2016-2017 NFL Season Thread [Archived] Football • Page 66

http://www.tennessean.com/story/spo...ers-scout-director-player-personnel/83898190/

 

I see Wentz as Bortles Light. Similar to Bortles but with less poise.

And I wasn't high on Bortles in the least.

I like Goff as a prospect. But I now have to veraciously root against him.

 

My feelings on the Packers draft and the last would-be Packers mock draft:

1/27 - Kenny Clark - B+ (ideal pick: Myles Jack - LB - pick 36)
2/57, 4/125, 6/248 - Jason Spriggs - B (ideal pick: Andrew Billings - NT - pick 122)
3/88 - Kyler Fackrell - B (ideal pick: Javon Hargrave - DL - pick 89)
4/130 - Blake Martinez - B (ideal pick: Joe Dahl - OL - pick 151)
4/137 - Dean Lowry - B+ (ideal pick: Connor McGovern - OL - pick 144)
5/163 - Trevor Davis - C (ideal pick: Jerrell Adams - TE - pick 184)
6/200 - Kyle Murphy - A (ideal pick: Kyle Murphy - OL - pick 200)

 

I like that idea. Steelers

1/25 - Artie Burns - C (ideal pick: any of the DT's taken after or Noah Spence - OLB - pick 39)
2/58 - Sean Davis - B+ (ideal pick: Vonn Bell could be argued, Carl Nassib - DE - pick 65)
3/89 - Javon Hargrave - A- (idea pick: Javon Hargrave. Justin Simmons - S - Pick 98. More ideal a trade up a few spots for Miller or Fuller)
4/123 - Jerald Hawkins - B+ (ideal pick: Cardale Jones - QB - pick 139, Connor McGovern - G - pick 144)
6/220, 7/229, 7/246 - No idea

Most ideal, a trade down from 25 to 31.

1/31 - Xavien Howard - CB - pick 38 (presuming that Artie is "taken")
3/94 - Justin Simmons - S - pick 98, Pharoh Cooper - WR - pick 117

 

Panthers confirmed Jeremy Cash will be a LB.

Director of College Scouting, Don Gregory:

Charlotte Observer:

I guess I can see why he went undrafted. He's somewhat of a tweener. But with a little added weight he can definitely have a role in the NFL. It'll be nice to have him develop behind the current starters for a couple seasons. If we're patient with him he could end up a starter down the road.

Meanwhile, I have no clue why Keyarris Garrett went undrafted. This guy will make an impact this season. 6'3", 220 lbs, 34.5" arms (longest of any WR in the draft), long stride, and great hands. He ran a 4.53 at the combine but has been clocked in the 4.4s as well. He also had his best performances in his biggest games:

@ Oklahoma (Zack Sanchez) - 14 rec, 189 yards, 1 TD
Against Memphis (undefeated at the time) - 14 rec, 268 yards, 3 TD
@ Tulane (needed win to clinch bowl) - 10 rec, 216 yards, 1 TD
Virginia Tech bowl game - 8 rec, 137 yards, 1 TD

I cannot wait to see KB, Funch, Garrett all on the field at the same time.

 

Saw he fell out of the draft...thats incredible to me. He seems a classic guy you take a shot on in the 6th or 7th for depth at worst. Special teamer + run down LB/S is easily worth that.

 

Oh come on Wentz is much more precise than Cardale even if his game is slow. He also made less boneheaded mistakes on the field and you can't really use "Wentz was surrounded by talent" and then bring up an Ohio State QB. There's a reason why the other championship winning QBs at NDSU went undrafted but teams liked Wentz that much.

Yes, the Rams drafted Goff because he's more familiar with NFL level concepts. And that 100% makes him the better pick, I don't care what team you are, you better take Goff over Wentz. But I don't think the difference between them is going to be as exaggerated as people seem to expect. Goff is a better "prospect" all day, but when projecting actual results, the situation, and how that player's development is handled matters a ton. Like I said before Wentz is going to be used in a one, maybe two read option, spread offense a lot more in Philly than he would in most places which simplifies the process and should help him play faster.

Meanwhile the Rans likely took Goff because, mentally, they won't have to simplify their offense much, he should grasp the concepts and is already familiar with making multiple reads and line calls. But knowing what Goff knows means nothing if hes under too much pressure and is too sloppy with his footwork to apply it - and that's really a bigger knock on the Rams than Goff, for not making the offensive side of the roster hospitable for a young QB before trading a zillion picks for one. Wentz's leg up on athleticism and ability to execute drop backs, paired with a good offensive line and a simple-decisions offense, even if his pocket evasion is raw and inefficient, should help him be able to think more on the field and that could work wonders for his learning curve.

 

So, the Patriots are the favorites to win the Super Bowl. Meh

 

The only Jags pick I would grade below an A- is our 7th rounder. Should have been Scooby Wright. Outside of that this was possibly the franchises best draft on paper.

 

That sort of surprises me.

 

Me too. Next is Packers, Steelers, and Seahawks, then Panthers.

I just don't see it for the Patriots, especially with this Brady suspension.

 

Yeah I mean come playoff time, they'll have as good of shot as anyone, but still. Packers should be top

 

We'll see... feel like I have my hopes up every year and there's always something that goes wrong

 

Yep...If we can avoid the injury bug this year...eh fuck it I say that every year haha.

 

Haha yep and they never do. One of the unluckiest teams perennially when it comes to injuries, though fans of every team are probably also thinking that.

 

The more I've thought about it and saw how the draft played out, I can definetly see why they reached for Burns. I think Burns would have been there if they would have traded back with the Broncos. But there wasn't much left after Burns in the way of big, productive CBs. It was probably a bit of a reach, if if they hadn't gotten him we'd be out of luck with another second tier CB as both of the next ones were gone by our second round pick.

 

Drew is that you?

 

Saw the Bills were bringing in Slauson for a visit and thought cool they need some competition at RG. Then saw they are looking at him as an RT. WHY? I mean I know Seantrel Henderson has Crohn's and Jordan Mills sucks kind of but...Slauson at RT?

 

Rex logic, maybe he can get Wayne hunter back lol

 

Can never tell if you like Rex or not, pls clarify

 

Not rly

 

you don't say

 

Burns wasn't really even that productive is the thing. That's why he's seen as a project. He still is more reliant on recovery speed than technique and despite good ball skills he struggles to turn around and find the ball in the air. He very well may be better mentally in a zone scheme even though he has press corner attributes but I think over anything else, the Steelers wanted him because he's built like a Steeler corner. And better coverage players who didn't have the same size or physicality weren't going to cut it.

If I was a Steeler fan I'd be annoyed that a rival team in Cincy took William Jackson the pick before because hes really a better Artie Burns. Raw in technique but faster, bigger, better ball skills, smoother hips, better awareness when in coverage. Cincy did the right thing by not panicking and reaching for a receiver early, and I think preppyak raises a good point that the Steelers should've had the same approach. Even though hey have been just plain silly about waiting for corners in every draft, the way this draft fell Noah Spence would have been a much stronger draft pick. And would've been worth grazing the slimmer pickings at CB later on.

 

1. Jalen Ramsey, DB, FSU: A

Only not an A+ because of how easy of a decision this is. I liked him as a Tyrann Mathieu-esque move safety who can cover the slot and play run support in sub packages as well as play the middle in 3-deep zones, and I think that's what this team needs most. The fact Gus Bradley sees him playing outside corner notches his value slightly down for me because A) it's going to be harder to afford his extension and make him a long term player, Jets traded Revis originally, Panthers didn't resign Norman, Seattle sweating to keep Sherman, etc B) I honestly don't think he'll have quite as much impact on the field, the dude is even better in the box than he is in coverage at times on tape. I do get that his length, leaping ability and acceleration allow him to compress the field and shut down the sideline in our press cover 3, though, and when you think about it, where else will we find a CB who can do that as well as he does? So still an amazing draft pick, he is the best zone scheme corner in the draft as well as the best safety so either one should help the team immensely.

2. Myles Jack, LB, UCLA: A+

I've already posted in this thread the reason why I love this pick. Long story short, waiting all the way until pick 36 to trade up for a top 4 player is unbelievable value and a smart hand played by Caldwell to know other teams were going to fold in the wake of Jack's injury hype. He has potential to, NATURALLY develop into one of the league's best coverage linebackers, I'm talking like a faster CJ Mosley, because his pass defense instincts are that good. Plus being a good blitzer who doesn't necessarily need a gap because he can defeat blocks with his hands. He is a candidate for DROY if he's healthy (and yes, even competing with his own teammate Ramsey for that.) and if you watch press conferences, as much as they liked Ramsey... Myles Jack was Gus Bradley's guy. He sees him as the future middle linebacker of this defense -- it's so obvious that I'm to the point I don't think Poz is getting resigned -- and risk for setbacks aside that could be a hell of a value in round 2.

3. Yannick Ngakoue, DE, UMD: B-

I actually really liked that pick but my unbiased grade is a B minus. He is a premium athlete who had high college production, which made him still overall worth a third round pick, so it's better than a C+. But Yannick does not play the run, that's just missing from his game, and that's a reason I don't think teams were gonna touch him until day 3 where we had a high pick. But he only needs to be a sub package pass rusher in our scheme because we got the powerful Dante Fowler last year to play run downs at the LEO. He was 2nd in the FBS in sacks and I could easily see him being a 6-8 sack guy as a bench relief player. The Jags start getting serious about their DL depth here after a year where good quarterbacks, even ones on bad teams (Brees, Rivers) absolutely thrashed them because they either had too much time, or the Jags were blitzing and leaving their secondary wide open.

4. Sheldon Day, DT, Irish: A-
You could have swapped this pick and the Yannick pick and still said they got value here. Day is a perfect 3 technique defensive tackle. He's not big, he's not going to hold up two dudes in the trenches, but line him up on one slow interior lineman and he's going to beat him in some way and get past him almost every snap. Again, doesn't play the run unless he somehow gets an unimpeded path to the RB, but our run defense was fine last year. We lined up in big packages against running teams and Jared Odrick, Roy Miller, now Malik Jackson, those dudes can do some work in the trenches - but Odrick and Miller don't give you that pass rush, and Day can play 6 technique end on passing downs as well as the interior (he's done both in college). So we got another rotational guy to add sacks that we weren't going to get otherwise.

5. Tyrone Holmes, DE/LB, Montana: B+

It may seem early for an FCS player but Holmes was every bit as dominant at that level of competition (18 sacks this year) as Carson Wentz was at QB or Javon Hargrave at DT. I like him more than I liked Kyle Emanuel, last year's FCS pass rusher. He was great at the East West Shrine game, and In fact, watch Montana vs NDSU. Holmes had the biggest impact on the game where Montana upset the four time reigning champs, constantly blowing up stretch runs by himself, I think he sacked Wentz twice, forced a fumble, and hurried him about 10 more times, etc. He posted a monster +10.7 grade on PFF for that one game alone. He plays really physical and he's a stack and shed guy who can be applied at the line because his hand technique and strength appear well above average for a 250 pound guy. I think our coaches added some competition for Dan Skuta at Otto LB (and of course more pass rush) here.

6. Brandon Allen, QB, Arkansas: A

The Rams traded a zillion picks for Goff. The Eagles traded a zillion picks for a QB that isn't even worth pick 2 and might have fallen to them at 8. The Jets took Christian fucking Hackenberg in round 2. The Raiders traded up for a backup quarterback when Derek Carr is improving wildly and doesn't even have injury concerns. I did like the Paxton, Cardale, and Prescott picks but honestly? This is the best QB VALUE in the draft. Highly underrated, intelligent and cerebral QB who understands some pro concepts, stood out at the Senior Bowl, only fell because he's barely 6'1". For what it's worth Daniel Jeremiah - pretty much the best offensive player scout NFL network has - raved about Allen as a sleeper QB all offseason. I think he's immediately got more potential and more ability to run our play action/downfield offense than Chad Henne, and is a much cheaper option at backup QB too. Bortles loves to hit and get hit and he'll get himself hurt one of these seasons. To get a guy I think is actually developable and not just some wet paper towel you pray holds up, in the sixth round, was excellent.

And I honestly know nothing about the 7th round pick, but 2013 was the only year in this regime we got a 7th rounder who made some impact, so.