I suppose I'll reserve comment until I can put video up to explain what I'm talking about. I just don't know when that is. I'm not sure if I should go ahead and just post videos galore as I process each game, or if I should wait for some big unveiling and try and keep it so that the videos are used more exclusively for Universal Draft.
Going back to SOLB's for a minute. If Marvin Austin's teammate Bruce Carter was an inch or two taller and 10lbs heavier, then you'd be looking at something close to the perfect guy because of his ability on the tight end. I think he'll probably end up the weakside, but I think he reminds me of Keith Bullock when Bullock was at Syracuse; quick, rangy and fundamentally very solid.
Boom, would you switch to a 4-3 if Derrick Morgan and Carter fell into our laps in 1 and 2 considering: Wake, our Dline, and the ease of which we could probably pick up Derrick Johnson? Would CC be better suited back in the middle of a 4-3? Posted via Mobile Device
About the 3-4, 4-3 thing...I think we should give some real thought to it. You're trying to find more ways for Cameron Wake to get on the field. Well, what is he if not a 4-3 RDE? Find a 4-3 LDE (perhaps just go with Kendall Langford) and then you can stick Randy Starks in the middle at DT somewhere, and you know he'd be nothing short of fantastic. It's probably easier to find a guy that can play the 1-technique than a guy that plays the 0-technique. It's just something to think about based on the available talent. The Patriots have gone to a 4-3 because their personnel matches it, and I think they had to know that could be in the cards for them the moment they drafted Jerod Mayo.
Are a lot of you doing what iam doing when it comes to ronnie brown? Dont wanna think about it, just wanna know that he will be healthy and signed come training camp, and not have to worry about the position in the draft at all...But? what if one of those 2 things don't come true? First of all, i'd be misreable as hell, secondly, imo, Jon dwyer moves up the chart bigtime..
Merling's natural position is LDE, and he's pretty darn good at it.... better than he is a 3-4 DE. Phil's frame is naturally leaner and more athletic, so I hated seeing him being asked to bulk up and become more like a DT. And it'd be easier to find 4-3 OLB's in FA and the Draft this year. Switching to a 4-3 would be a very easy fix IMO compared to staying with a 3-4. The only position that we'd have to wait and see about and possibly have to fix next year is Crowder. If we decided to switch to a 4-3, it would be an absolute dream to use Langford and Cam to trade up for Suh!! Could you guys imagine Suh and Starks playing side by side?!!! Or even Starks with Dan Williams, Austin, or Bryan Price. I'd love to see our Dline become our Defensive strength and dominate teams. IMO switching to a 4-3 would be the quickest & easiest way for our defense to gain an actual "strength"..... and long term strength at that considering the youth we'd have at the position. A DLine of: Derrick Morgan - Price or Williams - Starks - Wake would give me goosebumps!! (with Merling rotating in at DE on run Downs and DT on passing, and Soliai subbing at nose.) We could even add Wooten to our board as a high priority for LDE. There's a slew of DT's that could fit into this equation this draft.... or even Vince Wilford. Our "4-3" D could be sured up pretty damn quickly with Wilford, Derrick Johnson, Derrick Morgan/Wooten, and Bruce Carter..... LOL. Then my 1st four picks (if we can nab a top WR in FA) would be DE, OLB, DT, TE. If we could somehow grab Vince, Derrick Johnson, and a top WR in FA then my board would be: 1. DE Morgan/ Wooten 2. OLB Bruce Carter 3. CB Javier Arenas 4. TE Jimmy Graham 6. WR Taylor Price 6. RB LeGarrette Blount
Personally I'm fine with Ronnie and Lex. I'd rather tag Ronnie and hope for a 3rd for him..... and then use our 6th or 7th on Blount. LeGarrette is more of a power running back than Ronnie IMO and would be a nice 1-2 punch with he and Lex wearing teams down..... plus he hasn't really played all year so his legs should be fresh.
Awka Onusa-Ansah, the Indiana PA cornerback, is injured and was benched toward the end of the regular season because of his very poor play according to coaches. The major issue is that his injury could sideline him for the Shrine Game, which was where he was suppose to audition himself against better talent. Expect John Clay and Gabe Carimi to stay with Wisconsin for another year. If you guys remember, I reported a while back that Carimi was very interested in the NFL but Wisconsin coaches would do everything they can to keep him in school. Well, looks like they may have been successful in doing that. Toby Gerhart is likely headed to the Draft. It all depends on what grade he gets because if he doesn't like it, he'll come back another year and try to raise his stock. If that fails, he will play baseball. Jahvid Best will NOT go to the NFL Draft unless he gets a first round grade. Arizona's Rob Gronkowski is very likely to be part of the 2010 class. Jake Locker is still 50/50. Expect Eversen Griffin to return to USC unless he gets a high grade which is unlikely because there are reported to be "major" character issues with him. Boise State's Titus Young is likely to be in the Draft. BYU's Harvey Unga is likely going to be in the Draft. Miami has scouting Colorado State's OT Cole Pemberton heavily, including a personal visit and break down of him.
Also, a MAJOR issue with Jimmy Clausen's stock right now. Scouts feel he's done developing on the field and they feel that he can't hold any more weight on his body. If you remember, I reported that they questioned his build and that still remains. Also, his father is ready to pull an Archie Manning and make sure that Jimmy will go to a team where he can be successful. Teams don't want to deal with that and that's huge right now.
This seems head on with me. I'm in the vast minority on this one, but I see bust potential in Claussen, or at least underperformance potential. Who in the country has been coached up more than this guy since high school or middle school at that? Has he reached his ceiling? I just don't see anything terribly special about him- he throws a nice ball for college, but his arm doesn't thrill me, nor does his mobility. I just don't see it.
I like his arm, honestly. I think he throws a quality deep ball down the sidelines. I also think he's got pretty good accuracy. What bugs me about him is his decision making. Sometimes, I wonder if he knows what he's doing out there. He'll have a Hi-Lo read and he'll have the Hi read wide open while the Lo read has a defender closing in on him and he makes the throw there, leading to an incompletion. I don't think he has the ability to be one of the best in the league. I just don't see it. I can see him being a good quarterback though. Great? I don't see it but I've been wrong many times. Also, two other things - one on Clausen. It's said that he's a bit arrogant and that can be an issue on the field. The other thing that I wanted to say was that Navarro Bowman WILL be entering the Draft. I can't see him falling out of the top 45 picks, despite his past troubles. Too talented but you never know.
Toby Gerhart will probably go back to Stanford. He's not getting as high a grade as he expects. Matt Forte, Brian Leonard arent really setting the world on fire and I dont see Gerhart getting anything higher than a 3rd round grade. I would imagine he sees himself as better than that
Yeah that's what I noticed as well but apparently he has another year left because he redshirted in '07.
A very interesting name is Ali Villanueva. 6'10, 285 pound tight end who made the transition from Tackle and he's a Belgium kid. Caught him yesterday in the Navy-Army game.
you may want to explain who he is Alen for us soccer neophytes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsène_Wenger Arsène Wenger, OBE[2] (born 22 October 1949 in Strasbourg) is a French football manager who has managed English Premier League side Arsenal since 1996.[3] He is the most successful manager in the history of Arsenal in terms of trophies and is also the club's longest-serving manager.[3][4] Wenger is the only non-British manager to win the Double in England, having done so in 1998 and 2002. In 2004, he became the only manager in FA Premier League history to go through the entire season without defeat. Wenger is widely regarded as one of the world's best managers after the success he has enjoyed at AS Monaco and Arsenal. Wenger has a degree in Electrical Engineering and a master's degree in Economics[5] from Strasbourg University and is fluent in French, German, Spanish and English; he also speaks some Italian and Japanese.[6]
Wenger's the true teacher. He, along with his staff, identify young talents around the world that are usually under 19 and purchases them for an extremely low price; i.e. $350,000. He builds them up mentally and physically and when he feels it is their time to go, he sells them for millions. He once bought Nicolas Anelka, a striker of France, for $800,000 IIRC and sold him for $22.5M.
Never heard of him, but he looked familiar, and he looks like an interesting fellow. I like this quote: "There is no better psychological education than growing up in a pub... I learned about tactics and selection from the people talking about football in the pub - who plays on the left wing and who should be in the team." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsène_Wenger
From what I'm reading, he didn't make the transition from Tackle to Tight End, he made it to Wide Receiver. He's certainly really intriguing, but there's the military issue. I've read that he has to give at least two years of active service before he can apply to be released and play football professionally, but I don't remember Kyle Eckel having to do that either.
You're correct, he was moved to wide receiver but he's viewed as a tight end at the next level. He's been invited to the East-West Shrine Game. Yeah, two years but I think you can be released early.
I watched Idaho on Saturday night and got to see Iupati for the first time. This kid is a beast. If Smiley's shoulder is done, then despite the invested money on the OL, there are worse options.
FYI guys, I didn't want to start a thread on it, and I definitely don't want to be seen as spamming, so mods, feel free to delete this, but a semi-big blog site where I am the Miami Heat blogger is looking for an NFL Draft Blogger for this year... I know a lot of great Draft writers are on our board, so I figured I'd ask... so PM me and I'll let you know where to contact who you'd need to (or at least check their site out)
Iupati is very good. Really like him pulling and he creates massive holes. I just don't like how hops and flips his hips when pulling. Contacted.
IMHO he will be gone before we target that position .... but he does not look like the type guy that would "fit" in Miami ... again IMHO only ..... but a DAMN good player I agree FWIW .... I personally think you look at a more "in line" power and strength guy that can handle some slants and quick pulls with some limited area quickness, rather than a open field athletic pulling guard (they traded Satele if they really wanted that) and I do understand Iupati is much more than JUST that..... and I would look for a guy with a lot of starts in a major conference....so I personally look at someone like John Jerry from Ole Miss or Mike Johnson from Alabama......the other guys I would look at a some athletically limited OT's that project to be guards but still have enough AA to move in small areas and have some versatility in that they CAN play OT for short periods....guys like Chris Scott from Tennessee or Kyle Jolly from UNC......... thoughts?
I don't have any but I've heard NFL Draft Scout is pretty good for the price. I think Die_Nasty has it, IIRC so you might want to PM him.
Don't buy that. He's a 3 year starter and does a phenomenal job at the point of attack. He bends, he's strong as an ox and he engulfs you. Then he flashes big time athleticism for a guy his size on the move. He gets great leverage, locks and redirects. I also like Mike Pouncey at Florida although I think his brother's better. Rodney Hudson at FSU should add some weight because if he beefs up, then he has a future because he's tremendous at the second level.
I'd disagree, they most certainly want pulling guards. They signed Justin Smiley basically minutes into free agency in '08. He was the first player signed, and Smiley is basically a pretty good pass protection, a mediocre in-line guy, and an excellent pulling guard. Justin Smiley when he's healthy is nice, but Iupati reminds me of Jamie Nails. And Jamie Nails was a bad mother****er. Justin Smiley swings around the edge with a defensive back infront of them they're like "OK slow down and play the block and try not to get knocked down". When Jamie Nails pulled, defensive backs were like "****" and then "****"
