Mayock was the one I believe that also compared him to Jay Cutler. That will just about shut everyone down on him on this board. I think he also compared him to Brett Favre, so take the stupid comparisons for what they are worth. Me, I still can't figure out Mahomes. Definitely don't like him in the first round, he won't be ready for at least a year, maybe longer. Texas Tech is such a garbage program for producing NFL talent. They don't play defense and just sling the ball all over the place. He would need to be de-programmed for a minimum of year just to teach him how to play real football. Can't deny the arm talent and interviews apparently went very well, not against him but still not completely sold on him.
The wide receivers are plentiful in this draft. There are a lot of guys I am intrigued by and think there will be great value available in rounds 2-5. I am still 100% against a WR in the first round so at minimum that eliminates Mike Williams, Corey Davis and John Ross. I love all 3 of those guys but never enough to pick one at 3. A couple of guys I have liked so far: Zay Jones - ECU - ran faster at the combine than expected, stood out at the Senior Bowl, impressive numbers against top teams they played and great hands catcher, athletic Chris Godwin - Penn St. - a little smaller but really came on at the end of the season and was a big reason for Penn States late season surge. Was one of the best players on the field against USC, a roster full of NFL talent. Ran faster yesterday than I thought he would. Curtis Samuel - Ohio St. - lost in the ridiculous excitement of John Ross running a 4.22 was Samuel running a 4.31 right after him. This guy is intriguing because he played RB at Ohio St but seems to be a better fit at WR. Needs to work on his receiving skills but this guy is electric whenever he touches the ball and is the type of player similar to the Falcons RB's that can run the ball and be tremendous matchup problems when they go out on routes. Robert Davis - Georgia St. - A small school guy that caught my eye watching the combine after running a 4.45 at 6'3, 220 lbs. I watched what little film I could find on him and came away impressed. Dominated as he would have needed to against lesser competition playing at Georgia St. Put up big numbers with really crappy QB's from what I watched. Not heavily recruited going into college because he played a run first school but this guy is a good athlete who could be a late round steal. This is just a few of the guys I was looking at but there are a ton of others outside of the first and even second rounds that have potential.
Myles Garrett today just solidified his strong hold as the number 1 pick. No way the Browns pass on him to get a QB. Off the chart numbers while also producing on the field, best player in the draft and is going to be an absolute beast in the NFL.
Were you calling Mayock an idiot in relation to this only pat or do you also think that generally? Several years ago i used to think Mayock was quite useful. I don't really follow the whole pre draft process closely enough to have much of an informed opinion, but it seems to me he's expected to talk too much and his opinion carries too much weight. They push this story of Mayock as being this kind of draft guru and he seems to be everywhere talking all the time. 6-8years ago he seemed to talk far less but say more of value. He can make good insights and calls players right now and then, but he's not some all-knowledgable guru.
Oh I despise him. His blind love for Notre Dame and flat out inability to be objective about them bothers me. He's worse than Troy Aikman calling a Dallas game when they were getting blown out prior to this year with Prescott. He cant fathom/wonder why hard enough--because he cant say "this team isn't good." Notre Dame can be down 45 at the half and he's the color guy saying that they're doing everything right.
I personally think all the "draft guru's" are complete idiots. If they were as good as they think they are they would be GM's. I respect the opinions of former GM's a lot more than any of the talking head so called draft guru's. I can't stand mock drafts and every retard puts one out now. Every network has it's own guru. I have called each of these retards out that haven't given a 1st round grade to a single QB in this draft and yet Jared Goff went number 1 overall last season and while I don't put grades on guys, I personally think Watson and Trubisky are both better prospects than that beanpole. Mayock has gone on record as saying he does not have a first round grade on a single QB in this draft, which is absolutely ridiculous. He covers himself by saying these guys are first round talents but just not ready to play soon enough. Yet Jared Goff was good enough for all these morons.
That's really lame. I don't watch many TNF games but doesn't Mayock do the commentary on that? I'm not a fan of him as a commentator. You've mentioned many times your hatred of mock drafts. And your right. Thing is tho, i still look at them. All the time. They're a complete waste of time really cos they're never right and i still read them just cos its something to do. #mug
Walterfootball reporting amid the hoopla of the wonderment of free agency winning we saw, the bears also had Alabama 5-Tech Jonathan Allen at Halas Hall this week for personal meetings AND went to his pro day in Tuscaloosa. Tuned on the radio last night too somewhere on XM I think (on my drunken Uber ride home) for some podcast replay earlier in the day Friday, and I forget which guest or if it was a caller or what because I tuned in mid-call, but it was also mentioned that within upcoming week, bears bringing in Trubisky, Clemson WR Mike Williams (sorry Ev,) Michigan State DT/5 Tech Malik McDowell, and Alabama CB Marlon Humphrey for personal Halas Hall meetings/workouts. The uber driver was just as annoyed with what the bears are doing too......so its not just us being a bunch of jaded assholes...... Pat Finley of the Sun-Times reported yesterday that DeShaun Watson had 10 private team meetings post-combine in a neutral setting, and the bears were "figured" to be one of them. Good. They've met with him privately.
Complete negligence if they haven't. If I'm Pace I need to be 100% sure that none of these guys are the next big thing at QB in order to pass on all of them if available at #3. Only way to be 100% sure is to go through all the steps in the process. Pace can talk BPA until I puick but there is no player more important than finding the right QB so be damn sure that none of these are "The One" before you pick someone else. If I was a GM, finding a QB would be the focus of everything I do in the offseason. Pace has shown so far that he isn't any better at it the his two predecessors. Signing Glennon doesn't change that, still need to find one in the draft.
The bears' scouts have been busy over the last couple of days...... Tons of college pro days ongoing, and University of Colorado Boulder (Pac 12 conference) said that the bears and other NFL teams were at their pro day. The three notable/1-3 round guys are CB Chidobe Awuzie, who reminds me a lot of former Illini CB/now Colt Vontae Davis, hybrid box safety/linebacker Ken Olugbode, and another DB Akhello Witherspoon, who is this year's Pierre Desir/Deondre Hall type; the too tall and too slow to be a CB, which you so desperately want him to be because he's 6'3 and has everything else you want in a CB; great coverage skills, physical and aggressive hands, instincts, intelligence, etc. Awuzie is a 2nd round candidate for the bears. Wouldn't complain with him there, and Washington CB Sydney Jones tearing his achilles during his pro day, Awuzie benefits with Jones' inevitable decline out of the 1st round. Witherspoon I say pass on, we already have the guy I described in Deondre Hall. Olugbode is tough, because he's that tempting LB/Box Safety new trend we're seeing with examples like Shaq Thompson, Su'a Cravens, Jabrill Peppers, and Deione Buchannon. I question his height, at 6'1, he's at a gross height disadvantage to modern pass catching TE, which you want this hybrid player to be able to do. The comparison guys I mentioned all are taller and just as fast. Two names worth mentioning (though not really) in terms of direct need; QB Sifo Liufao; who I'll be shocked if he isn't an undrafted free agent. His ceiling is a poor man's Colin Kaepernick. NT Josh Tupao interests me because he's a built 6'4, 355 LB mass. He has everything you want in a 3-4 NT. His problem is that he's a slow reloading shotgun. One play he's unstoppable and taking 2 interior Olinemen out of a play, and he can pass rush. But then he is gassed and gets beat up for a few plays. And a few plays is too many to lose battles in. If he ever could build up the endurance to bounce back at the level he can play at, he could be a late round steal. A shame Shay Fields didn't come out at WR. He's a slightly slower John Ross (WR from Washington).
The bears also went to University of Washington's pro day. I want to focus on this one because these guys have some studs coming out. Buddha Baker is an absolutely unlucky guy. He came out in a year Malik Hooker and Jamal Adams came out, because he's taken a back seat with the pundits and scouts to the draft class darlings--but he is a ball hawk. He easily compares to Earl Thomas in terms of size, speed, and ability. He might not be around when the bears pick in round 2, but if he is, and the bears didn't take a safety in round 1; he's my must draft there. Sydney Jones I just mentioned in the Colorado post--tore his Achilles. Unlucky. He was a projected top 15 pick, and he entices you more if you buy into the recent Washington CB breeding narrative/pedigree. Washington has produced Marcus Peters, Desmond Trufant, Dashon Goldson and Shaq Thompson--who i'll lump in her because he also manned safety while playing at UW. Kevin King is a projected CB2. He's tall and fast, just doesn't have the natural instincts to benefit him against a team's #1 WR. If Defensive linemen are on your target after the 1st round, the Huskies have 1 stud, projected to go in the 2nd round right now. Elijah Qualls, a 5-Tech. On offense, John Ross, but the bears wont take him in the 1st, where he will go. Darrell Daniels at TE is a later round prospect who needs more work being a better 2 way TE in blocking and receiving. Joe Mathis was an early round edge prospect until he tore his ACL during the 2016 season. He's now a mid-late round prospect. If the bears are looking for a not-so-good OT prospect who can also catch and play like a tight end at 300+ lbs, Jake Eldrenkamp is a guy you'll want. EDIT**** King will probably go 2nd or 3rd round. I don't know where Jones will fall. I think definitely out of the first, and I almost wont be shocked if he's still taken in the 2nd. I also wont be shocked if he ends up falling to 3rd or 4th rounds.
Couple other pro-day notes....... Its early on in the pro day schedule. Washington and Colorado were 2 of the premier schools doing theirs, and a couple more are to follow. Until later this month, we wont see the big dogs like Ohio State, and Michigan. This week has some familiar NCAA names, but no big dogs. Kansas, Northwestern, Georgia Tech. I missed Alabama and Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State's was nothing special, as their Quarterback Mason Rudolph and WR James Washington are staying behind for their senior years. Otherwise from OK State, its TE Blake Jarwin.....who's an athlete first, TE second. Alabama has their share of prospects coming out. And for sake of brevity--I'm keeping it to guys the bears have potential to take.......So that means I'm leaving out ILB Reuben Foster, a dominating, smarter linebacker who was a top 10 pick until he decided to be the guy who overslept and miss a morning's worth of individual team meetings at the combine. I think the bears could stand to upgrade from Jonathan Timu, but not as much as other glaring, obvious needs. Also going to leave out OJ Howard, a consensus top 15 pick, and he's a TE. Cam Robinson, for a "top" OT I've never read up on scouts being so divided. Many will point to his hulking power and size and prototypical frame, see that the kid says everything right and they just want him to be the next bookend, once-in-a-generation LT for the next decade plus. Others including myself saw a clearly talented kid fall apart at the end of this season to sophomoric mistakes. He got lazy, stopped using his rarer athletic (for an OLinemen) skillset when its a clear advantage for him, got beat and had bad, stupid streaks. People talk about quarterbacks and reaching with this year's draft class--I think Robinson is this year's overdraft at OT. Jonathan Allen I think we're pretty all acquainted with..... Dalvin Tomlinson, 5 tech. This kid is one of the greater secrets that's going to get great value when picked up in the 3rd-5th round. A gifted run stuffing 5 tech, though his pass rush needs work--he maintained effiicency all year, replacing last year departed 5 techs Jarron Reed and A'Shaun Robinson. He only got 3 sacks and a pressures number worth desiring more for--but I think he immediately upgrades from Jonathan Bullard. Marlon Humphery is easily the top CB in the draft. Some will argue Tabor from Florida, but I don't buy him. Humphrey a candidate for the #3 pick, but I cant see him there. And while he's the best CB, he's not better than Jaylon Ramsey, who came out last year--Humphrey just becomes questionable against the long ball when Ramsey wasn't. If I thought he was, I'd definitely be pulling for Pace to pick him. NFL.com compares him to Ravens DB Jimmy Smith, I kinda agree with that.
I love Buddha Baker, someone is going to get a steal in the mid to late first round. I would be shocked if he lasts to the Bears 2nd round pick but if they don't take one of the other 2 with the first pick, this guy should definitely be in the crosshairs. Love the Earl Thomas comparison because it is a good one. In a long list of drafting Safety's who suck, Baker would be the guy we have been searching for since Mike Brown left. Obi Melinfonwu was a guy I really liked after the Senior Bowl and after watching more film on him, his combine numbers were just ridiculous. Another Safety to keep and eye on and hopefully the Bears will be taking a closer look because he has freakish athletic ability and while still pretty raw, would love to see what Fangio and Donatell could do with this guy.
Deep sigh of relief (or maybe not) gents. Unless you think this is a diversion tactic...... Clemson's pro day is today. And not just Pace, but the whole crew came with, including Fox, Frodo, and Fangio. The obvious jewel is Watson. Some people were overtly critical of a couple throws. Watson threw behind Williams on a route and some scouts hung onto that. Not the other 60-70 other throws by Watson. Mike Williams, the WR did himself no favors looking really slow. But some scouts seem to think that his catch radius, angles, and ability to jump sill have him a top 10 pick. #2 WR, Artavis Scott looked good. Mid round pick. Good slot WR prospect. I'm curious as to why Fangio of all people went. Clemson had one of the top defenses, but really has no top defensive prospects. A ton of guys last year got drafted and some this year will--but next year boasts better prospects. Ben Boulware, ILB for a 3-4 has also slow knocks on him, on top of sub-par athleticism. Is he a 6th-7th round prospect to challenge Jon Timu and Jon Anderson for a spot? Sure. But I'd waste a 6-7 pick elsewhere. Carlos Watkins has seen his stock dip due to a nagging hamstring, which caused him to miss the combine and some private workouts. He was a late 1st round prospect, probably right now in the 2nd-3rd range unless he raises his stock with good medicals. Cordrea Tankersley did himself a fine favor running a great 40 and doing the individual dog and pony show style drills. He very well may have elevated himself to the late 1st round. Which sucks, because he's also a CB with some size (6'1). Other players of note are TE Jordan Leggett (mid round spec), C Jay Guillermo (bears don't need a C, but he's rising up boards fast), and punter Andy Teasdell. Leggett's stock dropped when he looked like a statue at the combine.
QB coach Ragone was there as well. This was the most promising news I have heard so far with the Bears and Watson. It sounds like Fox was hanging close to Dabo and absolutely nobody is a better salesman and advocate for Watson than Swinney is. I am encouraged to say the least. I put little to absolutely no weight in throwing on Pro Days for QB's and unless it is an unmitigated disaster in which ducks are flying around and balls bouncing to WR's on a routine basis, they tell you very little and next to nothing. The scouts ripping him apart and nitpicking is the story of this pre-draft process. I would love to sit down and watch college film with any scout who graded Jared Goff higher than Deshaun Watson and tell me on film, what excited them about that piece of shit more than Watson. Getting tired of the ridiculous nitpicking on Watson and how easily some people are able to overlook the glaring weaknesses Kizer has put on film because of his prototypical size and characteristics or the unbelievable lack of big time football experience that Trubisky has and why it took him so long to become a starter. Just don't get it, if you don't like him, I am fine with that but it just seems to me that people are trying to find something wrong with Watson instead of seeing everything that is right. I hope Pace and crew aren't some of those people because I believe this guy is going to make everyone who passes on him that needed a QB regret it, same way Dak, Carr and Wilson have done in recent years.
aggie take a closer look at who is doing the nitpicking, how badly they need a QB, and where they are drafting, because I think you may of answered your own question. It's the pre-draft process. Not it will sway another teams expectations of him, but it could throw off another team behind you of your interest.
I understand that Tuna, but the nitpicking is going on by people who last year were glowing over Goff and Wentz and are not drafting but are evaluators. There are some scouts that are quoted with questions about him as well. You have to look at the good with the bad, I understand that, but I think there are a lot less questions in my opinion about Watson on the next level than a lot of QB's drafted high in recent years.
I can believe in Watson because when you consider from what I've heard about Watson he has the same inclination to learn as Wentz did and that's huge in my book.
I agree and he has a lot more big time game experience than Wentz so he should be ahead of him in terms of development. The reason these guys can nitpick Watson to death is because of how many games he has played in.
Some more pro days have come and gone--and there are 2 guys I've been watching more film on. Both safeties. UConn's Obi Melifonwu and Utah's Marcus Williams. Melinfonwu dazzled his pro day, acing the underwear olympics drills, but what had scouts raving was that he did drills as both a CB and FS. Dude looked natural at both. Texans are rumored to be enamored with him to replace the 31 year old guy Pace just signed.....like the bears with DeShaun Watson's pro-day: Houston sent the house to UConn's pro day, and something tells me it wasn't to watch their 2 OTs Rich Leavy and Andreas Knapp--both graded as undrafted free agents. Marcus Williams has been a guy I've been meaning to watch more--now am because guy's I've looked at FS for a 2nd round pick: Buddha Baker, Jabrill Peppers, Obi, and Evans from Texas A&M, the draft is starting to fill out more; and while I'm happy Baker, Peppers, Melifonwu, and a couple other guys are raising their stocks--they're playing themselves out of bears 2nd round pick range. I saw a stat that PFF put out about Williams. Dude lets WRs/TEs average .09 yards per coverage snap. And the Pac 20 had some WRs/TEs/RBs out of backfield this year this dude was stopping cold. His tackling and technique in pursuit/angles is one of his strengths. He positions himself very well in Utah's hybrid 3-4 defense, normally playing single high safety--something Fangio incorporates. For a FS he's excellent against the run. From PFF's article: Marcus Williams was one of our second-team All-American safeties in 2016, as he put together an all-around outstanding season (he led all FBS safeties in run-stop percentage). Possibly the most eye-popping stat on him this season was his 0.09 yards surrendered per coverage snap. This metric takes the total yardage a player allows into his coverage and divides it by the number of coverage snaps played, and is a way to gauge the efficiency of a player?s production in coverage. Texas A&M?s Justin Evans was the next-closest safety (likely to be drafted within the first three rounds) to Williams, at 0.53. Not surprisingly, Williams also led all qualifying FBS safeties (more than 100 coverage snaps played) in total yards allowed, with just 38. While players like LSU?s Jamal Adams and Ohio State?s Malik Hooker are getting all the top-15 hype (and for good reason), Williams may have had the best statistical season in 2016 of this year?s loaded safety class. https://www.profootballfocus.com/dr...ocial&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=nfl ^FYI: The other 2 "crazy stats" from Indiana OL and LTech WR are nuts. Some knocks on him are weight. He needs about 15 lbs of muscle on his 190 lb frame, at least. Initial press coverage against more physical TEs he needs work on. At LOS he has been known to lose hand battles or get moved by a TE with some force. But then again--if you're drafting this kid to be your FS, playing him up in the box isn't something he should be doing. Desmond King is another name, the hybrid DB from Iowa, known for playing both CB and FS. 14 INTs and 28 passing break ups in 3 years as a starter. Coverage against WRs he excels at. Missed 11 tackles in 176 solo tackle attempts, and he is considered the best run-stopping CB coming out this year by PFF. His biggest knock is his deep ball speed. Scouts tend to think he gets gassed when he goes up a streaking WR trying to prevent the long ball, also--he is susceptible to a speed WR's well executed double move. Another Hawkeye I've been watching is TE George Kittle, a mid to late round prospect. The WR transitioned TE was the best blocking TE in the NCAA in 2016. His technique was near flawless in his transition, something many WRs turning TEs lack. He has deceptive speed which often confused linebackers at the NCAA level. And of course the obvious, his pass catching ability and red zone threat potential. Guy averaged 7.1 yards per catch, and all 4 of his 2016 TDs were in the red zone. His knock is his durability. He's missed 7 games in last 2 years. Kittle jumped up some teams' big boards after an excellent combine.
