It baffles me as a long time NFL fan that Manziel may drop out of the top ten overall. The Texans, Browns, Vikes, and Bucs all need a QB. JM reminds me of Fran Tarkenton at his very best. Incredible vision and instinct, great arm, and mobile.
I would bet $500 even money that he is taken in the top five.
I know, but at least you can see them. Scouting cornerbacks and safeties is infuriating at times because they’re hardly on screen. (Oh, but the ten yards behind the QB is vitally important.)
And speaking of guards, the 49ers are a likely landing spot for poor Brandon Thomas.
Anyway… the guys I have my eye on:
Justin Gilbert, CB, OK St - has the size, speed and fluidity to be a shutdown island guy. On tape I really like how he moves small and quick, but suddenly becomes much larger when the ball’s around. Tackles like a cornerback, but has return ability.
Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M - I thought he was just big, but damn he’s impressive. Works deep routes with skill and has the size and ability to fight off press coverage and jump for passes. I think he’s worth trading up big to get.
Jason Verrett, CB, TCU - Small but as quick as I’ve ever seen. Always met the challenge when passed toward with great ball skills. He might be limited to Nickel Corner, but that’s an important position now. Kyle Fuller is another guy I like at corner.
Odell Beckham Jr, WR, LSU - Doesn’t quite have elite size, but has speed too burn and has good hands with good routes. Could play at all three WR spots and on special teams. Worth an extra pick to move up a little bit for.
Preston Brown, ILB, Louisville - Really impressive tape for a guy expected in the 3rd Round. The 49ers need a backup for Bowman (out the first half of the year) and Willis. Reminded me of them, great run diagnosis and break on the carrier.
Cody Hoffman, WR, BYU - Late round guy I liked watching on tape. Has flaws but runs good routes and catches the ball with textbook hands. Big kid, too, but needs more bulk and strength.
I didn’t do enough research to find the really good names outside of HaHa Clinton-Dix. What’s that French Canadian tackle’s name again?
The one last thing I’ll say about Bridgewater is that I can’t believe you tried an appeal to authority for the NFL Draft. The authorities are hilariously wrong every single year. Mock drafts are never right. Player evaluations are never right. These “pros” look up a guy’s stat card and make judgments based off of that because they don’t have time to watch film. There’s a reason Geno Smith was considered #1 overall up to the week of the draft and fell into the second round. People act shocked, because they listened to guessing experts.
I stand by my evaluation of his inconsistent footwork and spotty throwing mechanics. I pointed them out and explained why. I gave a counter example to show, by contrast, what it should look like and how it rarely looks right. Appeals to authority aren’t persuasive in the least here.
Look, I’m not trying to portray him as a failure (since he hasn’t failed yet), I even said upthread some of this is fixable. I’m also not comparing him to anyone else because I haven’t watched anyone else (I don’t know why you even brought that up). Because fixing some of this stuff takes time, I’m guessing that he won’t succeed as a day one guy, and he’ll be drafted accordingly. Looks to me like his upside is an average NFL starter if he gets a chance to improve before having the lights on him. He’ll always be an arm thrower, I don’t think you can coach that out of a guy by the time he gets through college. I think he’ll always struggle with deep throws and throws in weather for the same reason. Doesn’t sound like a guy I would take top 20, and I would need a good situation to consider him in the last third of round one.
Off topic, but I’m pretty sure that’s not true. He was considered a likely #1 overall about halfway through the college season, but then he slumped and was usually projected as a late-1st early-2nd all offseason.
Agreed on every point. This is the first draft where I’ve thought buying in and trying to pick up another late first round pick was actually viable.
I also really like Lee (his decline in 2013 is credibly and easily explained and is being overrated), and agree that something about Barr makes me hope he falls even though I know he’s got some issues to work out before he could become really effective. I can’t quite shake that hope, considering the Eagles need a pass rusher probably more than anything else. Serious bust potential though.
Outside of the top two WRs, who are a class far apart from the rest, Latimer might be my favorite WR. He does everything pretty well and he’s such a perfect fit for the Eagles. When he started lifting up into the first round in recent mocks I was pretty sad, I really hoped Philly could get him in round two.
Kyle Fuller is my favorite CB, but I don’t know enough about the other CBs to make a good comparison. I think CBs who can tackle and not give up ball skills are really important, and he has good size to boot. And C.J. Mosley, because I’m Moneyballing the MLB spot and think it’s still the fastest way to improve a defense as a whole and people seem to be devaluing them more with every year.
Mel Kiper’s April 22nd mock has him going #4 (here, if you’ll excuse the bleacher report stink). This fits with everything else I saw as the Eagles had him mocked to them for almost the entire draft season.
(I see now I misspoke in my earlier post. I meant #1 overall QB. He was mocked in the first five picks all the way to the draft)
Interesting, perhaps I misremembered. I definitely had the impression that the bloom was off the rose once he had a lousy second half of the season.
We interrupt this intense and serious discussion with the Arrogance of the Week Award, which, of course, goes to
now back to the discussion …
Not a real quote.
Pretty sure it’s real. It looks like a quote. It has an attribution, legible letters. Totally a real source, too.
Re: Quarterbacks, Bortles bores me, Bridgewater disappoints me, and Maziel excites and infuriates me. I’ll take Manziel, hopefully to Oakland at #5, perfect fit there.
The 49ers will take a QB late for development. David Fales out of San Jose St would be great, but I think Mettenberger if he falls or Logan Thomas would be more natural fits for our existing offense.
Marijuana is legal for recreational use in Seattle, so of course he would start off with “Oh wow …”
Ib have to drive home now, so hopefully I’ll get there before the Niners trade up…
RE: Pete Carroll.
Not that I like the guy, but sometimes, when people take a shot at him, I remember those halcyon days when when Mark Sanchez was the 2nd coming for the Jets (Ha!) and Carroll took a lot of flak for saying Sanchez wasn’t ready for the NFL.
Assuming it starts at 7:00 central, I get to miss the first hour because my DVR is recording Big Bang Theory and Hell’s Kitchen. The thing only has two channels, so we can’t watch anything else until it’s done.
Ed Werder just said that the Texans think Clowney can “put his hand in the ground and play as a stand up linebacker.” Good to know.
Well, ESPN, in their own special way, has already nauseated me with their draft “intro”. I must really be out if their target audience. I already knew that, but the 18-25 year olds must be a bunch of freakin’ idiots.
Oh, and is anyone else sick of seeing Richard Sherman?
I just want to go on record as saying that his play against Crabtree in the NFC playoffs wasn’t exactly great. Yeah, he made a play. If there was another 49er in the area, that ball is caught for a TD. Sherman, you knocked the ball up, not down. That is not the best way to defend a ball in the end zone, you over-hyped, over-exposed idiot! (OK, he’s not an idiot. Anyone who makes himself a household name with one post-game rant is pretty clever. But I just want him to go away.)
I want Mel Kiper to go away too. He looks like Eddie Munster all grown up.
As a Texans fan, let me just say “Whew!”
Let the awesome possibilities begin.
Clowney to Texas #1 overall.
Redskins are up. Hee Hee.