Now that would be a challenge flag I'd love to watch.
Printable View
http://draftanalyst.com/combine-notes-day-6
Quote:
- As we previewed the past week, Boise State linebacker Leighton Vander Esch knocked it out of the park. While he wasn’t the fastest in the 40, his 4.65 mark was better than scouts expected and was a tremendous mark for the 256-pound linebacker. His 39.5-inch vertical jump ranked second among linebackers, while his 10-foot-4-inch broad was a top-four mark. His 6.88 three-cone and 4.15 short shuttle were top-five marks. Vander Esch was one of just four linebackers who ran the long shuttle, and his time of 11.57 was just .05 behind that of Josey Jewell, who clocked the fastest time. I mentioned that Vander Esch would not get past the Pittsburgh Steelers, who own the 28th selection, and I’m now hearing that Vander Esch could be drafted by the Green Bay Packers with the 14th pick. The Philadelphia Eagles would love to add Vander Esch with the last pick of the first round but have come to the conclusion he won’t be available.
- Lorenzo Carter and Roquan Smith of Georgia both had terrific combine workouts. Carter, who I’ve always believed was a first-round talent, ran under 4.5 in the 40, bested everyone in his group with a broad jump of 10-feet-10-inches and posted a vertical jump of 39.5 inches. Roquan Smith ran 4.51 and will do the rest of the drills at his pro day. I have been informed both players were red-flagged medically by a number of teams due to past injury history. While I don’t expect the medical evaluations to be a drag on the draft stock of Carter and Smith, it is something likely to be part of the debate on draft day when each player is being considered.
Tremaine Edmunds isn't 20 years old yet. He was born 5-2-1998. Which means he's probably not done growing.
I thought Todd Thompson was demoted. No? Vander Esch looks like a player Todd would draft. No thanks. The Packers have more than enough slow, white or whitish ILBers with Hyde-awful coverage skills on their roster.
If the Packers are gonna draft an ILB, I'd prefer they draft Tremaine Edmunds or the Jamie Lannister-clone - 4.38 40 is impressive.
Kids today, eh? So disrespectful. I flip burgers for the minimum-wage so I sometimes work with teenagers. A kid and I were arguing the other day about who is the GOAT corner in NFL history. The kid was like, Jalen Ramsey! I was like, kid, I was shutting down Darren Charles when you were merely a sperm, so trust me when I say Neon Deion Sanders is the GOAT. The Kid was like, who the fuck is Darren Charles?
That being said, NFL.com compares Edmunds to Urlacher. Pretty sure Urlacher was white, but if the Packer could get an Urlacher-clone, that'd be awesome. I'd take Edmunds over Vander Esch.
The Packers have holes at Tight End, Inside Linebacker, Offensive line, and Corner back.
The Packers have depth concerns at just about every position. QB, RB, WR, DL, OLB,
The Packers have a bunch of picks, but I wouldnt mind them trading back in the first round that would possibly pick up another 1st round pick or a combination of a 2nd round and a 4th round pick. The Packers don't have any play makers on defense any more. Clay Matthews is finished and overrated to begin with, and he is as close as the Packer get to having a play maker on defense. So taking a top flight defensive play at any position with the 14th pick would make just as much sense as trading the 14th pick in hopes of picking up another first round pick.
The Bills are the only team that drafts after the Packers that have two first round picks. So might not be possible
40: Urlacher 4.61 Vander Esch 4.65 Edmunds 4.54
Broad: Urlacher 122 Vander Esch 124 Edmunds 117
Bench: Urlacher 27 Vander Esch 20 Edmunds 19
Vertical: Urlacher 34 Vander Esch 39.5 Edmunds N/A
3 Cone: Urlacher 6.94 Vander Esch 6.88 Edmunds N/A
60 Yd: Urlacher 11.10 Vander Esch 11.57 Edmunds N/A
Vander Esch's overall athleticism is pretty good. Assuming you think Urlacher was athletic enough.
Hater. Claymaker was awesome at OLB, and still is. Problem is, Claymaker's a hammy pull waiting to happen. Take away the injuries and the wasteful move to ILB for a couple a seasons, and Claymaker would be giving LT a run for his money as the GOAT OLB.
Move the Claymaker to ILB when he's 38, not while he's still awesome.
Matthews has ceased to be a singular pass rush threat from OLB. He very rarely beats tackles anymore, and its been going that way for a while.
His motor, pursuit and speed are still fine. He's still a big plus on defense. He's not as good versus the run as Perry, but he has improved since the spinOrama fails versus Kaepernick.
His pass rush is fine as a second player, he is normally in the pocket and if someone moves the QB off his normal line, he will beat any blocker to the new path. But you need someone to scare the QB off his set and CMIII doesn't do that anymore. In hindsight its kind of predictable because his father was much the same way. Always close, but not dominant in pass rush.
Perry looked like he was going to be that disruptor, but he never has a full season with that kind of production. They have lots of pieces (Daniels is good too), but they need someone to wreak havoc with the pocket immediately and don't have it.
As for a difference maker at LB... I'm looking at Landry.
Vander Esch can be a second round pick. His athleticism doesn't transfer on the film I just watched of him. I don't see him being an immediate upgrade over Martinez, sure he is better than Ryan, but you don't need to use the 14th pick in the draft to find a guy better than Ryan.
Roquan Smith isn't polished either, but his athleticism shows up on film. He can cover a back or even a slot receiver, but will get eaten up by blockers. He keeps himself involved in plays, has a motor. His arm tackles will cost him at the next level. His greatest attribute is that his speed allows him to make plays all over the field. He is not a plugger type of ILB. His athleticism will be a plus when looking at matchups against the opposition. He can stay on the field during passing downs.
Sherman said that the system is broken if Shaqueem Griffin is drafted after the first three rounds. Is Richard Sherman dumb and/or brain damaged from CTE?