Saturday NFL Draft watch notes
by Dan Kadar on Sep 25, 2010 9:53 AM EDT
in 2011 NFL Draft
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PrintIf the Stanford offensive line can figure out the Notre Dame 3-4 front, redshirt sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck could have a big game. Although Luck has had 10 touchdowns and no interceptions on the year, he didn't necessarily dominate Wake Forest or UCLA. That's what you need to see from Luck. Notre Dame may not have a top defensive back field, but it would be nice to see Luck just take over a game and show he deserves the No. 1 spot most have been giving him.
Ryan Mallett of Arkansas has been the quarterback stealing headlines this year, and justly so. Today against Alabama it will be a different challenge for Mallett. Alabama may be young at cornerback, but still talented. As such, today will be big for Mallett if he can move strong safety Mark Barron with his eyes. Mallett's questionable areas are his footwork and putting his receivers in favorable matchups. With a stout Alabama defense across him, he can show both today.
The Alabama/Arkansas could be a big game for Tide junior wide receiver Julio Jones. Arkansas' top cornerback is Ramon Broadway. He is 5-foot-9. Jones is every bit of the 6-foot-4, 220 pounds he's listed at. Jones excelled against Duke and San Jose State, but was average against Penn State. A big game today could go a long way for Jones.
In the Duke game, Alabama end Marcell Dareus had his snaps limited. He could get unleashed today and show why he's considered a top 10 talent. A top one-on-one matchup could be Dareus against left tackle DeMarcus Love. As Arkansas' premier offensive linemen, some are considering Love a top 100 pick.
Few defensive front seven players are having a better year than UCLA's Akeem Ayers. An end/linebacker hybrid, he's shown the ability to get after the passer, drop into coverage and get after the run. He's a true three-down linebacker, with size too. Showing all that against Houston is one thing. Showing it today against Texas is another. Look for Ayers to spend more time in the back field this week. Against Houston he got some coverage work in on zone blitzes. He could be a pure straight forward player today.
Is Kansas State's Daniel Thomas the best draft-eligible running back in the nation? All Thomas does is rack up yards – 552 in three games with six touchdowns. Thomas has size at 6-foot-2 and 228 pounds, but not the kind of electric speed that gets the attention of casual viewers. Thomas has quicker feet than his size may bely and gets good yards outside of the tackle box. His receiving and blocking skills are questionable, but there may be none better as a natural runner.
One of the big story lines of the 2010 season has been the coming out party for Auburn junior defensive tackle Nick Fairley. He is great at shedding blocks and collapsing the pocket. Fairley is the kind of player you have to see and not just look at his stats.
The Auburn/South Carolina game could be a big one for Tigers middle linebacker Josh Bynes. He'll get the task of tracking down talented freshman running back Marcus Lattimore. Bynes has sideline-to-sideline ability and will need to show it today. Fairley's penetration should allow Bynes to make plenty of plays around the line of scrimmage, which is something he'll need to show. It's good to get tackles. It's better to get them near or behind the line of scrimmage.
If Oregon State can knock off Boise State, it might be due to the play of Beavers defensive tackle Stephen Paea. He's a disruptive interior pass rusher. He can shoot a gap as good as any tackle in the nation. Should he do that today, Boise quarterback Kellen Moore could get his timing messed up.
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Why does a no 1 QB have to dominate another team exactly?
If Luck plays well and commands his offense isnt that what a real No 1 guy does?
Why does he have to be dominating in terms of statistically prowess?
Football is still a team game………..Luck is more dangerous if Stanford is more balance.
June Jones is my daddy.
by norcaliangelsfan on Sep 25, 2010 12:28 PM EDT reply actions
The Bills can have Ryan Mallet. The Jaguars already have Ryan Mallet’s secret brother on their roster. His name is David Garrard
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by Jonathan Loesche on Sep 25, 2010 7:11 PM EDT reply actions
Bynes and the Auburn D are doing well on Lattimore
but SC’s gigantic WRs are a tough matchup. Don’t hear much about them when talking about SEC WRs tho, but they’re both probably bigger then AJ Green and Julio Jones. Alson Jeffrey has made some real nice catches and uses that gigantic frame well.
Winning cures all...even stupid
Alshon Jeffrey is the truth
New mancrush
You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.
I know what you mean.
If he was a little faster he could easily be the next Andre Johnson.
Shurmur, your career is in 3rd and long. Don't run a draw.
Onobun > Gates
Russell Wilson?
The guy tore a mediocre Tech defense apart on Saturday but he is very accurate and mobile. His interception on Saturday was his first of the season, and the first in 150 something passes. He holds the record for most consecutive passes without an interception. The guy is a stellar athlete. Maybe he deserves a few more looks.
"He has lived up to the legendary billing... And the legend is born in Calvin Johnson!" -Wes Durham
by sportsfan4life2012 on Sep 26, 2010 10:47 AM EDT reply actions
This game once again highlighted Crist's accuracy issues
And it was only worse in contrast to Luck. I know the stats won’t show a huge difference between the two, as Luck had 2 interceptions, but even his picks were close enough for his receivers to come down with. With Crist, even his successful completions required some effort from his receivers because he was so inaccurate.
His one deep ball that looked pretty came late in the 3rd quarter, I think, when they were already down by 21. Of course I had been screaming that they should have been exploiting that single coverage on Floyd all game w/a simple go route.
Last year under Weiss’ system, they used their receivers’ strengths and played off of them. They loved getting Tate into space, using slants and screens, and they loved running go routes/divide routes with Floyd. And their system was based on reading the defense and reacting accordingly. Now, w/Kelly’s system, it’s like a west coast offense and quick dump-offs and 2/3 yard passes. It sucks. Let Floyd do what he does best. They only did it once yesterday and got 40 yards.
Anyways, Dan, if/when you do a scouting report on Crist, I think the one glaring weakness you’ll see is that he can’t place the ball where he wants to. Also, he’s being limited by a crappy system where he’s not even allowed to read the defense.
I agree that Crist is in the wrong system. He needs to be in a prostyle system that allows him to throw some bombs.
Luck looked like the real deal. He really places his passes well.
BTW I was at that game.
"Young men, I have no doubt that you're gonna do well today. But I have 1 favor to ask of you... SAVE JIMMY JOHNSON'S ASS FOR ME!" Lou Holtz
by TheRealSlimShady on Sep 27, 2010 7:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Mike Daniels was absurd for Iowa. They are officially 5 deep with legit prospects
Broderick Binns on Daniels,
(he) only has one mode, and that’s beast mode.
Should have known he was going to have a great year when they kicked Ballard back out to LE in the opener (Binns was suspended for a DUI) even though he had spent all offseason bulking up to ~300lbs, and started Daniels at DT. 6’1" 275lbs, he could be a very useful 3-tech.
The other guy I saw that really impressed me was Stanford’s NT (though ND’s whole OL looked awful). ND couldn’t run on him at all, and they were getting pressure with 3 man rushes.
Choke/Clutch is the fetishization of the small sample size.
"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." -Isaac Asimov
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