SI's top 45 Draft prospects

Oh lol. No one in particular that I know of.

Larry seems like he may have overran that play after getting off the blocker.

 

Robert Brewster OT and Darius Hill TE for Ball St. on offense.

 

Thanks Con. Brewster is the one against English correct? If so, he moved his feet and used his hands well on that 3rd down. English applies pressure again with two double-spin moves though. Also, is it just me not being able to identify him or is he not on the field on the first two downs?

 

They are rotating I think 99 for him, and they switch him around a bit too. The way he plays I can understand why he'll need a blow once and a while.

 

Hill looks amazing.

 

They matched him up one on one with Larry English on the play before the touchdown I believe. English threw him aside. He also dropped the long ball earlier right off his hands.

EDIT: Nevermind, I got him confused with someone else.

 

He's dropped a few

 

English either doesn't have an inside move or has chosen to save it for the second half.

 

That's what I was thinking as well. Only time I actually saw him do something inside was when he went up against Madaris Grant, the Tight End. He overpowered Grant and then used the swim technique, going inside. He's faced a lot tonight though, I've seen him face combos of RT/RG and then the RT/TE and then LT/LG. He did overpower the Left Tackle with :15 left in the 1st half. He disengaged and then threw him aside, with the Tackle stumbling on his feet. He lined up wide (at the 1:55 mark in the 2nd) and went too far down, taking himself completely out of the play. Other than those specifics, he's been around the ball on almost every play.

I'd be interested in learning more about Robert Eddins, the Ball State Sophomore 'end. He's 6'3", 225 and he's a 3 down rusher for them. Does anyone else know anything more about him? He needs to gain weight no doubt and I only saw him on the batted ball, in which I thought he used his hands very well to get off the blockers (there was two) and got his hands up.

 

Yeah, but if he showed a consistent inside move it would be harder to double using a back on a regular basis, or if you did, it would mean he'd have set up inside more. Plus it would take away the ability of the offense to run dump passes or screens to that side.

 

That's a good point. That's definitely one of his knocks.

Did you hear the grade that the scout gave to Nate Davis? He said he's a third to fourth rounder whose now gone up to second to third round pick. He says that he may be on the short side at 6'2" and that they want to see him find his passing windows outside of the pocket I believe he said. Earlier they brought up the gloves and asked him about it. He said he had a lot of trouble taking snaps under center I think he said so he went to the gloves and has been fine since.

 

In this year's class, he probably would be a 2-3 rd guy if he came out early.

But, will he, he looked as though he could play though.

 

That's where I have him right now as well. Mid second to early third. I've seen him in the fourth round but I disagree with it. I wouldn't mind him here. He most certainly needs to work on some things but I think that he can be a good player. Looked good tonight and looked like he could play as you said.

 

What did you think? I think he's a legitimate target for Miami, especially as the FO have never shied away from early picks on small schoolers, DeMarcus Ware and Kendall Langford being the most obvious recent picks.

 

Just catching up on 3 Georgia Tech games to see if I can see what Chris likes about Michael Johnson that I'm missing; first one is the Clemson game and 2 Tiger players stand out on defense, Dorell Scott the big senior NT at 6'3, 310 is a really solid player in that 3rd round area. Just fundamentally sound and whilst Spp and stone cold future first rounder Da'Quan Bowers run around, he's the rock in the middle who just gets a beat on his man off the snap and makes play after play. Gets good leverage and looks as strong as an ox. Bowers is just going to be stunning. You can see why ESPN had him as the #1 overall prospect in the nation.

Sapp has a great first step and flies to the ball, but at 6'4, 240, he's unlikely to be a Dolphin.

With regards Tech, the one disappointment is that Andrew Gardner is having his NFL future neutralised by the Tech option offense. He's gone from being a decent 2nd tier prospect into a guy who simply plays in a 4 point stance at dives at DE's feet. I'm almost glad that he's injured for the rest of the season.

 

As Con said, I think he most certainly needs to develop an inside move so offenses keep their backs in as blockers and he'll take away screens on his side of the game. He would become more dominant that way. He's relentless, has a great motor and he showed me that he has more than one move in his arsenal. I saw him play a couple of other times and all I saw was the speed rush from him. Last night, I saw him a spin move, double-spin as well. They weren't effective at all times but he did apply pressure a couple times. However, in the run game, I saw him line up wide and plays were ran his way. He went too wide sometimes and took himself out of the play. I also saw a few plays in a row where the OT got his hands on him and it was over. I realize that he won't dominate every down but I thought it was something to point out. I think that he'll be targeted for the reasons you stated. Also because I think he can be a good OLB in the 34 scheme. He's a hard worker and from what I've read from other players is that he's gotten much better this year despite only having 4.5 sacks so far. Last year he had 10.5 I believe but wasn't playing with a broken thumb like this year. He's doubled his batted balls and fumbles forced from last year. I think that he showed that he can play well against higher level of competition as he had 2.5 sacks against Tennessee last year. I have a question about him though, do you think he needs to dip his shoulders to get lower? I can't remember how well he did that last night, I forgot to write it down.

 

OK so I'm 3/4's through this first game on second take. I watched it on first take to watch 4/5 prospects through and then I'm rewatching it with Johnson in isolation. Obviously I saw him last year when he came in mainly on 3rd downs, but now he's being asked to play downs one and 2. For the first 3 quarters, he's not made a single play on first or second down. By that I mean, he hasn't made a tackle, he hasn't pressured the QB and he hasn't even forced a play inside by sealing an edge. A microcosm of his game and indeed his career for me came with 4.04 to go in the 2nd quarter. Clemson had a 2nd and 6 in Tech territory. Johnson is the RDE and Cullen Harper hands to Jamie Harper. The line cave in to the right blocking down the line leaving Johnson with a free tackle on Harper. He only has the FB between him and a stop in the backfield. But he doesn't attack the LOS. He instead allows the redshirt freshman FB Chad Diehl to get into him. He bends at the waist and tries to grab Diehl at his shoulders. Diehl gets his hands inside him and on making initial contact at the 44 and a half yard line, drives Johnson - 5 inches and a stone heavier - back like he's on roller skates to the 40 which allows Harper the first down (he fumbled and the Yellow Jackets got the ball back, but that's beside the point).

When Johnson DID disengage, the play was still live and only a few feet from him. Did he re-direct and try and knock Harper down? No. He jogged over like he was working off a hangover on a Sunday morning stroll around the park.

I've seen this kid be good off the edge. Very good. But it's all too inconsistent. Not once through three quarters has he had a pressure on either Cullen Harper or Willy Korn. If this is a guy who's going to either go in the top 5 or to Miami at some stage in R1, then he has to be a hell of a lot better than this. And this isn't isolation; this is a continuaton of previous viewings.

 

Do you mean whilst he's rushing the QB around the edge? It depends on how tall the tackle is and how quick. If he can get his shoulders low and can lean almost into the tackle at pace and get around him, then it's a hell of a skill to have.

 

Yeah, when he's rushing the QB around the edge.

Ah alright. Thank you.

 

Now if I can offer a differing point of view, I am in the process of watching Johnson take on UNC. Very first play of the game, he runs completely around the offensive tackle like this is a game of madden, forcing pressure on the passer and I believe an intentional grounding penalty. He then has a prolonged absence from the game during which UNC runs the ball down Georgia Tech's throat and eventually gets the touchdown. I don't know why he was out, I have to assume some kind of health or equipment thing, but he's been playing regularly since so it isn't like they're suddenly making him a part time player again.

He comes back in, and you can immediately tell that with his size and the way he keeps his hips and his body low, you can't block the man low. He drops you down and you go to the ground, he goes right by you. You complained that he didn't seal the edge and force the runner inside, I saw two specific instances when he did exactly that against UNC in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the GTech line started to break down again and get gashed for big holes, but on one play Johnson came from the backside over to track down Draughn and tackle him for a 6 yard gain that would have been a 60 yard gain if Johnson wasn't athletic enough swipe aside the fullback like he wasn't there and then track a fast back down for a short gain just as he's getting toward open real estate. A play later, UNC gets cute and thinks they're going to run right at Michael Johnson, they send Bobby Rome the fullback at Johnson and I swear to god Rome might as well have been a midget, even though he weighs as much as Johnson. He didn't even move him in the slightest. He made a good pop, one that you could hear, but there was no movement from Johnson, and then Rome falls to the ground, and then Johnson makes the tackle for only a 2 yard gain. Two plays later, Johnson swipes aside a tackle, takes on a fullback, and gets in on the next tackle for only a 1 yard gain. And then on 3rd & Long from mid-field Butch Davis fears the Georgia Tech pass rush so much he does something I'm not sure I've seen before, he calls for Cameron Sexton to take a knee on 3rd down with 3 minutes remaining in the game, to give their punter a little more room to try and get the punt inside the 20.

So, I've never tried to say this guy is consistent. This is first year playing full time. To try and pretend that this guy can't work against the run, I just don't see that because he does walk the walk, just not often enough. Last year I was very critical of Vernon Gholston being considered for the #1 overall pick, and I think rightly so because that pick was just too high...and yet Boomer made an argument for Gholston over Long based not on what the guys look like right now but what they COULD look like a few years from now. If that's the case, I think you have to like Michael Johnson a little bit based on the ability that he shows, but that he has not necessarily shown consistently. Because of his history as a part time player and the struggles he has had with cramps and dehydration, I treat him basically like a junior. Would I consider this guy if I were picking in the top 5? No, I don't think I would. But Miami's not going to be picking in the top 5. They're going to be picking between 15 and 22, IMO. If Johnson falls that far, yeah his potential does warrant consideration, if you can get through his injury and character history and you decide he is a hard worker and that he can accept and learn from coaching.

BTW, I like Derrick Morgan and Daryl Richard, and we already talked about Morgan Burnett. Hakeem Nicks is quiet in this game basically because of the UNC play calling and their lack of execution not putting them in position to get plays out to the WRs much, but Brooks Morgan looks pretty good, he made a great running leaping stab at a ball while his man coverage was blocking his view. That was pretty nifty.