Elijah's 2014-15 Off-Season/Scouting Thread

[elijah]

L'ael Collins. Is he even a 1st rounder?

This is a great question, once I get some more players scouted, I plan on going back to Collins. He seemed like a possibly devastating guard, but it was a high gamble. A team could swing in the late teens, but it'd make much more sense in late 1st to early second.

Todd Gurley. Is he Marshawn Lynch without the superquick feet?

While watching Gurley, I certainly saw Lynch. He's a strong, dominant runner. I really hope that he can return to the form he was in and succeed in the NFL. It was so fun to watch him run, He was easily a top 10 pick had he not gotten hurt and torn his ACL.

Landon Collins. Why does he look so lazy on tackles?

I took a note on Collins pointing out that he plays inconsistently. I don't have the answer, but hopefully it improves in the NFL. Maybe a different coach will correct it? Collins was a very likable prospect.

 

[elijah]

CB - Trae Waynes - Michigan State
6’1” - 183 Lbs. - RS Junior

Pros:
- Holds contain around the edge well.
- Talented man-to-man defender.
- Presses well.
- Quick and light on his feet.
- Locks down his side of the field.
- Stays with his assignment step-for-step.
- Blitzes hard and fast, viable option to blitz.
- Switches to his vertical threat quickly.
- Hits hard and impactful.

Cons:

- Not the tallest defensive back heading into a copycat league
- Very small, not built well.
- Allows his receiver too much separation in the red zone.
- Played a poor game against Baylor.
- Should improve zone coverage to be a dominant top cornerback.

Review:
I came away from Trae Waynes’ tape very impressed. He showed the ability and potential to play as an elite, man-to-man press cornerback. After losing Dennard from the secondary, Waynes’ had to bring his game to another level this year and he did so successfully.

Waynes’ pressed his assignment well in man-to-man coverage. As stated above, he showed potential to be an elite, man-to-man defender. In a league where lock down cornerbacks are becoming more and more important, Waynes has the potential to be that guy. He’s quick and light on his feet, he stay with his assignment all over the field, and he switches to the vertical threat quickly. He has the ability to lock down half of the field, but that’s in man coverage.

In order to be an elite cornerback, you have to be able to play man and zone coverage. Waynes’ could play both, but his zone coverage wasn’t up to the level that his man-to-man coverage was. He also played pretty poor in the red zone at times, namely in the Baylor game. He would allow his receiver the advantage right from the get-go, allowing him a quick first step off the line. His size probably didn’t help this at all. Weighing just 183 makes Waynes’ easy to move for the opposing receivers. A target weight of 200-210 should be set for Waynes’ before he steps foot on the field as a pro.

Waynes’ has the potential to be an elite, lockdown cornerback. However, that’s talking about potential. A team would be best off drafting Waynes’ to come in as the 2nd cornerback and allow him to grow into the elite potential he has. It was hard to grade Trae Waynes, because based on his talent and skill set he’s a top 15 pick, but based on the ideal situation for him to be drafted into, he’s a late 1st to early 2nd round pick. He’d be an ideal pick for the Vikings or the Dolphins.

Grade: 8.6/10 (Top 15 - Early 2nd)

 

[elijah]

EDGE/DE - Alvin Dupree - Kentucky
6’4” - 264 Lbs. - RS Senior

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Pros:
- Quick off of the line.
- Executes his stunts well.
- Good size.
- Quick on his feet.
- Pursues the ball well.
- Lengthy, long arms.
- Plays well in zone coverage, knows his assignments.
- Great burst around the edge at times.


Cons:
- Not a large repertoire of rush moves.
- Rarely gets his arms up in the quarterback’s path of vision.
- Takes wide angles on his pursuit of the football.
- Struggles to disengage from his blocker.
- Often just takes up space in the run defense, doesn’t amount to be a real factor.
- Not fast enough for the quick, shifty players when in coverage.


Review:
Dupree strikes me as a project player. Of the edge rushing prospects in this draft, Dupree has the at least the second, if not the highest potential. His skills are their naturally, and he has great physical ability. However, he needs to be taught more and continue developing his game.

He is as a quick, strong and physical player coming around the edge. He has all the physical abilities that you search for in an edge rusher; quick, big, strong, lengthy and a big burst. Dupree comes around the corner with a good balance that helps him put pressure on the quarterback. On top of his physical abilities, he executes his stunts along the line well. His size and speed combination allows for Dupree to be sent through the A-gap with sustained success throughout the game. He’s big enough to hold his ground against interior lineman, and quick enough to fly by them.

Although Dupree has all the physical attributes you’d wish for in an edge rusher, he lacks a good library of rush moves. He has a great bull rush, a decent swim move and can win by his quickness, but that won’t always be the story in the NFL. Dupree needs to expand his repertoire of rush moves, and he could become an elite edge rusher. However, while defending the rush, too many times does Dupree just sit on the field as a space eater. He rarely is a true factor in the rush, and consistently just eats up an offensive tackle.

I like Dupree as a project player. If you can get Dupree in the early teens, and allow him to learn from a veteran, Dupree could turn into a great player. Dupree isn’t likely to come on the field and get you double-digit sacks in his first year, however after three or four years of seasoning, Dupree could be a big part of an elite defense.


Grade: 8.7/10 (Top 15)

 

[elijah]

RB - Melvin Gordon - Wisconsin
6’1” - 207 Lbs. - RS Junior

Pros:
- Very fast feet.
- Runs with great agility.
- Runs with great speed.
- Plays dynamic, creates big plays out of nothing.
- Fits through small holes.
- Excels in acceleration, goes 0-100 real quick.
- Continuously pumps his legs, never stops moving.
- Good patience for holes to open.
- Great field vision.
- Explosive through the hole.
- Good balance.
- The further down the field he gets, the harder he runs.
- Turns the corner and explodes well.
- Changes direction quickly.


Cons:
- Ran with poor balance against LSU.
- Poor pass blocker.
- Too much east and west running.
- Not a powerful runner at the line of scrimmage.
- Wasn’t used to catch the ball out of the backfield much.


Review:
To say that Gordon is better than Gurley is just silly. Gordon has all of the talent in the world, but he’s not a complete back. He won’t be an every down back in the NFL, Gurley is a complete player all-around. Gordon is a special talent, but being a running back makes it a different story. Talent doesn’t mean everything.

Gordon is in the top 5, along with Cooper and Green-Beckham, for the most explosive player in this draft. He has the perfect skill set for your ideal change of pace running back. He’s explosive and dynamic with the potential for any play to go to the house. Watching his game film was like watching a highlight reel. He runs fast and has elite acceleration, which makes him so dangerous as a running back. He has good balance, vision and patience; those three attributes mix perfectly with his explosiveness. This allows him to hit the hole at 100 miles per hour, the reasoning for his big runs.

With the pros comes the cons. The first tape I watched of Gordon had me very skeptical at first, he displayed awful balance against LSU. With poor balance, the type of back he plays as will never succeed in the NFL. Luckily, I didn’t notice an issue with his balance again after the LSU game. When Gordon plays poor to begin with, it’s not often that he heats up. The few times that Gordon started off poor, it was a lot of east and west running for him. He isn’t powerful enough at the line to make it through big defensive lineman.

As stated above, Gordon has all of the talent in the world. But, he’s a running back and that’s going to hurt his draft stock. As of right now, he’s not much more than a change of pace running back. Gordon would be perfect to put in a backfield with a Frank Gore or Marshawn Lynch type player. His talent deserves a top 10 pick, but similar to what I said about Waynes’, the situation he needs to be drafted too will make him fall.

Grade: 8.8/10 (Late 1st - Early 2nd)

 

[elijah]

OT - Ereck Flowers - Miami
6’6” - 322 Lbs. - Junior

Pros:
- Quick off the line for a tackle.
- Shows good balance.
- Lengthy arms.
- Solid in pass protection.
- Makes it very hard for defenders to disengage.
- Efficient kick-slide.


Cons:
- Wide grip may lead to holding penalties.
- Allows speed to beat him around the edge.
- Struggles to sustain blocks one-on-one.
- Changes direction poorly.


Review:
Flowers finished off the season with a strong bowl game to increase his draft stock.

Although not an elite tackle, Flowers is a serviceable tackle with potential in a weak offensive lineman class. He’s solid in pass protection and does an above average job while blocking for the run. He has good size and combines it with a decent balance.

Flowers didn’t have too many cons. He allows an occasional speed rusher to beat him around the edge, but nowhere near as often as Scherff or Collins. He struggles to sustain a block, although making it difficult for the defender to disengage at first, an elite defender will ultimately prevail.

Flowers may be the top tackle in a poor class, mostly thanks to the fact that he offers decent pass protection. Not many lineman, if any, deserve to go in the top 20 this year. However, you build from the inside out so a couple of lineman will be selected in reach spots.

Grade: 8.6/10 (Top 20)

 

[Clayton]

Flowers looks like an elite right tackle.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Flowers looks like an elite right tackle.

Assuming Parker, White, and Cooper are gone at 18, this is the guy I want right now.

 

[elijah]

Flowers looks like an elite right tackle.

If any lineman is going to be elite, it's going to be Flowers.

The rest aren't capable of pass blocking and are going to have a huge learning curve on their way to the big leagues

 

[cdumler7]

What impressed me about Flowers is the man has great feet. Been a while since I have seen an OL player move quite like him. He is probably one of the few guys I wouldn't mind the Broncos trading up to get as I think he would be a perfect fit in the ZBS to start out at RT and maybe build up to a LT elite prospect.