Xavier Rhodes CB FSU

Been doing a lot of tape watching the past few weeks and obviously as an FSU player I've seen an awful lot of Rhodes but have been catching up a lot in isolation. He certainly has he size hat Ireland likes although I don't think he's as tall as the guide book would have you believe. This isn't Dee Milliner. He's tough at the line of scrimmage. He can play bump and run or zone but when he plays bump and run, he's the only one of the top prospects at the position who consistently gets his hands on the receiver. He one hand jabs to the torso or the throat. What you immediately like about him is that he turns his head for the ball and he does so at the right time. What does that mean? Well one of my biggest criticisms of Milliner is that he stops his feet during a throw and tries to look back for the ball too early. It's what gets him beat more consistently than anything. Rhodes isn't like that. H has good anticipation and can find the ball. He will click and close very well when the throw is in front of him but his hips can be a little sticky when playing a real movement wideout. Watch the way that DeAndre Hopkins unbalances at him with extra movement early in his routes. Hopkins is excellent using his arms and his head to give the DB fits and Rhodes exhibits some stickiness. He would get off balance and lose his feet a little from underneath him and that would affect his ability to get back into the play.

You like a corner, especially one with his size, to play run and Rhodes does it well. He works hard to fight brought blocks and get to the ball carrier, much as Milliner does. This is one of the weaknesses of Johnthan Banks. However sometimes he likes to take on the lead man and ignore the ball carrier which is an irritation. Rhodes is a smooth athlete, he keeps low in and out of his breaks and then uncurls when he has to stretch his legs. He does a great job of getting his hands on the ball when the throw is in front of him, using his long arms to knock passes away and he will sit in trail very well. I wonder how fast he is deep down the field. He often looks to be really fighting to stay in the play but his length serves him very well. That said, against Michael Floyd in 2011 he s toyed with him stride for stride down the field and Floyd is a 4.42 forty runner.

I like his football intelligence; he reads the game well and he will break off his route to a pass thrown underneath him. I have to admit he reminds me a lot of Sam Madison.

Overall I'm a fan. I think it's a flawed class of corners. The top three guys - Milliner, Banks and Rhodes - all do things well, but all have issues. The more I watch of the class of players at all positions, it's a flawed class full stop. So in a way you pick your poison.

 

Great assessment on Xavier Rhodes. With that said I'd much rather invest in a receiving option for Tannehill such as Cordarrelle Patterson, Keenan Allen, or Tyler Eifert. If we were to go the secondary route I would assume that Dee Milliner would be off the board so the guy who strikes my fancy is Kenny Vaccaro. Vaccaro is a great complement to Reshad Jones and could really give the Dolphins a strong safety group for the next 5-7 years. Vaccaro has the ability to cover the slot receiver ad/or tight ends which is something that continues to haunt the Miami defense.

 

I love the physical element Rhodes brings. Love it.... especially for a secondary (ours) that's lacking in intimidation factor.

 

Vaccaro is overrated. He's Bernard Pollard with the ability to play the slot. He's out of control too often and too often he takes bad angles. He's no compliment whatsoever to a Reshad Jones. Their styles are very similar only Jones is significantly better. It's an adventure with Vaccaro when the ball is in the air because he's a liability with play action. Rarely have I graded a safety in all these years who can be so caught out to the tune of three or four steps at good play action.

 

Also apologies for the typos. iPad spelling sucks balls.

 

Who would you rather have at safety? Rambo?
I'm curious if Rhodes would have a greater impact at safety than corner TBH. To me he seems he could be a bigger, more physical version of Jairus Byrd.

 

I would go nuts having to type on an ipad (without the actual keys for my fingers to feel).

 

I agree with a receiving option for Tannehill, but are any of those guys #12 worthy? Patterson is slowly starting to turn into the Barkevius Mingo of wide receivers, raw but potential is through the roof. Knowing Ireland he is going to try and get someone ready from day one in the 1st/2nd not someone who's going to take a year or two until they start showing potential. Allen's definitely interesting but Robert Woods and Quitton Patton can do the same, if not more, and are available in the 2nd. Eifert is the best TE in this draft and I wouldn't mind taking him but not at 12.

 

You know back in 2010 when I told you that my gut told me that Jared Odrick would be the pick 2 months before the draft?

Well, this time, my gut is telling me that Xavier Rhodes will be the pick. Why? Because he is exactly the type of physical, big cornerback that I feel Jeff Ireland will certainly rate high in the draft. The debate between Rhodes and Banks will rage, and obviously, I will favor Banks because I think he has better ball skills and has better change of direction. However, I'm not Jeff Ireland. Jeff will want a defensive back that can run fit and be a force in the running game along with his coverage ability. I also think Miami would like to press at the line more, and Rhodes will probably be an option even if they do resign Sean Smith (have my doubts that they will come to an agreement).

 

Do you think we could move back some spots and still be able to take him?

 

You get used to it, it's like texting, spell check is a mother though.

 

He reminds me more of Aqib Talib than anyone else.

 

Your gut at the time (2 months) had Miami trading back and taking Odrick? Holy hell that's a bullseye.

I'm also down on Keenan Allen (at least, I should say, not as high on him as I am on Patterson) but to say Robert Woods is on his level is dishonest IMO. One guy Im really liking is Williams from Baylor.

I don't know how to grade or scout cornerbacks so I'm deferring to the experts here. Do you see a situation where Miami trades down 5-7 spots, depending who falls, hoping to nab Xavier Rhodes? If they do that, and pick up that extra 3rd or 4th + 5th, are we thinking trading extra picks away for future picks? No way we are bringing that many draftees in. That'd be insane and almost a waste of the resource.

I have this super strange gut feeling (similar to the above!) that Miami finds a way to trade one of these extra picks for a future, but nothing insane. Maybe the bottom 3rd for a future 2nd, a 4th for a future 3rd, that kinda thing. Especially if we end up that 4th round comp pick, I think there's no way we are leaving this draft with 10 draftees. Not a chance. You trade for the 2014 using one of those extra mid round picks and give yourself some extra ammo next year as well.

 

To me, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Xavier Rhodes is Seattle Seahawks.

 

To me, Rhodes is the type of player you'd draft and prioritize keeping as part of the defensive core for 10 years. IMO you can't say that about every 1st rounder.

 

Is Bernard Pollard a bad thing? Pollard was the best defender on the Super Bowl Ravens team in 2012. I don't see Vaccaro as overrated at all.

 

At that time, I thought they would take him at 12.

 

Here is my thinking.

In free agency, Miami is going to sign a wide receiver. Which one they sign, I don't know. I definitely feel they will sign a wide receiver though. Now, the question is, will they resign Brian Hartline. I happen to believe they will, which will bring up the question. If they invest something around $80 million overall in let's say Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline, I think it will be hard to justify taking a wide receiver in the first round. If those transactions are made, I think it is very, very likely that Sean Smith walks. While you could probably debate DT if Starks walks as well, I think cornerback will be the team's clear priority need if this happens.

 

This is why I haven't had us taking a receiver #1 this whole offseason, sign Jennings, sign Hart, draft a kid with your 2nd rounder..

 

I agree with this for the most part. There's no way they take a WR at #12 overall if they go out and re-sign Brian Hartline AND acquire a Dwayne Bowe/Mike Wallace/Greg Jennings. It's just not going to happen IMO. Maybe a 3rd round pick...but even that may be unlikely.

Corner will probably be the team's top priority but offensive and defensive tackle could be high as well, if they let Jake Long and Randy Starks walk.

If Jake walks they will probably be thinking that Jon Martin plays left tackle...which means they're back to last year's priorities that saw them drafting Jon Martin in the 2nd round. I'd look for a repeat of history with Kyle Long or hopefully Menelik Watson or Xavier Nixon.

If Randy Starks walk then you have to understand that from their point of view they're almost at square one with the defensive tackle position, as both Tony McDaniel and Randy Starks will be gone and both played key roles in the nickel defense which for most NFL teams has become essentially a base defensive package. They're only assets at the position would be Paul Soliai, who is more of a half-starter player...and then Kheeston Randall who played 148 snaps and looked like JAG.

Realistically unless they're thinking Jared Odrick moves to defensive tackle full time which I now doubt (they may even trade him), this position could become even more of a priority than offensive tackle. It may be as much a priority as corner. Especially consider that if they let Sean Smith walk, they're very likely to dip into the free agent corner market for his replacement.

 

Sheldon richardson come on down.....

 

I'd rather spring for Chance Warmack than an Offensive Tackle.

 

-Any chance you see a team willing to trade up for the likes of a Lane Johnson? The Rams need a LT in the worst way and have two first round selection.

-I don't understand why the Dolphins don't value Odrick as a 43 defensive tackle? It's more natural to him than a 4-3 than as a defensive end. Letting Starks walk and moving Odrick inside makes a ton of sense. I agree that DT is more of a need than we realize with Paul Soliai only having one more year on his deal. I wish there was a way Star Lotulelei fell to the Dolphins but he won't. I wish Bjoern Werner would fall but he won't. I wish Sheldon Richardson would fall and he will!

 

I definitely think you can make a case for a defensive tackle such as Shariff Floyd with our pick. It's not the sexy pick the fans or the owner wants, the latter making it highly unlikely IMO, but it can definitely be justified. I think it is more likely that Miami takes a defensive tackle in the 4th round area, and I honestly think they will be looking for one that may be a little smaller and faster than what Jeff Ireland would typically draft. I really think Kevin Coyle wants a penetrating type of tackle similar to Geno Atkins. They did give Andre Fluellen a look in practice last year and undoubtedly didn't see enough to keep him long term.

As far as offensive tackle goes, I think you can make a case to draft one, but I think you can also make a case to possibly move John Jerry out to right tackle and let Josh Samuda compete with a mid round pick for the guard spot.

 

Am I the only one that doesn't see the movement skills with Warmack that a lot of the draft reports are talking about? I personally feel that Josh Cooper moves a lot better than Warmack, but Warmack is a stud when he gets his hands on the defender.

 

No he wasn't. It wasn't even close. And you wouldn't take Bernard Pollard with the 12th overall pick. Vaccaro is not a top 12 pick.

 

Boomer, do you think Rhodes is almost too physical to succeed at the NFL level?

Every time I watched him at FSU he was getting called for his physical play.

 

I am going to have to disagree with you. When Bernard Pollard knocked out Steven Ridley it change the entire momentum of the Ravens/Patriots game. Pollard was awesome in run support which really covered up holes that the Ravens had in the front seven. Haloti Ngata had a down year, Suggs was not the same player coming off injury, Ray Leiws was old and injured, Ladarius Webb was our for the season due to injury, and Ed Reed is a shell of his former self. The only player who meant as much to the Ravens' defense was Paul Kruger. I wouldn't select Pollard at 12 with that said but think Vaccaro offers more value in his ability to cover.

 

No, but I think he needs to curb his inability to arm bar and hand fight down the field at times. But it's a mans game. Milliner is more physical than Rhodes.

 

lol. Ok.

 

Who mean more to the Ravens' defense than Pollard then?

 

Not really the thread for it

 

Milliner is more physical but he has this way about him that makes his physical seem less physical than it really is. On the other hand, I always feel like Rhodes always appears more physical than he actually is; so he is more likely to get called for penalties than Milliner.

Not sure what I am saying is completely understandable, but it is sort of how Randy Moss would be able to push off and not get called for it, while other WRs would get called for doing the same exact thing. Some players have a better ability to mask their physicality and just how physical they are being.

 

There was a game earlier in the year where I thought that of him, but he quickly dispelled that notion the following week... and the week after that.... and the week after that. lol. Cooper moves better than Warmack, I agree there.

 

Ray Lewis?

Ngata?

Reed?

Suggs?

Kruger?

Did you have a brain fart when asking this question, Finsanity?

 

Been saying it all along, Vaccaro is not worthy of a very early draft pick. Think the proper value is late one, early two for him. That said, he's better than the Bernard Pollard projection.

 

Where would you like me to start?

 

I won't lie, I'm sort of confused

I think Milliner is a tough son of a gun. He has swagger and attitude in his physicality that is unmatched at the position in this draft. Not to say he's without issue because he's not. But he brings it, especially when fighting through blocks, taking on blockers and attacking the run game.

 

I think Chance is the better player. I think Jon Cooper is better suited to what Miami is trying to do. They're both very good players.