I do have a few names if we're talkign about this year's 'Chris Borland' or scrappy linebacker who plays bigger but isn't first round talent. First is Jake Ryan, I've mentioned from Michigan. Guy just makes plays, and we're lucky--2013, when he should have come out he chose to stay for a 4th year and tore his ACL, now in 2014 as a 5th year senior, he looks just as good. 2-3 rounder. I see a poor man's Chad Greenway. Scrappy, makes plays. Great collegiate 2 way linebacker. Looking better every week from the ACL return. Jordan Hicks, the ILB from Texas I've seen recent tape on and I'm impressed. WFB has him as a 3-4 rounder, CBS a 4-5. For Texas, who I don't watch a lot of games sans tape or the occasional ABC game, but the only problem I see with the guy right now is that he needs to work on fighting off guards/linemen better. He is the playcaller, pretty intelligent too. Calls adjustments. Makes the right reads, knows his assignments, pretty fundamentally sound. Its just when a pulling/2nd level guard pops him, he's more useless than Aaron Rodgers' junk around a woman...... Being a NU grad/guy and Illini hater, I really don't like giving too many Illini players credit; but Mason Monheim is a pretty damn good run stopping LB there. Big 10 is big on power running games, not so much passing. But this cat rarely misses when he puts his arms around someon. 4-5 rounder. Needs to get faster, and also needs to get better in zone/man coverages. Finally, I got a chance to see some Zach Hodges, or this year's Howard Jones (phenom from Shepherd U last year). D2 school kid from Harvard who just outperforms his entire level. 2012 and 2013 Ivy League DPOY. He'll need a strong East/West Shrine game and a North v South game to get higher than the 6-7 round projection he has now.
Willis didn't play last week and I don't care who is playing next to you, if you are involved in 18 tackles, you are getting to the ball. He reminds me of Zach Thomas where he doesn't have the measurable but just gets to the ball. I watched that game last week and was impressed with how he played. He is a 3rd round steal for 49ers right now. I understand your point about playing with the 49ers but Fuller has played well despite playing for Tucktard and if you put Borland on our roster right now, he is at worst just below Briggs. I like the kid from Mississippi St., McKinney. I have watched them a few times this year and he is good, going to get a great test today against Alabama. I know he is projected as a 1st rounder if he comes out, just don't know how high. Thanks for the list of LB's lower on the radar, I will check them out as well. No matter what defensive scheme we run next season, we are in desperate need of LB talent. I watch a lot of college football but this year I am paying closer attention to have my eye on players the Bears can select with the high pick we will are going to have.
True. Again, I like Borland. He looks like a steal we passed on 3 times. So far, I really like McKinney, though I have a few question marks. Linebackers, truly talented ones don't last long in the draft, and this kid looks like a late 1st round pick, maybe 2nd round if he falls. He plays on a damn good unit. A unit that gets a lot of pressure on teams. Their defensive coordinator, Geoff Collins said he plans to single cover Amari Cooper today. http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2014/11/mississippi_state_will_do_what.html For those of you who don't know or follow college ball, Amari Cooper is a top 10 talent and right now the best WR in the 2015 draft class. In the article......Collins said he plans to stack the box, which means A) Blitz the shit out of Bama and B) Stop the run. He's ballsy enough to think 5'10 Senior Jamerson Love can stop 6'4 Cooper. A match up I laugh at if I'm Lane Kiffin. I guess my reservation about McKinney right now is: is he as good as the unit, or is the unit only as good as him? I think right now, the unit he's in he will thrive. A defense that attacks. So to me, the Arizona Cardinals would be perfect for him. They blitz the fuck out of teams and leave Patrick Peterson alone to man cover WRs. It has worked, they stomped the Eagles and Cowboys among many other teams sans Peyton Manning this year. On the bears, I think he would be in disarray and lost as Khaseem Green trying to find the gap the running back went through 5 seconds ago. I think Shaq Thompson and Eric Kendricks are the two LBs that are the 'team goes as they do.' Washington defense is decent, but they're lost without Thompson. Unless someone wants to tell me CB Corey Peters (also 1st round projected) is why they're so good? Kendricks has taken over for UCLA where Anthony Barr left off. Doing it all. Getting to the quarterback, stoping the run, defending the pass. I like Thompson better because he's taller, faster, and more versatile than Kendricks and projects as a 4-3 Mike or Will. Kendricks as a 3-4 ILB or a Sam 4-3 OLB. They can't go wrong with either to me. McKinney has to show me a lot more. My eyes will be on the game today as well.
Well, yestderday provided me with much entertainment. On behalf of all Northwestern students and fans: You're Welcome America. Fuck Notre Dame. Fuck the 'domers.' Fuck everything about that pretentious school. Now, to the important stuff. Mississippi State and McKinney took a shit......by the time they figured out how to change their mistakes, it was too late. Moreso on coaching, but did Mississippi State's all around game just lack.... Single covering Amari Cooper backfired. TJ Yeldon ran all over them. Had Saban not babied him it would have been worse. McKinney proved the point I made in the post above: he's only as good as the unit. Blake Simms ran around often, and they couldnt get to him. Downhill going into the backfield I saw some positives. Going sideline to sideline hurt McKinney for me. His best situation is the Arizona Cardinals. He hasn't convinced me he is a big time MLB/chief/playmaker who can afford to be left alone in the bears 4-3 going forward. This was the team to do it against. I wouldn't say he butchered his draft stock, but he didn't help it. Melvin Gordon, the running back out of Wisconsin, anyone see him? Gurley got hurt for Georgia (Aggie would know more being a UGA guy), but this kid refuses to be taken anywhere but the first round. Anyways, this Gordon cat broke the record for most rushing yards in a game with 408. And Nebraska, people, isn't a cupcake defense. With the 'trend' in the NFL being a pass heavy, air raiding league; will we see a resurgence of running backs in the 1st round? Gurley, Gordon, and TJ Yeldon ALL have great cases. Franchise, hall of fame backs that are once in a generation like Peterson? doubtful. But they're talented 2 way backs who can run and catch.
I'm an Illini (ashamed to say), but always supported Northwestern as my second team growing up in Skokie/Rogers Park. That win yesterday was awesome. Fuck everything about ND as you said. Yesterday was the most college football I've watched in a day in a few years. Watched a lot of that Wisc/Nebraska game. Not only did that RB have gigantic holes, Nebraska's defenders looked like they were all attached to ball and chains. They had no speed, no quickness, eastwest or northsouth. To me it was more of them being horrible than that RB tearing it up. Defense seems to be getting worse not just in NFL but in college too. Scores across the board all seem really high, except when the SEC west plays the SEC west. I wonder though how much of that is coaching, and coaching from the high school level on. Seems like it will be harder and harder to build a quality defense in the future.
A lot of it is offensive scheme. Offenses like the triple option, air raid, run and gun, and hyper-shotgun everything (nothing taken under center) work in the NCAA because defenses aren't fast enough. Navy's triple option averages 6.9 yards per play. It confuses defense, and its style is meant to be elusive because Armed Forces and their universities are not allowed to have players over something like 250 or 265 lbs. You think a triple option would work in the NFL? No way. Defensive players are too fast, and they hit. We see more quarterbacks in the NFL throwing 40, sometimes 50 passes. In an Air Raid style offense, QBs throw 60+ times a game at the NCAA Level. You need balance at the NFL level, which is why, even if Erin Rogers throws 60 times, unless the defense is run by Mel Tucker--he's gonna make mistakes. Turnovers. You can get away with a lot in the college game, cant do it in the NFL. Which is why the wildcat is dead. Which is why the read option was a 1 year fad, unless your defense is run by Mel Tucker. Defenses are getting smaller. Once, Linemen would come out and 280 lbs would be considered 'light.' To some, it still is. The average NCAA Defensive linemen is now 250-60 lbs. It's given up line leverage for speed which is horrible at the NFL level. Speed is nice, but winning the trenches is more important. Think if the bears drafted a 250 lb 'defensive linemen' he would be successful? We already know the answer to that question. No, Shea McClellin sucked. But he was a down lineman/rush lb at Boise State.
Yeah I agree, which is why I was looking forward to him playing against Alabama. He is not the 4-3 MLB we are looking for but who knows, after this season we may switch to an attacking 3-4 I absolutely love Gurley, but word is that the injury suffered last night is season ending and could also effect his decision to enter the draft. Guy is a beast, he was going to be the next Marshawn Lynch, can run over you or around you with game breaking speed. Best player I have seen at UGA since AJ Green, truly freakish talent. Really hope the knee injury isn't serious but it didn't look or sound good. Guy was suspended for 4 games and on the first play returned the kickoff 100 yards for a TD, unfortunately it was called back because of a holding call but he is a game breaker. I like Gordon and Yeldon but Gurley prior to the injury was head and shoulders above both in terms of NFL talent. I think Gordon runs to upright to be great in the NFL but he will still be very good. Wisconsin RB's don't have a great history of translating college success to the NFL.
If Borland keeps up his pace the rest of the season, he may be his competition. We passed on both. Thanfully we still have Shea Mac, Bostic and DJ. I'm happy with the Fuller pick so far but as a bad as our LB corp is right now, passing on Borland for Ferguson or Sutton is looking bad right now, really bad.
I wasn't high on Borland because I thought he would get washed out behind our DTs. But he was a pure football player in the mold of Zach Thomas. Dude is balling right now, my 49ers buddy picked him up in our defensive league after I cut Willis and he won't shut the fuck up. LB talk should be fun this offseason. Mosley was my guy, Emery passed, I knew he would be good. Fuller is going to be a great asset down the road, but I am still pissed.
The Borland pick would have been kind of a chicken or the egg type of thing. We need a new DC. FIRE TUCKTARD!
So like an idiot, I went over to Chicity sports to talk draft with those........ "progenies." They think Oakman is a hair below Jadaveon Clowney......but will somehow fall to the bears if they're picking 12th. I was a fool. Any chance BWW, Mongo, and a few others of us bombard their board and shit all over them again? Chris Sojka needs another ass beating.
they have about 5 posters i'd like to poach, and the rest, all 100 of them are complete meatheads. the amount of idiocy there is painful. i remember i was reading over there once and i was like, hey, this guy knows what he's talking about setting these idiots straight. looked at the name, it was mongo, heh
Well, we did a great job burying this thread with new ones. Damn....... I come to you this Sunday morning with an update. Yesterday, as I don't have NFL Network, I tuned into the Purple whatever Las Vegas Bowl on ABC yesterday, featuring 2 teams, Colorado State and Utah; with 2 players on each team projected to go 1-3 round, each of them. Colorado State QB Garrett Grayson and Utah DE/LB Nate Orchard. Utah won in a blow out win, 45-10. Colorado State looked decimated. Their coach was poached by Florida, and they couldn't stop the run. 350 yards rushing for Utah, predominantly from Devonta Booker, who I'll get to at the end. Grayson's stats look unimpressive if you're just looking at a box score, but hold the phone here. 20/33 for 227 yards and an INT. And a TD catch on a trick play. A quick aforementioned about Grayson, he's a pocket passer first. He does have legs to move. Lets get started. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:12057411 Throws it over the middle. Great pass, hit his man in coverage. Strong arm, good footwork and pocket presence. I don't like (though its kind of hard to tell) how he looked like he stared down the WR. It kind of looks like he looked to the lone receiver to the right then stared down the slot receiver, who did get open. Found the pocket in coverage. 2nd Clip http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:12057479 Great protection, great throw. Put it where his guy would get it. Again, its hard to tell if he stares his guy down--because on this play there were 3 players on the left sid of the field, where he ultimately ended up throwing it. Third Clip http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:12058146 The bears don't know what the hell a quick slant is. So seeing this made me happy. Tremendous accuracy. Once again the issue is his head appears locked onto the left side of the field, where his 3 WRs are. THere's 1 WR to the right and the RB breaks right after the delayed block fake. There's one clip of his arm that I couldn't find. In the early 2nd Quarter he hits his WR on a beautiful wheel route. The WR was absolutely blanketed by the DB and Grayson hit his spot the DB couldn't get to. His accuracy is there, his footwork and pocket presence so far from what I've seen are there. He HAS to learn to throw off DBs and not seemingly stare down WRs. Now for Orchard. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:12058150 Orchard probably was 60-40 in favor of being a down lineman as opposed to being the 'rush' LB as the Utah system runs a hybrid 4-3/3-4. We see Orchard drive the linemen back after engaging a likely surprised guard, who wasn't ready for the DT/DE cross pass rush; where the DT goes left or right to the tackle and the end pinches in and engages the interior OL. Grayson not helped by his WRs. Utah has one of the top 20 CFB defenses--and we see Grayson go down with a forced fumble from Orchard. Mongo would probably know this better than I--but do we see this formation/pass rush technique as much in the NFL? I recall from recent memory Peppers lining up at DT and confusing some teams. Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough. Then again, Mel Tucker runs the Defense. So competency isn't exactly high. Orchard also had a forced fumble (not shown) as a down lineman in the 2nd quarter. He also was doubled on a team mate sack from the other DE spot. He also was credited with a QB pressure and several hits from the down lineman position. He had several plays in the run game from the 'rush' LB spot where CSU looked helpless. Devonta Booker, Utah's running back (eligible for draft, unknown if he'll enter) ran 25 times for 162 yards. CBS projects him to be a 2016 draft candidate. Orchard probably just played himself into the late 1st round. Some good workouts and interviews he very well may be a mid 1st round. A great choice, if it works out for him for a 'trade back' candidate. I have him 17-40 range right now. I know that seems broad, but its his potential and it will shrink after workouts/combine. The one thing I don't know about Orchard is whether he'll go 3-4 rush LB route or put on weight (he's listed at 258 lbs on CBS) and commit to the down lineman position. Grayson I have as a late 2nd rounder. After Winston and Mariota; Grayson, Carden from ECU I have eyt to watch, as well as Brett Hundley and Bryce Petty will be the QBs to look for. 2-3 rounders. I think the best QB of the draft will be one of Grayson, Petty, or Carden. Hundley is like RG3. Makes 1 read then runs.
I went ahead and pinned this thread Pat so it will be at or near the top from now on. It's one of my favorite reads on the board.
I appreciate that as well, Tim - draft time wouldn't be the same without the many people here who know what they're talking about. Pat does an awesome job keeping his eye on college football as the year goes on. I'm looking forward to contributing and talking with you in another month or two - I like to have all the footage in front of me at once. I'm lucky if I remember a guy's name from the regular season to the draft. And Pat - I would really hate to see Hundley (if that's his name - the UCLA QB) in a Bears uniform. He's just not a good enough passer, and he's had plenty of time to become one. I just don't seen an NFL QB there.
I'm no fan of Hundley. He's another RG3 or EJ Manuel. Accurate? Sure. Great legs to run? Sure. Follows through his reads? No, nor has he progressed. People see his 78% completion percentage this year and being swift/quick on his feet, and they get excited and see a late 1st/ early 2nd round steal. But to me, it really do misrepresent what an NFL QB needs. One read then he's off to the races. That has been proven time and time again not to work successfully in the NFL, and he's not Michael Vick good intangibly with speed and elusiveness; so I'm not betting on him to be 'the exception to the rule' the way Vick was for many years. Vick's had a nice career, and Hundley isn't Vick.
I agree, Pat. And in practice (taking away the stats), I'll contest the "accurate" thing. I've really been very unimpressed whenever I watch him. So much so that I've turned off UCLA games the one or two times I've gotten to see them - a team I'm usually a fan of. I put it as, "Not a smart QB", you put it as, "One read and then gone". Either way, same result, and it's not one I want in Chicago. And any QB that has been at the helm of his team for as long as he has without making improvements each year is worth a concern, as well.
So right now an impressive list of underclassmen has been accumulated in terms of early declarations for the 2015 draft. Certainly better than some previous years. Round 1 for the Bears for me--seems quite straight forward. Best LB, S, or DL unless some tour de force talent drops from the top 5. So if one of the top OT falls.......it would be hard to pass. Right now there's a real short list--that contains Andrus Peat OT from Stanford and Randy Gregory DE from Nebraska. Right now, to me, its a two horse race between McKinney from Mississippi State and Shaq Thompson from Washington. 2nd round we can easily tackle 1 of 3 DB problems. With Peanut seemingly gone, Jennings waiving off WRs to the safety who's on the other side of the field; and the Safety position in dire need, there will be plenty of options there. Safety can be tackled here--with a host of options. Landon Collins is being mocked to us by many, but I have serious doubts. I may be in the minority, but I'll take another year of Conte. No, I don't think he's good--but he's servicable. If you want to think outside the box--There are 2 dynamite Centers/interior OL who project to 2nd rounders. It can be an unpopular idea, but recent trends in Dallas taking Fredrick (albeit 29th pick of round 1), Lions taking Larry Warford in early round 2 2 years ago, Mike Iupati, Stefan Wisniewski, and Kyle Long have all helped the teams they've been taken by when primitive, old style thinking devalues interior OL, making them the position assumed when you draft an OT and he doesn't work out at either tackle position. Both Hironiss Grasu (Oregon) and Reese Dismiukes (Auburn) can anchor the C spot and be a productive player I'd feel good about betting they'll still be on the roster 5 years from now. I've mentioned Dismiukes because Grasu seemingly looks like he's a Travis Fredrick akin late 1st rounder. Dismiukes is more of a run mauler from Auburn, though is still effective in the passing game. He's not one dimensional. After these two, interior OL talent (for the time being) significantly falls off the table. Nick Martin and Brandon Vitabile from ND and Northwestern are good 3-4 rounders; but otherwise its 1 dimensional players (either pass blocking west coast kids or run mauling midwest/east coast). Many underclassmen who dont have the weight. Some may think it, but 285 lbs isn't my ideal Center weight. Is Emery or the new GM going to know how to find a John Sullivan or Corey Lindsay type Center prospect in the 5th round? We hope, but Emery--no...... I think we HAVE to trade a guy for a 2nd or 3rd round pick, and its got to be a QB with that pick. I think its Brandon Marshall, and Jacksonville is in DIRE need of a target to help Bortles out. Its not big money bust out Mercedes Lewis, its not Allen Robinson, its not Justin Blackmon. I think 3rd round you draft the safety or CB with the best range out there. I'm about keeping it simple to fix this shitty team, and draft the kid with the ability to have great range. I don't need or expect a lock down, immediate impact Safety, because I don't think its more important than the DLine or Linebacker spot right now. Perhaps a 2nd round S prospect falls to the early third, and with the bears looking to pick 7th now than the Giants beating St. Louis put them at 6 wins. The bears CAN get to the 6th pick with a loss agaisnt Minnesota and a Redskins win. The bears will own the tiebreaker over Washington. Beyond round 3 you gotta get smart. Can draft just roster spots. You got to draft projects with potential. That sounds dumb, I know--but right now Brock Vereen is low talent with no potential. This is where the people entering the draft early or having problems leading to a suspension or expelling from the team can kick in. Marcus Peter's is this year's Tyraan Matthiu or Marquis Wilson. CB from Washington U with Shaq, got into a fist fight with a coach and was kicked off the team. 1st round talent. Big BIG fan of Lorenzo Doss leaving Tulane. CB. Looking for 2014 highlights--and its hard. Tulane isn't exactly a popular school that's on Television a grand whole lot. Durel Eskridge SS from Syracuse is another talent with potential mid rounder that just declared. Big bodie'd kid with tremendous range. He doesn't look like a top talent, but he's on a bad defense in Syracuse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ff7-CluL5I 4th round prospect? That's something you take a chance on.....Needs some work, wont be a day 1 starter, but 2 years down the line he's got a great shot to be penciled in as a starter or fighting for a starting spot. Brock Vereen has to go. Sorry. Can he play linebacker? He can't play safety. 5-7 rounder prospects I will have a LOT more on after the Senior Bowl and EW Shrine game next month. Tim highlighting the thread motivates me to constantly add to it more and more unlike years past when its died and got buried come March/Free agency time. Please feel free to add/butt heads. Again, big thanks to Tim for the bump.
