prospect than Bowman, Lee, Washington, etc? You think he should go 2nd or 3rd round?
No, I think he's a better prospect, but that his impact will, at best, be only marginally more than the guys you can get later due to his position. He'll go early, but I'd prefer that another team pay that much for only marginally more impact. I'd rather my team take the player at a position which has a better chance of providing more impact.
DE Stansly Maponga I know nothing about this guy, but he just declared and here's some film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o61Zc2egAr0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCKzaaS2BRg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywnc3chpPh0 Looks like he's playing some OLB out there, too.
