2010 NFL Draft

[shnsajax]

Rolando McClain announced he's going pro today. Ro is a nice combination of Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. Any team that drafts him, will be drafting, IMO, the likely 2010 NFL DROY, with all due respect to Suh.

 

I'm settling on either McClain or Jason Pierre-Paul as my hopefuls for the Titans to draft (assuming no stunner happens like Berry or Haden). I really, really like McClain.

 

I don't know if McClain will fall outside of the top 5.

 

There's only so many picks in the top five. I've heard Suh, Berry, Okung, Gerald McCoy, Bradford, Clausen and McClain all will not fall out of the top 5. I don't know that McClain will be there for the 16th pick, but one of he or Brandon Spikes should be there and I like both of them quite a bit.

 

I could see McClain falling outside the top 10, honestly. With Suh, Berry, Okung, Gerald McCoy, Bradford, Clausen, Dunlap, Tebow (Raiders), Dez Bryant, Spikes, Mays and Kindle all possibilities for the top 10, there's a real chance McClain may be available in picks 11-16. Not likely, but certainly possible.

 

I don't know that Dunlap, Spikes, Tebow or Mays will be top 10 guys (Mays might fight his way back after blowing up the combine). Spikes is behind McClain and Kindle when it comes to linebackers. Dunlap has his legal issues. Tebow is Tebow. And Mays, while a great athlete, still struggles to play safety (now that's a Raiders pick). But these are my opinions on the value of these players, not taking into account teams and needs.

 

Meph disagrees with you.

[dew1679666265]

Rolando McClain announced he's going pro today. Ro is a nice combination of Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. Any team that drafts him, will be drafting, IMO, the likely 2010 NFL DROY, with all due respect to Suh.

 

I'm settling on either McClain or Jason Pierre-Paul as my hopefuls for the Titans to draft (assuming no stunner happens like Berry or Haden). I really, really like McClain.

 

I don't know if McClain will fall outside of the top 5.

 

There's only so many picks in the top five. I've heard Suh, Berry, Okung, Gerald McCoy, Bradford, Clausen and McClain all will not fall out of the top 5. I don't know that McClain will be there for the 16th pick, but one of he or Brandon Spikes should be there and I like both of them quite a bit.

 

I could see McClain falling outside the top 10, honestly. With Suh, Berry, Okung, Gerald McCoy, Bradford, Clausen, Dunlap, Tebow (Raiders), Dez Bryant, Spikes, Mays and Kindle all possibilities for the top 10, there's a real chance McClain may be available in picks 11-16. Not likely, but certainly possible.

 

I don't know that Dunlap, Spikes, Tebow or Mays will be top 10 guys (Mays might fight his way back after blowing up the combine). Spikes is behind McClain and Kindle when it comes to linebackers. Dunlap has his legal issues. Tebow is Tebow. And Mays, while a great athlete, still struggles to play safety (now that's a Raiders pick). But these are my opinions on the value of these players, not taking into account teams and needs.

 

I listed mostly guys that I thought either for need or desire (Al Davis/Tebow) or talent could go in the top 10. The combine will play a huge part in whether some of those guys actually go or not, but the potential is there for all of them to be top 10 picks. I've heard Mays can run a 4.3, if he does that at the combine and if a team looks more at his 2008 tape than his 2009 tape, he might go ahead of Berry. Similarly, if Dunlap runs a 4.5 as a rush DE and benches something really nice, I could see that well outweighing his other issues.

 

My main point in that list wasn't to say those guys were going that high, but that there were plenty of guys I could see with the potential to go ahead of McClain.

[dew1679666265]

the only guy i'd say is an absolute no-brainer to stay in the top 5 is suh, and okung is probably about 95% to go in the top 5. i'd put mccoy's chances at about 80% and berry at 70%... berry is GOING to be a great player, it just depends on how highly teams drafting up there regard safety as a "need" position. a lot of those teams suck so badly that they're inclined to grab a DT, OT or QB.

 

i expect that one of bradford and clausen will be picked in the top 5 and the other will not.

 

I'd say Okung is a no-brainer. Somebody in the top 5 will need a left tackle and Okung is the best there is (though I've heard Anthony Davis at Rutgers might be better). Berry could well drop, but it'd be purely because of a lack of need, as you said, than anything else. Your percentages are probably pretty accurate, outside of Okung (I think he'd be at 100%, be it a current team or a trade up for him).

[dew1679666265]

Packers.

 

Gotcha. Though post mock draft stuff in the mock draft thread, since we now have one. :-)

[Guest]

I'm settling on either McClain or Jason Pierre-Paul as my hopefuls for the Titans to draft (assuming no stunner happens like Berry or Haden). I really, really like McClain.

 

I don't know if McClain will fall outside of the top 5.

 

There's only so many picks in the top five. I've heard Suh, Berry, Okung, Gerald McCoy, Bradford, Clausen and McClain all will not fall out of the top 5. I don't know that McClain will be there for the 16th pick, but one of he or Brandon Spikes should be there and I like both of them quite a bit.

 

I could see McClain falling outside the top 10, honestly. With Suh, Berry, Okung, Gerald McCoy, Bradford, Clausen, Dunlap, Tebow (Raiders), Dez Bryant, Spikes, Mays and Kindle all possibilities for the top 10, there's a real chance McClain may be available in picks 11-16. Not likely, but certainly possible.

 

I don't know that Dunlap, Spikes, Tebow or Mays will be top 10 guys (Mays might fight his way back after blowing up the combine). Spikes is behind McClain and Kindle when it comes to linebackers. Dunlap has his legal issues. Tebow is Tebow. And Mays, while a great athlete, still struggles to play safety (now that's a Raiders pick). But these are my opinions on the value of these players, not taking into account teams and needs.

 

I listed mostly guys that I thought either for need or desire (Al Davis/Tebow) or talent could go in the top 10. The combine will play a huge part in whether some of those guys actually go or not, but the potential is there for all of them to be top 10 picks. I've heard Mays can run a 4.3, if he does that at the combine and if a team looks more at his 2008 tape than his 2009 tape, he might go ahead of Berry. Similarly, if Dunlap runs a 4.5 as a rush DE and benches something really nice, I could see that well outweighing his other issues.

 

My main point in that list wasn't to say those guys were going that high, but that there were plenty of guys I could see with the potential to go ahead of McClain.

 

Well, McClain shouldn't go after Kindle and definitely shouldn't go ahead of Spikes. McClain is the best linebacker in the draft.

[dew1679666265]

Well, McClain shouldn't go after Kindle and definitely shouldn't go ahead of Spikes. McClain is the best linebacker in the draft.

 

There are differences between McClain and Kindle, though. Kindle's a 3-4 outside rush linebacker from what I've heard, McClain (though he played in a 3-4 at Bama) could fit either, but might be ideal for a 4-3. Need could bump Kindle ahead of McClain, potentially.

 

Unless he has a huge combine, I don't really think Spikes will go ahead of McClain. Possible, but he's one of the most unlikely guys I listed.

Edited January 12, 2010 by dew

[shnsajax]

Well, McClain shouldn't go after Kindle and definitely shouldn't go ahead of Spikes. McClain is the best linebacker in the draft.

 

There are differences between McClain and Kindle, though. Kindle's a 3-4 outside rush linebacker from what I've heard, McClain (though he played in a 3-4 at Bama) would fit either. Need could bump Kindle ahead of McClain, potentially.

 

Unless he has a huge combine, I don't really think Spikes will go ahead of McClain. Possible, but he's one of the most unlikely guys I listed.

 

Thats right on Kindle, though he could play middle. I think he would be better on the outside though. Kindle is one of those guys who should have a great combine just because of his athleticism.

[dew1679666265]

Florida safety Major Wright has declared for the draft.

[Guest]

I don't know that Dunlap, Spikes, Tebow or Mays will be top 10 guys (Mays might fight his way back after blowing up the combine). Spikes is behind McClain and Kindle when it comes to linebackers. Dunlap has his legal issues. Tebow is Tebow. And Mays, while a great athlete, still struggles to play safety (now that's a Raiders pick). But these are my opinions on the value of these players, not taking into account teams and needs.

 

That definitely sounds like an Al Davis pick. Great athlete but the performance on the field doesn't match up.

 

The Raiders in the draft: Just [expletive] it up, baby.

[SpongeWorthy]

The whole Mays can't really play safety is completely overblown. He takes bad angles and goes for the killshot rather than the sure tackle too much but he rarely, if ever, gets beat deep and that was his primary responsibility in Carroll's system. I thought he should've been in the box more but USC simply did not get beat deep when Mays was on the field.

 

In his 4 years, USC finished 22, 6, 1, and 16 in pass efficiency defense. I can remember maybe one long bomb completed in all those games. The problem with the defense this year was that it got blown up by the running game too often.

[dew1679666265]

The whole Mays can't really play safety is completely overblown. He takes bad angles and goes for the killshot rather than the sure tackle too much but he rarely, if ever, gets beat deep and that was his primary responsibility in Carroll's system. I thought he should've been in the box more but USC simply did not get beat deep when Mays was on the field.

 

In his 4 years, USC finished 22, 6, 1, and 16 in pass efficiency defense. I can remember maybe one long bomb completed in all those games. The problem with the defense this year was that it got blown up by the running game too often.

 

I saw a lot of tape this year showing him more timid and really not tackling well at all. Did you see this and if so, do you know why?

[SpongeWorthy]

The whole Mays can't really play safety is completely overblown. He takes bad angles and goes for the killshot rather than the sure tackle too much but he rarely, if ever, gets beat deep and that was his primary responsibility in Carroll's system. I thought he should've been in the box more but USC simply did not get beat deep when Mays was on the field.

 

In his 4 years, USC finished 22, 6, 1, and 16 in pass efficiency defense. I can remember maybe one long bomb completed in all those games. The problem with the defense this year was that it got blown up by the running game too often.

 

I saw a lot of tape this year showing him more timid and really not tackling well at all. Did you see this and if so, do you know why?

 

Sure, it happened. The defense was down this year. The linebackers were consistently destroyed at the point of attack and Mays had to be the last line of defense. Obviously things were easier when he had Cushing, Maualuga, and Matthews in front of him taking on blockers and ball carriers. When you lose all 3 things go in the crapper.

 

The linebacking play was really, really poor this year and it hurt the whole team. Even so, it's not like teams were bombing SC up and down the field. They were churning out long, sustained drives and eating clock and that's worse a lot of the time.

[dew1679666265]

The whole Mays can't really play safety is completely overblown. He takes bad angles and goes for the killshot rather than the sure tackle too much but he rarely, if ever, gets beat deep and that was his primary responsibility in Carroll's system. I thought he should've been in the box more but USC simply did not get beat deep when Mays was on the field.

 

In his 4 years, USC finished 22, 6, 1, and 16 in pass efficiency defense. I can remember maybe one long bomb completed in all those games. The problem with the defense this year was that it got blown up by the running game too often.

 

I saw a lot of tape this year showing him more timid and really not tackling well at all. Did you see this and if so, do you know why?

 

Sure, it happened. The defense was down this year. The linebackers were consistently destroyed at the point of attack and Mays had to be the last line of defense. Obviously things were easier when he had Cushing, Maualuga, and Matthews in front of him taking on blockers and ball carriers. When you lose all 3 things go in the crapper.

 

The linebacking play was really, really poor this year and it hurt the whole team. Even so, it's not like teams were bombing SC up and down the field. They were churning out long, sustained drives and eating clock and that's worse a lot of the time.

 

I was just curious because one of the things I liked most about Mays was his ability to deliver big hits and be a very physical safety (in the mold of a Polamalu). In some of the games and highlights I saw, I wasn't seeing that same physicality.

[SpongeWorthy]

He's a very physical safety but he's not constantly around the ball like Berry. Some of that is instincts and in that regard he is nowhere near a Polamalu or Berry type. The guy is lined up 20+ yards down the field on every play.

 

You'd think he would've been moved around a lot given his athleticism and used in a lot of different packages but no he was definitely a last line of defense kind of guy almost his entire career. When Kevin Ellison was here he was the one that Carroll would move around. I can't complain too much because it worked, for the most part, but Mays was never the guy that was going to accumulate a lot of stats in college, just wasn't his job.

[dew1679666265]

He's a very physical safety but he's not constantly around the ball like Berry. Some of that is instincts and in that regard he is nowhere near a Polamalu or Berry type. The guy is lined up 20+ yards down the field on every play.

 

You'd think he would've been moved around a lot given his athleticism and used in a lot of different packages but no he was definitely a last line of defense kind of guy almost his entire career. When Kevin Ellison was here he was the one that Carroll would move around. I can't complain too much because it worked, for the most part, but Mays was never the guy that was going to accumulate a lot of stats in college, just wasn't his job.

 

Interesting. I've been keeping up with him because he's the type of player – fantastic athleticism, massive upside – that Mike Reinfeldt really likes. If they don't trade up for Berry (highly unlikely), then Mays might be a guy they consider if he drops to 16.

[imb]

whenever i think about drafting a hard-hitting, weak in coverage safety in the top 10, i always go for the guy who appears timid when hitting someone

[dew1679666265]

whenever i think about drafting a hard-hitting, weak in coverage safety in the top 10, i always go for the guy who appears timid when hitting someone

 

That's the weird thing. He didn't look at all timid two years ago, but he did last year. He's got great upside, but he's not going to have the immediate impact Berry will.

[Tracer Bullet]

whenever i think about drafting a hard-hitting, weak in coverage safety in the top 10, i always go for the guy who appears timid when hitting someone

 

 

at 1:05 he completely blows an opportunity to law out Tate and break up a TD

 

at 1:43 he tries to lay out Tate and gets up a little shaky.

 

ND doesn't have a chance to tie the game with the ball inside USC's 10 yard line at the end of the game if Mays plays like a first-round pick safety.

[SpongeWorthy]

So you found a couple good offensive plays from the quarter and a half of competent offensive football ND played against USC while Mays was there.

[Guest]

Stanford RB Toby Gerhart is in.

[Andy]

Stanford RB Toby Gerhart is in.

I guess I didn't expect him to go. Should be interesting to see where he ends up and if he's given a real shot as a tailback.

[weis21]

anybody picked the chargers yet?

[dew1679666265]

anybody picked the chargers yet?

 

Raisin actually selected them. You can be in the war room if you like, or there are a few teams left currently ownerless.

[weis21]

no problem.

 

Redskins available?

 

If not, I'll take the panthers

[dew1679666265]

no problem.

 

Redskins available?

 

If not, I'll take the panthers

 

You now have the Redskins, my friend.

 

And by the way, here's the thread for the mock draft.