The more I look at this guy, the more I see him as a really athletic G. I could see him coming here and playing that position. Baker, whilst being a LT at USC is incredibly strong; 485lb bench, 600lb squat, and 353lb power clean. Baker, was a G to begin his career at USC, so the position is completely foreign. Also remember that Parcells likes guys who have a strong base, who can squat and clean heavy weight. He likes powerful, explosive players. A 600lb squat might be just that. One of the criticisms of Baker is that he can't handle moves across his face; a double move. It appears he is suseptible to this because his hands are not always quick. When you watch him, he gets a good punch and can dominate his man when blocking in line. But when facing speed, his hands let him down. As a result he lets defensers get to his body, and thus can be beat inside IMO. However, if he was to play inside against "slower" defenders he might excel. He is a good inline blocker, although if he has to go too long a distance to find his next target he'll be adequate at best. Playing inside will allow him to accentuate his strength in close quarters and help hide his inconsistent hand speed. He can do this, b/c he will have help on many plays. What do you guys think? Could he slip down to the third round after his slow times at his pro day workouts? He would be a steal at G there IMO.
i think he's a really good prospect at tackle for a zone blocking team. he has great feet, great at hitting targets on the move and a very good understanding of angles. he lacks the mauler mentality though. Still I think he could make it as a right tackle and would probably be really good as a guard, especially a pulling guard. I'm not sure he's the type however for moving piles
I would have no problem drafting this kid, even if we put him at either LG or RT, he could fill in for us if Carey went down at LT. I like the versatility.
I think that if we take anything other than a LT in the first round, Baker probably will be the most complete LT candidate to fall into the #32 pick, IF he falls that far. He played through pain this year after beginning with a cracked rib in August, and a pulled hamstring during the year. The real question which arises now is the 40 time at the USC Pro Day. Not having access to film, I have to wonder what that would show when he was playing against some of the quick high caliber DEs. Other than Baker, if we are going to be satisfied with Carey at LT, we could pick any number of Tackles who probably will not ever be able to adequately fill in at LT, which concerns me. That leaves us one pulled hamstring, or, Heaven forfend, a knee injury away from having the OL become very inadequate again.
