He is listed at and has been practicing at OLB. I think he is trying to show versatility. Not sure if he will play Mike at all. I hope so.
Yeah, he is a Mike, didn't do much today but I am still a big fan. I love Jaylon Smith as well, the injury is scary but Todd Gurley proved you can come back from that and still perform at a high level. Even with the injury I don't think he makes it out of the top 10. A few others I saw today I liked as well that I am going to do some more research and film watching on.
I was actually able to watch a lot of the game today. I paid special attention to LB. Ragland didn't stand out but there are only so many plays to be made and they had him playing OLB and DE when he was out there. I have no problem taking him at 11 if Jack and Smith are gone. They were hyping up Jones from LSU but he is just too small even as a later round pick. I thought Brothers and Matakevich played well. I wouldn't mind either of them depending on where they get drafted.
Agree with Aggie here. Ragland is one of the few top-tier ILB in the draft along with Smith and Jack. I like Scooby too, but have a bad feeling he's Green Bay's late 1st round pick. Ragland's a thumper I've come to like watching him more, because he meets opposing running backs at the hole and didn't get pushed around at Alabama, granted he had some fantastic pieces and teammates around him. He's also competent in pass coverage, though I don't forsee him manhandling premier TEs like a Gronk or Kelce. I feel with Goldman and an improved 5 tech situation that Ragland would be a stud here. I've come to be more partial to him with knee injuries to Jack and Smith.
As for the Senior bowl, for those that didn't watch, here's some tidbits. Carson Wentz looked "meh." 6 for 10 with 50 yards. Should have been 7 for 10 but one of his guys had a drop. I also don't buy Dak Prescott's big day. Shawn Oakman just put himself back into 1st round consideration. Provided he doesn't fuck up his interview processes or gets hurt. On top of Oakman, there will be a lot of talented 5 techs available rounds 1 and 2. Including Nkemdiche, DeForest Buckner, Jarron Reed, A'Shaun Robinson (Bama), Austin Johnson (Penn State), Kenny Clarke (UCLA), and Sheldon Rankin (VTech). Braxton Miller, though wasn't a star on the field yesterday, would look damn good in the slot for the bears. That Boise State safety Thompson was everywhere and covered anything and everything. Is safety conversation back on the table? Or do we feel comfortable with year 2 of Amos and Rolle. Amos ended the year looking like Al Afalava........Yeah, I just busted out that name. Joe Schoebert is a nice round 3-4 ILB option.
This was one of the guys who stood out to me. Great nose for the ball, and was being tabbed a ball hawking safety. Liked him a lot, will definitely be keeping my eye on him, watched some of his other games as well and came away impressed. I actually think most of the extremely mediocre QB's out there yesterday actually looked better than him. Yes there was drops but he didn't look as fast running around out there with these higher level athletes. Still don't think this kid is any better than at BEST a second round pick but I thought Mike Mayock and Charles Johnson were going to go to the sidelines and give this guy a blowjob. The way they talked about him you would think he was the best QB to come out in the last 20 years. No on Prescott. That is all on that subject. I thought the best looking QB out there was the kid from Arkansas, Brandon Allen. Apparently he has small hands and measured shorter than anticipated, both big knocks. I thought for sure the kid that would rise up the board would be Hackenburg but right now it is Wentz. I still don't think Hackenburg gets past the Texans, think O'Brien wants this kid back. That is right now. Wait until after the underwear olympics when he runs a 4.3, may end up sneaking into the 1st round but won't last past the second in my opinion. Very comparable in my opinion to Randall Cobb but I think he has the potential to be better than him. He is really quick. KR/PR is also something he is going to be very good at. Another guy that will test through the roof. Watch the film on him though. He disappears and has very little impact. Another guy I would completely avoid. Defensive line is loaded in this draft, Nkemdiche would have been a top 5 pick if not for him jumping out of a 3rd story window getting high on synthetic marijuana. I love Robinson from Bama and Johnson Penn St. Buckner will be off the board before we pick. Surprised you didn't mention Matakevich from Temple, he made some plays. Guy probably won't test well but think he may end up being another Chris Borland. I know you did a big write-up on him earlier, good find, another guy I will be watching going forward. WR Paul McRoberts had a good game as well. Don't know much about him but will be looking at him some more on game film. Loved how he caught the ball with his hands and also was returning kicks.
Thompson has been at the top of my safety list for a long time. I expect him to be an early contributor and an eventual pro-bowl caliber starter - http://live4sportnetwork.com/football/nfl-draft/player/darian-thompson-nfl-draft-profile/
Are we counting that Ramsey kid from Florida State? Because he's my #1 safety. He's going top 10. Some people have him top 5. I think Cravens is #2, as he's gone the Deione Buchannon route, SS who plays up at the edge/OLB spot in a 3-4. This kid I've watched on and off, but he's gotten better, I'd put him 2-3. The only other safety this year with a solid resume is that Joseph kid from WV.
Joseph was my number 1 coming into the season prior to the injury and I still have him as my personal favorite SS in this class - http://live4sportnetwork.com/football/nfl-draft/player/karl-joseph-nfl-draft-profile/ My opinion on Ramsey has caught me some flack. He's not my top rated CB, S or LB in this class. The kid has athletic ability that is absolutely freakish, but I see issues within his game at each one of those positions. I agree that he is going in the top 16, probably top 10 because the first step, speed, agility and fluid motion he possesses are extremely rare traits.
Absolutely not. Lets not be hasty. Think of all the Dak jokes it'll open up. I see a new golden age of message board chat for whichever fanbase lands this guy. And every now and then the entire team can take a half off and just throw him the ball. "Hey everyone, Dak says he's got this one." [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-soVTWVDEo[/video]
Reggie Ragland should be available where we sit so hopefully Pace does the simple common sense thing and turns in a card with RR on it.
It will be interesting to see how they handle the CB position. Fangio, while in SF, made his success with the front 7 and the safeties. Corner seemed to be the lesser priority. But, we do need another starting CB on this team, and definitely depth. This is a pretty strong draft for the secondary, and they'll be in position to take a top CB in the first round. How do thy treat the position in this draft?
The only position that would piss me off more if they drafted one would be another WR. Build from the inside out. OL, DL or LB's. QB is a need but none I want with the 11th pick in this draft. We wasted our top 10 pick last year on a WR, lets not waste the 11th pick in the draft this year on a CB. WR's and CB's don't win you Super Bowl, strong front 7 seven's do.
I'd say CB is loaded. Safety, after the top 3-4 I'm iffy on. You draft a CB in rounds 3-6. Depth is needed. I think we're stuck with another year of Porter and Fuller starting. But we need better depth than Alan Ball. ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Rounds 1-3 need to be ILB, 5 tech, and OL. I dont care if that doesn't come across as flashy for anybody else, but good 5 techs are coming hard to find, the Packers just paid the hell out of Mike Daniels. Daniels, who's decent, is not worth 10.5 mil per year. Right now I like Ragland in round 1, Autin Johnson or Carl Nassib round 2, and Tyler Johnstone or Jack Allen round 3. I know we just took Grasu, but I feel Allen can transition to guard. He was the best 2 way interior OL in the NCAA this past year. Huge reason Michigan State running backs have high slash numbers and he understands signals naturally, unlike Grasu. But I feel Grasu would be better.
Typically in the past, I've used Walterfootball a lot because they offer a lot of information, I've steered clear much of this past year, mainly because his mocks happen 2-3 times a week (that's too many) and he only really pays attention to his team (Philly) and really doesn't put in effort for all teams. But one thing I do like about him on his site is it lists prospect meetings, and how they met, whether it be at the EW Shrine game, Senior Bowl, personal interview/workout, combine, etc. The bears have met with Reggie Ragland, Jihad Ward (5 tech from Illinois), Braxton Miller, and Devon Cajuste (WR from Stanford) in private meetings beyond the EW Shrine and Senior Bowl. Ward is a name to mention, because he's flying up draft boards. The Steelers are known to really like him. Speaking of the Combine, some interesting snubs this year, particularly Coker and Ruddock. I've actually have now come across Josh Woodrum (QB from Liberty) several times, starting with the NFLPA Bowl from a week or two back. Need to find more tape on him. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfl-draft-scout/25481108/nfl-combine-snubs-and-surprises
Here's what I found on him, and considering the offense the Bears ran last season as raw as he may be he would seem to be a perfect fit, as their offense doesn't seem to stretch the field either. A couple of the links have breakdowns of a couple of the plays. [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg5TPiGcdRw[/video] http://insidethepylon.com/pylon-u/t...es/2015/11/28/josh-woodrum-on-two-arm-talent/ http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/2016-...outing-josh-woodrum-and-missed-opportunities/ [video]http://insidethepylon.com/pylon-u/t...es/2015/11/28/josh-woodrum-on-two-arm-talent/[/video] [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftqL1dZt7T8[/video] [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeJ7WcFHEIM[/video]
Holy crap that Mark Schofield guy likes to hear himself talk, shut the f&ck up and show the highlight. He spent 20 minutes on the first clip and the guy threw the ball off his back foot. Positives, just based on this and the limited info I have so far, good size, good arm, quick release and appears to be a good athlete. Negatives, not very impressive versus a mediocre to bad WV defense. Hate the offense he is running in terms of finding NFL potential, almost impossible to see how it will translate. One read offense, never under center. Underwhelming so far, will try and find another full game on him but don't see anything better than a potential backup. Awesome, 2 WR's. Haven't seen much on Ward, I'm always apprehensive of meteoric pre-draft risers but will try and see some film on him to find out what all the talk is about. I will take it as a positive that they met with Reggie, love him, don't need to see anymore, I'm sold already.
