Its true that 2.5 sacks came against Tennessee but I think that it isn't all about the statistics. I've seen him get double teamed constantly because of all the pressure he applies. Ah thanks. I wasn't aware of him putting his hand in the dirt. I've seen him listed as a OLB.
I'm no expert but from what I understand the NFL's advisory board for underclassmen would not give Rafael Priest a very high projection. Everette Brown on the other hand is likely to get a 1st round projection. It sounds like you know a lot about the draft so I fully admit I could be wrong. However, if Priest got a 6th or 7th round projection he would probably stay in school and try to add some weight to his frame. Kamerion Wimbley has been playing pretty well for the Browns I thought. Reinard Wilson was drafted by the Bengals who run a 4-3 defense. Jamal Reynolds was drafted by Green Bay who run a 4-3 defense. His career was ended by injuries. Alonzo Jackson was not nearly as good as any of these other guys we're talking about. However, if you're right about FSU inflating their players's sizes then that's a problem. We'll see how Everette Brown measures at the Combine. He would definitely be less appealing to Parcells and Ireland at 6-3 245.
You're right. It isn't all about the statistics. However, a player with 12 sacks is probably applying more pressure than a player with only 2 sacks. Would you agree with that? Yeah, I saw that he was listed as an OLB too. Imagine my surprise when I saw him line up at DE and put his hand in the dirt. I kept waiting for him to stand up sometimes (like Mark Herzlich from Boston College) but he never did.
Thoughts on The Young Canes Players & NFL Draft Prospects I took notes on the play of players from Virginia Tech's shutdown CB Victor "Macho" Harris to Allen Bailey's two plays that I saw toward the end of the game. Here is my notes. Daryl Sharpton - LB - Had a big play early where he displayed his sideline-to-sideline quickness. He ran down the ball carrier. He was quiet rest of the night from what I saw. Graig Cooper - RB - Cooper showed great cutting ability tonight as he hurdled tacklers on the ground and sidesteped them as well. He displays good peripheral vision and he hits the edges quickly. I'm quite surprised by his quickness around the edge. I've seen him a few times as the Canes are my favorite team and I've never really seen him display the quickness. He doesn't seem to be fast down field either. When I watch him, he doesn't look that fast but runs a late 4.4 forty. He needs to cover up the ball though when running. He got stripped because he was holding it in one hand. Must cover up the ball man. Chavez Grant - CB - Didn't really catch much of the Canes DB's tonight as I was focused on other things. However, I did catch a play downfield to the Freshmen VT WR. Grant, whose a physical guy, didn't impress me with his ability to speed up after gearing down. He was incredibly slow on it after a stop and go route that was ran. He was beat pretty bad but the WR dropped it. Bruce Johnson - CB - He changes directions pretty well at the snap but displays bad leaping ability as it was clear on a deep ball that he was beaten on. He did turn his head around on the play though, which I liked. Sidesteps and looks in the backfield. Kam Chancellor - S - Coming into this game, I didn't see much of him and tonight, he didn't look bad at all, just a thing I don't like. I thought that he changed directions well and played well, specifically on a deep ball that he displayed great breaking on the ball but missed the interception. On a deep ball, he was covering a slot WR and he changed directions well as mentioned before but the concern I had with him was his top end speed and he was beat bad because he was so slow. Macho Harris - CB - Didn't really see much his way tonight but I got a look at him. He changed directions well and on a specific play early in the game, he flipped his hips very quickly. He is more of an interference tackler but laid the wood early in the 3rd quarter and may have knocked out our backup QB. He exploded from his feet and launched his body into Jacory Harris. He reads the run well as he made a couple tackles inside the five yard line. He gives you the sideline. Almost never gave the middle of the field. He's an emotional leader that will frequently speak his mind. Some don't like it. He gets off the blockers well (WR's only). Something I've never seen before but I saw him once turn his back to the WR on a screen play. Just walked away from the WR. He also sometimes hops up and down prior to a play or at the snap. I don't know what that's about. I hoped to see him get tested downfield tonight because I question his elite/top end speed but that didn't happen. This post was much longer and it included my thoughts on the Freshmen players of the Canes. Here's the post if anyones interested in reading it.
The role of the Advisory Board is to essentially try and turn kids back to school. I too believe that Priest would probably get a day 2 grade at this point, even though he's probably better than that. I'd be surprised if Brown got anything above a 2nd or 3rd round grade. Remember that Antoine Cason, a vastly better player as a junior than Brown is, got only a 4th round grade when he petitioned the Advisory Board. Wimbley has been hugely disappointing since his rookie year. Reinard Wilson, regardless of scheme was a dog. Reynolds did have injury issues but did little when he was healthy and whilst Jackson wasn't in the class collegiately, he was a 2nd round draft pick. Most universities inflate their players heights and weights. It's pretty rare to get the Combine figures and see that they match a university, even with the obvious give or take.
Thought the game yesterday was a bit blue apart from Jarrett Boykin's catch which was a doozy. Eric Berry's performance against Florida has been the highlight of the year for me in terms of pure athletic performance, but that catch was a keeper. As you rightly pointed out, Greg Cooper has to hang on to the rock. The two fumbles last week, the fumble yesterday night, it's something he has to correct. At QB, playing musical chairs works just so that offenses are never able to get into a flow. It's nonsensical. And as Jim Kelly said, Marve, as young as he is, butchers his progressions and reads, and uses his legs when he's in trouble. Look at Texas Tech, Graham Harrell, how he stands like an I in the pocket, times his throws and takes mustard off others, camouflages reads with his eyes, and then switch on to Jacory Harris, Robert Marve and Sean Glennon, and you wonder if you've gone from Bali to Baluchistan. Same goes for the Canes wide receivers, where you don't find the superior athletes of years past at WR. Scant group. Oh and, whoever replaced Jason Fox at LT was about as nimble as an elephant doing ballet. Poor kid really had to sweat every time in his drop kick.
Pink, I believe it was Reggie Youngblood who replaced Fox. He did struggle last night. Looked like he got off the LOS really slow. Come to think of it, almost all the pressure that forced Marve out of the pocket came from Youngblood's side.
Eric Wood, Mike Mickens and Connor Barwin will be on ESPN2 I believe tonight when Louisville takes on Cincinnati @ 8:00.
DeAngelo Smith I believe is the other corner for Cincinnati and he plays in the shadow of Mickens, but is a very solid player. He is not blazing fast, but he is steady and will provide run support more often than Mickens from what I've seen.
Never heard of him until now. Had a big year in '07 though, eight interceptions leading the nation. Has played both FS and CB.
Mickens = zone corner who shies away from contact. You are more likely to be a Miami Dolphin than this cat.
Yup, but many know more about Mickens than him. See there's the thing with watching a game sometimes, you see other players make an impact you never thought they would. Smith is in the hip pocket of the WR more than Mickens and actually flashes in run support.
Watching the OSU - Illinois game, Chris Wells is impressive but I think he runs upright and needs to hold on to the ball better. I have a question though, does anyone else think that his upright running style contributes to his injuries?
I think it has too. I believe Adrian Peterson has the same style and he has had problems. Taking shots to your body like that is going to limit your longevity as opposed to lowering your shoulder.
Wells has great feet for a big man. He's going to be very valuable to a ball control offense, but he HAS to stop putting the ball on the carpet. For me, Knowshon Moreno, if he comes out, is the factor back in this draft. He has a home run mentality and his shifty, make' em miss style is going to be very hard for teams to pass up.
At that NIU game watching our man Larry were scouts from the Cardinals, Carolina the Jets and the Bears who sent GM Jerry Angelo.
None of those names surprise me, as he could work as a DE in a cover 2 type scheme - getting up field. And it's obvious 3-4 teams will scout him as a OLB. Funny though, the Jets just drafted a guy who was supposed to be a 3-4 OLB..............Gholston I think it was.
I sure hope so. Also, after watching the Cincinnati-Louisville game twice, I like DeAngelo Smith more than Mike Mickens. Smith has good anticipation on routes and timing. He breaks passes up well. One thing that I don't like is that he gives a big cushion and I think that may go back to what Con was saying in regards to Vontae Davis. That long speed is questionable and either that philosophy is ran like that or they're using that to mask his long speed or lack there of. Despite that, I like Smith more. He's much more willing in run support.
And to think you'd never heard of the guy. Surprised you didn't he,.....just one of those guys that keeps showing up on the tape. Those guys get noticed more come draft time, he'll be drafted higher than he is ranked right now provided he shows up half way decent.
Well I was never a fan of Cincinnati and normally watched CFB as a fan. I love watching it now even more. He's a good player and I love the fact that he's around the ball carrier at all times in run support. That right there did it for me. He also had the hips unlike Mickens. Thanks for telling me about him by the way.
No problem. It is fun to watch games this way huh? You've got the bug my friend...... It also makes it hard to casually watch a game too, as you'll see yourself saying this guy has this, not that etc. The trick is to find those guys that very few people talk about, and find out that he is better or just as good as the other guy you originally watched.
I'm liking the bug. If I didn't, I wouldn't watched that 'Bama game at 3:30 in the morning or those other 5 or so games during the day.. That's true. For me, the hardest thing to watch is the interior offensive line. I spent time watching Eric Wood on that second go around of the Louisville-Cincinnati game and it was difficult but I made what I could out of it.
Try looking for the DT they are blocking, watch what he does and or doesn't. Chances are if you follow him, you'll find your C. Centers are hard sometimes because they help so much and they are asked to reach block more than any other O-lineman so they can look as though they are lunging. The more you look, the more you'll see. It will come, sometimes go about things backwards on occasion to get to where you're going.
Alen, it's no crime not to always be able to follow corners and interior linemen. I hate grading the latter. I always find Mr Clean in the Club is an absolute maven when it comes to interior linemen. And of course Tim (GRT8), which kinda goes without saying. It's interesting re: the corners this season because I've graded my corners first this season and SO MANY of them are playing off. It's not just Vontae Davis; it seems like the majority of the class is giving up a ten yard cushion.
Agreed. Maybe this isn't a strong man to man class, or there is a lack of pass rushing talent etc. Who knows, but I agree that compared to past years, this class is lacking the bump and run skill level.
Mr Clean is a very intelligent poster for sure. I don't know how one can be so good at grading interior linemen but I definitely give them props for doing it because I find it difficult and quite a pain in the ***. But you get better by grading OL.. I've never came across GRT8 but I wouldn't doubt that he knows his stuff as we have many great posters here. I thought about this very thing a couple days ago when I was going through the list of CB's. Vontae Davis, Mike Mickens, Macho Harris, DeAngelo Smith, and Malcolm Jenkins just to name a few. Jenkins is the only guy out of those that I've seen play bump and run a couple times.
There's a lot of great posters here. Mr Clean is must read. GRT8 is Tim who does what we like doing for a living. For obvious reasons he's not around here much.
Absolutely. Mr Clean, yourself, Con, CK, Da' Fins, and others are must reads. And of course my favorite, no disrespect to you guys as I appreciate what you guys do here so much, but Pink_Dove. Pink leaves me speechless after every post. Wish I could meet the guy lol. Re: GRT8 - That's awesome. Hopefully he gets a chance to chime in on draft day.
Agreed Alen, these guys are all must reads when it comes to the draft and I felt like a schoolboy when I was allowed to participate in last years online chat during the draft thanks to Boomer. You have no idea how much of a thrill that was for me after being in Australia for 5 years and being deprived of not only the NFL games but also the draft which I sooooo look forward too. Hell, I still even have copies of Dolphins Digest draft special in the year they took Eric Kumerow. Hows that for a blast from the past?
Anyone else watch this game? Impressive Quarterback play by Davis and LeFevour. Both can sling it down field as witnessed early in the game and impressed by the mobility by both Quarterbacks. Terrible defense by both sides. I've heard Zombo's name pop up a few times but everytime I attempt to locate him, he's not on the field or something else is going on. Hoping to see some good Right Tackle play tonight, I caught Robert Brewster of Ball State. He's a 6'5", 308 lbs Senior. He looked o.k. in the first half and average in the second. He has a bad backpedal and he's not very good in pass pro. Struggles against speed rushers. I think the CM defensive end blew by him at least three times. In run block, Brewster looked good though. Did a good job of opening up holes (as seen at the 8:38 mark in the 4th).
