Chaos Commish
Footballguy
Nice Freebie from Rob Rang
You can't cut and paste from that site, so I typed the lists and added my own comments. Rang's comments are in the link. Mostly, I'm just enjoying these lists so I can say, I told you so...
Rising
Jason Allen, FS, Tennessee - I've had him at DB2 since the Combine. He rated in Huff/Williams territory prior to the hip injury, and though the medical info is confidential, his workouts suggest a full recovery. His rise is probably more a correction of his fall than anything else. Don't be surprised if his name is called before Tye Hill or Jimmy Williams. He has an interesting personality. He has what I would describe as a Christian work ethic-- clean living, devoted to God; and it's combined with a possible learning disability. I sat in on a chat with him, and the guy can't spell. Not sure if that hurts a free safety/cornerback prospect, but it's an interesting combo. Seems like a great team guy, locker room presence.
Winston Justice, OT, USC - There's no denying his play or measureables. Justice is a real talent. Character issues had him downgraded, and again this is more a correction of that error than Justice doing anything special to lift his stock. There really are no character issues. He paid a steep price for a stupid practical joke and he's handled it fine. From a pure talent standpoint, it's pretty hard to separate this guy from D'Brick. They're clearly the cream of the tackle crop, and only D'Brick's extremely solid intangibles earn him the higher grade. Justice is bigger, faster, stronger, and has better technique in pass protection. This is a very solid player. He's one of my "I told ya sos."
Vince Young, QB, Texas - Another "I told ya so." Don't buy into all the rabid media attacking this guy with sensationalized nonsense. Young will be drafted early. He's very unique. Billick recently said the inability to compare him to a known NFL commodity makes it difficult to assign a value to Young. Rang mentions his better than expected arm strength and accuracy. We've discussed that around here enough. Young is a stud. Period.
Antonio Cromartie, DB, FSU - I took a little criticism for being very high on him. Here's how I see it. It's like drafting a high school phenom into the NBA. You just cannot find a combination of size, speed, and athleticism anywhere in the draft like this guy. He's so inexperienced though. Scott Wright likens Cromartie to Champ Bailey. I agree except he's so raw. It may take him an extra year to develop, but he'll be a great playmaker in the secondary eventually.
John McCargo, DT, NC St. - No one is talking about this guy, but he should be moved up well into the first day and a couple of tiers worth of DTs. I'll just defer to Rang's comments (in the link).
Leonard Pope, TE, Georgia - Many of us have shuffled Pope, Byrd and Lewis in a variety of orders. It's a mistake. Pope is closer to competing with Vernon Davis than having competition from the others. Yes, he "looks" stiff. That's just the way a 6-8 freak runs around on the football field. He "isn't" stiff from an athletic point of view though. I won't be surprised to see him jump into the top 20, then have a better career than Davis. Let's face it, he's a giant, he's fast, he has great hands, he has a great verticle, he has a solid hoops background, and he's a solid citizen. Who wouldn't want this guy?
John Alston, LB, Stanford - No surprise to us Pac 10 fans. Pete Carroll has called him the best LB he's ever seen. There's speculation of converting him to safety (he's only 220). It's possible. Carolina has a similar tweener in Thomas Davis. Either way, there's too much talent to let him fall as far as most were expecting (2nd day). I doubt he gets out of the 2nd round.
Falling
Tamba Hali, DE, Penn St. - Another "I told ya so." This guy was way way overrated during the search for a DE to pass the disappointing Kiwanuka. Hali was stoned twice by Marcedes Lewis (a supposedly poor blocking TE) in the Senior Bowl. He just hasn't done anything to prove worthy of a mid first round grade. He has a great motor, but he's slow and he's weak. Several DEs may be drafted before him, and rightfully so. I'd take (after Mario), Wimbley, Lawson, Kiwi, Anderson, Edwards and Tapp before Hali. Rang says, there's probably no player who's dropped more significantly.
Michael Huff, DB, Texas - This surprised me at first, but not in retrospect. Huff doesn't have any business in the top 10 as he's regularly been projected lately. He's an excellent DB, tops in this class, and that generally means top 10 and still could, but bear with me here. This is a crazy deep class of DBs. There isn't that much separating Huff from guys like Bullocks, Whitner, Cromartie, Allen, Williams, and several pure corners. If you have a top 10 pick you can find someone "similar" to Huff in the 2nd round. You cannot do that at other positions. So sliding Huff between 11-15 makes more sense than taking him as early as some expect. I think he's Ed Reed cloned myself. This also goes to a point Ridgelake makes. You take a cover corner early. You take a dominant SS early. Do you take a great centerfielder early? Probably not. So Huff's tweener status makes him more of a risk.
Jason Avant, WR, Michigan - Nothing to see here other than NFL Draft Scout was always way too high on this guy. A needed correction from them.
Chad Greenway, OLB, Iowa - A great gamer suffering from disappointing measureables. Bloom went negative on Greenway way before anyone else I know of. I still think the great production speaks for itself, but there you have it. He isn't so fast. He isn't very strong. He's getting a downgrade.
Santonio Holmes, WR, Ohio St. - Man, I do not like any of the high rated receivers. I've argued a few times that none of them deserve first round grades. I think some of them from the 3rd round and even the 2nd day will have better careers than Holmes.
Alan Zemaitas, CB, Penn St. - Too many DBs look better after all the underclassmen declared.
Ko Simpson, DB, South Carolina - Almost as inexperienced as Cromartie without the measureables. He's an undersized strong safety who may develop into a solid center fielder, but with all the size and speed at DB, Simpson was being overrated for most of the season.
Okay, this is where we make this another thread about the big QB who runs like a deer and throws like a girl.
You can't cut and paste from that site, so I typed the lists and added my own comments. Rang's comments are in the link. Mostly, I'm just enjoying these lists so I can say, I told you so...
Rising
Jason Allen, FS, Tennessee - I've had him at DB2 since the Combine. He rated in Huff/Williams territory prior to the hip injury, and though the medical info is confidential, his workouts suggest a full recovery. His rise is probably more a correction of his fall than anything else. Don't be surprised if his name is called before Tye Hill or Jimmy Williams. He has an interesting personality. He has what I would describe as a Christian work ethic-- clean living, devoted to God; and it's combined with a possible learning disability. I sat in on a chat with him, and the guy can't spell. Not sure if that hurts a free safety/cornerback prospect, but it's an interesting combo. Seems like a great team guy, locker room presence.
Winston Justice, OT, USC - There's no denying his play or measureables. Justice is a real talent. Character issues had him downgraded, and again this is more a correction of that error than Justice doing anything special to lift his stock. There really are no character issues. He paid a steep price for a stupid practical joke and he's handled it fine. From a pure talent standpoint, it's pretty hard to separate this guy from D'Brick. They're clearly the cream of the tackle crop, and only D'Brick's extremely solid intangibles earn him the higher grade. Justice is bigger, faster, stronger, and has better technique in pass protection. This is a very solid player. He's one of my "I told ya sos."
Vince Young, QB, Texas - Another "I told ya so." Don't buy into all the rabid media attacking this guy with sensationalized nonsense. Young will be drafted early. He's very unique. Billick recently said the inability to compare him to a known NFL commodity makes it difficult to assign a value to Young. Rang mentions his better than expected arm strength and accuracy. We've discussed that around here enough. Young is a stud. Period.
Antonio Cromartie, DB, FSU - I took a little criticism for being very high on him. Here's how I see it. It's like drafting a high school phenom into the NBA. You just cannot find a combination of size, speed, and athleticism anywhere in the draft like this guy. He's so inexperienced though. Scott Wright likens Cromartie to Champ Bailey. I agree except he's so raw. It may take him an extra year to develop, but he'll be a great playmaker in the secondary eventually.
John McCargo, DT, NC St. - No one is talking about this guy, but he should be moved up well into the first day and a couple of tiers worth of DTs. I'll just defer to Rang's comments (in the link).
Leonard Pope, TE, Georgia - Many of us have shuffled Pope, Byrd and Lewis in a variety of orders. It's a mistake. Pope is closer to competing with Vernon Davis than having competition from the others. Yes, he "looks" stiff. That's just the way a 6-8 freak runs around on the football field. He "isn't" stiff from an athletic point of view though. I won't be surprised to see him jump into the top 20, then have a better career than Davis. Let's face it, he's a giant, he's fast, he has great hands, he has a great verticle, he has a solid hoops background, and he's a solid citizen. Who wouldn't want this guy?
John Alston, LB, Stanford - No surprise to us Pac 10 fans. Pete Carroll has called him the best LB he's ever seen. There's speculation of converting him to safety (he's only 220). It's possible. Carolina has a similar tweener in Thomas Davis. Either way, there's too much talent to let him fall as far as most were expecting (2nd day). I doubt he gets out of the 2nd round.
Falling
Tamba Hali, DE, Penn St. - Another "I told ya so." This guy was way way overrated during the search for a DE to pass the disappointing Kiwanuka. Hali was stoned twice by Marcedes Lewis (a supposedly poor blocking TE) in the Senior Bowl. He just hasn't done anything to prove worthy of a mid first round grade. He has a great motor, but he's slow and he's weak. Several DEs may be drafted before him, and rightfully so. I'd take (after Mario), Wimbley, Lawson, Kiwi, Anderson, Edwards and Tapp before Hali. Rang says, there's probably no player who's dropped more significantly.
Michael Huff, DB, Texas - This surprised me at first, but not in retrospect. Huff doesn't have any business in the top 10 as he's regularly been projected lately. He's an excellent DB, tops in this class, and that generally means top 10 and still could, but bear with me here. This is a crazy deep class of DBs. There isn't that much separating Huff from guys like Bullocks, Whitner, Cromartie, Allen, Williams, and several pure corners. If you have a top 10 pick you can find someone "similar" to Huff in the 2nd round. You cannot do that at other positions. So sliding Huff between 11-15 makes more sense than taking him as early as some expect. I think he's Ed Reed cloned myself. This also goes to a point Ridgelake makes. You take a cover corner early. You take a dominant SS early. Do you take a great centerfielder early? Probably not. So Huff's tweener status makes him more of a risk.
Jason Avant, WR, Michigan - Nothing to see here other than NFL Draft Scout was always way too high on this guy. A needed correction from them.
Chad Greenway, OLB, Iowa - A great gamer suffering from disappointing measureables. Bloom went negative on Greenway way before anyone else I know of. I still think the great production speaks for itself, but there you have it. He isn't so fast. He isn't very strong. He's getting a downgrade.
Santonio Holmes, WR, Ohio St. - Man, I do not like any of the high rated receivers. I've argued a few times that none of them deserve first round grades. I think some of them from the 3rd round and even the 2nd day will have better careers than Holmes.
Alan Zemaitas, CB, Penn St. - Too many DBs look better after all the underclassmen declared.
Ko Simpson, DB, South Carolina - Almost as inexperienced as Cromartie without the measureables. He's an undersized strong safety who may develop into a solid center fielder, but with all the size and speed at DB, Simpson was being overrated for most of the season.
Okay, this is where we make this another thread about the big QB who runs like a deer and throws like a girl.
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'Greenway - I really expected to see some sort derrick johnson-like bezerker out there in the senior bowl. He looked pretty average to me. I still think he'll be solid, but a team would be nuts to take him over Sims.'
as a Michigan fan, I like this guy, but have never seen him in the upper crust of WRs, a great slot WR, nothing more.
