What's our draft strategy?

Good point Padre. Although I'd hate to be caught next year with our pants down if we lose Ronnie and Ricky bc we passed on a 2nd round talent RB in the 4th round.... and become forced to draft a RB high next year when there is someone else of greater impact available...like NT mount Cody. LOL. CJ Spiller nullifies everything though

If it came down to Scott McKillop or Davis, I'd probably take Scott. I like Gartrell Johnson as a hammer to take in the 6th or 7th, and Marlon Lucky is still intrigueing in the 7th.
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Quinn Johnson fullback LSU....i upgrade that fullback position..he's a great football player,explosive player with great hands,can score..ive been wantin him in the fifth if hes there.

I like the canes TP..

 

I second that nomination. I also think he's a McClain conversion and would love to see us draft him if nothing more than a lead fullback, especially with more teams switching to a 3-4. Maybe he becomes a bruiser similar to Brandon Jacobs. IMO you can't have a smash mouth offense if you don't have a smash mouth RB. I just bumped him up into priorityville.

We could get him with our 6th, no? I'd love to see him opening holes for CJ Spiller! Yes I'm again also looking forward to 2010 draft.
My priority 5 is still WR Mike Wallace. Not that you're asking. Hardy har har
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Javorski Lane is a nimble mack truck but his burger appetite scares me a bit...makes me question his dedication to the game.

Quinn was one of the few guys who really impressed me in the post season. Maybe we should follow the Chargers model for success and actually utilize a FB. Does Quinn have Lorenzo Neal potential?
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different set of skills, this kid is diverse, jumps out on the screen, can split him out, do all kinds of fun things with him.

 

Javorskie Lane should not be blocking in my opinion. While he can clear out defenders with his wide body, he doesn't finish off blocks.

 

Hmmm? Quinn and Casey? Could provide multiple new dimensions to drive defenses crazy!

I'd have to add in Mike Wallace as a larger vertical threat than Ginn...who can beat the press more often in order to open up the middle of the field for Casey. This is becoming a new stubborn thought of mine that plays into a new draft approach that I'll start a thread on tomorrow for opinions. I don't think it's been mentioned yet. I think you guys might like.
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Hahaha!! "Do all kinds of fun things with him." That's the best yet most hideous way I could picture a draftnik sum a guy up! Does that mean we'd have to pay him more- maybe to sit in a dunk tank or pony rides for the kids after games? It sounds like you just described a Slinky.... but in this case it works, DJ. I think analysts need to use this lingo more often. You remind me of Drew Boylehart who could care less about getting all technical with his player assessments. That's a compliment by the way. LOL
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its really the only two positions available to upgrade...unless were thinking receiver #1 which i dont believe we are.

I love the idea of adding 'firepower' to this particular offense that has strength and power, instead of shiftiness and speed.

I really think this offense has the capability to be special in terms of offensive philosophy, they really are on the cusp of doing something truly innovative and groundbreaking.

James casey and Quinn Johnson fit excellent in the Smashcat offense.

 

i already know you know the depths of my generalities. no need to go all techno on ya..time and place for that.

Quinn's gotta little young Keith Byars in him...

 

you know I'm just busting your chops.
I much prefer the answer you gave me than a technical one. I think you probably know I prefer the less technical way that is direct and to the point. Tell me how the guy can play football, how he impacts our team, and how his motor, heart, passion, intelligence, and leadership are. LOL

I'd be very happy with another Keith Byers! Although a younger one this time...the Philly one!
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I completely agree with you. I'm not sure how many other people realize we're on the cusp of being an offensive firepower.

IMO this is something that needs to be a priority this draft or we won't be running on all cylinders. I'd hate to see us ignore something that's right there within our reach, ya know. The beauty is it won't cost us high draft picks...2B, 5, and 6....then add CJ Spiller next year. Booyah!! Aint no one stopping us!

Wallace stretches the field to open up the middle for Casey and the running game....and Casey keeps the Safeties honest to open the deep ball for Wallace....and Casey over the middle with Wallace@Ginn on the outside opens the flats for CJ to tear it up....or Casey intermediate to deep middle opens up CJ across short middle to shake and bake his way to the endzone. LOL

Your turn....fit Quinn, Ronnie, Bess, and Cam into this equation...oh, and can't forget Fasano too. Sorry to give you more guys to do. Haha.

By the way- this now gives us 3 Wildcat QBs: Ronnie, CJ, and Casey. Expand on that.
Can we run a double pass out of the Wildcat? Direct snap to Ronnie who passes it right side to Casey...who passes to 4.3 Spiller on a deep wheel route out of backfield!! Did I already say booyah?
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motor, heart, passion, and intelligence...This is Jeff irelands code, and is a reason to be hopeful when the genious retires.

 

I actually didn't know that about Ireland. Glad to see great minds think alike! I hope he's taking Ridalin up the yinyang to learn as much as he can from the master!
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I like that...

Iam of the opinion that the wildcat could morph itself into a total smashmouth style of play...with a little twist of course.

The way Smiley pulls, the way Jake can line up at guard, groves gettin some push, and let casey take the field for chad on certain plays, ronnie n ricky totin, daaaaaaaaaaaam.

 

Curse of the devil, Padre. we just talk about Gartrell Johnson, and Drew Boylehart just listed him as a 1st round talent.

dammit Drew!! Now people are going to see what he said, and we won't be able to draft him in the 6th or 7th!! LOL.

 

That's a great point that I don't think very many people, if any, look at in this new light. Maybe not even Tuna himself, which is all very possible since we're all human.... and even the greatest of us can't see every angle.

With the right personel this could be like the "wishbone" of the NFL. LOL. Simple but a nighmare to defend against!! And you're right... it actually could be a form of a smashmouth attack, and not the pussyfoot one we've come to regard it as.

 

Gartrell Johnson:
"Gartrell is a power back with excellent agility and vision. He runs with a purpose and is the type of back that will take over the fourth quarter for you and seal the game. He gets stronger as the game goes on and is the type of back that needs to carry the ball 20 to 30 times a game to be effective. Gartrell is very smart and reads the blitz better than most QB's coming out of college. He is excellent at blocking a blitzing LB. He has very good hands out of the backfield to go along with his on-field leadership. Gartrell knows how to set up his blocks and shows good vision in the hole. He cuts with balance and power; he will run through a lot of arm tackles. Gartrell is one of the better all around complete backs in this draft. He will be a core player and fan favorite and very possibly a franchise back for the team that drafts him. "

"He runs with the same style as Marion Barber III (RB Cowboys), but he is smarter and more of a complete back. Gartrell is a MLB's nightmare. He will run all day at the MLB and wear him down so that in the fourth quarter tackling Gartrell becomes a big problem. That is when Gartrell will take over a game and start breaking longer runs from scrimmage. This kid is a winner and is a team player. He runs and plays with excellent pride and understands his role in the offense. Draft him and your running game will become very productive very quickly." -Drew Boylehart (man of wisdom)

 

I could see the Dolphins taking Gartrell Johnson as a fullback, but not a straight up halfback. The thing you have to pay attention to with Gartrell is that he makes a superb effort to do all of the little things right. He'll block, he'll catch the ball, he'll play special teams, if you ask him to bulk up and make the transition to lead blocking he'll do that with great effort and intensity. He's a slower, bigger and more powerful Patrick Cobbs.

But when you get right down to it, he will hardly ever break off 20+ yard runs. He's the only guy I can think of, off the top of my head, whose fourth gear might actually be slower than third gear.

One of the analysts brought up a great point about him which is that if he's never going to get any faster, then you might as well get him to go bigger and stronger. If your weakness will never become a strength, go the complete other direction and turn your strength into something to be feared.

 

I see now that PFW has him as a 2nd rounder, ahead of Sean Smith. This has to be a case of them both rating him mostly on triangle numbers and potential over anything else. But, when I see PFW also include him it has more credence to me than if just Kiper alone did so.

 

I agree with that... although it only takes 2 5's to make a 10.... and string a few tens together and before long you have a TD, only you used up more time while wearing down the D.

I'd rather have a guy who doesn't have a single run for more than 20 yards on the season but consistently moves the chains and eats up the clock so Brady has less time on the field... than a RB who has the speed to take it the distance, but leaves us in more 3rd and longs.... and gives our D less time to rest. I'm all about clock management, turnover margin, and wearing down a D to win the 4th quarter battle. IMO of course. LOL.

 

This is the EXACT way to maximize anyone's potential in any regard, line of work, etc. A weakness is usually a weakness for a reason. Typically our neural network has created it to be one from an early age. Ditto goes for a strength. You can work on it all you want, but no one will see as much improvement from a weakness as they will from the same time spent on a strength.

There's an entire physchological aspect to this topic that I can expand upon if anyone likes. It is my background after all. LOL. It's one of the reasons why some WR's will never become great route runners no matter how hard they practice. Cough cough.... Teddy Ginn possibly an example.

 

Drew wouldn't make something up if Rhona Mitre promised it would net him a BJ. Sorry... not trying to poop in your Corona, Padre. I know what you're saying. I think Boylehart's one of the few exceptions to the rule.

I liked McCoy a lot too.... until I found out he doesn't like to block. That's a no-no. Have you had a chance to watch Peerman?

 

I like Peerman a lot... but IMO now that I think about it... if we're going to go after a smaller back, I'd rather just go all out and get someone who is really explosive. I could be wrong.

NC State people have been talking about Brown all year. Guess they were onto something. LOL. Ditto on McCoy. I only got to watch Johnson in his bowl game and Shrine game.... and he looked awesome in both....especially against decent competition in the shrine. In his shrine game "interview" after he broke a run, he seemed like a great kid who just wants to be the best he can be. I take those players all day long over ones with nothing more to offer than a ton of talent.

 

Speaking of Oklahoma's offensive line, if there's a better Guard out there than Duke Robinson then I haven't seen him. He's so dam consistent and such a good player in my opinion. What I love about his game is that he handles his assignments and then handles Jon Cooper's as well. Its very impressive in my eyes that he can do both jobs when needed. I was sitting back and watching him against Oklahoma State and its very interesting to watch defenders and blitzing linebackers go in his direction very fast and then suddenly stop like they hit a brick wall.

 

Johnson is good too but no where near Duke IMO. I think there's a spot for Duke and that's at RG. Donald Thomas is coming off an injury and has only played one career game. I think while he spent time at LG at Oklahoma, he will have balance issues at the second level and looks to have trouble opening his hips to get to the moving target at the second level. At RG though, he's very good. A mauler in the run game and does a tremendous job of mirroring because of his good feet. The biggest issue that I've noticed with Duke in pass protection is when quicker interior defensive linemen give him a step in one direction and then go in another. I think he may have trouble with the mind games but outside of that, he's a fantastic player.

 

I know this is way OT.

But, I wanted to mention this as it has been bugging me for a while now. I think there are some sneaky nose tackle candidates in this draft that general public doen't know about.

Dorrell Scott is one player that I got a lot of flack for in my Mock Draft, but he's a dam good nose tackle candidate. But here's a real dark horse candidate for you all to mull over:

Ricky Jean-Francois. I'm not kidding, just watch #90 for a while and tell me he doesn't look like an undersized nose tackle. He's lean and relatively tall, but he can stack and shed like you wouldn't believe. He is better when he can take on one blocker, but he may be able to translate that ability to holding up against the double team better.

But he stacks and sheds at a very high level; one that few other players can match IMO. He could be a dark horse guy for teams that like a smaller NT.

 

Wont Get any flack from me about Scott. If it were up to me, I'd use 2B on him so we don't miss out on him in 3. People don't realize he played with a bum knee most of the year. He is a Total BP type player! And his versatility is like having Max Unger on the DLine. Scott is so much more of an impact than anyone realizes....and will definitely be a better NFL player than college. If I'm the Chargers, I'm passing on Tyson Jackson in the first and grabbing Dorell in the 2nd as my future Igor replacement.

So is his replacement as head DT behind him, Jarvis Jenkins. Watch this kid next year, Con. You'll want him at Nose after seeing him play...if big 99 hasn't already caught your attention!
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Ricky Jean's a late rounder now no? If so, how would he be as 3rd down pass rusher from NT. I hate that we keep looking at OLB/Roth as the only means to upgrade our pass rush like Padre and MrClean agree.
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I really, really like Herman! A lot! He's a little behind Duke in play right now, by IMO in 2-3 years will be the most dominat RG in the NFL. The kid's just finishe growing, so I can't wait to see how he plays when finally catches up to his body!

If I were the Eagles, I would be making every attempt to draft Loadholt in the 2nd at Rt and then House Herman in the 3rd.
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No pass rush from him really. Not that type of player. I have him as a 4th rounder because he has very little lateral agility and is tight hipped. He can slide a step or two, but after that he will to turn and run. But, he has the base to handle the position. Dude is a tough guy to root out of there.

Trust me, I took flack on the Scott pick, but I expect that from the masses, and I knew it wouldn't be pretty.

And yeah, I've noticed #99. I've seen a few guys that have caught my eye for next year already.

 

[COUGH]Jerry Hughes[/COUGH] is a name for next year.

Jerry is dominant. TCU's constant conversion of running backs to defensive ends is tremendous and Jerry is another one. What's interesting about him is that he 'accidentely' became a pass rusher. He was asked to come in at 224 pounds and showed up at 298. One helluva accident I tell ya. Him and Greg Hardy are going to be something to watch. Quite interested to see where their stock goes. Brandon Lang of Troy is another name. Raw defensive end but surprisingly, very fluid in coverage. He's a guy to watch as a weak side rusher next year. James Ruffin of Northern Iowa could be the next guy who goes up draft boards ala Lawrence Sidbury Jr.

Another name for next year that caught my eye while watching Boise State is cornerback Kyle Wilson. 5'11", 190 I believe and a good cover corner from what I've seen. Hellish quick and closes well. He's a no-show in run support though. Alterraun Verner of UCLA is another name that I've harped on. Like him a lot. Justin Rogers of Richmond is another kid and C.J. Bailey of Southern Miss is a small school CB that's pretty good.