Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
leachisabeast
Te'o may have a bad BCS game, but Kuechly played against lesser competition, while Te' was dominating against some of the top teams in America. Its also funny how you bring up "elite" sideline to sideline speed, because while Kuechly had a very average rookie year, Hightower has been lights out whenever he's been on the field, and a lot of people said that Hightower should drop weight, and said there's no way he could excel in a 4-3 scheme as a ILB, guess he proved everyone wrong this year.
LOL, because Kuechly didn't lead the entire freaking NFL in tackles this year to go along with 2 picks, a sack, 3 fumble recoveries, and 8 PD's. He had an insane year despite playing the first 4 games of the year out of position on the weak side. Kuechly is a stud, he had the best rookie year for a non-pass rushing LB I've seen since Brian Cushing in 09. In fact his game is very reminiscent of Brian Cushing, Kuechly might not be QUITE as good an athlete.
Hightower has been pretty good but the Patriots don't play him at ILB, they play him on the strong-side in their 4-3, where he doesn't have to go sideline to sideline. They also use him pretty much only as a pass rusher in their nickel package, Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes play more in coverage. I liked Hightower a lot when he came out but I didn't think he could play 4-3 Mike at all and I still don't. I think he could be a good 3-4 ILB just like Te'o but Kuechly is on another level, he can play any LB spot in the 4-3 as well as 3-4 ILB, and be elite (if he keeps playing at his current level or better.)
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bmorecareful
I really doubt Te'o is going to have a good Combine... he's not an athletic freak at all. I believe he's listed at 6'2 255... he might consider dropping 10 or 15 pounds for the Combine in hopes of getting his speed up. Just judging from his tape I don't see the kind of elite lateral movement and looseness that translates to a good 3-cone time. Kuechly for example put up a 6.92 3-cone which is excellent and very indicative of his sideline-to-sideline ability. I do see Te'o having good strength numbers, i.e. bench and vertical jump.
I don't agree that Te'o is a better prospect than Kuechly. Taking a hard look at his tape, you don't see the kind of elite sideline-to-sideline athleticism Kuechly had when he came out. I think Te'o might be out of the conversation for 4-3 Mike at this point, to me he looks more like a 3-4 ILB only or maybe 4-3 SAM. If he drops some weight and really shows improved sideline to sideline ability in the pre draft process he might work his way back.
Asa ND fan, I've watched almost alll of Te'o's games, and I agree with all of this.
He's very smart, good tackler (despite the bowl game) and pretty strong. He is not a huge sideline to sideline guy like Kuechly, but he is much better at taking on blocks of lineman (IMO).
I would not expect a huge combine in terms of 40. But I would expect at least the low to mid 20's in the bench.
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Raveninwoodlawn
I totally agree.
I think Kuechly is a significantly better prospect than Teo.
Kuechly may have played against lesser comp than Teo, but he also didn't have multiple first and second day picks playing in front of him taking up all the blockers either. Kuechly showed in college a much better ability to shed blocks and is vastly superior in pass coverage.
And he was far from average this year...lol. He led the NFL in tackles and was the defensive rookie of the month in December. He was so good that the Panthers are going to move Jon Beason, a Pro Bowl level MLB to OLB and keep Kuechly there.
He had an outstanding rookie year and is the running for defensive rookie of the year.
I definitely haven't seen Hightower being "lights out". He missed 2 games granted, but he also had like a third of Kuechly's tackles and didn't force a single turnover (he recovered 2 fumbles).
This. I forgot to mention in my post about DL play and its effect on the evaluation of LB play. Kuechly didn't have squat in front of him at BC and he doesn't have squat in front of him in Carolina either, the Panthers have like the worst starting DTs in the league, yet Kuechly is still a monster.
Meanwhile all 3 of ND's DL are going to be top-150 picks, Nix and Touitt are going to be 1st rounders. Yet Te'o still got owned by Alabama's OL which is pretty much 100% NFL-caliber. I'm not going to let 1 game overshadow my evaluation of Te'o, he is still a great prospect, but it is what it is.
The same is true for Hightower. Alabama's DL was amazing during his time there (except maybe for Cody, LOL) and New England has Vince Wilfork keeping him clean of blockers. Frankly of the 3 prospects (Kuechly, Te'o, Hightower) I'd rank them in that order. I like Hightower but he was even stiffer and slower sideline to sideline than Te'o. Those 2 are closer to each other than to Kuechly, though--that kid is just on a different level. I can easily see him being the NFL's best MLB/ILB in a few years.
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
I never knew he played that well this year lol, but who cares about Carolina anyway?
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Chris Faulk, the LT out of LSU is reportedly going to declare for the draft.
He was considered a top 20 pick before the season started before he tore his ACL midway through the season.
He likely won't be able to work out so I wonder where he will go in the draft. Interesting prospect.
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
What are peoples thoughts on Eric Reid? I'm really intriguied by him at the bottom of the 1st. Him, John Jenkins, and Barrett Jones I all like at the bottom of the 1st. I won't mind trading down and getting someone like Minter in the early 2nd. I don't think he has 1st round talent, but definitely top of the second and picking up an extra 4th would be nice as well for a project at ILB/DL/CB
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Man I don't care, all this shit is giving me a headache. But we NEED either through FA or the Draft, a:
NT
MLB
FS
LT
All as immediate contributors and starters and probably in that order. And we need depth on the Defensive side as well. I don't think we've EVER gone into a offseason with this many holes and this little cap space to work with.
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
And...Taylor Lewan is apparently going back to school.
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
runrayrun27
What are peoples thoughts on Eric Reid? I'm really intriguied by him at the bottom of the 1st. Him, John Jenkins, and Barrett Jones I all like at the bottom of the 1st. I won't mind trading down and getting someone like Minter in the early 2nd. I don't think he has 1st round talent, but definitely top of the second and picking up an extra 4th would be nice as well for a project at ILB/DL/CB
I liked him a lot before the season started...I thought he'd be a top 15ish pick.
But for whatever reason, he struggled some this year. I remember seeing the Florida-LSU game and was stunned at the horrible angles he was taking for tackling and in the pass game.
I'd be ok taking him in the late 2nd or 3rd...not the first anymore.
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Kuechly is a better prospect than Teo, but he's not a dramatically better player. I'd rank Teo as a better prospect this year than Hightower was last year though. Let me remind some of you that last year we heard a lot of the same "won't excel at the combine" talk and he proved his doubters wrong.
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Raveninwoodlawn
And...Taylor Lewan is apparently going back to school.
What in the world is this kid thinking? With Jake Matthews going back to school he's the consensus #2 OT and a near-lock to be a top 10 pick. What's the point of going back to school? Even if he has the best year ever what's the difference between #9 and #1? With the new CBA the money factor is insignificant compared to the risk of injury or otherwise hurting your draft stock.
These kids are making some crazy decisions. Now, watch... Lewan will go back to school and have a down year and cost himself millions, just like Matt Barkley and Jake Locker. I don't get it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Raveninwoodlawn
I liked him a lot before the season started...I thought he'd be a top 15ish pick.
But for whatever reason, he struggled some this year. I remember seeing the Florida-LSU game and was stunned at the horrible angles he was taking for tackling and in the pass game.
I'd be ok taking him in the late 2nd or 3rd...not the first anymore.
Yeah, Eric Reid's stock has really dropped. He just doesn't look as good without Morris Claiborne, Tyrann Mathieu, and Brandon Taylor. I agree with late 2nd or 3rd, but I'd rank him solidly after Kenny Vaccaro, Matt Elam, Phillip Thomas, TJ McDonald, and maybe even DJ Swearinger.
Re: New draft/FA/offseason thread
Another nice prospect has declared for the draft today... Kwame Geathers out of UGA. He was basically the backup to John Jenkins and also played a good bit of 5-tech DE despite being 6'6 350.
From what I've seen of him he's pretty good but a bit high in his stance at times. A nice prospect to get in the middle rounds to push Cody or possibly even take over at NT next year if we stay in the traditional 3-4.
