The Sun-Sentinel started c-blocking access a few days ago, well on the way to becoming pay-only site. No access to this article, at least from my computer.
Apparently there's 15 article per month limit as of last April, so I'm guessing that most here will be ok.
Yeah I'm hearing the same thing, pay wall, can't get in. Bummer! Didn't realize they were doing that. No wonder they've been bugging Dave on their side about when these were going to start.
Just so everybody is aware, you can access the article through CK's twitter link without dealing with the pay wall. Excellent as always Chris
I just want it noted that Akron held him to 2 catches for 20 yards. Also, the RAC video had my eyes pop when the Troy highlights came up. Hell of a lot of movement for a guy his size.
This is one of the reasons I say you NEED to view all the runs and returns too. They need to count. You can't just isolate pure receiving production and pretend that's all that counts. Point being, what you saw on those catches either against Troy or Missouri or anyone else, is the same skill set you saw on those returns and run plays. I think my closing paragraph says it all. This is a 6'2" and 216 lbs. wide receiver with the pure speed on the hoof of Mike Wallace, and with the run after catch skills of Percy Harvin. Don't overthink it. (fine of me to say that, after writing 7500 words on him)
Maybe this will help: Four Ways to Get Around the Sun-Sentinel Paywall Well, the Sun-Sentinel paywall went up on Monday, and it appears to be operating at full steam -- which means that once you read 15 artlcies, you're SOL until next month, trapped behind the paper's new Press+ "digital memberships" system. And, unlike the New York Times paywall, links from Facebook and Google count toward your total. You're really locked out. Except that the paywall is more of a payspeedbump, and there are all kinds of ways around it. http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2012/04/sun-sentinel_paywall_get_around.php
Well, as you know Chris, I've already developed a man-crush on Cord, and this nice bit of work did nothing to dissuade me. If Ireland should happen to swing and miss on both Wallace and Jennings, it would be really hard to ignore Patterson at #12. Hell, in such a doomsday scenario, I'd do what I could to move up and make SURE I got him. But we are talking about Jeff Ireland, here. *sigh*
I was gonna say, shortest damned Draft Winds evar. Then I saw the tab on the bottom to go to next page, or page 10. Crisis averted. Will read this at home. Great job in advance.
Thanks for that Chris, good read, I did skip to the end after a few pages, but will go back and read it at leisure again later! For any that can't access the S-S, you can clear your cookies and that will then "re-set" you and allow you another 15 access attempts, or if you're quick on the button I think you can click on the 'X' on your browser bar between the page first loading and the access block coming up. Didn't realise who Boomer was until reading the intro to your piece...and here was me posting to him a while back about who Jeff Reinebold was and that he was in the UK...d'oh, as someone famous once said!
My second favorite, right after the Mallet article which was awesome. You have to love football to select Patterson at 12. I don't think anyone in the Dolphins FO loves football.
I agree with the assessment that the Phins won't take him. He's a questionable head case (brain farter), seems to lack discipline and awareness. When Philbin asked him to draw up a play and coverage he said "Aw **** man, that guy just throw that ball and I catch it and run around some, damn"
He is NOT one of those dirty English Kanighits! Great right up, CK. Those of us who cannot fathom how you manage to do that, thank you!
I haven't coveted a prospect this badly since Eric Berry. If he's gone by 12, that's one thing, nothing you can do about that (well there is, but we all know Ireland won't move up, not in the 1st, he covets his 2nd rounders too much, the jonathan martin's, daniel thomas's, koa misi's and merling's of the world are just too valuable to him to give up). but if we pass, I will never live it down and this franchise will regret it big-time.
the real question is if we do pass on him, how far does he fall? the next 5 teams to pick are Tampa, Carolina, Saints, Rams, Steelers. Carolina could easily take him, Steve Smith's no spring chicken. if they pass, I don't see how STL could do the same, their WR corps was only slightly better than ours and they might lose their leading wideout Amendola to FA. same situation with Pittsburgh and Mike Wallace, Patterson would be a hell of a replacement for them. If a Millner fell to 12 and we took him then traded back up into the 1st for Patterson I'd be completely fine with that but I don't see a talent like CP tumbling into the 20s because he'd have to get by all those WR needy teams that pick directly after us. and if we move back into the 1st, all the way up to say pick #20 (Bears) to leapfrog Bengals at 21 and Rams at 22, you can say goodbye to both our 2nd rounds picks and maybe even another mid round pick. ***then again, this is all under the assumption that these teams have CP rated as their top WR, if not then maybe he could fall down into a trade-up range, similar to Dez Bryant.
I really don't think he's going to fall to us to be honest. Also with the Carolina thing, he pretty much said it would be a dream come true to play for the Carolina Panthers.
Great write-up Chris! You should like, uh, fax this to Dolphins HQ. Pronto! I know you're flying solo, at least temporarily, but will future columns have the "Miami Meets", or just not enough man power as of yet?
the more i think about it, the less chance I see of him going top 10. really i think the only teams that would take him that high are the jets or bills. but think about this... millner joeckel fisher lane johnson floyd ansah jordan Geno warmack werner that's 10 names that i think will probably be among the first 11 picks. and i didn't even include the guys with the potential medical red flags like Star or Jarvis Jones. Rex Ryan is basically in a make or break year, would he really take a WR this raw with his first pick? yes, you can say the same about Ireland but at least he has a ton of cap space to dip into free agency and add established weapons like Wallace/Jennings/Finley/Cook. the jets don't.
I don't think Patterson goes top 10 either. We should have him among our pickens, and with he, Austin, Rhodes, and a few guys who may slide, the pickens is starting to look good. The great thing about playmakers like CP is they don't need an advanced knowledge of the playbook to see the field and get touches like an inexperienced Brian Hartline would.
Next week I'll be cleaning up some All Star/Combne standouts, especially Devin Taylor and Cornelius Washington. Week after that I'm pulling Simon out of retirement to do a feature on Xavier Rhodes. Tank Carradine is on my "want" list as far as doing a feature. And at some point, I'm not sure if I'll be shameless about it or coy, but I want to write up all the players I took in #MockTwo.
I'm really mixed in my views on this guy. From a pure ability standpoint, he's the only guy in this draft that I believe is in the Julio Jones/AJ Green class. Cord has great size and overall athleticism. The combination of the two is at an elite level, IMO. However, from a production standpoint, I'm left trying to find reasons why he wasn't a more productive receiver. When I watch him, I see the times where he shows that he may not be 100% focused on what he needs to do, but I also see times as I highlighted in a thread a week or two ago where he shows me that he at least has some understanding of the technique of route running and how you tell a story as a route runner. When you combine all of this, you come away with a guy who is a boom or bust guy. IMO, I don't think there will be any in between. He's going to either be really good, or he's going to be a monumental bust. Therein lies the risk with taking him, IMO. Personally, I'd rank him the top receiver prospect in the draft based mostly on his ability, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that there may not be another legitimate first round talent at this position in the draft.
I think what we really have is just a very gifted player who is maturing before our eyes. As for the production, you really need to observe what I was talking about with 1st year JUCO transfers. It's not common at all to evn make the kind of impact he did have. At 10+ yards per target, clearly a certain amount of his lack of production was just Tyler Bray not dialing up his number, choosing rather to dial up the player he'd been playing with for three years. And Tyler Bray himself is a freaking train wreck. Missed an incredible number of throws. Constantly in trouble with the law. Always a problem, rarely a solution. And as a guy recently said on another board, "I watched Julio Jones have an 8 yard game against Ole Miss and a 19 yard game against Florida.... followed by a 40 yard game against Miss St. Players aren't always force fed the ball no matter how dominant they are."
I was going too suggest Travis Kelce, but I already feel responsible for the Dolphins likely not having him available in the mid rounds.
True but I wouldn't be surprised if some scouts (who are in front offices ear) do use some knowledge from forums and or websites. I doubt it makes any decisions, but it certainly could raise some eyebrows.
Awesome write up CK. Looking forward to more of them. Who chooses the players you write about? You? Hyde? Both? Do you take requests/suggestions from the fans? Who do you think was a better prospect coming out, Dez Bryant or Patterson? Last, what other notable 40 times did you go by frame by frame? I saw you mention it in the combine results thread and in DW. Just wondering if anyone else stood out from their official times?
IMO, this is one of the problems with how the NFL acquires talent, if the FO has success doing that a certain way, they tend to always do it that way, and because the league tends to punish innovation they have little reason to change things up. Ireland very much learned from Peterson and Parcells, both used the "it starts up front" approach, thus Ireland does the same. Peterson landed Dante Hall from the AFL, Ireland had his largest success in Miami in Cam Wake from the CFL, Parcells had a 8 yr player in Jumbo Elliot etc etc What neither did well was draft playmakers with high picks, heck Petersons greatest successes came in trading for players like Marcus Allen or landing Priest Holmes. So for me there is a pattern that seems obvious.
