Bob Magaw
Footballguy
DJ is consensus best LB in the class of 2005... yet he plays OLB, and worse, may get saddled with SLB role if bell plays WLB & mitchell stays in the middle. there are rare SLB that are productive (marcus washington last season), but WLB would have been the preferred spot.ruud & thurman appear to be the top MLB choices... traditionally the position of choice to maximize scoring (again, there are stud WLBs like brooks, briggs & witherspoon... but the very top tend to come from MLB/ILB)... and since they can be gotten a round or two later than DJ... and there may be a drop-off after these two (crowder could easily be as good or better, but tends to go a little later)... getting the choice right with ruud & thurman could make some drafts & have long term repercussions for your dynasty squad.it may appear ruud has a clearer path to starting. will compete for SLB with neece & gooch, even if he doesn't start in '05, he is expected to step into quarles MLB slot no later than '06. while maybe not the physical specimen of the other DJ & vilma from class of '04 (didn't run a 4.5), he is plenty athletic, has functional playing speed, is smart (30 wonderlic?), and has great bloodlines... his dad was a first rounder with the bills (crowder's father randy was a bronco i think).i was talking to free-lance saints scout mike detwillier the other day, & he talked about how his mentors in the scouting business told him the first thing to look for with LBs was their first step... in the obvious quickness connotation, but also relates to instincts and is the first step in the right direction.imo, both ruud & thurman have great instincts & a great first step.we were faced with this choice tonight... i saw it coming a few times from afar but ended up not having to make it in other ongoing drafts... until tonight.this isn't a who should we pick thread... we decided on thurman, but i will share our thought process & i am interested in the board's thoughts on who they see as the better dynasty choice (if it wasn't obvious, this has more important dynasty than redraft implications).there is some confusion about where & when thurman will play. pollack is being handed the SLB position... lewis has said landon johnson is the MLB... and simmons is stil playing at a high level at WLB.but thurman seems so talented, we gambled on greatness (we have mike peterson, farrior, vilma & witherspoon as starters, tino & daryl smith as depth so can afford to be patient). the bengals were raving about him in the recent mini-camp, & it wouldn't be a surprise if he wins the starting MLB job b4 the season starts. some scouts think he is a more natural WLB... i don't agree... i think he has the athleticism to make the switch, & even do quite well, but he looks like a natural born MLB. he is the same approx. size as vilma (6'0" 230), & he held up fine... DROY.so possibly he emerges at WLB, maybe in '06 (don't have simmons contract staus at hand), which wouldn't be such a bad thing... but i think landon johnson ends up there. when the CIN coach worked him out he was crestfallen as it didn't look like there was any way they would get him. draft slot not conducive to it, as first was too high & second seemed to far away where he would be long gone. but in part due to off field concerns, he in fact dropped to them in second. for a team that still has needs (not 1-2 players from super bowl... probably... i thought same of CAR in '03 :^), a second seems like a high pick for a guy to languish on bench for a few season. there are some compelling reasons to think he will see field early & often. the team was 26th in run defense in '04, and has to face jamal lewis, rudi & the bus/staley six times a season.to my eye, thurman stood out as the more explosive athlete... he seems to play the game faster. not to say ruud is slow (he isn't)... but thurman's speed, power and agility roar off the screen in highlights.
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I like to stay away from the charactor issue guys, but get sucked in every now and then and Thurman's potential is very tempting. I think he landed in a great place, with Lewis and all. With your roster situation at LB, I can understand you taking Thurman over Ruud.I think the best LB in the class could be DB Thomas Davis if he eventually plays the will backer. I hear the talk he may be the long term answer to Fields, not buying it.I'm not a big DJ fan, doubting he plays up to all the hype or will be a late bloomer in the NFL, we'll see. The fact he may make his living on the strong side doesn't help, fantasy wise of course. 
's! Tick, I see where you don't include Davis... from what I recall, he was getting all his work at LB in mini camp. I don't know if he has a shot a Fields' job, but I can't imagine him not getting some playing time at LB this year. I've seen some very negative comments on him biting on pass action, and Minter isn't about to lose his job, is he? I think the Panthers want to stay kind of quiet on the whole who replaces Fields thing. Thomas Davis is the Panthers' Pick Brad Thomas - Scout.comApril 23, 2005 at 3:12pm ETThe Panthers selected S/LB Thomas Davis out of Georgia with the 14th pick in the draft, passing over Derrick Johnson in the process.Thomas Davis Profile VIDEO - Select Davis from the list Previous Scouting Report by PantherInsider.com on Thomas Davis - Click Here . Perhaps one of the more intriguing players available for the Panthers to draft is University of Georgia Safety Thomas Davis. A physical specimen who stands 6' 1" and weighs in at 230 lbs, Davis is a hard hitter who excels at stopping the run. Some teams feel he's better suited to play linebacker in the NFL. Davis scored a 19 on the Wonderlic. On paper, Davis would seem to be just what the Panthers need - a solid, hitting safety. However, Sporting News writer Dan Pompei printed something interesting in the March 18th issue of Sporting News magazine. In his NFL Insider Column, Pompei spoke about Thomas Davis' play recognition skills. Pompei stated that Davis was "a sucker for play-action and gets caught peeking into the backfield. He is as lost in a zone as a hillbilly in Manhattan." He went on to quote an unnamed long-time NFL Executive as saying "He's made more mental mistakes and instinctive mistakes than anyone I've ever scouted". Would Davis be a good fit for the Panthers secondary? Probably not. The Panthers have to be projecting Davis as a Linebacker, who has been often compared to Derrick Brooks from Tampa Bay.
