The Mountain: Carl Davis

The most consistent thing I hear about Iowa defensive tackle Carl Davis is that his tape is inconsistent. Now, I am not calling these draft experts liars; they have more game tapes to watch and more knowledge of the game than myself. I can only go off of what I see, but what I see tells a different story. Draft Breakdown only has two games for Davis from 2014: Nebraska and Indiana. He completely dominates both of these contests. The other chance I had to watch Davis was through NFL Network’s coverage of the Senior Bowl practices. He was named the Most Outstanding Practice Player of the Week by a panel of NFL scouts: Not among defensive lineman; I mean out of every player at the Senior Bowl.

Let’s look at those two games.

Nebraska

We’ll start with a couple of his poorest plays of this game, because they happen right at the beginning. On the first defensive play for Iowa, Davis faces an immediate double team from the center and guard. The guard is able to continue moving Davis away from the point of attack after the center peels off. Nebraska gets a good seven yards on first down behind this block.

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We see a similar outcome two plays later.

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The remainder of this game is essentially a highlight reel with Davis asserting his dominance.

Using a spin move from the inside is generally a bad idea– where can you go with it? It isn’t a play you want a habit of going to, but having it in your repertoire is a good thing. Davis’ spin move here leads to a turnover (and touchdown).

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On the very next play, he swims right around the same guard.

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I also want to bring some attention to this play to the right:

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and this play to the left:

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What do I see on those plays? I see a 320-pound player getting quickly to the outside in both directions.

You hear a lot of talk about ‘stiff hips’ in the draft community. For a guy this big, Davis has remarkable bio-mechanics. Watch how quickly he explodes towards his right on this play and creates a huge lane for his fellow defensive tackle.

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I haven’t even mentioned his strength yet. On this play, he shoves the center four yards behind the line of scrimmage. So much for any cutback lanes.

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He ends that drive in a hurry, and for the cherry on top, he blocks the field goal attempt.

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The last two plays I will show you are among his best in the game. First on a run play, he blows the right guard backwards, and reaches his arm out to bring down the runner for a loss.

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Now, on this pass play, all I can think is how rare it is for a man the size of Davis to come bearing down on the quarterback with such closing speed.

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The game continues into overtime. By no means was he finished putting his mark on the game. In fact, I left out a number of quality plays from this one. Watch all of it and you’ll see even more dominance.

Indiana

Carl Davis wastes no time making an impact against Indiana. Here we see him lined up shading the center, but at the snap he gets completely across the right guard with one swim move. That’s crazy. That pressure forces a bad pass:

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A few plays later he whips around the center with a right swim to get pressure up the middle:

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And then on this play, lined up in a 3-technique, he stunts around towards the right tackle, literally smacks him out of the way, and eats the quarterback for lunch.

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That is my favorite play from Davis, no contest.

The center must know he is defeated on this play as soon as the ball is snapped, right? Davis is too strong at the point of attack:

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Now, this game wasn’t perfect, either. I showed Nebraska successfully double-teaming Davis a few times. In this game, Indiana seals Davis off here from a similar pre-snap alignment by effectively trapping him with the guard:

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They botch the play afterwards, of course.

Late in the game, Davis turns his back to the play on 3rd-and-short, and I assign him the blame for these points. A spin move can work occasionally on passing downs. Against the run, there’s no excuse: Do not turn from the play. Davis’ spin move turns his back to the play, and Tevin Coleman runs right past him:

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The Wrap

Based exclusively on what I’ve seen from Carl Davis, he’s the best defensive tackle in this draft class. I watched the Senior Bowl practices with him and Danny Shelton. While Shelton was no slouch himself, it was clear to me that Davis was the more impressive player that week.

Does this mean Davis is a better prospect? Not necessarily. I continue to read and hear about Davis’ inconsistent tape from the draft community. Having not seen anything from 2014 beyond what I have described, I cannot offer any opinion. What I have seen was a mostly dominant interior force who was consistently effective enough for my needs. At minimum, I know he’s capable of playing at a very high level: You don’t accidentally play as well as he did in these two games. I really want to see more of his 2014 tape before the draft.

The Human Torch: Devin Smith

If you haven’t watched any tape of Ohio State wide receiver Devin Smith, then you’re in for a treat. He’s preternaturally gifted when it comes to making catches deep down field. In fact, that’s essentially all he does. He only caught 33 passes as a senior, 12 of which were touchdowns, for an average of 28.2 yards per reception. These numbers are meaningless without context. That’s what the game tape is for, and thanks to Draft Breakdown I’ve been able to watch four of them (Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Cincinnati).

In the game against Michigan State, Smith makes two beautiful over-the-shoulder catches. On the first play, he starts off standing on the 35-yard line, runs more or less straight down the field, and makes a rather ridiculous reception around at the 20-yard line. I’ll leave the math to you. That’s a big chunk of yards. The most impressive aspect of this play isn’t the speed, but the way he locates  the ball midair and plucks it with both hands over his shoulder at an awkward angle. Later in the game he makes this catch for a touchdown. Just another routine over-the-shoulder 45-yard reception. I feel bad for the Michigan State safeties there. That is a touchdown presnap as long as the ball is on target.

You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Wisconsin fans might want to skip this next section.

• Touchdown #1 is all about the adjustment to the ball. He locates it in the air when he turns his head, then he gets his body where it needs to be in order to make the catch. He also plays it like a basketball player boxing out his opponent to snare a rebound.
• Touchdown #2 is similar to his touchdown in the Michigan State game. This time he gets one-on-one coverage from the slot against a safety. Lamb to the slaughter.
• Touchdown #3 is a leaping two-handed grab. Smith’s location, location, location abilities are otherworldly. He didn’t drop a single deep bomb in any of the games I watched.

Alright, so he can catch deep bombs. Can we move on? If this is what you are asking, get the hell out of here. Two more. First, this play against Illinois. This guy Devin Smith sure can make deep over-the-shoulder touchdown catches. To prove he is, in fact, human, watch this play. He… almost didn’t catch it! Throwing the ball in the general direction of Smith and letting him do the rest is a foolproof plan I’m tellin’ ya.

He can do a bit other than run deep routes. Not a lot, mind you, but I have some evidence that he can. For instance, there’s this play where he finds the right spot to sit against zone coverage and runs in for a touchdown. Here he makes a catch over the middle on what appears to be a post route. On this play he just comes to a screeching halt. Even though the quarterback is looking the other way, you still need to try to get open if the play breaks down. And, at least to me, both this and this are poorly run routes.

In order to stay on the field (or become elite), Smith must get better at running short to intermediate routes. He will come in on multiple receiver packages and force the defense to respect his deep game, which opens up space for teammates. His deep game is special even among NFL players. He knows how to locate, and, more importantly, to adjust his body in order to make difficult catches with the ball flying 40+ yards. Over and over again.

If you’re going to be a one-trick pony as a rookie wide receiver, this is the best trick to have up your sleeve. Smith has excellent hands. In the four games I watched, he dropped one pass, and the degree of difficulty on his catches were very high indeed. At the end of the first round, I wouldn’t hesitate to send in his name if I needed some help outside. Are you telling me you don’t want to see Devin Smith catch bombs from Andrew Luck, or Russell Wilson, over the next five or more years? Please.

“F— It, I’m Going Deep” (Sleeper Series): Brandon Bridge

Hello once again, fellow draft devotees and combine connoisseurs. I speak to you today to preach the word of Brandon Bridge. He comes from a land where pines and maples grow, great prairies spread, and Lordly rivers flow. That’s right: Mobile, Alabama, where sits the University of South Alabama, playing football in the Sun Belt conference. And he’s come to save your franchise from years of quarterback misery (results may vary). The tale of the tape reads as 6’4″, 229 lbs., with 34 1/4 inches of flame-throwing arm power.

Bridge does not inspire much confidence statistically. He completed a paltry 52% of his passes, and only threw 15 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. Not exactly folkloric numbers, but I’ve seen two of his 2014 tapes, and the kinds of throws he can make will leave your head spinning. One game is against Appalachian State via Draft Breakdown, and I found another on the YouTube channel ‘CollegeFBDude‘ against Mississippi State. Thanks to both for uploading.

 

Appalachian State

The first play I want to show displays a number of positive attributes in my book. Bridge sees the blitz, but trusts his protection. His eyes scan from left to right as he drops back and climbs the pocket. There’s no wasted motion in his throw. The ball hits his receiver in stride. Then on the very next play, he throws the ball over his intended receivers head. Don’t ask me. He ends that drive with a nice rushing touchdown.

Overall, he uses the pocket well. Here you see him using every last second of his time, and all of the space possible, to stay in the pocket and find a receiver. This is not his first read (it might be his third). Watch his eyes.

Guess what happens next. If you answered “a touchdown strike to the running back on a wheel route,” then congratulations on being wrong. That almost happens. It *should* be the result. Alas, Bridge rushes the throw under no pressure and misses an easy touchdown.

Not everyone can roll to their left with a defender on pursuit, square up, and fire a strike to a receiver. It looks easy for Bridge. He has functional mobility in both directions. Now look at this play. He sells the pump fake to the bubble screen man – the corner bites hard,leaving him completely flat footed. Bang! Bridge hits his receiver in stride, again. Notice how he slides ever so slightly in the pocket before releasing that one. I really like how he can move in the pocket.

Bridge can throw a great deep ball. He releases the ball on the far left hash of the 26 yard line, and it hits the receiver in stride along the right sideline at the 22 yard line. That’s impossible. Seriously, what?  Of course, the difference between that pass and this pass is the amount of pressure he’s under. He can’t get it done in the face of true pressure. Except, well, yes he can. With a free rusher bearing right down on him, Bridge makes a picture perfect toss deep down the sideline for a touchdown. It is actually impossible to put the ball in a better location.

“OH. MY. GOD.” Jaw meet floor. Words cannot describe my reaction when I saw Bridge break multiple would-be tacklers and impossibly make that touchdown throw while on the run. Without any hyperbole, that is one of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen. Yeah… next game.

 

Mississippi State

If you didn’t follow college football last year, Mississippi State was ranked #1 in the polls for several weeks. That’s the level of competition Brandon Bridge is facing on this tape. The first play of note is this beauty deep down the middle, behind the defense, right into the hands of the receiver. In and out of the receivers hands, that is.

On this play, Bridge probably needs to take the brief running lane and pick up however many yards he can on the ground instead of pulling the ball back and attempting to escape around the left side. Most likely, he ends up near the line of scrimmage. In trying to make a heroic play on 1st down, the ball ends up on the ground. Live to fight another down.

Here is an important 3rd down where Bridge simply makes a poor decision. He’s about to get sacked on his blind side, and, well, he just dares the defender to intercept this ball. It’s a spot where a field goal is likely difficult for a college kicker. I’m not certain what he should do here without seeing the all-22 camera angle, but this isn’t the answer.

I really want you to see this play. It looks like the ball is bending into the receiver who is breaking right off the top of his stem. Bridge keeps hitting players at full speed with perfect ball placement in these two games. No one man should have all this power (watch that throwing-across-your-body thing though). How the heck did he only complete 52% of his passes? Someone out there upload more games.

About that interception he nearly threw earlier, this time the corner does make the catch. Also, this is a much worse decision. It isn’t 3rd down. He isn’t under pressure. His receiver is double covered. There’s no deception by the defense or anything. Of all the throws in both games, this is the worst. I can make some excuse for the other mistakes. Not this one.

After making such a boneheaded throw, I’m glad to see him rebound here. It’s a similar throw – and result, unfortunately – to the first play I showcased. Bridge can sure rip some deep balls. If only his receivers could catch them. His accuracy down field is very impressive, which I can’t say about a prospect like Bryce Petty in this 2015 class.

So we return to Mr. Bridge’s poor decision making with this throw. That comes stamped with postage saying “return to sender.” If you’ve figured this guy out yet, you already know that his very next throw is right where it needs to be. On the ground, because his receivers cannot catch (duh).

There are a few notable plays in the rest of the game. On the bad side, he doesn’t see the underneath defender here, and almost throws another interception. I’ll leave off with a rather funny play. Bouncy! In all seriousness, he shows some nice elusiveness there.

 

THE WRAP

Consistency is king in the NFL. Bridge is not consistent. We’re looking at a developmental prospect. I see one with huge upside. I omitted a few plays where he manages to escape the pocket to scramble for positive yards. He does possess that dimension to his game, when necessary. I’m dying to find more tape on Brandon Bridge. His arm talent is rare even among NFL starters.

A good comparison from last year might be Logan Thomas, who is currently being mentored under Bruce Arians in Arizona. I think Bridge flashes NFL talent more consistently, and those flashes of talent are at a higher level (Thomas was much more frustrating to watch). Thomas got picked in the 4th round last year. All it takes is one team to fall for Bridge as much as I did for him to go in a similar spot. This class is really poor with quarterback prospects after Mariota, Winston, and Hundley. I’m laughing at any team that takes any of the senior bowl guys ahead of Bridge.

2015 Draft Peek: Owamagbe Odighizuwa and Markus Golden

The 2015 NFL draft is right around the bend– well, in geological time, anyway. In any case, it’s never too early to take a look at some senior prospects. Our players today are both highly athletic defensive ends. Markus Golden was on my watch list before the season. He was the ‘other’ end on that incredible Missouri defensive line rotation which featured Michael Sam and Kony Ealy. Owamagbe Odighizuwa – say with me, OH-DIG-E-ZOO-WAH – leaped off my screen while I was leisurely watching UCLA open the season on the road against Virginia. I’ll start with him.

Thanks to Draft Breakdown for the videos, as always; none of this would be possible without their work.

Owamagbe Odighizuwa

Edge Rusher, UCLA

Owamagbe Odighizuwa (“Owa” from now on) missed all of the 2013 season with a hip injury that required surgery. He’s listed at 6’3″ and 270 lbs., and as The Daily Bruin put it in a profile last year, “His hands are the size of baseball mitts and his arms are bigger than most people’s legs.” His explosiveness off of the snap is extraordinary, as I’ll show soon. I watched UCLA’s opening game on the road at Virginia with the purpose of checking out quarterback Brett Hundley; but it was Owa who captured my attention. He plays again today versus Texas.

Look at his first few steps on this play. Watch it frame by frame from 1:16 to 1:18, if you can. That is an elite burst. What he fails to do there is rip or swim through the tackle and pressure or sack the quarterback.  The opportunity is there, but the hand work is not. He chooses to dip around the edge and the left tackle does a great job taking Owa out of the play in spite of getting beat at the snap. The next play is textbook run defense. Owa immediately extends both of his arms right into the tackle’s chest, pushes him 3-yards in the backfield, and makes the tackle for a loss.

The play of the game happens soon thereafter. On this play our man uses those long arms on a pass rush to perfection. Once again he displays an elite burst off of the snap, and this time due to his hand work he’s able to attack the outside shoulder of the offensive tackle. This allows Owa to free up his right arm; and he slaps the quarterback on the wrist right before the release. Interception. If you keep the tape rolling, the next play shows off his bull rush.

While spin moves usually result in making the pass rusher look ridiculous unless he happens to be named Dwight Freeney, Owa uses one beautifully here. His explosiveness is simply too much for Virginia to handle throughout the game. Here he uses a speed rush, and I want you to watch his left arm. That’s why he’s able to get around the edge. On this play we get to see him playing over a guard. Well, that was easy. If you keep the tape rolling he makes several more plays. You get the idea. The schedule for UCLA will get much tougher as the season rolls on. Keep an eye on him. Next up: Texas.

Markus Golden

Edge Rusher, Missouri

As I mentioned in the introduction, Markus Golden made quite a splash for Missouri last year. He finished the season with 13 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, and picked off a pass for a 70-yard touchdown. At 6’3″ and 260 lbs., he has good, albeit not incredible size, and can explode off of the snap at times. He’s another fifth-year senior with some experience at linebacker.

Golden is off to a hot start this year. We’re going to take a look at his game against Toledo. While Toledo is not the program that Missouri is, they have won at least 8 games in each of the last three seasons. In other words, this isn’t simply a team expected to roll over early in the season to the big, bad SEC opponent.

Golden relies almost exclusively on his speed. While impressive, he does not show any of the technical skill that Odighizuwa does. He gets blown off the line in the run game a number of times against Toledo. The tackle not only seals him off on this play, but drives him down the field as well. There’s a particularly ugly play on the goal line where Golden crashes inside only to have his back turned to the runner, who walks in for an easy touchdown. You need to be able to hold the point of attack in order to see the field on a regular basis in the NFL.

Nevertheless, there’s a reason why I decided to bring him up. His first step can be awesome. Here’s an example. Golden is two yards into the backfield by the time the ball reaches the quarterback. The play is completely doomed, an easy tackle for loss. On this play, it’s almost unbelievable that he is not offside. Even among top-tier pass-rushing prospects this kind of first step speed is rare. I mean, how many players can do this? How many tackles are thinking “no problem”? Not many. This next play is caused due to the quarterback inexplicably rolling out of a clean pocket, but I want to show it due to Golden’s closing speed.

If you watch the rest of that game, you’ll see him flash more here and there. He’ll also hesitate in spots where a play could’ve been made. Between these two players, Odighizuwa has better size, technique, and a higher football IQ. Golden possesses a more impressive first step, but that’s it. There’s a lot of football left to be played. Keep an eye out for both of these players as the season progresses.

A Tale of Two Runners: Bishop Sankey and Jeremy Hill

In the 2005 NFL draft, three running backs were selected within the first five picks: Ronnie Brown (#2), Cedric Benson (#4), and Cadillac Williams (#5). Since then, we’ve seen Reggie Bush, Adrian Peterson, Darren McFadden, C.J. Spiller, and Trent Richardson all come off the board in the top 10. But we’ve seen a change in recent history: When the 2013 first round was completed, not a single running back had been picked, for the first time in the Super Bowl era. The Cincinnati Bengals made Giovani Bernard the first runner off the board with the 37th pick, the most selections in draft history before a running back was selected. That record lasted all of one year: The first running back off the board in 2014 didn’t come until the 54th pick, when the Titans chose Bishop Sankey out of the University of Washington. With the very next pick, the Bengals took another runner, Jeremy Hill out of LSU.  Aside from playing the same position, these two players have little in common. Sankey is a quick, diminutive back who can run off-tackle, and Hill is a bruising power back who excels between the tackles.

 

ROUND 2, PICK 54

Bishop Sankey, RB, Washington

Standing 5’9″ and weighing 209 lbs., Bishop Sankey is not very physically imposing. He’s the same size as Bengals 2013 second-round pick Giovani Bernard, but without Bernard’s dynamic speed or vision. On the other hand, unlike Bernard, Sankey carried a huge workload for the University of Washington. He ran the ball 327 times last season, and two seasons ago had 289 carries – with major production despite the heavy usage. His competition in Tennessee consists of Shonn Greene and Jackie Battle. While Greene is sitting atop the depth chart as of right now and has been getting the bulk of the first-team reps in camp, this is very likely to change as the regular season approaches. Sankey will almost certainly be the starting running back on week 1. Let’s see what he brings to the table.

One strike against Sankey is that he rarely picks up yards after contact. He can, mind you: See here as he powers over Oregon State’s safety for a monster gain on 3rd-and-1. More representative of his game are plays like this, where he tries to avoid contact at the second level in lieu of trying to slip around tacklers. I don’t think it is unfair to expect a play like this to be a broken tackle most of the time. If not that, then certainly this needs to be a big run. These specific plays are unimportant, but in my view they are representative of Sankey’s overall game. We’ll see later that second-level tacklers are almost hopeless against the much larger Jeremy Hill.

Where the lack of size hurts Sankey in the power department, it does allow him to slip through tight spots. A bigger back is stuffed for no gain on this play. There’s barely a hole, but Sankey makes himself skinny and slips through one. Again, here, there doesn’t appear to be a lane (at least from the sideline angle), yet he finds a way to pick up yards. He works well in these tight spaces. On this play, watch how quickly his feet can move. It’s well blocked by the offensive line, sure, but that flash of agility is what I like most about his game.

Nobody will mistake him for LeSean McCoy or the aforementioned Gio Bernard, but Sankey can make some silky smooth cuts. Check out this play against BYU where he slides away from tacklers with ease with some nimble cuts to the right. He can make this kind of move going left as well, as seen here and here on identical-looking jump cuts. On this play, he does it in both directions, and turns no gain into a big play to the back side. Just like the chess piece, Bishop is best when zigzagging past would-be tacklers.

The worst of any of his rushing attempts (that I saw) was this play, where the tight end plows the defensive end out of the play, the receiver has full control of the cornerback, and the guard is well positioned to blow up the linebacker. All Sankey needs to do is follow the pulling guard and it will be off to the races. Instead, he impatiently cuts inside of the guard and only gains a few yards.

Overall he shows good vision. Here he patiently follows the guard, slips through a tight window, and maintains his balance through contact on a nice touchdown run. And on this play, he presses the run to the right until the linebackers commit in that direction, then cuts back to the left and is off for a 59-yard touchdown.

His most creative run is against UCLA: Anthony Barr is coming unblocked off of the edge here, and Sankey makes a play right out of a video game. First, he evades Barr, then he sees a crowd of defenders out to his left and cuts inside where he’s immediately met by a linebacker. Spin move, no problem! From there he puts his head down and picks up a tough nine yards.

Sankey’s game tapes at Draft Breakdown are full of off-tackle runs if you want to watch any more.  I’ve shown you that Sankey can run inside a bit using his agility and that he’s much better running to the outside. I watched six games and only counted two major lapses in pass protection. He also has soft hands coming out of the backfield. While he’s not as spectacular as perhaps these plays I picked out demonstrate, I do expect him to immediately step in as the starter and be an upgrade for the Titans. His biggest problem is lack of power, and that’s one of the few positive attributes to Shonn Greene’s game. So, until Sankey proves otherwise, I don’t anticipate him getting too many carries in short yardage situations. I’m glad that I revisited Sankey before the season; he is a better player than I remembered when I first checked him out many months ago.

 

ROUND 2, PICK 55

Jeremy Hill, RB, LSU

The Bengals used second-round picks on running backs in back-to-back drafts, selecting Giovani Bernard in 2013 and Jeremy Hill in 2014. In stark contrast to Bernard (and Sankey), Hill is an imposing 6’2″, 236-lb. runner who thrives on smashing over and through second-level defenders. The days of BenJarvus Green-Ellis and his 3.4 yards per carry will come to a end shortly, as it makes both football and financial sense (saves $2.3M against the cap) to cut him. In any event, let’s see what Hill can do for the Bengals.

While Hill rushed for an average of 6.9 yards per carry in his final season at LSU, the number is misleading in a couple of ways. Whereas Sankey, for instance, carried the entire workload, Hill only ran the ball 203 times. Also, if you check out his gamelog for 2013, he contributed little in games against Alabama, Texas A&M, and Georgia. To be fair, he saved his best for last, as he carried LSU to victory against Iowa in the Outback Bowl, carrying the ball 28 times at an elite 7.7 YPC against a good defensive squad.

Hill is a pure north-south and between the tackles runner. His footwork on cuts are nothing like we saw with Sankey. For example, on this play, the Red Sea is temporarily parted to the left side. He sees it and runs in that direction, but by the time he gets there the defenders are better positioned. There’s a lack of suddenness in his footwork; he doesn’t possess the kind of agility you see in the “quick-twitch” runners. Here is a pitch play where you can really see the stiffness of his lower body. There aren’t many yards to be gained, granted, but I’m talking about his biomechanics. And how about this play? A runner who can explode outside scores here. The difference between Corey Dillon and Rudi Johnson, if you will.

There are three skills in which Hill excels: power, balance, and straight-line speed. These three traits can often all be seen in a single play. Arm tackles are hopeless. Here against Auburn he explodes straight ahead as if shot by a cannon. Those poor safeties have no chance to bring him down. Plays like this touchdown run against Iowa is where Bishop Sankey failed to make progress, but Hill is able to break on through (to the other side). All of this power at the second-level should translate immediately to the NFL.

Hue Jackson is taking over as offensive coordinator for the Bengals. In his very first press conference Jackson talked about being a more physical team with an emphasis on running, and that was before the team drafted Hill. According to wide receiver Marvin Jones, the new offense is “very up-tempo” with “a lot of aggression.” The Eagles offense last season combined a fast tempo with a lot of running; perhaps this is what we’ll see from the Bengals this year. The lightning-and-thunder (can we get a better nickname?) duo of Bernard and Hill along with the play action threat of A.J. Green is certain to keep opposing defensive coordinators up late at night for years to come. The Bengals have a greatest-show-on-grass amount of talent at offensive skill positions… with Andy Dalton at the helm. Can you imagine Cam Newton with this group? Heh.

Jaguars “Wanted: Talent”: Marqise Lee and Telvin Smith

One of the league’s youngest franchises, the Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t take long to make a mark in the NFL after their founding in 1995. They made the playoffs in four of their first five seasons and played in the conference championship twice. Ah, to be young again. Fast-forward fifteen years.: It’s been six years since the Jaguars were in  the playoffs, and about the same time since they drafted a player of note (i.e. the 2007-2012 classes) for the right reasons. Justin Blackmon certainly makes headlines, albeit for how long he will face league suspension – indefinitely! – more than his play on the field. Thanks for the memories, Blaine Gabbert, and fare thee well in San Francisco.

Head coach Gus Bradley is known for his defensive scheme, but instead of selecting linebacker Khalil Mack with the third overall pick, the Jaguars took University of Central Florida quarterback Blake Bortles. They then used their next three picks on the offensive side of the ball. Nevertheless, they managed to snag a very intriguing prospect in linebacker Telvin Smith. We’ll turn our attention to him a bit later. First up, let’s take a brief look at the multifaceted receiver from USC, and I don’t mean South Carolina, Marqise Lee.

 

ROUND 2, PICK 39

Marqise Lee, WR, USC

As a sophomore, Marqise Lee dazzled college football fans with his electric speed and chemistry with quarterback Matt Barkley, grabbing an astounding 118 receptions for 1,721 yards. He was awarded the Biletnikoff trophy as the nation’s top receiver and looked primed to be a top-10 pick if he could maintain anything close to this production. None of this came to fruition, as Lee spent most of his junior season hobbled by an ongoing knee injury. It didn’t cause him to miss many games, but if you watch any tape from 2013, you are likely to see him limping towards the sideline at some point. To his credit – and bravery, or foolishness – Lee continuously returned to the field of play. His production plunged to only 57 receptions and 791 yards. He dropped more balls than he had in the past, as well.

For this post I have watched all six 2013 game tapes available at Draft Breakdown, and four from Lee’s award-winning 2012 campaign. Lee has tremendous awareness on the field and makes a number of toe-tapping sideline grabs. In his best game of 2013 (against Stanford) he does it twice. On this play he’s initially well covered but works back to the quarterback to make a difficult catch. Later in the 1st quarter, he makes a similar catch, this time with his momentum going out of bounds, for a touchdown. It doesn’t look like a catch until the replay confirms it. And again, this time from 2012, his awareness of the sideline and concentration as the ball sails past a defender allows him to haul in a pretty reception.

Lee’s game needs work in a few area. When a cornerback is physical with him, results are mixed. Both here and here he is shoved out of bounds shortly into his route. He isn’t a player you will necessarily trust to win “50-50″ balls against tight coverage, but given that he’s not a big-body WR at only 6’0”, any ability to do so down the road will simply be a bonus. In 2012, the endzone fade makes a few appearances, but with his knee injury in 2013 we didn’t see this play so much. At full health, I believe he has the leaping ability to, at the very least, force opponents to consider the fade as a possible weapon. Additionally, Lee showed amazing chemistry with 2012 quarterback Matt Barkley, the kind he simply did not possess with Cody Kessler in 2013. His catch technique comes and goes as this video demonstrates – including some of those receptions in that video is picking nits, but overall, it does show where he needs some work.

Where Lee really shines is after the catch. Every slant route is in danger of becoming a touchdown. Against Arizona in 2012, Lee put up a game for the ages with a staggering 16 receptions for 345 yards and two touchdowns. On the first of these touchdowns, he catches the ball and zooms 37 yards for a touchdown with near inhuman acceleration. The second touchdown is déjà vu all over again, as the great twentieth-century philosopher, Yogi Berra, was fond of saying. Lee didn’t lose this ability in 2013, as this play in the Las Vegas Bowl demonstrates.

Another exciting aspect of his game is the “quick-twitch” ability of his lower body. I labeled this play “joystick” as it looks more like a video game than real life. Lee is extraordinarily nimble and can pull the chair out from under a defensive back with ease. He can change direction with fluidity and without loss of speed. Of course, this speed also stretches the field vertically. Lee would be the perfect compliment to Justin Blackmon, but alas…

 

ROUND 5, PICK 144

Telvin Smith, LB, Florida State

One of my favorite players to watch on tape, Telvin Smith will need to bulk up from his svelte 218-lb. frame in order to be an every-down player. He was already turning heads at Jaguars rookie minicamp in May among coaches and teammates alike. “If he gets to 230, watch out,” said fellow rookie [running back] Storm Johnson. Watch out, indeed. Smith flies around the field from sideline to sideline and to my eye was the most exciting player to watch amidst a champion Florida State defense not lacking for talent (or excitement).

The first play I want to show you against Miami is perfect. Smith diagnoses the run immediately, then lowers his pad level and attacks the outside shoulder of the fullback, which allows him to meet the running back several yards behind the line of scrimmage. He doesn’t make the tackle, but the referee rules that forward progress has been stopped and whistles the play dead. On this play, his aggressiveness catches him running directly into a pulling guard, which opens up a very nice cutback lane. On the very next snap of the game, Smith takes himself out of the play by mirroring the runner with a step to the right. This allows the same guard to “shield” the path to create another lane for the runner. Here Smith takes a more patient approach with an excellent result.

Missing tackles is a problem Telvin Smith has from time to time. Sticking with the Miami game for one last play, he is responsible for covering the flat to the left side (of the defense). A hop and a stutter-step to the right by the runner leaves Smith tackling air. This time against Boston College, overpursuit in the flat here allows the fullback to take a swing pass in for a touchdown. An end-around in the Pittsburgh game similarly leaves Smith grasping air as he overpursues freshman sensation Tyler Boyd (look for him in, er, 2016).

One play in particular against Clemson is interesting. Just a split second after this reception in the flat, Smith meets the runner for what should be a nice tackle for loss. He fails to make the initial tackle as the runner shakes him loose. Keep watching. Rather than remain on the ground sulking in defeat, Smith hops right back onto his feet and manages to make the tackle which eluded him earlier. It’s a wonderful hustle play. It also shows why he needs to add about fifteen pounds.

While it remains to be seen if he can put on this much weight without losing speed, I will now turn to plays which showcase Smith’s dynamism. His ability to read and react is top notch. While Boston College racked up yards in the running game against Florida State, Smith filled his gap and made plays the entire game. Here he wades through traffic using his teammates as protection to bring down running back Andre Williams (now a New York Giant) for no gain. Note the patience displayed on this play in order to slip through a hole for a similar result. If he doesn’t make the play there then Williams is likely facing a one-on-one with the safety on the outside.

Proper run defense calls for both relentless aggression and patience. The great linebackers in the league know when the situation calls for one versus the other. There is no guideline for when to be aggressive and when to be patient before the snap. A linebacker must intuitively understand when to employ these completely different tasks. Telvin Smith gets it. In the first play of the game against Pittsburgh, he explodes right at the snap through the ‘A-gap’ to bring the runner down for a loss. In the Duke game, he violently attacks the H-back’s chest on this play and the aggression allows him to defeat the attempted block.

As for pass defense, the Jags will almost certainly use Smith in coverage packages. He wasn’t tasked to run with tight ends or receivers downfield very often in college. In the short to intermediate area, he must be accounted for. Here is a good example of him matched up on a running back and defensing a pass. His speed underneath makes him a threat on plays like this (or this) to intercept passes for a touchdown. Smith’s jam on the slot receiver in this play renders the pass ineffective. And, last, he finds a way to the receiver on this screen pass, shedding a block in the process.

 

THE WRAP UP

Jacksonville signed a few defensive linemen in Red Bryant and Ziggy Hood to help bolster their run defense. Bryant is nominally a defensive end, but at 332 lbs. (or bigger) he cannot be mistaken for a pass rusher, and is typically shaded just inside the tackle to eat up blocks. Another former Seahawk, Chris Clemons, was brought in to man the LEO position on the opposite side. Toby Gerhart was acquired to add some punch to the running game. It helps that he’s also a plus catching the ball out of the backfield. None of the free agent signings made a big splash; Jacksonville will rely heavily on rookies and second-year players to play a lot of snaps.

The organization wants Chad Henne to start at quarterback as #3 overall pick Blake Bortles learns from the sideline. I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if Bortles is the starter from week 1. Initially, I intended to write this piece about the team’s pair of second-round receivers, Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson. Upon deeper examination I am bearish on Robinson. He’s a bit stiff in the hips, and that effect is only exaggerated when watching him immediately after Lee.

Third-round guard Brandon Linder will bring size and athleticism to the trenches, but he needs a good deal of work technically. Aaron Colvin (cornerback) was injured during the Senior Bowl practices and is a better player than his draft position indicates. He’ll start the season on the PUP list. Defensive end Chris Smith was another Senior Bowl standout. His tape is underwhelming, but if anyone can make him into a player. Gus Bradley can. Storm Johnson was an essential cog in UCF’s BCS run. He joins teammate Blake Bortles and has a shot at winning the backup running back role in spite of his seventh-round status.

Gil Brandt thinks the Jaguars are a potential playoff team. I don’t. Well, unless Bortles is the next Brunell, Lee and Robinson pair up to match Smith and McCardell, and Joeckel is the next Boselli, and all of that right away. More likely is yet another year as a bottom-feeder. As for 2015, that’s a different story, and as with many things in life, “It depends.” The Jaguars’ only rival in the contest for least talent in the NFL last season was the Oakland Raiders. Time will tell if this recent draft class, along with the class of 2013, is enough to turn this franchise around. In the meantime, at least they will be one of the more intriguing teams to keep an eye on during the preseason.

49ers “Gone to Carolina”: Brandon Thomas and Bruce Ellington

In three seasons under Jim Harbaugh, the San Francisco 49ers’ worst result has been a loss in the conference championship. Not bad, huh? Oh, and talented young quarterback Colin Kaepernick angered his peers by inking a flexible, team-friendly, six-year contract extension that will supposedly revolutionize the way teams pay superstars. In related news, Cam Newton is working on his curveball. With all of this success, you would think everything is coming up roses in San Francisco, but not so fast. Talks have stalled on an extension for coach Harbaugh in what amounts to a dick-measuring contest between he and general manager Trent Baalke. Go figure.

The 49ers one-upped themselves in the 2014 draft with twelve total picks, after picking eleven times in 2013. All of these picks are quite a luxury as the 49ers are one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. The team used several of its six picks on the first two days addressing needs with safety/corner hybrid Jimmie Ward, center Marcus Martin, and inside linebacker Chris Borland (All-Pro NaVorro Bowman will miss significant time following a gruesome knee injury). I’ll briefly discuss them along with a few other picks in the conclusion. Our feature prospects are mid-round selections Brandon Thomas and Bruce Ellington.

 

ROUND 3, PICK 100

Brandon Thomas, OT/OG, Clemson

At a workout for the New Orleans Saints, Brandon Thomas tore his ACL and is very likely to “redshirt” the 2014 season for the 49ers. He almost certainly would have been selected in the second round without this misfortune. Thomas played left tackle as a senior and was projected as a guard in the NFL by most draft sites. If he fully recovers, I believe he can play both tackle and guard. It’s nothing new for the 49ers to use picks on injured players; they used two of their eleven picks in 2013 on Tank Carradine (ACL tear) and Marcus Lattimore (knee explosion), both of whom missed all of last season.

For this article, I looked at Thomas in the Orange Bowl against Ohio State, along with contests against Syracuse, South Carolina, and Georgia Tech. We’ll only be looking at pass protection in the latter two games, because I watched Thomas through Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd’s tape. Always watch the left tackle, #63.

Thomas’ best game tape comes against Ohio State. He sets the key block on Clemson’s first touchdown by cracking down on the defensive tackle and then moving to the second level to shield a linebacker from the runner. Throughout the Orange Bowl, Clemson runs behind Thomas and he does not fail to deliver. Here he gets under the defensive tackle and blows him off the ball, creating a running lane. Watch him shove a linebacker deep into the second level here, and tell me this later play does not give you déjà vu.

In pass protection, Thomas often displays great feet, agility, and everything else you need from a tackle. Here is an example of perfect technique in pass protection: He quickly slides outside, creates a strong base, and stonewalls the pass rusher upon contact. You can see both his speed and strength facing Jadeveon Clowney on this play. Once again, perfect and perfect. All of these are plays you want to see consistently from an offensive tackle.

What you do not want to see is a tackle getting beaten on inside rush moves. Here we see Clowney swim right past our man with an incredible burst. Thomas does not have an answer. He has a similar result when facing Chargers second-round pick Jeremiah Attaochu here, where Attaochu crashes hard inside, and Thomas is immediately beaten. Later in the game, Attaochu gets Thomas to cheat inside with a step in that direction before exploding around the edge for a near sack.

Thomas has a few other lapses in pass protection. For example, he gets no depth when dropping into his stance on this play, and the result is a safety. He barely moves off of the snap here against Syracuse, and the defensive end unloads on Boyd. Later in that game, it looks as if Clemson’s entire line is on the wrong page facing a stunt. Boyd again takes the punishment. Rather than properly kick out, Thomas lunges at the Georgia Tech defensive end here. These issues are less problematic than his proclivity to get beaten inside a few times each game.

The good news is that he can stop an inside rush, and he does tend to rally well in general. If you recall Clowney defeating Thomas inside earlier, note that Thomas reacts in time to stop him here and here. Thomas’ strength allows him to rally here, where Clowney initially gets in a strong bull rush. You don’t want a tackle allowing two or three free shots at your quarterback each game in the NFL. Thomas is not perfect in pass protection, but he has no athletic limitation to prevent him from playing tackle. With a full recovery from his ACL tear, there’s a good chance we will see him starting somewhere along the 49ers offensive line in 2015.

 

ROUND 4, PICK 106

Bruce Ellington, WR, South Carolina

Don’t let Bruce Ellington’s 5’9″ stature fool you; he plays much taller. It’s all in his 39.5″ vertical. After all, we are talking about a basketball player here. In the four games I watched– Wisconsin, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Missouri– Ellington dropped exactly one ball. As we’ll see shortly, this is rather spectacular, given the degree of difficulty on many of his receptions. His ability to concentrate and make the tough catches is nearly unparalleled in this draft class. The only negative plays other than the one drop all came in blocking, and he is not a poor blocker overall. Sit back and enjoy the show.

As with Brandon Thomas, Bruce Ellington saved his best game for last with six receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns against Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl. Oh, he also threw a touchdown pass. On the first play of the game, Ellington runs a post from the slot and shows toughness in bringing the ball down through contact. Here he simply runs a deep post for a touchdown, showing off that 4.45 speed. Look at the adjustment he makes on this ball for a catch around his feet. Speaking of spectacular catches, take a look at him tipping a ball to himself here. Keep the tape rolling to see a touchdown on the next play.

Missouri featured one of the top defenses in college football in 2013. Nobody told Bruce Ellington:

• He catches this ball in traffic even though he bobbles it initially.
• Does this look incomplete? Initially, yes. The replay shows his incredible field awareness and concentration, and, yep, it’s a touchdown.
• Fourth quarter. Three minutes remaining. Down a touchdown. A diving catch over the middle. Overtime? Please. Touchdown.

In the Arkansas game, Ellington catches two touchdowns and this deep ball. Neither touchdown is particularly special. Both occur near the end zone and Arkansas decides not to cover him. Facing Vanderbilt he makes this pretty over-the-shoulder deep catch from the slot. Double coverage? No problem, Ellington splits them and makes a very difficult catch through contact for a touchdown. All he does is make plays.

I suspect he will find a way to get on the field even with Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin, and newly acquired receiver Stevie Johnson (among others) battling for receptions. If nothing else, I expect Ellington to be a preseason sensation, and to make his mark in 2015. I didn’t show any problems with his game because he didn’t show any in what he was asked to do. The only issue, I suppose, is that he’s limited to primarily playing in the slot, and he isn’t six feet tall. His fearlessness in traffic and great hands remind me a lot of Anquan Boldin. And he’s out to take his job.

 

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

As I said earlier, the 49ers addressed some needs with their first several picks. Jimmie Ward is a safety who can be pressed into service at cornerback and should provide the 49ers with a formidable safety duo for years and years with pro bowler Eric Reid (both were born in 1991). Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde was my highest graded runner in the draft and his selection could very well mean the end of Frank Gore’s long tenure in San Francisco. Wisconsin middle linebacker Chris Borland has big shoes to fill as he’s the likeliest candidate to step into NaVorro Bowman’s role until he returns. The good news is that he’s an experienced player; the bad is that he isn’t NaVorro Bowman. Zone Reads video analyst and contributor Needle made a video on each Carlos Hyde and Chris Borland; I recommend checking out both.

Third-round pick Marcus Martin will almost certainly be the opening day starter at center. Thirty-five year old Jonathan Goodwin had been the starter at center the past three years, but the team let him leave in free agency. Fourth-round cornerback Dontae Johnson is 6’2″ and ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at the combine. He flashes ability in coverage here and there, and given the lack of depth at the position will likely make the team (or, you know, get claimed by Seattle). Defensive end Aaron Lynch will face an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster, but he does have some ability. I have not seen tape on the remainder of the 49ers’ draft class.

The 49ers have done a masterful job of both developing young players and retaining their star veterans. Look at this list: Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Patrick Willis, Joe Staley, Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati, NaVorro Bowman, Aldon Smith, Colin Kaepernick, and Eric Reid. All of them were drafted by the 49ers. (It’s a completely different story down the street in Oakland.) Unless Blaine Gabbert is pressed into action (the horror, the horror), the 49ers have the talent to make another run at the Super Bowl.

Raiders Identity Crises: Khalil Mack and Derek Carr

The Oakland Raiders have not fielded a team with a record above .500 since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers humiliated them 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII. The team’s record since that loss is a league-worst 53 wins and 123 losses. Yes, even worse than the Detroit Lions, who in that time followed up their historically bad 0-16 season with a 2-14 season and have made five top-two selections in the draft over the same time span. The Raiders have ousted not one, not two, not three, but seven head coaches over this period.

Panthers Double “Trey”: Trai Turner and Tre Boston

All things told, the Carolina Panthers 2013 season is among the most successful in franchise history. Their offense was about league average, with Cam Newton throwing to the corpse of Steve Smith, and the defense was the best in team history. Instead of grabbing all of the receiving and offensive line help they could get in this year’s draft, the Panthers seem to have held to a “best player available” strategy. While they did add a big receiving weapon in Kelvin Benjamin with their first pick, it’s unclear how much he’ll be able to contribute immediately. I’ll discuss Benjamin and the rest of the Panthers incoming rookie class in the conclusion. Our featured prospects will be the rare offensive line prospect who declares for the draft as a redshirt sophomore, LSU right guard Trai Turner, along with North Carolina safety Tre Boston.

ROUND 3, PICK 92

Trai Turner, OG, LSU

It’s not often you see an offensive line prospect declare after his sophomore season, and after only 20 career starts, but that’s exactly what Trai Turner did. He only just turned 21 on June 14. From a physical standpoint, Turner is a grown-ass man at 6’3″, 310 lbs., with long 34″ arms, and he plays like one, as we’ll get to shortly. Turner was the #1 “pure” guard on my draft board (behind tackle/guard prospects Greg Robinson and Zack Martin) and I thought Carolina was stealing in broad daylight when they selected him 92nd overall.

Keep an eye on the right guard #56, that’s Trai Turner. What I am looking for in an offensive line prospect are rudimentary things such as agility, strength, pass protection, etc, and I’ll leave the more detailed play-by-play oriented analysis for Zone Reads contributors Needle and Matt W (extra thanks to Matt for help on this piece). Consistent play is key for an offensive lineman and I kept an eye on that in my preliminary research. If there are any areas which strike me as a concern I’ll give an example and inform you what my concern is about. For this post I’ve taken a look at LSU’s 2013 games against Texas A&M, Arkansas, Alabama (via CJ Mosley), and Florida (via Hill and Mettenberger). If that sounds confusing, it isn’t. We’re always going to be looking at the right guard.

All of Trai Turner’s mistakes come in pass protection. That is to say, there are no flaws which show up in his run blocking either at the point of attack or at the second level more than a handful of times in these four games combined. As a run blocker Trai Turner is among the best you’ll ever see at the college level. His ability to reach the second level and sustain blocks there is tremendous. None of his issues in pass protection appear to be unfixable and they are rare enough where it isn’t likely to keep him from immediately starting.

First we’ll take a look at his strengths and weaknesses in pass protection. There were a number of plays in Turner’s tapes where his technique could use some work. On this first play Turner is a split second too slow on his engagement and allows the defender to get to his outside shoulder and is forced to hold with his right arm. The refs didn’t throw a flag here so hooray for the big gain. On this next play a similar issue happens where the defensive tackle is able to get ideal hand placement on Turner and win the leverage battle. If there’s a positive to take away from these two instances it’s that Trai Turner rallies well when beat. The defenders are unable to get to the quarterback on either play in large part because Turner has learned the subtle art of holding and not getting flagged. You may laugh but this is much better than giving up a free rush to your quarterback and it’s a skill every offensive lineman needs in his toolbox.

More often than not Turner does play the proper technique in pass protection. On this play Turner gets his hands out earlier with more depth in his drop and what really sticks out here is how well he uses his hands to consistently attack the defender. Once again Turner plays the correct technique by shooting his hands first and not waiting to be attacked.

In these four games there are only two plays I identified where Trai Turner completely blows the assignment in pass protection. The first play is similar to the previous two where he doesn’t engage the defensive tackle quick enough and loses the leverage battle once the tackle reaches his outside shoulder (this time he’s beat too much to even hold). On this one Turner fails to recognize a stunt, doesn’t get any depth in his drop, and a rusher comes free with a shot at the quarterback. Compare that play with this play where Turner gets plenty of depth on his drop and is able to briefly help the right tackle before sliding over to the middle in order to meet a stunting defender. Perfect. In fact, there are several instances where Turner slides over to help the right tackle before ‘his’ man needs to be blocked. I’ve suffered through seeing so many guards who lack the athleticism to make this kind of play that I’m in awe when there’s a player like Trai Turner makes it look easy.

If you’ve made it this far then surely you want to see why I described Turner as one of the best run blockers I’ve ever seen. He can ride defenders down the line, turn his man away from the run, pull around to the left, or simply plow straight down the field. These plays don’t require much in the way of explanation. See target, destroy target. The single most impressive play to my eye was this one against Arkansas where Turner fakes a ‘down’ block to his left, pirouettes his feet in the complete opposite direction, charges full steam ahead into the cornerback, and takes him for a 12-yard ride. That isn’t a ride you’ll find at your local amusement park. It was difficult to pare down my rather lengthy collection of Trai Turner ‘highlights’ into a few for display here. I have enough of them to write another 1,000 words, but I’ll spare you the time and urge you to check out his tapes over at Draft Breakdown if you’re interested in seeing more.

 

ROUND 4, PICK 128

Tre Boston, S, North Carolina

Tre Boston started 40 out of 48 games at North Carolina either at safety or cornerback. There’s not anything eye-popping about his combine numbers but all across the board he scores similarly to the highly touted Alabama safety and Green Bay Packer 1st-round pick HaHa Clinton-Dix. There are 5 tapes available for Tre Boston at Draft Breakdown – two from 2013 and three from 2012 – and I’ve taken a look at all of them for this post. Disclaimer: safeties are the most difficult position to get a feel for with the TV camera but it is what it is.

Boston is a sure tackler. By my count Tre Boston missed 5 tackles in the 5 games with only the 2012 contest against Duke being more than one missed. Mind you, Boston accounted for 17 tackles in that game either as an assist or solo. Two of these tackles came in critical situations near the goal line. On this play as soon as Boston recognizes the runner he sprints to him and gets in on an important tackle. In fact, I believe Boston hesitates just a moment too long as you can see him barely moving at the 5:38 mark; but the play also shows how quickly he can close when he recognizes the offensive attack. Later in the same game Boston shows no hesitation during a critical play (check the score and time remaining). Duke went on to win on a pass the very next play but alas this play isn’t on Boston’s tape.

In the 2013 game against Duke Tre Boston accumulates 15 tackles. My favorite is this tackle on a well disguised blitz where Boston drops the runner for a loss. Boston can be seen both in making plays around the line of scrimmage or deep in coverage in the Tarheel’s defensive scheme. One issue of concern is biting on play action as he does on two plays in different games here and here. On this play Boston stands flat footed in no man’s land following a simultaneous double move from the wide receiver and pump fake from the quarterback. While I don’t even know went wrong here since the TV camera on both the play and replay fails to key on the secondary, I do know a safety isn’t supposed to be sprinting to chase down a receiver in his area as the ball sails by him.

Many defensive backs in the ACC feasted off of Miami quarterback Stephen Morris these past two seasons and Tre Boston was no different. Boston’s interceptions highlight some incredible in-game athleticism. Watch as he locates and high points this ball. If not for a pointless shove from a teammate later in the same game then this interception wouldn’t have been called back for pass interference. Boston has a field day against Miami in 2012 with those plays and this pass deflection – not his only one. In these 5 games I counted a total of 9 plays which were either deflected or intercepted by him. The same peeking in the backfield which got him busted earlier also results in some plays such as this one where he eyes the quarterback the entire play and returns an interception for a touchdown.

What I like about Tre Boston is his aggressive play. As we’ve seen in these plays I linked he’s not afraid to throw his body around near the line of scrimmage or react to defense a ball flying in his general direction. He’ll be tested on his eye discipline early and often throughout his rookie season as I really don’t see Roman Harper holding Tre Boston back from starting for particularly long.

 

THE WRAP

The Carolina Panthers are coming off of arguably their second best season in franchise history, behind their appearance in Super Bowl XXXVIII. They accomplished this with significant weaknesses along the offensive line and in their receiving corps(e). A lot will be asked of 1st-round pick Kelvin Benjamin to make an immediate impact and I think fans may be disappointed in those early returns as Benjamin isn’t nearly as polished as the similarly sized sophomore entry Mike Evans. One thing Benjamin has going for him over Evans is Cam Newton throwing him the ball; if Benjamin is to succeed he’s in the right spot to do so.

Zone Reads contributor Needle made a 20 minute video on 2nd-round pick Kony Ealy which I recommend checking out. Short and sweet cliffs: Needle loves Ealy’s inside move. Being able to rotate Ealy in along a defensive line which already includes Charles Johnson, Greg Hardy, Kawann Short, and Star Lotulelei is nothing short of terrifying. I didn’t love Kony Ealy as a player to come in and start immediately and he certainly won’t be doing so in Carolina but with these players commanding attention Ealy will see a lot of 1-on-1 matchups as a rookie.

The only other Panther’s draft pick which I watched some of was 6th rounder Tyler Gaffney. He’s a powerful short yardage runner who seems to fill no specific need for the Panthers but, hey, you can never have too many running backs. I kid, I kid. Overall I love what the Panthers did in this draft. They drafted a lot of very talented young prospects to go with those already on the team. A run at the Super Bowl is very much in play, even in a loaded conference.

Vikings Draft Picks: Scott Crichton and David Yankey

I believe the Vikings did the best job in the draft of stockpiling very talented players. Just two seasons ago, the Vikings made the playoffs on the back of Adrian Peterson’s MVP / “nine yards short of the all-time single season rushing record” campaign. All of this happened with a then-sophomore year Christian Ponder at quarterback. The selection of Louisville signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater marks the end of the Ponder era and should usher in a new era of quality quarterback play, one that will give Adrian Peterson some badly-needed help with carrying the offense. I’ll return to the Bridgewater pick and the rest of the Vikings draft in the closing paragraphs; what I want to do now is shed a light on a couple of middle- to late-round picks who didn’t receive much attention in the mainstream draft coverage. The two players I’ve selected for the Vikings are both early entries (juniors): defensive end Scott Crichton and offensive guard David Yankey.

 

ROUND 3, PICK 72

Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State

In the weeks before the draft I pegged the big Oregon State defensive end as a surefire late first-round pick. The draft class didn’t have much size at defensive end– at least, not that came with the kind of get-off and strength needed to rush the passer, which I believe Crichton has. In terms of measurables, Crichton stands 6’3″, weighs 273 lbs, with 32 3/4″ arms, ran a 4.84 40, hit 24 reps on the bench, and ran among the fastest shuttles at the combine. In this post we’re going to take a look at the bowl game against Boise State and two conference powerhouse opponents in Stanford and Oregon.

The Boise State game is nothing short of an extended highlight reel for Crichton. He doesn’t just play well; he takes over the game. We’re going to start with three consecutive plays on the tape. First, this play: the tight end tries to wash him out of the play, and Crichton shows his closing speed, going around the block to make the tackle for a large loss. On the very next play, he explodes off the line from a wide-9 position and uses an arm-over move on the hapless right tackle to force a fumble for a touchdown. Boise State hasn’t yet learned not to block him with a tight end, so on the third play Crichton sheds the blocker immediately and bursts upfield to meet the runner for another tackle behind the line of scrimmage.

Skipping ahead over several other quality plays (only for brevity’s sake; there’s plenty of good material there), let’s take a look at this play, where he’s matched mano y mano with Bears 7th-round pick Charles Leno, Jr. (no slouch himself). We see an extraordinary speed rush where Leno has no play but to grab and hold Crichton to keep him from slamming the quarterback onto the turf. The referees, in a game Oregon State has a 31-0 lead, do not call holding as an act of mercy. And in this one last play from the Hawai’i bowl, you can see Crichton bull-rush the guard, forcing the quarterback to scramble for not much on a long third down, effectively ending the game.

I’ve selected the Stanford game next because this is arguably the worst tape of Crichton’s I watched at Draft Breakdown. The biggest problem with Crichton is consistency during games. He can go series after series getting stalemated, or worse, at the line before he flashes very high-level play. The reason I really like him as a prospect is that he flashes a few times in every game. On this play, Crichton is facing Patriots 4th-round pick Cameron Fleming, and Fleming is able to nearly get Crichton off balance, using his left arm to push him away. The good news is that Crichton didn’t fall down and wasn’t taken out of the play completely, but this is one of those issues I mentioned that pop up for Crichton from time to time. Much later in the same game, Crichton briefly gets double teamed off the snap on this play, which leads to Fleming taking Crichton for a ride down the field and away from the ball carrier. And for good measure, this time on a pass play Crichton is double-teamed by the left tackle and by his new teammate, guard David Yankey (#54). The result is our man Crichton taking some time to enjoy the view from the ground.

As I said earlier, not a game goes by where Crichton doesn’t flash some high-level ability, and the Stanford game is no different. While I will concede the game is an overall negative for him, I want to showcase several plays which will get any Vikings fan excited and will have Lions fans such as myself hoping he never realizes his full potential. Here’s an incredible play where Crichton is lined up inside at defensive tackle and simply rag-dolls the right guard to the ground, which, if not for the awareness of the running back to briefly shield Crichton, would have resulted in a sack. Alas, this is not the first time in the game where Stanford’s right guard wound up on the ground. It happens earlier in the game on this play, where Crichton crashes inside, puts the guard on his back, and this time does get the sack. If you watch the entire Stanford game you’ll notice Crichton struggles to do much against the left tackle; here is one play where he does get in a strong bull rush.

I want you to see one more game, this time against Oregon. We’ve seen one play earlier where Crichton played inside. Now, in this Oregon game, we’ll see his versatility, as Crichton lines up everywhere along the defensive line. For example, on this play Crichton is aligned at nose tackle, and Oregon utilizes three blockers to hold him off. On another play, again at nose tackle, Crichton is not able to shed the left guard’s block, which opens a lane for the runner to gain big yards in the red zone. The tale of the first half is that Crichton isn’t able to get much going, either because he isn’t shedding the block or he’s getting double-teamed at the point of attack.

If you watched the first half of the Oregon tape and turned it off because Scott Crichton was not doing much, then you’d have made a grave mistake, my friends. It begins right before the second half, on this play: Crichton attacks the right shoulder of the center off the snap and brings down the runner for a staggering 10-yard loss. What is “it” in the last sentence? Simply put, Scott Crichton transforming into The Incredible Hulk. Early in the third quarter, Oregon decides to go for it on a 4th-and-1 at midfield by running the ball directly at Scott Crichton. The result is the same as the last play I showed you.

The Hulk, you say? Crichton toss right tackle aside. Crichton see runner, Crichton kill runner. You get the idea. Luckily for the Ducks, quarterback Marcus Mariota can elude a pass rush because Crichton also gets to him several times in the second half. Right here, Crichton once again displays his strength on a bull rush against a guard, and eventually the play ends with Mariota running out of bounds. Towards the end of a tight game, Crichton explodes around the left tackle and hurries Mariota into an incomplete pass.

As you may have guessed by now, I was an enormous fan of Scott Crichton’s game. When the Vikings selected him a mere four spots before the Lions could, I died a little bit on the inside. By no means do I anticipate that he will come right in and make the Pro Bowl, but I do believe he has the talent to start immediately and contribute in a positive way as a rookie. If you watch all three of these tapes, you’ll see more of what I showed you here: A player– at least in the Stanford and Oregon games– who disappears over stretches and turns his back to the play on a few too many spin moves. There’s no glaring hole in his game which pops out to me; all of his issues seem very much fixable.

 

ROUND 5, PICK 145

David Yankey, OG, Stanford

David Yankey has been a key player in Stanford’s run-heavy offense these past three seasons, playing both left guard and left tackle. His 40 time is… well, let’s agree to say it’s not important. What does jump out from his combine measurements are his 34″ arms. For some perspective, those arms are longer than these three first-rounder linemen; Jake Matthews, Taylor Lewan, and Zack Martin. Yankey also stands 6’6″ and possesses a large frame that can easily carry his 315 pounds. I hadn’t seen any of his 2012 tapes at tackle until I started doing the research for this column.

Briefly, these are my findings from two 2012 games at left tackle:

1. On the very first play I ever saw David Yankey play left tackle, he takes a violent right-handed punch to the chest followed by a swim move around the edge, and responds by dropping his head and lunging at the defensive end. This nearly results in a forced fumble.
2. Here against Wisconsin, rather than go into a kick-slide for pass protection, Yankey takes a number of useless lateral steps. This gives him no depth to form a pocket, and just like in the last play, he responds by dropping his head and lunging at the defensive end.
3. This time, Yankey properly uses a kick-slide to drop back, except the pass rusher has sold out on an inside rush from the start.  By the time he’s in his set, Yankey is already beaten and is forced to hopelessly dive towards the rusher.
4. Yankey gets bulled back towards the quarterback on a few occasions in these two games from 2012.

I feel comfortable ruling David Yankey out as a tackle. It’s not only these five plays above; Yankey simply doesn’t grasp how to play the position, and it shows repeatedly during the 2012 USC game. Sure, experience will help with that, and perhaps he can work on his technique enough as a pro to move to tackle years down the road. In any case, he’s not playing there any time soon, and the Vikings selected him to play guard, so that’s what we’ll focus on. Let’s take a look at several of his plays in 2013 against Notre Dame, Arizona State, and Michigan State.

His play at left guard is significantly better from his play at tackle. Yankey is a terrific athlete for a player of his size, as he demonstrates on this play. Notre Dame brings a linebacker to the outside of the defensive end; Yankey quickly sprints out to meet him, which allows for the passer to complete a 20-yard dart. Steelers second-round pick Stephon Tuitt gets bullied around a little bit by David Yankey on a few plays: On this play, Yankey rides Tuitt out towards the sideline, making room for the runner to eventually find a nice running lane on the outside. The next play requires little explanation, as Yankey simply uses Tuitt’s momentum to toss him right to the ground. The perfect play call helped in the last instance, but it’s still nice to see a good pancake.

Yankey has a few lapses in pass protection in the three games I reviewed, both to his inside and to his outside shoulder. These only happen occasionally, but it’s worth noting that his pass protection is not always clean, and even if this “only” happens twice each game, that is twice too many. Another area he really needs to work on is his coordination at the second level. When he squares up on a defender while pulling around the block, it can be a thing of beauty, and he can do it both on passing and on running plays. But it isn’t always a thing of beauty: all too often he gets lost at the second level and finds himself laying on the ground having failed to block anyone. In this case, the linebacker throws him to the floor.

I haven’t yet shown any plays from the game against Arizona State because I’m leaving the best for last. I guarantee you Will Sutton, who was selected in the third round by the Chicago Bears, does not want to get wham-blocked by David Yankey ever again. In fact, perhaps Will Sutton would prefer never to see him again period: In this play Yankey simply pummels Sutton to the field. On this play, you can hear the POP of the collision if you turn the volume on YouTube up a bit. Last but not least, I’ll leave on a second-level block where his lunge actually helps neutralize the safety and leads to a touchdown.

 

MORE ON THE VIKINGS DRAFT

If you want to see a high quality breakdown on Anthony Barr I strongly recommend checking out Channel Needle. I personally wouldn’t have taken him #9, but I understand the pick and I didn’t think it was a complete blunder. Mike Zimmer has an excellent track record with coaching up defensive players from his Cincinnati days; no reason that record won’t continue as a head coach.

Teddy Bridgewater was the #1 quarterback among every single one of us at Zone Reads. The Vikings are the perfect team to break in a rookie signal caller, with a top-notch offensive line, weapons outside in Greg Jennings and Cordarrelle Patterson, and the best running back in Adrian Peterson. Bridgewater does not need to play like Joe Montana reincarnated (well, he’s still alive, but you know) in order for the Vikings to return to the playoffs. He simply needs to hand the ball to Peterson and hit receivers when a pass is called, something the trio of Viking quarterbacks in 2013 could not do on a reliable basis. Adrian Peterson should have enough in the tank to make for a smooth transition for Bridgewater to be given more and more responsibility the same way Matt Ryan in Atlanta and Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh were. Hey, that second-year gunslinger Russell Wilson leaned on a veteran running back and just won a Super Bowl.

Among the remainder of the Vikings draft, the only player’s game I can recall off the top of my head is Georgia Southern’s do-it-all Swiss army knife athlete and Combine wonder Jerick McKinnon. “He was just, from an athletic standpoint, too good of an athlete to pass up,” said General Manager Rick Spielman of McKinnon in the Minnesota Star-Tribune. It’s hard to disagree. McKinnon played all over the place in Georgia Southern’s option attack and played a large role in their upset of Florida.

The Vikings smashed the value button repeatedly with those first five selections. Not only did they get good value, but they also addressed pressing needs, and have set themselves up more than any other team in the draft for a bright long-term future. As a Lions fan, it breaks my heart. As a football fan, I can’t wait to see these players hit the field together for the first time.

Saints Add Defense: Stanley Jean-Baptiste and Ronald Powell

In the Drew Brees / Sean Payton era, the New Orleans Saints have been one of the best teams in the league, winning at least 11 games in four of the past five seasons. That other season, of course, was the year Payton was suspended as punishment for “Bountygate”, where the Saints had two different coaches as his temporary replacement, and the fallout essentially led to a lost season. During that 2012 season, the Saints defense was in shambles and, by most metrics, graded as the worst in the NFL. Skip ahead to 2013: Rob Ryan has taken over as defensive coordinator from Steve Spagnuolo, and the Saints now feature a top-notch defense. In this year’s draft the Saints used four of their six picks on defense, specifically targeting players who fit Ryan’s scheme. I’ll discuss two guys I liked that they picked up on days two and three, Stanley Jean-Baptiste and Ronald Powell.

 

ROUND 2, PICK 58

Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska

Stanley Jean-Baptiste is a natural fit in New Orleans just based on his name. Okay, having covered that, we can move on to Ronald Powell… no? You want to hear more? OK.  SJB is a cornerback who fits the new bigger-is-better mold whisked in by the Seattle Seahawks’ championship defense. He stands 6’3″ and plays a physical press technique which Rob Ryan loves to utilize on the outside. For this column, I watched all five of SJB’s tapes available on Draft Breakdown. I saw a number of plays where he played well and some areas where he needs to improve. I’ve left out all running plays because there’s not much to say about them: His play against the run is adequate, with no standout plays or glaring holes.

Let’s start with an area of concern for Jean-Baptiste: his deficiency in running with receivers when he isn’t able to get his hands on them. (Now, as I stated, the Saints are not likely to use him in off-coverage like this, so it may not be a big deal.) In his game against Southern Missouri, SJB plays a ton of off-man coverage. So you see plays like this, where he bites hard on a double move. The receiver drops a perfectly placed ball there, but more to the point, this is not what we want to see out of our cornerback play. In this specific instance, perhaps he was fooled because earlier in the game he jumped a similar route and intercepted it for a touchdown. And on this play, we see SJB simply get burned deep on a slight-hesitation-turned-‘go’ route by second-round pick Allen Robinson. Against the Julio Joneses of the world, this is a touchdown.

Now, by no means does SJB consistently fail in off-man coverage. Again against Allen Robinson, this time in overtime, he mirrors him step for step— admittedly, on a play where Robinson doesn’t get out of his break properly. On another play, while facing one of the craftiest route runners in the nation in Jeremy Gallon, SJB is able to run with him while maintaining his responsibilities the entire time. He plays Gallon very well the entire game. One mental lapse stood out on this play; if you pause right before the snap, you can see only 10 defensive players on the screen, and SJB inexplicably runs with the slot receiver when it is unfathomable that he doesn’t have outside responsibility.

Stanley Jean-Baptiste shines is in press coverage where he’s able to reroute or shut out the receiver. His physicality shows up frequently in the Illinois game. On this play, his jam at the line causes the receiver to completely lose his balance. Here we see him utilize his hands to guide the receiver outside, where he can use the sideline as a defender and shield off any possible idea of an inside move. We see both his strength and weakness on this play, again against Allen Robinson. SJB first gets a nice jam, which forces Robinson further inside; however, both SJB and the safety bite on a double move. Fortunately for Nebraska, this did not result in a touchdown– this time.

The Saints signed center-field safety Jairus Byrd to a 6-year, $54M contract this offseason to pair with the outstanding and versatile Kenny Vaccaro, their first-round pick from the 2013 draft. This pair should be one of the more formidable safety duos in the entire NFL. Rob Ryan’s defense counts on physical play outside with his corners and confusion around the line of scrimmage with multiple different looks up front. With Stanley Jean-Baptiste, I believe they have a player who can step right in and play that left cornerback role opposite Keenan Lewis. And as we’re about to see, with Ronald Powell, they added some flexibility up front as well.

 

ROUND 5, PICK 169

Ronald Powell, ER/LB, Florida

I first looked at Ronald Powell only a few weeks before the draft. Although he’s listed as an outside linebacker everywhere, Powell was used primarily as a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end, which is quite incredible when you realize he measures a mere 6’3″ and 237 lbs. His size didn’t seem to slow him down; he matched up reasonably well against the SEC’s offensive tackles, as we’ll see momentarily. In the NFL, I don’t see the Saints using Powell with his hand down often, but I do believe he has the athleticism and versatility to be used a number of ways in Rob Ryan’s defense. I took a look at Powell’s games against Georgia and Miami from 2013 and Florida State in 2011 (he missed the entire 2012 season due to two ACL tears).

On this first play, I want to show why you wouldn’t want to use Powell much as a true defensive end. It doesn’t require much explanation: Miami’s left tackle simply throws him to the ground, so you can imagine what might happen one-on-one against the Tyron Smiths and Duane Browns of the world. This isn’t to say he’s incapable of it, but it’s not optimal at his size. Powell is often much quicker off the snap than the offensive tackle, as in this play, where he gets a hit on Aaron Murray, disrupting a throw which otherwise results in a touchdown. His technique isn’t sharp, but his speed usually gets him there, as it does in this play against Miami. Here, Powell shoots a gap that opens between the tackle and guard and loops around for a sack.

I want you to watch these back-to-back passing plays against Florida State from Powell’s freshman season. In the first play, Powell wastes a number of steps on his path to quarterback E.J. Manuel and, as a result, is swallowed up by the left tackle. On the very next play, Powell attacks the edge from the outset, and at 1:22 you can that the left tackle has to extend his left arm to push Powell out of the pocket. It doesn’t work, as Powell is able to bend completely around the edge for a sack, showing off both speed and strength in the process.

His strength at the point of attack often depends on the size of the player trying to block him. He’s able to overpower weaker tight ends, as he does here tackling the runner for a two-yard loss. Here, he’s double-teamed by a tight end and running back tandem, and is simply unfazed, staying with the blockers to chase the ball carrier and coming off them to make the tackle. Now, against bigger and better run blockers, such as in this play against Georgia, he can be turned to create a path for the runner. If you watch these entire tapes I believe you’ll notice the same theme.

So far we’ve only seen Powell playing on the edge. As I said earlier, I believe his versatility is what the Saints crave. Florida primarily used him on the edges, but they also also moved him all around the place. On this play, Powell is lined up at middle linebacker. Now, make no mistake: when he is playing inside, he is coming on a pass rush, and the offense knows it. Nevertheless, Powell meets the guard at nearly full speed, and through his lower pad level, is able to briefly stun him. With the help of teammate Dominique Easley clearing away both the center and right guard, Powell is able to pressure the quarterback into a throwaway that nearly draws an intentional-grounding penalty. On a similar play against Georgia, he does draw the grounding flag, as he bursts through the gap on the right side of the offense.

Due to his pass rushing acumen, Powell doesn’t drop into coverage particularly often. When he does, it looks more or less something like it does in this play, where all Powell does is move into the flat with the fullback. I didn’t see a single play where he dropped into coverage over the middle or anywhere except the flats. If it happened, it wasn’t worth noting. I do believe that Powell has the athleticism to play in deeper coverages in limited packages. There’s no stiffness in his movements, as I’m sure you’ll agree. At Saints rookie camp, Rob Ryan has been working Powell out at SAM linebacker; you can read about it in this interview from the Saints’ own website, where Ryan also discusses Stanley Jean-Baptiste and the rest of their rookie class.

 

THE WRAP UP

The Saints only had six picks in the 2014 draft, and as I’ve detailed above, I like both SJB and Ronald Powell. As for the rest: I believe wide receiver Brandin Cooks will immediately be able to contribute to the Saints offense as a nice weapon for Drew Brees. He’s a fairly polished route runner and can get open all over the field (and is crazy fast). His diminutive stature might limit his catching radius and his success on 50/50 balls. I do not see him as the next Steve Smith– perhaps the next Mark Duper, but hey, that wouldn’t be a bad result at all.

I didn’t watch enough of either fourth-rounder Khairi Fortt or fifth-rounder Vinnie Sunseri to comment. (ed note: I watched Sunseri and I saw someone whose instincts, open-field speed, and tackling abilities could make him a special-teams ace. The notes some of our other writers have on Fortt suggest someone whose technique needs improvement and who finds himself out of position, but whose sheer athleticism has been able to make up for it.) The Saints sixth-round pick, Tavon Rooks, is a complete project at offensive tackle. In the only game I watched, Rooks was consistently overpowered by FCS powerhouse North Dakota State’s defensive line. At 6’5″ but only 299 lbs, Rooks will need to add significant core strength before he’ll be able to see the field. Zone Reads editor and Saints homer Nath tells me the Saints have had success developing late-round offensive line picks in the past, and that appears to be the idea behind this selection. (ed: See: Zach Strief, Carl Nicks, Jahri Evans, Jermon Bushrod, Brian de la Puente, Terron Armstead…)

Overall, the Saints had an intriguing offseason. They fortified their defense both via free agency and through this draft class (while also adding a new weapon for the offense). If they are hoisting another Lombardi trophy in New Orleans next year, then it’ll almost certainly be in part because this rookie class was able to produce immediately, along with the continued addition of new players in the secondary and the growth of the ones already there. Of course, in the end, it all comes back to the two guys who have been the foundation of this era of Saints ball: Drew Brees and Sean Payton.

Lions Outside Rush: Kyle Van Noy and Larry Webster

The Lions have rebounded from a recent history of failure to field a watchable team over the last several seasons. Heck, they even made the playoffs in 2011. Calvin Johnson is perhaps the most exciting player in the game, and the cupboard of roster talent is certainly not empty. However, a 4-12 2013 meant a coaching change: Jim (Schwartz) is dead, long live Jim (Caldwell)!  Being watchable is all well and good, but Detroit fans want to see a Super Bowl contender, or a team good enough to win one with the right breaks, which hasn’t happened in a long time. In this draft, the Lions addressed an assortment of needs– now, as for drafting the best players, I would say they were not as successful, but history cannot be reversed. These are the players we are stuck with, and hey, it isn’t all bad. Right? Let’s all agree to answer yes. And now to Kyle Van Noy and Larry Webster.

 

ROUND 2, PICK 40

KYLE VAN NOY, ER/LB, BYU

With the 5th overall pick in last year’s draft. the Detroit Lions selected my absolute favorite player in the 2013 class, defensive end Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah. I bring him up because Kyle Van Noy was his teammate at BYU. Because of that, we’ll take a brief look at some plays where they played side by side in 2012, along with how Van Noy played without him in 2013. Kyle Van Noy is a player who throughout the process stood out to me as a “jack of all trades.” At BYU, he played essentially every linebacker position in their 3-4 scheme. We’ll see him lined up outside against the offensive tackle as a pass rusher, behind the defensive tackle in a role that’s closer to what I believe he’ll play with the Lions, and even matched up against slot receivers on many passing downs. As is often the case with a “jack of all trades” player, Kyle Van Noy is good to very good at all of these roles and elite at none.

First, let’s look at a handful of plays from 2012, where Van Noy is playing with Ziggy Ansah. Just to get Lions fans salivating, I’ve selected this play first. Van Noy and Ansah are lined up side by side, and from the snap, it’s a race to the quarterback, as both men are essentially unblocked and nearly kill that poor passer. Good game, NFL. (Well, this was against Hawaii, but let’s hope they can repeat it.) Now on the other side of the field, again next to Ansah, Van Noy is unblocked as the quarterback bootlegs to his right, away from him. It doesn’t matter, as Van Noy has the speed to chase him down, and if the ball stays in the playing field, this is a turnover. Last, we have Ansah at nose tackle with Van Noy standing right behind him, and on a perfectly timed blitz, Van Noy shoots the gap opened by the pulling guard and drops the runner for a six-yard loss.

One skill I love with Kyle Van Noy’s game is how well he sees plays developing and how well he reacts to them. There’s no hesitation in, for instance, this play in the red zone (now in 2013 sans Ansah). He sees the toss left, makes a beeline towards Bishop Sankey, and tackles him for a big time loss of yards on 4th-and-1.

I haven’t yet shown him playing in coverage. He’s used more often around the line of scrimmage, but as I said earlier, he does occasionally split out in the slot or behind defensive linemen and drops into coverage. Here’s a play where Van Noy is in the slot and makes a tackle on the receiver where he squares up and doesn’t get out of position versus a faster opponent. What he doesn’t do there is get his hands on and jam the slot receiver as he’s releasing into his route. Failing to jam receivers is a common problem of his play in the slot; it’s something he should be doing and that shouldn’t be difficult to teach, but he almost never does, at least on the plays I looked at over a number of games. When he drops into coverage, he’s almost always “spying” the quarterback, as he does in the play here. Van Noy is playing the quarterback and, on that specific play, is able to read where the throw is heading and tips it in the air.

Kyle Van Noy’s biggest strength is rushing the passer. You can split him out in the slot or in a zone and he’s not going to play badly, necessarily, but certainly you want to make use of his strengths. Van Noy will bring the kind of pressure from the outside that the Lions simply did not have in the absence of Cliff Avril, albeit as a linebacker rather than a defensive end. Van Noy does need to use his hands more often on his engagements; often he’ll rely on his speed to get around the corner, and when he’s met by an offensive tackle, he doesn’t always make use of his hands to help him out. He did in most of these plays I showed, but if you watch several games, you’ll see this is an area he can improve in. In any case, I like the pick and the reunion with Ziggy Ansah. Looking forward to what he can bring to the table.

 

ROUND 4, PICK 136

LARRY WEBSTER, ER, BLOOMSBURG

The selection of Larry Webster in the fourth round by the Lions is a bit more puzzling. Mind you, I don’t have much film on him: there are only two games available on Draft Breakdown, both against the same opponent. So perhaps he looks like Lawrence Taylor in other games (I can dream), but against the great Shippensburg University (who? what? where?), he only flashes here and there. If you look at Webster’s combine performance, the pick starts making more sense; he measured in at 6’6″ and 252 lbs., ran a very speedy 4.58 40, with an incredible 36.5″ vertical. Hey, maybe he can play tight end if Eric Ebron doesn’t work out.

Larry Webster is positively primordial in his development. The first tape I looked at was his 2012 game against Shippensburg. It ain’t pretty. On this play, Webster does ‘beat’ the left tackle inside, but he’s standing straight up, allowing the tackle to simply control his momentum and drive him completely out of the play. Now this does force the quarterback to climb the pocket before making a strike downfield, but I don’t think I’d call it a ‘good’ play from Webster. On the very next play, Webster once again is too tall when he meets the tackle, and this time, he’s also slow as molasses off the snap: just look how far away he is from engaging at the 1:26 mark. Yikes. These two traits of being too tall and too slow are common themes of his play in this game. Not only that, the steps he takes in his pass rush are very short and purposeless, as in this play, where he once again engages incorrectly.

The above is a frame from the last play. It’s at the point of contact or engagement. The yellow line represents where his weight is distributed. I don’t have a compass on me to measure it, but it doesn’t take a physicist to understand that this is not how you want to engage a blocker. His left foot isn’t even on the ground. Webster meets the blocker with barely any force. A better tackle could plant him into the dirt here. Pancakes for all. For comparison’s sake, watch the speed and efficiency of Barkevious Mingo’s steps in this play against Clemson. Now, yes, he was the #6 overall pick in the draft last year, but he was considered a raw prospect; this is why I used the word “primordial” to describe Webster.

Fortunately, it gets better. In Webster’s 2013 game against Shippensburg, he’s still making similar mistakes, except now we can see flashes of that athleticism and a better grasp of the game. I’ll focus on the positives here. The first thing of note is that in many plays he’s now standing up before the snap, whereas in the game the prior season he played entirely with his hand down. Did you watch the Mingo play earlier? Well, notice on this play how Webster wastes no motion on an inside move and blows by all the blockers, forcing the quarterback to roll to his right and throw a quick pass. At no point in the 2012 game did he show off this kind of burst or fluid motion. Now at least he’s flashing.

On this play, Webster gets a sack. He’s still playing too tall, but at least he’s shooting his hands into the right tackle’s chest, which allows him to toss the tackle aside and bend around the corner for a sack. Will this work in the NFL? No, but it’s an improvement. Right here is a play that will translate to the pros: Webster again explodes off the snap, and he uses his right hand to swat the left tackle’s left shoulder, which gives him the momentum to bend around the edge, allowing him to “dip” under the tackle and nearly get a sack. And here the exact same move does lead to a sack.

If you watch the entire 2013 game, there are more good plays, and yet, he still has more plays where he’s playing too high or he’s slow off the ball. Larry Webster manages to look sluggish and awkward one play and explosive and talented the next. Seeing as he looked in the 2012 game like a player that had essentially no ability, and in the 2013 game he’s flashing an awful lot of ability, the pick starts to make sense as you picture him showing that athleticism more consistently and developing skills to go with it. I’m not going to ask if he was selected too high relative to other athletic pass rushers, because Larry Webster is the one who is on the team. From what I can gather, he seems a ways from being any kind of impact player, but the Detroit Lions did have some success with a similarly athletic, lanky fourth-round project in Devin Taylor last season. Lions fans will be rooting for the same kind of improvement for Webster.

 

CONCLUSION

By picking Kyle Van Noy and Larry Webster, the Detroit Lions added some much needed pass rushing talent on the outside. They already have it in spades at defensive tackle. As for the rest of their 2014 draft class, they picked up a big bodied receiving tight end in Eric Ebron. They got younger and bigger at center with Travis Swanson. In the fifth round, they went searching in the Ivy League for standout defensive tackle Caraun Reid. With their final selections, the Lions tried to add some depth at cornerback and receiver. And of course, Detroit went and drafted a kicker with their seventh-rounder. While I’m not so sure the Lions picked the best players available at each turn, they did address major needs for the team.

Texans Trench Warfare: CJ Fiedorowicz and Louis Nix III

It was a rough season in Houston last year, going from two consecutive playoff appearances to two wins. Long-time coach Gary Kubiak was fired, and a new regime headed by Bill O’Brien was given the reins. In the draft this year they really added some power in the trenches. Plenty of ink has been spilled on the #1 overall pick, Jadeveon Clowney, and rightly so. I’ll discuss both of their third round picks: tight end CJ Fiedorowicz & defensive tackle Louis Nix III.

ROUND 3, PICK 65

C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE, Iowa

Fiedorowicz was one of my favorite tight ends in this class; he performed well both on the field and at the Combine. He’s 6’5″ and 265 lbs, ran a respectable 4.76 40, and benched 25 reps. He’s the same height and weight as the Jets 2nd-round pick, Jace Amaro, with similar workout numbers across the board. The biggest difference between the two is that Fiedorowicz actually plays tight end, whereas Amaro is more or less a slot receiver– a gigantic, smooth-route-running slot receiver, but a slot receiver nevertheless. I know everyone is drooling in anticipation of seeing some great in-line blocking, so I’ll cut to the chase.

Fiedorowicz isn’t going to dazzle you with his route tree, but he does show ability to get open in tight spaces and make some tough catches. His go-to move, outside of the usual seam and drag route, is this little number I’ll call his shimmy move, where he plants his left foot at the top of his stem, follows it quickly by doing the same with his right, and flashes out towards the sideline. It’s not mind blowing, as I said, but it works. He’s a tough guy, as you can see here, where he wades through some traffic (while avoiding a jam from the linebacker) and gets blown up after catching the ball. But, hey, if you’re going to get destroyed, it makes a hell of a difference if you catch the ball, and he does.

He’s a very effective red zone player in both aspects of the game. First, as a receiver: On this play you see him run a delayed corner fade where he engages the defensive end and pushes him upfield momentarily before leaking out towards the back pylon. It’s a well-orchestrated play by Iowa, and all it takes is one false step by the defense for Fiedorowicz to high-point the ball and bring it down for six points. Second, as a run blocker, he can be relied upon to seal off the defensive end and making way for the runner. Let’s watch more, as run blocking is where he really shines.

You’ll consistently see his ferocity in the running game. On this play, Fiedorowicz takes on the opposing linebacker and drives him ten yards downfield. Sure, the runner is tackled for a mere two-yard gain, but Fiedorowicz keeps pushing his man even past the sound of the whistle. No harm, no foul. Here, he takes the 15th overall pick, Ryan Shazier, and does the same thing. And, for good measure, let’s end on a passing play where he positions himself perfectly to hedge off the defensive back away from the receiver.

ROUND 3, PICK 83

Louis Nix III, DT, Notre Dame

College football fans will be well aware of the man who dubs himself “Irish Chocolate.” Louis Nix’s personality is as big as his belly; all you need to know is that he’s 6’2″, 331 pounds, and he’s not winning any 40-yard dashes. His task in Houston will be very simple: Occupy blockers, so that J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, and the rest of the Texans defensive front can get to the quarterback, and plug up the middle in the running game. He gritted through a torn meniscus in 2013, and his play suffered as a result, so we’ll look at a few of his 2012 plays from the Oklahoma and Stanford games instead. Your enduring memory of Notre Dame’s season may be Eddie Lacy running over Manti Te’o on his way to the end zone in the National Championship, over and over, but before that game, Notre Dame fielded an all-time great defense that season, and Nix played the biggest (literally) role.

On most of the plays in these games, Nix is double-teamed, and he consistently gets a stalemate at the line in both the running and passing game. Very rarely does a double-team run block result in Nix getting moved backwards; I only recall seeing it happen once. While Nix does not have the have the type of speed which results in sacks for himself, his burst off the line in 2012 is awe-inspiring. Watch this play, where his first several steps are faster than every single player on both teams, resulting in pressure on the quarterback. This tends to be the result when Nix is not double-teamed; on this play against Stanford, he similarly uses his burst to push the pocket, and his pressure forces an interception. You simply cannot afford not to double-team Nix. He can also clog the throwing lanes by batting down passes at the line, much like J.J. “Swatt” is famous for doing.

As you might imagine, Nix’s burst off of the snap can make running the ball a chore for opposing teams. On this play, Nix quickly swims over the center and gets in for a tackle. At first glance, this next play might look ordinary– Nix makes a run tackle. Look again, and you’ll recognize that Nix’s momentum is moving him to the right of the play, allowing the center to use his position to shield Nix from the run. But as the quarterback takes off, Nix simply tosses the center to the ground and sprints out to his left to make the hit. That smarts, doesn’t it? Last, but not least, take a look at what happens on this play where Stanford pulls a guard and attempts to run away from Nix. By the time the handoff occurs, Nix is already four yards behind the line of scrimmage, with a full head of steam, and is able to bring down the runner for no gain shortly thereafter.

So, these were, of course, his highlight-reel plays. As I said earlier, most plays end with Nix in a stalemate with a double-team. For a smaller defensive tackle, expected to penetrate upfield and sack the quarterback, this would be a problem. Nix’s role in Houston is simply to occupy blockers. They already have the best defensive lineman in the world in J.J. Watt, who occasionally commands triple-teams. With the #1 overall pick, the Texans selected Jadeveon Clowney, widely considered the best defensive end prospect since Julius Peppers. Consider the scenario where both Clowney and Nix are as good as advertised: while I am certainly not knowledgeable enough to think of a scheme to stop them, I am not sure anyone has that blueprint.

Conclusion

The Texans decided with this draft to establish dominance at the line of scrimmage. With the selections of Jadeveon Clowney, Xavier Su’a-Filo, C.J. Fiedorowicz, and Louis Nix III all within the first three rounds, I believe this has been accomplished. Nix has health concerns, as I mentioned; he will need to return to his 2012 form in order to be a dominant force, as he just didn’t make the same impact in 2013. Fiedorowicz needs to add a few more routes to his repertoire before he can become a dangerous threat in the passing game. I believe he has the necessary tools. Now comes the work.

Not many of us at Zone Reads thought much of Tom Savage when he was rumored to be an early-round selection, but it turns out that talk was all smoke and mirrors, as the Texans picked him late in the 4th round, which is fine. I believe Ryan Fitzpatrick will start at quarterback next year, and while he’s not a player likely to win games with his arm without help, I do think he’s a player that doesn’t necessarily condemn the team to another losing season. Texans fans should be optimistic with a new regime in town and the talent acquired in this draft class. I certainly am.

Seahawks Building on Strength: Justin Britt and Garrett Scott

The Seahawks won a Super Bowl last season by fielding an elite defense and plowing through defenses with a devastating ground attack. The Seahawks drafted with this philosophy in mind, selecting six players with their nine picks who play at or around the line of scrimmage. I want to take a look at their two picks on the offensive line: Justin Britt and Garrett Scott.

ROUND 2, PICK 64

JUSTIN BRITT, OT, MISSOURI

Justin Britt is a comically large human being; at a hulking 6’6″ and 325 lbs, he is almost always the largest person on the field. I’m going to skip the easy games and take a look at how he matched up against #1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney, which you can see in entirety here at Draft Breakdown. (Big thanks to Draft Breakdown for their work with video cutups during this entire process. Without them, none of this could be possible, and I won’t have won the first Super Bowl for the Detroit Lions as general manager in 2028. Don’t worry, fans, it’ll be worth the wait.) Britt is of course playing left tackle.

One thing you’ll notice if you watch the entire game is that Justin Britt does not even attempt to engage Clowney on many plays. Believe it or not, this is a common theme to how offenses altered their game plan around him. (But that’s another issue entirely.) I intend to keep this brief, so we’re only going to look at a handful of plays. The first such play occurs late in the first quarter; this is the first time Britt is asked to block Clowney on a pass that is not an immediate throw. From what I can tell from the broadcast camera, Clowney fakes a move inside and goes for an outside rush. Britt stays low with a nice base, calmly slides outside, and with a little help from the running back is able to neutralize the pass rush.

The first ‘issue’ arises two plays later. This time Clowney goes straight for the outside rush and uses a quick arm over move across Britt’s chest to explode past Britt, and if not for the running back’s double team, Clowney could’ve ended Maty Mauk. Britt can be shaky in pass protection at times, and this play is an example of what I mean. It isn’t only against the Clowneys of the world; Britt needs to improve on this in general. It shouldn’t keep him off the field, though, and Russell Wilson has a Ph.D in improvisation.

Let’s be real now: Britt was not selected for how he will come in and immediately improve Seattle’s pass protection. If that happens, well, brilliant. Seattle wants to open lanes for Marshawn Lynch in the ground game as long as his tires still have tread. On this play I’ll give you a glimpse of Justin Britt’s ability as a run blocker. He doesn’t block any of the defensive linemen by design; instead he charges to the second level looking for defenders to toss aside. The runner does an incredible job to elude some players in the backfield and Britt clears away TWO players in one block at the second level. And this, I believe, is what Seattle is looking for from him.

You might be thinking, “Oh, so from what we’ve seen so far, he can’t block defensive linemen?” Au contraire, my friend. If you kept playing the tape, on the very next play Justin Britt drive blocks the #1 overall pick completely out of the play, just bulldozing him a good 7 yards upfield and allowing plenty of room to run for a first down. Marshawn Lynch can cut these plays inside and take them to the house.

I’m stopping here because it is not my intention to break down every snap. I merely want to give you a picture of why Seattle made this selection. If you want to see more, watch the entire game, and if you still need more after that, then go right here.

ROUND 6, PICK 199

GARRETT SCOTT, OT, MARSHALL

Garrett Scott’s game against Maryland was the first I saw of him, and I thought he could be a 3rd or 4th round pick based on athleticism alone. He ‘flashes’ hard at tackle, and I’ll show you what I mean by that. I’ve selected a few plays to watch; you can watch the entire game if you want to see more.

1. I like how he doesn’t get concerned about the outside rusher stunting in and engages the defensive tackle,
2. This is where he showed off elite quickness with his feet, which speaks for itself, and
3. Here he sprints off to the left and just drives his man backwards.

I focused on early plays because he gets injured not long into the game. He stays in, but plays noticeably worse than before.

Here are the concerns I have with Scott, and trust me, I could list a lot of these:

1. His quickness only flashes itself; it doesn’t doesn’t always show up. If you pay close attention to this play (Scott is at right tackle), Scott has only taken one step outside by the time James Gayle is on his third step (!!!) rushing the passer; Scott rallies a bit and doesn’t entirely blow the play, but this is something you’ll see in his tape from time to time.
2. We see what is his biggest problem, in my view, here, and that’s how often he gets blown back by even meager bull rushes. (He’s back at left tackle; I apologize for the confusion. Wait a minute, it’s not my fault, it’s Marshall’s.)

I took a capture at :51 in the link above to illustrate the problem. His arms are not doing anything. He’s not ready to take on a player who is milliseconds away from thrusting his arms into his chest. Imagine yourself in this situation; try it at home if you can find someone willing to bull-rush you. A person is trying to run you over: What do you do? Physics and millennia of human evolution suggest you get lower, put up your hands, prepare to absorb the force, and push it into the ground. It’s pretty basic. If, instead, you stand straight up with your arms down, all the force will be transferred to your chest and it’ll knock you to the ground. That is (almost) exactly what happens here. Immediately after the engagement Scott correctly squats down to absorb the blow and extends his arms… except that it’s too late for him to get his arms up, and he’s thrown off balance. At this point the defensive player rips him away and has a free path to the passer. With Scott, this is not an isolated incident; this happens again and again and again in this game against Rice.

I would not expect Scott to start immediately. As you can see, he’s a bit rough around the edges. The Seahawks drafted him to develop him, as they’ve done before with these late offensive line picks. I wouldn’t discount it from happening again. There’s a lot to like in Garrett Scott and he was just a 6th round pick; getting anything at all from him would be a smashing success.

As for the rest of the Seahawks draft, I love the Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood picks as well. Wilson does need someone to throw to while Percy Harvin is standing on the sideline, and those two players were both excellent college receivers. I suggest checking them out yourself; you’re going to like what you see. (I guarantee it.)

For your consideration: Adrian Hubbard

Nobody is talking about Adrian Hubbard, the pass rusher from Alabama. (I believe I know why, but let’s put that aside for now.) He’s been labeled a “controversial player” by a certain professional troll masquerading as an NFL draft expert, and I refuse to link his work or mention him by name. (If you’re really interested, Google it. Hubbard has never to my knowledge had any off-field problems.) That aside, no one is saying anything about him, and most draft websites have him slotted as a 4th- or 5th-round pick, an afterthought.

Enough talk about nobody talking about Adrian Hubbard, though. Let’s take a look at the film and see why they should be.

For your consideration: Jordan Matthews

My “For Your Consideration” series will focus exclusively on players I like more than the generally accepted consensus, such as that is, among draftnik types in the media. Ideally, I would have started this series earlier, but with a month before the draft, I’ll see how many of these I can write up nevertheless.

Today we’ll take a look at a wide receiver from Vanderbilt who is the all time leader in both yards and receptions in the SEC. His name is Jordan Matthews. He’s also Jerry Rice’s first cousin once removed, if you’re interested in such things. None of this is why I like him, but if you ever get hit up to answer Jordan Matthews trivia in the future, you can thank me. Now, let’s move on to the nitty-gritty.

For your consideration: Zach Mettenberger

Zach Mettenberger is one of the quarterback prospects getting the least amount of attention from everyone not named Jaws, and that’s understandable given that he tore his ACL late in the season. All indications are that he’ll be ready for his pro day on April 19th. If this is true, I’m expecting a lot of buzz will follow. Let’s take a look at what he can do as a player.

Small school, Big Talent

There’s a lot of talent in small schools. I have seen a lot of good players there. The issue with them is the very small sample sizes publicly available, often one or two games only. Draft breakdown does a great job putting videos up and I think within a few weeks there’ll be many more available. In the meantime, there’s a bit of guess work involved.

Some of the best small-school players I’ve seen in this draft:

Vixticator’s Top 50 Big Board

Here’s my top 50 big board – I can do more but you see that requires double the writing – as of the moment. Not to be confused with the order I would draft these players; it isn’t strictly best player, either, but it’s fairly close to that. As in, most likely to be a star player.

Vixicator’s “Mocking the Draft: Part I”

(ed. note: Earlier this evening your editor found an unaddressed envelope in his mailbox. Inside was a yellowed piece of paper on which had been typed at the top, “Mock Draft For Publication Jan. 16 2014.” vixticator’s unmistakable signature was at the bottom. Attempts to contact him for editorial clarification were unsuccessful, so we simply publish the contents “as is”.)

Meant to publish this before the first Senior Bowl practice. There are a number of players I need to watch much more of and in subsequent additions to the mocking madness it’ll be updated for that. On the other hand, snubs such as Mister Manziel and Mister Barr were quite intentional. Play the game who got snubbed, who didn’t get seen with the entire family.

Other notes: primarily going straight value here (more or less!), match with team I’ll start thinking of at some point later in the process.