Separating the Elite OT Prospects of the 2009 NFL Draft (1 Viewer)

[Sigmund Bloom]

Making Sense of the Top OT Prospects

This is a new type of article format I'm trying out - sort of like rankings but breaking down a tier in more detail instead. I'll be interested to hear everyone's thoughts, and hope y'all find this helpful.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Very nicely done Sigmund. I really liked the organization and commentary. Plus it had a good beat - you can dance to it.

 

[puckalicious]

I'm more convinced than ever Detroit should take Monroe #1 over any QB.

 

[Wadsworth]

Love your stuff, but this format seems to crossover a lot. Meaning body type, athleticism, punch/power/strength are different, but cover a lot of the same area. You end up with multiple somewhat subjective rankings basically saying the same thing. I'm not sure it tells me anymore than 4 individual write ups of each prospect. This particular case with the 4 OTs might be a tough case to test a new format. Because there are 4 of them which makes comparing difficult to begin with and they are surprisingly different in what they offer and the risks associated with them.

For example, Jason Smith is extreme quick for a OT and should fit well with a zone blocking team from day one but might take a little more time if asked to play a more traditional scheme. I'm not sure how much more comparing and contrasting the tackles multiple times told me than that one sentence. Yet, I haven't heard anything about Jason Smith character wise, he was a 4.0 student for example. So I guess my advice would be to consolidate some of the criteria you have and add a character/intangibles catagory.

Also, people love numbers. You might consider adding a 1-10 numerical grade for each prospect in each category. So we get information beyond a first to fourth ranking and are better able to understand how much more of an advantage one prospect has over the other in a specific category. Is Monroe a 9 and Oher an 8, or is Monroe a 9 and Oher a 5.

Anyways, love the site, keep it up.

 

[QuizGuy66]

Agree with the last posty that some sort of number grading in each category probably would help give a sense of where the prospects are closer together or farther apart. As a Bengals fan this also serves as a since I'm certainly hoping that my Who Deys will be taking one of these 4 gentlemen come draft time.

-QG

 

[chris1969]

You have a really good read on all 4 prospects and it's obvious that you put a lot of thought into the commentary, but a few things I would add...

First, the easiest way to get your point across about a prospect is to compare him to a current NFL player like you did with J Smith/ Clady. I'd like to see this comparison with the other players. I noticed a little bit of a comparison with Monroe/Long as well. While, I know that the easiest thing for you to do is compare current prospects with prospects in the recent past, (because you've recently scouted those guys), I'd prefer if you'd compare them to NFL guys that have been around a while. Even better if you could compare the ceiling/floor with 2 different NFL Players.

Second, I'd like to see a range where these guys might get picked to put their value in perspective.

Third I like to see the few teams that might value them more than other teams and therefore reach a little more.

Fourth, like the poster above, I'd like to see a more numerical ranking, in abilities.

For example...

Eugene Monroe

Projection Top 3 pick

Ceiling - Jonathan Ogden

Floor - Chris Samuels

Who'll reach? - Nobody, he's the best prospect on the board.

Body type - 10

Athleticism - 9

Punch - 8

Run Blocking - 8

Pass Blocking - 10

Risk/Reward - 10

Overall - 10

And then follow with the same commentary.

Don't put too much into my above ranking for Monroe. I was just trying to make that ranking look like your commentary. It's not anything I put any thought into.

What you guys have is great, but I what I really want is something that looks like a NFL scouting report.

 

[treat88]

Love this type of head to head comparison.

Would enjoy seeing you expand it to get a feel of how far apart the OT tiers actually are. i.e. Britton, Loadholt, Kropog etc.

As a complete draftnik, this kind of article about OL evaluation is exactly what I want to read. Interior OL, DL, LB, and secondary analysis would be great as well.

It gets old fast reading about the skill position players, and even though the mass appeal isn't there this in-depth analysis definitely has an audience.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

Love this type of head to head comparison.Would enjoy seeing you expand it to get a feel of how far apart the OT tiers actually are. i.e. Britton, Loadholt, Kropog etc.As a complete draftnik, this kind of article about OL evaluation is exactly what I want to read. Interior OL, DL, LB, and secondary analysis would be great as well.It gets old fast reading about the skill position players, and even though the mass appeal isn't there this in-depth analysis definitely has an audience.

I basically echo these points, especially about expanding it to see where you think the tiers break up/how far apart you feel the tiers are.Someone else mentioned making comparisons to current NFL players. I have to chime in on the other side of that line of thinking. While I totally understand that is probably one of the easiest and most accepted ways to "get a rough gauge" on rookie talent, I'm sort of over it. EVERYONE has been doing that seemingly FOREVER. Every year there's another "the next Orlando Pace" or "next Michael Strahan" blah, blah, blah ad nauseum/ad infinitum. I'd much prefer to see some sort of rating system, as mentioned by the same poster. Something based on your opinion after seeing tape on these guys and not just some layup "Well, this guy is this year's Fill In The Blank Player cuz he's got good Fill In The Blank Skill" comment and leave it at that. Whatever the criteria you chose to rate, and however you chose to rate it, I'd get more out of something like that than getting an NFL comparison for each prospect.

 

[jurb26]

Love this type of head to head comparison.Would enjoy seeing you expand it to get a feel of how far apart the OT tiers actually are. i.e. Britton, Loadholt, Kropog etc.As a complete draftnik, this kind of article about OL evaluation is exactly what I want to read. Interior OL, DL, LB, and secondary analysis would be great as well.It gets old fast reading about the skill position players, and even though the mass appeal isn't there this in-depth analysis definitely has an audience.

I basically echo these points, especially about expanding it to see where you think the tiers break up/how far apart you feel the tiers are.Someone else mentioned making comparisons to current NFL players. I have to chime in on the other side of that line of thinking. While I totally understand that is probably one of the easiest and most accepted ways to "get a rough gauge" on rookie talent, I'm sort of over it. EVERYONE has been doing that seemingly FOREVER. Every year there's another "the next Orlando Pace" or "next Michael Strahan" blah, blah, blah ad nauseum/ad infinitum. I'd much prefer to see some sort of rating system, as mentioned by the same poster. Something based on your opinion after seeing tape on these guys and not just some layup "Well, this guy is this year's Fill In The Blank Player cuz he's got good Fill In The Blank Skill" comment and leave it at that. Whatever the criteria you chose to rate, and however you chose to rate it, I'd get more out of something like that than getting an NFL comparison for each prospect.

I'm never a fan of saying player X is the next Tom Brady or LT. However, there is value in saying things such as McCoy has feet and acceleration similar to Clinton Portis coming out of school.