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If Patrick Peterson somehow falls to #7...
Official 2011 NFL Draft Thead Vol. Lions winning.... Niners losing...
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by ValarMorghulis,
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If Patrick Peterson somehow falls to #7...
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I highly doubt Seattle goes for Locker in the first round. That's lazy of Kiper.
Seattle needs players who can contribute immediately and at various positions and Pete would be crazy to take Locker in that spot. 2nd round is more likely.
Seattle needs players who can contribute immediately and at various positions and Pete would be crazy to take Locker in that spot. 2nd round is more likely.
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I highly doubt Seattle goes for Locker in the first round. That's lazy of Kiper.
Seattle needs players who can contribute immediately and at various positions and Pete would be crazy to take Locker in that spot. 2nd round is more likely.
Seattle needs players who can contribute immediately and at various positions and Pete would be crazy to take Locker in that spot. 2nd round is more likely.
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People said Crab wouldnt be available at 10 a few years back. The talent in the draft this year coupled with the needs of the teams ahead of us will make for an interesting draft day and PP could eventually fall to us.
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People said Crab wouldnt be available at 10 a few years back. The talent in the draft this year coupled with the needs of the teams ahead of us will make for an interesting draft day and PP could eventually fall to us.
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Serious, but stupid, question. You think Von Miller offering himself to be a "witness" for the NFLPA could have any affect on his draft stock?
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Serious, but stupid, question. You think Von Miller offering himself to be a "witness" for the NFLPA could have any affect on his draft stock?
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I think its really possible! 4 of the top 5 teams can use a QB... I'd be so happy
Wyche Mock
Pick No.
1
BLAINE GABBERT
QB
Missouri
When all the pre-draft workouts and interviews are done, Gabbert emerges as the quarterback the Panthers and coach Ron Rivera opt to build around.
Pick No.
2
DA'QUAN BOWERS
DE
Clemson
The Broncos badly need defensive tackles in their switch to a 4-3, but it's hard not to hand Elvis Dumervil this compliment as an edge rusher.
Pick No.
3
MARCELL DAREUS
DT
Alabama
The Bills could move on Auburn QB Cam Newton here, but the versatile D-lineman can help ease some of Buffalo's problems up front.
Pick No.
4
NICK FAIRLEY
DT
Auburn
Carson Palmer's threat to retire puts them in need of a QB, but Fairley is the type of playmaker the Bengals need and want in their front seven.
Pick No.
5
VON MILLER
OLB
Texas A&M
Again, a quarterback is needed but with Max Hall and John Skelton, adding one in the draft won't be the way they go. Miller is a must.
Pick No.
6
A.J. GREEN
WR
Georgia
The Browns can go a lot of different ways, but Green is the type of playmaker that can make Colt McCoy better and open up the offense.
Pick No.
7
PATRICK PETERSON
CB
LSU
It will be Christmas for the 49ers if the best player in the draft falls this far. He cures two needs: skilled cover DB and returner.
Pick No.
8
ROBERT QUINN
DE
North Carolina
The best outs
ide linebacker is off the board so the next best thing is Quinn, an explosive player who can get to the quarterback.
Pick No.
9
ANTHONY CASTONZO
OT
Boston College
The Cowboys could go CB with Prince Amukamara here, but Dallas was at its best when its O-line dominated. It's time to address that area.
Pick No.
10
ALDON SMITH
OLB
Missouri
Mike Shanahan might not want to develop Cam Newton at quarterback. More 3-4 personnel is needed on defense. Smith bolsters Brian Orakpo.
Pick No.
11
PRINCE AMUKAMARA
CB
Nebraska
They could be eyeballing Nnamdi Asomugha, but with the draft possibly coming before free agency, they can't risk missing on the second best corner in the draft.
Pick No.
12
CAM NEWTON
QB
Auburn
He's too good to pass for this QB-needy team, and OC Bill Musgrave can develop quarterbacks. Vikes will also acquire a vet in case Newton's not ready.
Pick No.
13
GABE CARIMI
OT
Wisconsin
They could opt for DEs J.J Watt or Cameron Jordan or OLB Justin Houston, but Carimi might be too tempting to bypass.
Pick No.
14
JULIO JONES
WR
Alabama
They need OLB and safety help in a bad way, but they need WR help in a worse way. Jones could be Sam Bradford's prime target for years.
Pick No.
15
MARK INGRAM
RB
Alabama
This could be the least expensive and most productive way to address a huge void. QB Ryan Mallett could be a sleeper here.
Pick No.
16
ADRIAN CLAYBORN
DE
Iowa
Jacksonville is still in search of front-four help and Clayborn is powerful and versatile.
Pick No.
17
J.J. WATT
DE
Wisconsin
If Watt makes it this far, Bill Belichick won't trade this pick to move back in the draft.
Pick No.
18
CAMERON JORDAN
DE
Cal
An ideal 3-4 defensive end who can set and hold an edge. Athletic enough to be used in coverage in zone-blitz schemes.
Pick No.
19
MIKE POUNCEY
C/G
Florida
The Giants have to begin to replenish the interior of their offensive line, and Pouncey could be as good as his twin, Maurkice.
Pick No.
20
AKEEM AYERS
OLB
UCLA
Bucs need a rusher, and Ayers should run a better 40 at his pro day than he did at the combine to alleviate concerns about his speed.
Pick No.
21
NATE SOLDER
OL
Colorado
Solder has a nasty temperament and his potential is too promising to pass up. Could compete to start at either OT spots.
Pick No.
22
TYRON SMITH
OT
USC
Enough with not investing a high pick in an offensive lineman. Smith is needed to make sure Manning plays at least four more seasons.
Pick No.
23
MARTEZ WILSON
LB
Illinois
The athletic Wilson can play outside or inside and the Eagles need someone who can play both. DT Corey Liuget wouldn't be a surprise here.
Pick No.
24
RYAN KERRIGAN
DE
Purdue
This high-motor havoc-wreaker would flourish under high-energy defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
Pick No.
25
RYAN MALLETT
QB
Arkansas
This might seem like a surprise, but unless a trade for Kevin Kolb materializes, Seahawks select most pro-ready QB in the draft.
Pick No.
26
JIMMY SMITH
CB
Colorado
At 6-2 and 210 pounds, Smith is a physical corner who would fit right in, at worst, as a rotational fixture in nickel coverage.
Pick No.
27
AARON WILLIAMS
CB
Texas
The Falcons want more size at corner, and Williams provides that. He would offer immediate help at nickel back, which the Falcons need.
Pick No.
28
DEREK SHERROD
OT
Mississippi State
A perfect slot and fit for Sherrod, an athletic player who can develop in a great environment.
Pick No.
29
BRANDON HARRIS
CB
Miami
An OT, DT and DE are needed, but Harris is a solid player who is coachable and loves to compete.
Pick No.
30
JUSTIN HOUSTON
OLB
Georgia
The Jets need a pass rusher, and Houston is built like LaMarr Woodley and is ascending up some draft boards.
Pick No.
31
BEN IJALANA
OL
Villanova
Ijalana is raw but was dominant on the FCS level and can play guard or tackle, which is big for a team in need of versatile linemen.
Pick No.
32
CAM HEYWARD
DE
Ohio State
With the likely loss of Cullen Jenkins, Heyward fills a need and could compete for a starting job.
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I think its really possible! 4 of the top 5 teams can use a QB... I'd be so happy
Wyche Mock
Pick No.
1
BLAINE GABBERT
QB
Missouri
When all the pre-draft workouts and interviews are done, Gabbert emerges as the quarterback the Panthers and coach Ron Rivera opt to build around.
Pick No.
2
DA'QUAN BOWERS
DE
Clemson
The Broncos badly need defensive tackles in their switch to a 4-3, but it's hard not to hand Elvis Dumervil this compliment as an edge rusher.
Pick No.
3
MARCELL DAREUS
DT
Alabama
The Bills could move on Auburn QB Cam Newton here, but the versatile D-lineman can help ease some of Buffalo's problems up front.
Pick No.
4
NICK FAIRLEY
DT
Auburn
Carson Palmer's threat to retire puts them in need of a QB, but Fairley is the type of playmaker the Bengals need and want in their front seven.
Pick No.
5
VON MILLER
OLB
Texas A&M
Again, a quarterback is needed but with Max Hall and John Skelton, adding one in the draft won't be the way they go. Miller is a must.
Pick No.
6
A.J. GREEN
WR
Georgia
The Browns can go a lot of different ways, but Green is the type of playmaker that can make Colt McCoy better and open up the offense.
Pick No.
7
PATRICK PETERSON
CB
LSU
It will be Christmas for the 49ers if the best player in the draft falls this far. He cures two needs: skilled cover DB and returner.
Pick No.
8
ROBERT QUINN
DE
North Carolina
The best outs
ide linebacker is off the board so the next best thing is Quinn, an explosive player who can get to the quarterback.
Pick No.
9
ANTHONY CASTONZO
OT
Boston College
The Cowboys could go CB with Prince Amukamara here, but Dallas was at its best when its O-line dominated. It's time to address that area.
Pick No.
10
ALDON SMITH
OLB
Missouri
Mike Shanahan might not want to develop Cam Newton at quarterback. More 3-4 personnel is needed on defense. Smith bolsters Brian Orakpo.
Pick No.
11
PRINCE AMUKAMARA
CB
Nebraska
They could be eyeballing Nnamdi Asomugha, but with the draft possibly coming before free agency, they can't risk missing on the second best corner in the draft.
Pick No.
12
CAM NEWTON
QB
Auburn
He's too good to pass for this QB-needy team, and OC Bill Musgrave can develop quarterbacks. Vikes will also acquire a vet in case Newton's not ready.
Pick No.
13
GABE CARIMI
OT
Wisconsin
They could opt for DEs J.J Watt or Cameron Jordan or OLB Justin Houston, but Carimi might be too tempting to bypass.
Pick No.
14
JULIO JONES
WR
Alabama
They need OLB and safety help in a bad way, but they need WR help in a worse way. Jones could be Sam Bradford's prime target for years.
Pick No.
15
MARK INGRAM
RB
Alabama
This could be the least expensive and most productive way to address a huge void. QB Ryan Mallett could be a sleeper here.
Pick No.
16
ADRIAN CLAYBORN
DE
Iowa
Jacksonville is still in search of front-four help and Clayborn is powerful and versatile.
Pick No.
17
J.J. WATT
DE
Wisconsin
If Watt makes it this far, Bill Belichick won't trade this pick to move back in the draft.
Pick No.
18
CAMERON JORDAN
DE
Cal
An ideal 3-4 defensive end who can set and hold an edge. Athletic enough to be used in coverage in zone-blitz schemes.
Pick No.
19
MIKE POUNCEY
C/G
Florida
The Giants have to begin to replenish the interior of their offensive line, and Pouncey could be as good as his twin, Maurkice.
Pick No.
20
AKEEM AYERS
OLB
UCLA
Bucs need a rusher, and Ayers should run a better 40 at his pro day than he did at the combine to alleviate concerns about his speed.
Pick No.
21
NATE SOLDER
OL
Colorado
Solder has a nasty temperament and his potential is too promising to pass up. Could compete to start at either OT spots.
Pick No.
22
TYRON SMITH
OT
USC
Enough with not investing a high pick in an offensive lineman. Smith is needed to make sure Manning plays at least four more seasons.
Pick No.
23
MARTEZ WILSON
LB
Illinois
The athletic Wilson can play outside or inside and the Eagles need someone who can play both. DT Corey Liuget wouldn't be a surprise here.
Pick No.
24
RYAN KERRIGAN
DE
Purdue
This high-motor havoc-wreaker would flourish under high-energy defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
Pick No.
25
RYAN MALLETT
QB
Arkansas
This might seem like a surprise, but unless a trade for Kevin Kolb materializes, Seahawks select most pro-ready QB in the draft.
Pick No.
26
JIMMY SMITH
CB
Colorado
At 6-2 and 210 pounds, Smith is a physical corner who would fit right in, at worst, as a rotational fixture in nickel coverage.
Pick No.
27
AARON WILLIAMS
CB
Texas
The Falcons want more size at corner, and Williams provides that. He would offer immediate help at nickel back, which the Falcons need.
Pick No.
28
DEREK SHERROD
OT
Mississippi State
A perfect slot and fit for Sherrod, an athletic player who can develop in a great environment.
Pick No.
29
BRANDON HARRIS
CB
Miami
An OT, DT and DE are needed, but Harris is a solid player who is coachable and loves to compete.
Pick No.
30
JUSTIN HOUSTON
OLB
Georgia
The Jets need a pass rusher, and Houston is built like LaMarr Woodley and is ascending up some draft boards.
Pick No.
31
BEN IJALANA
OL
Villanova
Ijalana is raw but was dominant on the FCS level and can play guard or tackle, which is big for a team in need of versatile linemen.
Pick No.
32
CAM HEYWARD
DE
Ohio State
With the likely loss of Cullen Jenkins, Heyward fills a need and could compete for a starting job.
T0INE
formerly toine2983
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Fixed.
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These mocks are terrible. This dude talking about Detroit deciding between OT and DE in the 1st????? DE really?? Dude should be fired right there, no way in hell would they even think about DE with the dudes they already have. And I don't even think OT is an option, sure they could use a little help on the line but they will address their biggest needs with that first pick, it will be either a CB or a LB. I don't understand how these dudes can't understand that when it is their damn job.
- 6,744
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- Sep 19, 2007
These mocks are terrible. This dude talking about Detroit deciding between OT and DE in the 1st????? DE really?? Dude should be fired right there, no way in hell would they even think about DE with the dudes they already have. And I don't even think OT is an option, sure they could use a little help on the line but they will address their biggest needs with that first pick, it will be either a CB or a LB. I don't understand how these dudes can't understand that when it is their damn job.
T0INE
formerly toine2983
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Fixed.
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he's a class representative and i doubt it. team that thinks he'll be a good pass-rushing olb and has a need ain't gonna pass because he's lending his name to represent prospective rookies
that being said, any marginal player who drops one too many disparaging comments about management might find the job search a little harder once the new system gets set up
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he's a class representative and i doubt it. team that thinks he'll be a good pass-rushing olb and has a need ain't gonna pass because he's lending his name to represent prospective rookies
that being said, any marginal player who drops one too many disparaging comments about management might find the job search a little harder once the new system gets set up
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Locker working out for the Vikings today.
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Locker working out for the Vikings today.
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mock draft talk seems to be quiet with the CBA falling apart
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mock draft talk seems to be quiet with the CBA falling apart
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PFT reported earlier in the week tjhat Jimmy Smith is completely off alot of teams boards. prolly some truth and a lil hyperbole but if that guys available in round 2 or 3, U have to take that talent
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PFT reported earlier in the week tjhat Jimmy Smith is completely off alot of teams boards. prolly some truth and a lil hyperbole but if that guys available in round 2 or 3, U have to take that talent
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Dave Hyde
<< Previous entry: Hyde5: Time to see if Bibby can play defense
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[h2]Draft Winds: Breaking down QB Colin Kaepernick[/h2]
By Dave Hyde March 15, 2011 10:26 AM
Draft Winds is an impeccably researched, refreshingly thorough and immeasurably long look at the upcoming draft through the prism of the Dolphins by Simon Clancy, Chris Kouffman and Richard Lines of UniversalDraft.com . You can follow them on Twitter at @siclancy and @ckparrot.
Hello again. Many thanks for continuing to support us and reading our weekly offerings. Whilst the issues with the CBA look set for the court room, we’re full steam ahead for the end of April. And for the next two weeks we’re going to look very hard at two quarterbacks we think the Dolphins will be showing a lot of interest in. We know that the coaching staff has met and interviewed both since the start of this Draft run and we’re going to look critically and analytically at what they offered at the college level and how we think that translates to the 2011 Dolphins if indeed they decide that drafting a passer high is the plan.
Next week we’re going to discuss one of the fastest climbing quarterbacks in the 2011 selection meeting, Florida State’s Christian Ponder who it seems could well end up in the first round and perhaps even in the middle of the first if what we’re hearing is to be believed. But this week it’s Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick and Chris has been doing the heavy lifting with the senior from the desert.
The Colin Kaepernick file:
The fifth-year senior and four-year starter is one of the more intriguing prospects in this year's quarterbacks class. Not highly recruited coming out of high school because he was figured to be a baseball star, he redshirted his first season at Nevada but went on to become the only player in NCAA history to rush for 4,000+ yards while also passing for 10,000+ yards. Those hailing from the Bill Parcells school of profile drafting will appreciate Kaepernick's experience level (about 49 games with significant playing time), the fact that he's a college graduate, and the fact that he's a winner (32 wins, including a 13-1 record as a senior).
Combining with his unique production, his experience level, and winning record at Nevada, is an extremely fascinating blend of size and physical tools. Measuring in at just under 6'5" and 233 lbs, Colin ran in the low 4.5's at the NFL Combine, with a 32.5" vertical, 4.18 second short shuttle and 6.85 second cone drill. Those numbers would be considered good on a wide receiver prospect, let alone a quarterback.
He carries a howitzer on his shoulders that officially clocked the fastest ball velocity at the Combine, at 59 mph on the radar gun. And, if all that doesn't intrigue you enough, he has a squeaky clean record off the field and is by all accounts a hard working, humble, good-natured and well-grounded kid.
So, what's the catch? The catch is that, not unlike Tim Tebow a year ago, Colin has some funky throwing mechanics that may not translate at the next level. Also like Tebow, he comes from a very non-pro-style offense, and will have to work heavily on his pro timing, anticipation, and field vision. Essentially, he's a quarterback that you have to build from the ground up, even though he's already a four-year starter with 1,200+ college throws under his belt.
Colin has a lanky build, with extremely long arms, long legs and big feet. There is some school of thought that the best combination for a quarterback is to have a tall guy with short arms, which keeps his delivery nice and short. Kaepernick can fall into taking long strides into his throws and generating the necessary torque with the ball in a wide orbit away from his core.
I know from talking to Richard here at Universal that he believes that his stride is likely going to keep him from ever being a highly accurate quarterback much like a Donavan McNabb. Kaepernick has a loop like Tebow did and I believe he is even more prone than Tebow to giving away his intended target with his head, shoulders and motion. The tremendous velocity he achieves on intermediate throws helps to counter-balance some of the length in his targeting and drawback, but then his shorter touch passes can fall victim to remnants of the same motion, with the delivery looking too long and drawn out, giving defenders time to get a jump on the receiver and prevent yards after the catch.
If one were to watch closely his games against Boise State and Boston College, two of the more respectable defenses he faced this season, one would clearly see defenders getting a little bit of a jump on the ball due to Colin's build-up and delivery. Additionally, he can get some balls batted down at the line when kept in the pocket, because he gives defensive linemen a little extra time to react to the ball.
Nevada did not ask Kaepernick to become a true pocket passer. I found that only about 2 out of 5 of his pass attempts in the games I graded involved him sitting in the pocket and delivering. For perspective on this, both Cam Newton and Ryan Mallett sat in the pocket and delivered the football a higher percentage of their throws than Colin, and Newton's percentage was much closer to Mallett's than it was Kaepernick's. About 1 in 3 of Colin's pass attempts were designed roll-outs or screen passes. This was a much higher portion (a difference of +10%) of Kaepernick's passing than that of Cam Newton, who is more often accused of playing out of a gimmick offense where decision-making is minimized by screens and roll-outs. I didn't see Colin coming under as much pressure as guys like Newton and Ryan Mallett, as Nevada's playbook with all of the screen passes and roll-outs tended to keep defenders out of Kaepernick's face.
He is at his absolute best when moving out of the pocket, creating better angles and sight lines, and throwing the ball with impressive accuracy on the run. However, I did not necessarily find that Colin beat the blitz or dealt with pressure consistently. Boise State blitzed him very aggressively while Boston College sat back and played his eyes more. Both teams occasionally dropped an extra defender or two into coverage to try and confuse him.
What I found is on these plays where defenses tried to put pressure on the quarterback by blitzing him or by surprising him with extra defenders in coverage, Colin was just 13 of 26 passing for 153 yards, 0 TDs and 1 interception. He had 2 rushes for 20 yards with a TD, but also a lost fumble, and was sacked 2 times for -19 yards in losses. The touchdown he got during this subset of plays was the scramble against Boise State where a blitzing corner lost contain, and Colin spun outside of him. It was an excellent play by Colin, but you wonder if he will be able to do that sort of thing against pro athletes like Vontae Davis.
Overall, a net 5.1 yards per play with 1 TD and 2 turnovers against two of the only good defenses his Nevada Wolfpack faced this year, has to be concerning when it comes to reading complicated blitz and drop defenses, and beating them. It definitely lends credibility to the theory that his extended throwing motion impacts the versatility of his arm, the ability to flick the ball to a short receiving option without tipping off the defense. It also shows that Nevada's offense was so simplistic, relying so heavily on roll-outs and simplified reads, that he doesn't necessarily read the blitz pre-snap very well to where he can hit the defense where it'll hurt.
Another thing you notice the more you watch him under fire by blitzing and pressure is that his speed and athleticism is a very long striding speed that must be built up with at least 15 to 20 yards of space. He lacks a lot of the quick twitch elusiveness and lower body explosion that one might expect out of a guy that runs in the low 4.5's as he does. This translates to elusiveness in the pocket and in short spaces that is actually not on par with some of the quarterbacks in this Draft that possess more agility and lower body explosion, such as Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton and Christian Ponder. If Kaepernick is kept in a relatively small box, his elusiveness and ability to make a rusher miss is not much, if any better than passers in this Draft that look far less athletic running the 40 yard dash.
Kaepernick's accuracy has been spotty over his college career. He averaged 58% completion for his four years as a starter. That improved to 65% as a senior, but as I mentioned before, he had a significantly higher percentage of passes that were roll-out and screen plays, which tend to be higher percentage passes, especially as he tended not to aggressively throw the ball down the field on his roll-outs, which is something you would see a Cam Newton or Ryan Mallett do much more frequently. When you watch enough of his throws you start to build a view of Colin's accuracy. He does not lose accuracy on the move, which is an impressive quality. However, his ball placement from inside the pocket tends to be very inconsistent, often throwing the ball high or wide.
His biggest weakness from an accuracy standpoint is one that is shared by Blaine Gabbert of Missouri. That is to say, his accuracy tends to break down significantly on the deep ball. He has no feel for throwing a consistent deep ball with correct touch, distance and ball placement. This showed on tape, on the rare occasions when Colin would throw deep, and it also reared its head at the NFL Combine on deep ball drills.
It should have been relatively easy, on three consecutive throws with the same timing and no coverage, nobody to jam the receiver, to get into a rhythm make your deep throws look uniform. Kaepernick's trajectory, timing and distance were all over the place on his deep throws, as if even with all his four years of starting experience, he still can't decide how he's going to throw that ball.
The question becomes, how big of a deal is bad deep accuracy at the next level? It's impossible to answer that without discussing Kaepernick's biggest issue translating to the next level, his lack of timing and ability to process the field quickly. He does not necessarily throw with anticipation, nor does he read the field in a timely manner. Mike Mayock did a good job pointing out on one of his throws at the Senior Bowl how Colin rolled out and had the look he wanted, had a receiver with separation, but he just couldn't see the play. One usually is not as concerned about a 6'5" quarterback's ability to see the field from the pocket, but considering how much Nevada wanted to get Colin out of the pocket with better sight lines, that becomes more of a question mark.
The accuracy he loses in the pocket, but seems to gain back when moving outside the pocket, could be due to an inability to process information on the field quickly. On the move, with clear sight lines a passer gets the chance to be an athlete. In the pocket, a passer is forced to be a quarterback, and there's a difference.
The deep ball (or lack thereof) comes back into play in the type of offense that fits him at the next level. An offensive coordinator is going to want to utilize his mobility, accuracy on the run, and safe decision-making much as Nevada did, getting him outside the pocket with play action and designed roll-outs. This way, you can open up his vision and let him be an athlete. When he stays in the pocket, the kinds of passes he will be asked to make will be a little more on the predictable side. This type of offense generally requires you to be able to throw the ball deep, off the play action and on the run. Can he do that? This is an area where someone like a Jake Locker differentiates himself from a Colin Kaepernick. Though both have issues with reading the field in a timely manner from inside the pocket, which will lead to both playing in similar offenses, Locker's ability to throw the ball deep and make "wow" plays with his arm from outside the pocket is much more established.
Seeing all of the above, I have to conclude that any talk of Colin Kaepernick rising into the late 1st round (as you may have heard lately) is very difficult to support. My primary problem with Colin Kaepernick as a draft prospect is that the three things that make him unique, are not things I value at the next level.
The first element of his story that makes him unique is rushing production that he has managed to layer on top of his passing production in college. That's a very unique accomplishment, and indeed he holds NCAA records to that effect. However, I do not find this to be a key trait at the next level. His NFL coaches are not going to ask him to run the ball 200 times in a season. Contrarily, you'll notice that his passing production while good, is not very unique in the WAC. Ryan Colburn of Fresno State was able to achieve similar-looking passing production facing mostly the same defenses.
The second element of his story that makes him unique, which is somewhat related to the first, is the straight line build-up speed he is able to achieve when running distances. A 40 yard dash in the low 4.5's at his height and size is very unique and it sparks a lot of intrigue. However, I don't value the straight line build-up speed at the next level nearly as much as I value elusiveness, agility and lower body explosion, none of which are at unique levels on a Colin Kaepernick.
The third and final element of Kaepernick's story which I find to be unique is his arm strength. He can really drive the football like few others. However, I view arm strength to be a requirement, not an incremental benefit. In the NFL, passers tend to need a requisite amount of arm strength to have the versatility to complete the passes they'll need to make (i.e. 'make all the throws'), but nobody has ever shown me that once you're beyond that requirement, incremental increases in arm strength lead to increases in production. Driving the football as fast as Colin Kaepernick is capable is definitely a tool in his toolbox, but not one he can make significantly better use of on a large number of throws, especially if he lacks accuracy on deep verticals.
Arm versatility, which in my book includes things like the quickness of your release and ability to get the ball out at different platforms, is more of a benefit than arm strength. Incremental increases in arm versatility will benefit you at the next level as they help you stay one step ahead of the defense. Whereas Colin's arm strength increases his arm versatility, his elongated mechanics contrarily detract from it.
Once you get beyond the three elements of Colin's story that make him a unique, interesting prospect, none of which I value at the next level, what is left? Pretend for a moment that everything about Kaepernick's story was exactly the same except for three things: 1) Kaepernick showed up at the Combine and had all of the same jump and agility measures but ran a 4.7 instead of a 4.5, 2) His rushing statistics in his senior year (and other years) looked more like 95 runs for 200 yards, and 3) Instead of leaving smoke trails on his intermediate passes, he had 'good' velocity.
What makes him significantly better than a Jeff Van Camp of Florida Atlantic, Ryan Colburn of Fresno State, or Taylor Potts of Texas Tech? This is what bothers me about Colin Kaepernick as a draft prospect, and it is the reason why ultimately I would be hard pressed to draft him before the 3rd or 4th round come April.
So that’s Kaepernick in the bag, although one footnote is that he’ll be coming to Davie for a private workout in late March. But it’s not just the QB position Miami are looking to upgrade. Who else have they been showing an interest in during the past seven days?
Players Dolphins Have Met
Pro day season is well under way. The Dolphins will be on hand in Gainesville later today for the Florida Gators event but they’ve been very busy since last we spoke.
Scouts were on hand at the FIU pro day and Miami was well represented at the Auburn workout to see amongst others Heisman winner Cam Newton. Meanwhile on the same day strong-armed Ryan Mallett was also throwing for the NFL and the Dolphins were on hand there as well.
(Just a footnote to the Razorbacks pro day because the non-eligible juniors also ran for the scouts. A WR that we’re all very high on for 2012 is Joe Adams and he blazed the track with a 4.30 forty. And he may not even be the best Arkansas WR available next year! )
There was also a good turnout at the Alabama event and it was interesting to watch just how closely the Dolphins paid attention to everything that Mark Ingram did. Front row for the forty yard dash which was much quicker and ranged anywhere from the mid 4.4’s to the mid 4.5’s but a solid improvement on what he achieved in Indianapolis. However it was during the drill portions that the Dolphins scouts were really prominent, paying close attention and making copious notes at every catch, cut and jump that the 2009 Heisman winner made during a very, very strong workout.
The Dolphins were also keeping a close eye on OT Gabe Carimi and DE JJ Watt at the Wisconsin pro day. Watt is the ideal five technique end although it may be that he comes off the board before Miami goes on the clock at 15. The San Diego Chargers are noted to be very interested in the relentless underclassman and it could be that Miami listens to phone calls from AJ Smith for the second year running if Watt is there when our pick comes around, especially as the Chargers will be keen to get in front of New England which would seem another great landing spot for the talented Badger.
Jeff Ireland made his annual stop off at the University of Miami day but adverse weather conditions called a halt to it before it had really got under way and has been rescheduled. However Ireland did get some face time with one of Chris’s favourite offensive linemen, G/T Orlando Franklin.
Looking for acorns at the Kent State pro day the Dolphins were keen on slightly undersized OLB Monte Simmons who measured in at 6’1, 234lbs but flashed a remarkable 84 inch wingspan. Both the Steelers and the Ravens – 34 defenses also - who were also on hand paid great interest to Simmons who is scheme diverse and registered 21.5 sacks and 38.5 TFL in his career at KSU.
The Dolphins also kept an eye on Penn State transfer Cobrani Mixon who is an excellent LB and had a terrific workout but has some pretty serious off field issues. One of those issues relates to an arrest in 2008 with free safety Brian Lainhart who Miami also ran the rule over. Both were charged with felony burglary. Lainhart is fairly talented at 6-foot 1/4, 211 pounds. He ran the 40 in 4.64, had a 4.32 short shuttle and 6.63 three-cone drill, as well as a 37 ½-inch vertical, a 10-5 broad jump and 23 reps on the bench press. He’s had issues with neck and shoulder injuries in the past but he’s often around the football.
Miami was one of 29 teams on hand a the Northwestern pro day to see the Wildcat players but also 34 players who either attended high school in the area or attended a smaller school in the state. They were also on hand to see the Oklahoma event and spent time at the Cal pro day with TB Shane Vereen who’s flying under the radar a little bit. He’s flashed some big time talent at times for the Bears and seems to have been stereotyped as purely a 3rd down back but I think there’s more to his game than just 3rd downs.
The Dolphins also attended the Nebraska pro day and saw Niles Paul, an excellent receiver who we reported last week met with Miami at the Combine, run under 4.40. And they were one of 27 teams on hand at the Rutgers pro day.
Miami was also in Bloomington, Indiana last week to watch the Hoosiers prospects work out including QB Ben Chappell and OT/G James Brewer. One Indiana player who hasn’t been able to work out either at the Combine or at the pro day is WR/KR Tandon Doss, a junior who I thought might squeak into the late first round if he’d have run well. I’m unsure as to whether he’s going to be able to work out at all before the draft as he recovers from groin surgery but this is a kid with real talent. Weighing in at 6’3, 205lbs, he has the ability to press the boundary corner down the field and has excellent – mid 4.4 – speed.
Another wideout with excellent speed is Kentucky’s Randall Cobb who has done a really nice job since the end of the season in raising his draft stock. Both he and TB Derrick Locke stood on their Combine numbers but interested Dolphins scouts watched Cobb closely as he looked fantastic catching the ball from Brian Hartline’s brother Mike. Cobb, who can play outside, in at the slot and as a running back even participated in a few TB drills under the direction of Bengals running backs coach Jim Anderson. He has the position and return versatility that Miami likes. Does he have enough deep speed for what the Dolphins truly desire?
Miami had two scouts on hand at the TCU pro day to see amongst others QB Andy Dalton and WR/KR Jeremy Kerley and they were at the Tennessee pro day on Friday where vastly under the radar WR Denarius Moore blazed a 4.37 and MLB Nick Reviez, son of former Dolphins kicker Faud tried out at FB. They were also on hand to see Ohio State’s cadre of players work out and paid particular attention to OG/C Justin Boren.
As for specific player workouts, Portland State TE Julius Thomas was at the facility yesterday and met with the coaches including new TE coach Dan Campbell and GM Jeff Ireland. Miami have already been to see Thomas play during the season and he’s a kid we’ve talked about extensively in this years Draft Winds already.
Sticking with tight ends, there’s another workout scheduled for Arkansas’s DJ Williams who it appears Miami, according to sources, have a significant interest in. I would think Williams should come off the board in the 2nd to early 3rd round area so unless the Dolphins can get back in that 2nd round then they seem destined to miss out on the Mackey Award winner who might just be the seam busting threat that the team has been crying out for.
Miami is also going to have a visit from Auburn QB Cam Newton. Our position has been made very clear on Newton in one of our earlier pieces, suffice to say that nothing has really changed since the end of the season and no amount of throws in shorts and t-shirts is going to change our minds from what we saw on tape at Auburn and indeed in a handful of games at Blinn Community College. Newton’s situation remains precarious in terms of his final draft position although it would seem doubtful that he will last into double figures. With no CBA and hence no trades, it would make it very difficult for the Dolphins to move up.
One of the most controversial prospects in the draft process is Washington’s Jake Locker who some teams believe is a mid-first-round pick and others feel is well short of the required talent. Remember, this was a kid who was touted as the No. 1 overall selection last year had he declared but who decided to stay with the Huskies and despite a poor individual campaign, led his team to a Bowl win. He has some serious accuracy issues at times but when outside the pocket, he can be deadly. He’s very athletic, tough, a tremendous leader and an equally tremendous kid. I know that Chris wouldn’t draft him before the 4th round and I don’t think drafting him in round 1 helps Ireland and Sparano who need success now, because he’s a project. But they’re keen to see more of him after speaking to him in Mobile and he’ll be at the facility in Davie soon.
People are always trying to find the next someone. The next Clay Matthews is apparently Arizona OLB Brooks Reed whose star is very much in the ascendancy. Here’s a kid at around 6’2, 260 who has great instincts and an edge rush ability, plus the flowing locks that remind people of Matthews. He’s not as good as the Packer standout but he is another who’s moving up a la Christian Ponder and could eventually find himself in the top 32 picks come draft day. Miami will also have him in for a private workout.
LB coach Bill Sheridan conducted a private workout for Reed’s team mate LB Ricky Elmore yesterday. The 6’4, 257 pounder ran a 4.79 forty at the Wildcats pro day on Saturday and led the PAC 10 in sacks the past 2 seasons, compiling 21.5 take downs in that time. I’m not sure Elmore’s going to be anything more than a situational rusher and special teamer at the next level as he has a tendency to struggle when defenders get their hands on him and he can get washed out in the run game. However he has proven that he can consistently get to the passer off the edge.
Whether he has the ability in space to drop back in coverage remains to be seen.
The Dolphins have an interest in New Mexico left tackle Byron Bell who at 6’5 and 348lbs commands respect. He’s been one of the more consistent tackles in the country and possesses a terrific wingspan and excellent football strength. He’s had some off the field concerns but could be an interesting late round developmental type. He recorded more than 100 knockdown blocks this season alone.
The Dolphins have also had meetings with two more linebackers, Mike Mohammed of Cal who Richard talked about a couple of weeks ago and can play in a 3-4 and Bruce Carter of North Carolina who’s coming off a serious injury but could be the most athletic LB in the draft when healthy. He has questionable instincts and his stock may fall some due to the situation surrounding many of the Tar Heels and the injury, but he has top 20 talent on his day.
And finally, Miami also met with East Carolina WR Dwayne Harris at the Combine. Harris is smaller at 5’9, 200lbs. He’s an interesting player for Miami to have met with because he really doesn’t offer a great deal more than what we actually have. He’s not blessed with great size, he doesn’t look overly quick on tape and in many respects he’s a poor mans Davone Bess; he’s an excellent route runner who isn’t going to beat anyone deep down the field. He has return capabilities, but there are much better players than Harris in terms of return potential with regards the 2011 Draft.
That’s it for this week. Remember, next week we’ll be breaking down Christian Ponder and hearing what it’s like to play against him and how you defend him from someone whose defense dominated the Seminoles in 2010. Until then, have a great week.
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[h2]Draft Winds: Breaking down QB Colin Kaepernick[/h2]
By Dave Hyde March 15, 2011 10:26 AM
Draft Winds is an impeccably researched, refreshingly thorough and immeasurably long look at the upcoming draft through the prism of the Dolphins by Simon Clancy, Chris Kouffman and Richard Lines of UniversalDraft.com . You can follow them on Twitter at @siclancy and @ckparrot.
Hello again. Many thanks for continuing to support us and reading our weekly offerings. Whilst the issues with the CBA look set for the court room, we’re full steam ahead for the end of April. And for the next two weeks we’re going to look very hard at two quarterbacks we think the Dolphins will be showing a lot of interest in. We know that the coaching staff has met and interviewed both since the start of this Draft run and we’re going to look critically and analytically at what they offered at the college level and how we think that translates to the 2011 Dolphins if indeed they decide that drafting a passer high is the plan.
Next week we’re going to discuss one of the fastest climbing quarterbacks in the 2011 selection meeting, Florida State’s Christian Ponder who it seems could well end up in the first round and perhaps even in the middle of the first if what we’re hearing is to be believed. But this week it’s Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick and Chris has been doing the heavy lifting with the senior from the desert.
The Colin Kaepernick file:
The fifth-year senior and four-year starter is one of the more intriguing prospects in this year's quarterbacks class. Not highly recruited coming out of high school because he was figured to be a baseball star, he redshirted his first season at Nevada but went on to become the only player in NCAA history to rush for 4,000+ yards while also passing for 10,000+ yards. Those hailing from the Bill Parcells school of profile drafting will appreciate Kaepernick's experience level (about 49 games with significant playing time), the fact that he's a college graduate, and the fact that he's a winner (32 wins, including a 13-1 record as a senior).
Combining with his unique production, his experience level, and winning record at Nevada, is an extremely fascinating blend of size and physical tools. Measuring in at just under 6'5" and 233 lbs, Colin ran in the low 4.5's at the NFL Combine, with a 32.5" vertical, 4.18 second short shuttle and 6.85 second cone drill. Those numbers would be considered good on a wide receiver prospect, let alone a quarterback.
He carries a howitzer on his shoulders that officially clocked the fastest ball velocity at the Combine, at 59 mph on the radar gun. And, if all that doesn't intrigue you enough, he has a squeaky clean record off the field and is by all accounts a hard working, humble, good-natured and well-grounded kid.
So, what's the catch? The catch is that, not unlike Tim Tebow a year ago, Colin has some funky throwing mechanics that may not translate at the next level. Also like Tebow, he comes from a very non-pro-style offense, and will have to work heavily on his pro timing, anticipation, and field vision. Essentially, he's a quarterback that you have to build from the ground up, even though he's already a four-year starter with 1,200+ college throws under his belt.
Colin has a lanky build, with extremely long arms, long legs and big feet. There is some school of thought that the best combination for a quarterback is to have a tall guy with short arms, which keeps his delivery nice and short. Kaepernick can fall into taking long strides into his throws and generating the necessary torque with the ball in a wide orbit away from his core.
I know from talking to Richard here at Universal that he believes that his stride is likely going to keep him from ever being a highly accurate quarterback much like a Donavan McNabb. Kaepernick has a loop like Tebow did and I believe he is even more prone than Tebow to giving away his intended target with his head, shoulders and motion. The tremendous velocity he achieves on intermediate throws helps to counter-balance some of the length in his targeting and drawback, but then his shorter touch passes can fall victim to remnants of the same motion, with the delivery looking too long and drawn out, giving defenders time to get a jump on the receiver and prevent yards after the catch.
If one were to watch closely his games against Boise State and Boston College, two of the more respectable defenses he faced this season, one would clearly see defenders getting a little bit of a jump on the ball due to Colin's build-up and delivery. Additionally, he can get some balls batted down at the line when kept in the pocket, because he gives defensive linemen a little extra time to react to the ball.
Nevada did not ask Kaepernick to become a true pocket passer. I found that only about 2 out of 5 of his pass attempts in the games I graded involved him sitting in the pocket and delivering. For perspective on this, both Cam Newton and Ryan Mallett sat in the pocket and delivered the football a higher percentage of their throws than Colin, and Newton's percentage was much closer to Mallett's than it was Kaepernick's. About 1 in 3 of Colin's pass attempts were designed roll-outs or screen passes. This was a much higher portion (a difference of +10%) of Kaepernick's passing than that of Cam Newton, who is more often accused of playing out of a gimmick offense where decision-making is minimized by screens and roll-outs. I didn't see Colin coming under as much pressure as guys like Newton and Ryan Mallett, as Nevada's playbook with all of the screen passes and roll-outs tended to keep defenders out of Kaepernick's face.
He is at his absolute best when moving out of the pocket, creating better angles and sight lines, and throwing the ball with impressive accuracy on the run. However, I did not necessarily find that Colin beat the blitz or dealt with pressure consistently. Boise State blitzed him very aggressively while Boston College sat back and played his eyes more. Both teams occasionally dropped an extra defender or two into coverage to try and confuse him.
What I found is on these plays where defenses tried to put pressure on the quarterback by blitzing him or by surprising him with extra defenders in coverage, Colin was just 13 of 26 passing for 153 yards, 0 TDs and 1 interception. He had 2 rushes for 20 yards with a TD, but also a lost fumble, and was sacked 2 times for -19 yards in losses. The touchdown he got during this subset of plays was the scramble against Boise State where a blitzing corner lost contain, and Colin spun outside of him. It was an excellent play by Colin, but you wonder if he will be able to do that sort of thing against pro athletes like Vontae Davis.
Overall, a net 5.1 yards per play with 1 TD and 2 turnovers against two of the only good defenses his Nevada Wolfpack faced this year, has to be concerning when it comes to reading complicated blitz and drop defenses, and beating them. It definitely lends credibility to the theory that his extended throwing motion impacts the versatility of his arm, the ability to flick the ball to a short receiving option without tipping off the defense. It also shows that Nevada's offense was so simplistic, relying so heavily on roll-outs and simplified reads, that he doesn't necessarily read the blitz pre-snap very well to where he can hit the defense where it'll hurt.
Another thing you notice the more you watch him under fire by blitzing and pressure is that his speed and athleticism is a very long striding speed that must be built up with at least 15 to 20 yards of space. He lacks a lot of the quick twitch elusiveness and lower body explosion that one might expect out of a guy that runs in the low 4.5's as he does. This translates to elusiveness in the pocket and in short spaces that is actually not on par with some of the quarterbacks in this Draft that possess more agility and lower body explosion, such as Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton and Christian Ponder. If Kaepernick is kept in a relatively small box, his elusiveness and ability to make a rusher miss is not much, if any better than passers in this Draft that look far less athletic running the 40 yard dash.
Kaepernick's accuracy has been spotty over his college career. He averaged 58% completion for his four years as a starter. That improved to 65% as a senior, but as I mentioned before, he had a significantly higher percentage of passes that were roll-out and screen plays, which tend to be higher percentage passes, especially as he tended not to aggressively throw the ball down the field on his roll-outs, which is something you would see a Cam Newton or Ryan Mallett do much more frequently. When you watch enough of his throws you start to build a view of Colin's accuracy. He does not lose accuracy on the move, which is an impressive quality. However, his ball placement from inside the pocket tends to be very inconsistent, often throwing the ball high or wide.
His biggest weakness from an accuracy standpoint is one that is shared by Blaine Gabbert of Missouri. That is to say, his accuracy tends to break down significantly on the deep ball. He has no feel for throwing a consistent deep ball with correct touch, distance and ball placement. This showed on tape, on the rare occasions when Colin would throw deep, and it also reared its head at the NFL Combine on deep ball drills.
It should have been relatively easy, on three consecutive throws with the same timing and no coverage, nobody to jam the receiver, to get into a rhythm make your deep throws look uniform. Kaepernick's trajectory, timing and distance were all over the place on his deep throws, as if even with all his four years of starting experience, he still can't decide how he's going to throw that ball.
The question becomes, how big of a deal is bad deep accuracy at the next level? It's impossible to answer that without discussing Kaepernick's biggest issue translating to the next level, his lack of timing and ability to process the field quickly. He does not necessarily throw with anticipation, nor does he read the field in a timely manner. Mike Mayock did a good job pointing out on one of his throws at the Senior Bowl how Colin rolled out and had the look he wanted, had a receiver with separation, but he just couldn't see the play. One usually is not as concerned about a 6'5" quarterback's ability to see the field from the pocket, but considering how much Nevada wanted to get Colin out of the pocket with better sight lines, that becomes more of a question mark.
The accuracy he loses in the pocket, but seems to gain back when moving outside the pocket, could be due to an inability to process information on the field quickly. On the move, with clear sight lines a passer gets the chance to be an athlete. In the pocket, a passer is forced to be a quarterback, and there's a difference.
The deep ball (or lack thereof) comes back into play in the type of offense that fits him at the next level. An offensive coordinator is going to want to utilize his mobility, accuracy on the run, and safe decision-making much as Nevada did, getting him outside the pocket with play action and designed roll-outs. This way, you can open up his vision and let him be an athlete. When he stays in the pocket, the kinds of passes he will be asked to make will be a little more on the predictable side. This type of offense generally requires you to be able to throw the ball deep, off the play action and on the run. Can he do that? This is an area where someone like a Jake Locker differentiates himself from a Colin Kaepernick. Though both have issues with reading the field in a timely manner from inside the pocket, which will lead to both playing in similar offenses, Locker's ability to throw the ball deep and make "wow" plays with his arm from outside the pocket is much more established.
Seeing all of the above, I have to conclude that any talk of Colin Kaepernick rising into the late 1st round (as you may have heard lately) is very difficult to support. My primary problem with Colin Kaepernick as a draft prospect is that the three things that make him unique, are not things I value at the next level.
The first element of his story that makes him unique is rushing production that he has managed to layer on top of his passing production in college. That's a very unique accomplishment, and indeed he holds NCAA records to that effect. However, I do not find this to be a key trait at the next level. His NFL coaches are not going to ask him to run the ball 200 times in a season. Contrarily, you'll notice that his passing production while good, is not very unique in the WAC. Ryan Colburn of Fresno State was able to achieve similar-looking passing production facing mostly the same defenses.
The second element of his story that makes him unique, which is somewhat related to the first, is the straight line build-up speed he is able to achieve when running distances. A 40 yard dash in the low 4.5's at his height and size is very unique and it sparks a lot of intrigue. However, I don't value the straight line build-up speed at the next level nearly as much as I value elusiveness, agility and lower body explosion, none of which are at unique levels on a Colin Kaepernick.
The third and final element of Kaepernick's story which I find to be unique is his arm strength. He can really drive the football like few others. However, I view arm strength to be a requirement, not an incremental benefit. In the NFL, passers tend to need a requisite amount of arm strength to have the versatility to complete the passes they'll need to make (i.e. 'make all the throws'), but nobody has ever shown me that once you're beyond that requirement, incremental increases in arm strength lead to increases in production. Driving the football as fast as Colin Kaepernick is capable is definitely a tool in his toolbox, but not one he can make significantly better use of on a large number of throws, especially if he lacks accuracy on deep verticals.
Arm versatility, which in my book includes things like the quickness of your release and ability to get the ball out at different platforms, is more of a benefit than arm strength. Incremental increases in arm versatility will benefit you at the next level as they help you stay one step ahead of the defense. Whereas Colin's arm strength increases his arm versatility, his elongated mechanics contrarily detract from it.
Once you get beyond the three elements of Colin's story that make him a unique, interesting prospect, none of which I value at the next level, what is left? Pretend for a moment that everything about Kaepernick's story was exactly the same except for three things: 1) Kaepernick showed up at the Combine and had all of the same jump and agility measures but ran a 4.7 instead of a 4.5, 2) His rushing statistics in his senior year (and other years) looked more like 95 runs for 200 yards, and 3) Instead of leaving smoke trails on his intermediate passes, he had 'good' velocity.
What makes him significantly better than a Jeff Van Camp of Florida Atlantic, Ryan Colburn of Fresno State, or Taylor Potts of Texas Tech? This is what bothers me about Colin Kaepernick as a draft prospect, and it is the reason why ultimately I would be hard pressed to draft him before the 3rd or 4th round come April.
So that’s Kaepernick in the bag, although one footnote is that he’ll be coming to Davie for a private workout in late March. But it’s not just the QB position Miami are looking to upgrade. Who else have they been showing an interest in during the past seven days?
Players Dolphins Have Met
Pro day season is well under way. The Dolphins will be on hand in Gainesville later today for the Florida Gators event but they’ve been very busy since last we spoke.
Scouts were on hand at the FIU pro day and Miami was well represented at the Auburn workout to see amongst others Heisman winner Cam Newton. Meanwhile on the same day strong-armed Ryan Mallett was also throwing for the NFL and the Dolphins were on hand there as well.
(Just a footnote to the Razorbacks pro day because the non-eligible juniors also ran for the scouts. A WR that we’re all very high on for 2012 is Joe Adams and he blazed the track with a 4.30 forty. And he may not even be the best Arkansas WR available next year! )
There was also a good turnout at the Alabama event and it was interesting to watch just how closely the Dolphins paid attention to everything that Mark Ingram did. Front row for the forty yard dash which was much quicker and ranged anywhere from the mid 4.4’s to the mid 4.5’s but a solid improvement on what he achieved in Indianapolis. However it was during the drill portions that the Dolphins scouts were really prominent, paying close attention and making copious notes at every catch, cut and jump that the 2009 Heisman winner made during a very, very strong workout.
The Dolphins were also keeping a close eye on OT Gabe Carimi and DE JJ Watt at the Wisconsin pro day. Watt is the ideal five technique end although it may be that he comes off the board before Miami goes on the clock at 15. The San Diego Chargers are noted to be very interested in the relentless underclassman and it could be that Miami listens to phone calls from AJ Smith for the second year running if Watt is there when our pick comes around, especially as the Chargers will be keen to get in front of New England which would seem another great landing spot for the talented Badger.
Jeff Ireland made his annual stop off at the University of Miami day but adverse weather conditions called a halt to it before it had really got under way and has been rescheduled. However Ireland did get some face time with one of Chris’s favourite offensive linemen, G/T Orlando Franklin.
Looking for acorns at the Kent State pro day the Dolphins were keen on slightly undersized OLB Monte Simmons who measured in at 6’1, 234lbs but flashed a remarkable 84 inch wingspan. Both the Steelers and the Ravens – 34 defenses also - who were also on hand paid great interest to Simmons who is scheme diverse and registered 21.5 sacks and 38.5 TFL in his career at KSU.
The Dolphins also kept an eye on Penn State transfer Cobrani Mixon who is an excellent LB and had a terrific workout but has some pretty serious off field issues. One of those issues relates to an arrest in 2008 with free safety Brian Lainhart who Miami also ran the rule over. Both were charged with felony burglary. Lainhart is fairly talented at 6-foot 1/4, 211 pounds. He ran the 40 in 4.64, had a 4.32 short shuttle and 6.63 three-cone drill, as well as a 37 ½-inch vertical, a 10-5 broad jump and 23 reps on the bench press. He’s had issues with neck and shoulder injuries in the past but he’s often around the football.
Miami was one of 29 teams on hand a the Northwestern pro day to see the Wildcat players but also 34 players who either attended high school in the area or attended a smaller school in the state. They were also on hand to see the Oklahoma event and spent time at the Cal pro day with TB Shane Vereen who’s flying under the radar a little bit. He’s flashed some big time talent at times for the Bears and seems to have been stereotyped as purely a 3rd down back but I think there’s more to his game than just 3rd downs.
The Dolphins also attended the Nebraska pro day and saw Niles Paul, an excellent receiver who we reported last week met with Miami at the Combine, run under 4.40. And they were one of 27 teams on hand at the Rutgers pro day.
Miami was also in Bloomington, Indiana last week to watch the Hoosiers prospects work out including QB Ben Chappell and OT/G James Brewer. One Indiana player who hasn’t been able to work out either at the Combine or at the pro day is WR/KR Tandon Doss, a junior who I thought might squeak into the late first round if he’d have run well. I’m unsure as to whether he’s going to be able to work out at all before the draft as he recovers from groin surgery but this is a kid with real talent. Weighing in at 6’3, 205lbs, he has the ability to press the boundary corner down the field and has excellent – mid 4.4 – speed.
Another wideout with excellent speed is Kentucky’s Randall Cobb who has done a really nice job since the end of the season in raising his draft stock. Both he and TB Derrick Locke stood on their Combine numbers but interested Dolphins scouts watched Cobb closely as he looked fantastic catching the ball from Brian Hartline’s brother Mike. Cobb, who can play outside, in at the slot and as a running back even participated in a few TB drills under the direction of Bengals running backs coach Jim Anderson. He has the position and return versatility that Miami likes. Does he have enough deep speed for what the Dolphins truly desire?
Miami had two scouts on hand at the TCU pro day to see amongst others QB Andy Dalton and WR/KR Jeremy Kerley and they were at the Tennessee pro day on Friday where vastly under the radar WR Denarius Moore blazed a 4.37 and MLB Nick Reviez, son of former Dolphins kicker Faud tried out at FB. They were also on hand to see Ohio State’s cadre of players work out and paid particular attention to OG/C Justin Boren.
As for specific player workouts, Portland State TE Julius Thomas was at the facility yesterday and met with the coaches including new TE coach Dan Campbell and GM Jeff Ireland. Miami have already been to see Thomas play during the season and he’s a kid we’ve talked about extensively in this years Draft Winds already.
Sticking with tight ends, there’s another workout scheduled for Arkansas’s DJ Williams who it appears Miami, according to sources, have a significant interest in. I would think Williams should come off the board in the 2nd to early 3rd round area so unless the Dolphins can get back in that 2nd round then they seem destined to miss out on the Mackey Award winner who might just be the seam busting threat that the team has been crying out for.
Miami is also going to have a visit from Auburn QB Cam Newton. Our position has been made very clear on Newton in one of our earlier pieces, suffice to say that nothing has really changed since the end of the season and no amount of throws in shorts and t-shirts is going to change our minds from what we saw on tape at Auburn and indeed in a handful of games at Blinn Community College. Newton’s situation remains precarious in terms of his final draft position although it would seem doubtful that he will last into double figures. With no CBA and hence no trades, it would make it very difficult for the Dolphins to move up.
One of the most controversial prospects in the draft process is Washington’s Jake Locker who some teams believe is a mid-first-round pick and others feel is well short of the required talent. Remember, this was a kid who was touted as the No. 1 overall selection last year had he declared but who decided to stay with the Huskies and despite a poor individual campaign, led his team to a Bowl win. He has some serious accuracy issues at times but when outside the pocket, he can be deadly. He’s very athletic, tough, a tremendous leader and an equally tremendous kid. I know that Chris wouldn’t draft him before the 4th round and I don’t think drafting him in round 1 helps Ireland and Sparano who need success now, because he’s a project. But they’re keen to see more of him after speaking to him in Mobile and he’ll be at the facility in Davie soon.
People are always trying to find the next someone. The next Clay Matthews is apparently Arizona OLB Brooks Reed whose star is very much in the ascendancy. Here’s a kid at around 6’2, 260 who has great instincts and an edge rush ability, plus the flowing locks that remind people of Matthews. He’s not as good as the Packer standout but he is another who’s moving up a la Christian Ponder and could eventually find himself in the top 32 picks come draft day. Miami will also have him in for a private workout.
LB coach Bill Sheridan conducted a private workout for Reed’s team mate LB Ricky Elmore yesterday. The 6’4, 257 pounder ran a 4.79 forty at the Wildcats pro day on Saturday and led the PAC 10 in sacks the past 2 seasons, compiling 21.5 take downs in that time. I’m not sure Elmore’s going to be anything more than a situational rusher and special teamer at the next level as he has a tendency to struggle when defenders get their hands on him and he can get washed out in the run game. However he has proven that he can consistently get to the passer off the edge.
Whether he has the ability in space to drop back in coverage remains to be seen.
The Dolphins have an interest in New Mexico left tackle Byron Bell who at 6’5 and 348lbs commands respect. He’s been one of the more consistent tackles in the country and possesses a terrific wingspan and excellent football strength. He’s had some off the field concerns but could be an interesting late round developmental type. He recorded more than 100 knockdown blocks this season alone.
The Dolphins have also had meetings with two more linebackers, Mike Mohammed of Cal who Richard talked about a couple of weeks ago and can play in a 3-4 and Bruce Carter of North Carolina who’s coming off a serious injury but could be the most athletic LB in the draft when healthy. He has questionable instincts and his stock may fall some due to the situation surrounding many of the Tar Heels and the injury, but he has top 20 talent on his day.
And finally, Miami also met with East Carolina WR Dwayne Harris at the Combine. Harris is smaller at 5’9, 200lbs. He’s an interesting player for Miami to have met with because he really doesn’t offer a great deal more than what we actually have. He’s not blessed with great size, he doesn’t look overly quick on tape and in many respects he’s a poor mans Davone Bess; he’s an excellent route runner who isn’t going to beat anyone deep down the field. He has return capabilities, but there are much better players than Harris in terms of return potential with regards the 2011 Draft.
That’s it for this week. Remember, next week we’ll be breaking down Christian Ponder and hearing what it’s like to play against him and how you defend him from someone whose defense dominated the Seminoles in 2010. Until then, have a great week.
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[h2]Draft Winds: Breaking down QB Colin Kaepernick[/h2]
By Dave Hyde March 15, 2011 10:26 AM
Draft Winds is an impeccably researched, refreshingly thorough and immeasurably long look at the upcoming draft through the prism of the Dolphins by Simon Clancy, Chris Kouffman and Richard Lines of UniversalDraft.com . You can follow them on Twitter at @siclancy and @ckparrot.
Hello again. Many thanks for continuing to support us and reading our weekly offerings. Whilst the issues with the CBA look set for the court room, we’re full steam ahead for the end of April. And for the next two weeks we’re going to look very hard at two quarterbacks we think the Dolphins will be showing a lot of interest in. We know that the coaching staff has met and interviewed both since the start of this Draft run and we’re going to look critically and analytically at what they offered at the college level and how we think that translates to the 2011 Dolphins if indeed they decide that drafting a passer high is the plan.
Next week we’re going to discuss one of the fastest climbing quarterbacks in the 2011 selection meeting, Florida State’s Christian Ponder who it seems could well end up in the first round and perhaps even in the middle of the first if what we’re hearing is to be believed. But this week it’s Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick and Chris has been doing the heavy lifting with the senior from the desert.
The Colin Kaepernick file:
The fifth-year senior and four-year starter is one of the more intriguing prospects in this year's quarterbacks class. Not highly recruited coming out of high school because he was figured to be a baseball star, he redshirted his first season at Nevada but went on to become the only player in NCAA history to rush for 4,000+ yards while also passing for 10,000+ yards. Those hailing from the Bill Parcells school of profile drafting will appreciate Kaepernick's experience level (about 49 games with significant playing time), the fact that he's a college graduate, and the fact that he's a winner (32 wins, including a 13-1 record as a senior).
Combining with his unique production, his experience level, and winning record at Nevada, is an extremely fascinating blend of size and physical tools. Measuring in at just under 6'5" and 233 lbs, Colin ran in the low 4.5's at the NFL Combine, with a 32.5" vertical, 4.18 second short shuttle and 6.85 second cone drill. Those numbers would be considered good on a wide receiver prospect, let alone a quarterback.
He carries a howitzer on his shoulders that officially clocked the fastest ball velocity at the Combine, at 59 mph on the radar gun. And, if all that doesn't intrigue you enough, he has a squeaky clean record off the field and is by all accounts a hard working, humble, good-natured and well-grounded kid.
So, what's the catch? The catch is that, not unlike Tim Tebow a year ago, Colin has some funky throwing mechanics that may not translate at the next level. Also like Tebow, he comes from a very non-pro-style offense, and will have to work heavily on his pro timing, anticipation, and field vision. Essentially, he's a quarterback that you have to build from the ground up, even though he's already a four-year starter with 1,200+ college throws under his belt.
Colin has a lanky build, with extremely long arms, long legs and big feet. There is some school of thought that the best combination for a quarterback is to have a tall guy with short arms, which keeps his delivery nice and short. Kaepernick can fall into taking long strides into his throws and generating the necessary torque with the ball in a wide orbit away from his core.
I know from talking to Richard here at Universal that he believes that his stride is likely going to keep him from ever being a highly accurate quarterback much like a Donavan McNabb. Kaepernick has a loop like Tebow did and I believe he is even more prone than Tebow to giving away his intended target with his head, shoulders and motion. The tremendous velocity he achieves on intermediate throws helps to counter-balance some of the length in his targeting and drawback, but then his shorter touch passes can fall victim to remnants of the same motion, with the delivery looking too long and drawn out, giving defenders time to get a jump on the receiver and prevent yards after the catch.
If one were to watch closely his games against Boise State and Boston College, two of the more respectable defenses he faced this season, one would clearly see defenders getting a little bit of a jump on the ball due to Colin's build-up and delivery. Additionally, he can get some balls batted down at the line when kept in the pocket, because he gives defensive linemen a little extra time to react to the ball.
Nevada did not ask Kaepernick to become a true pocket passer. I found that only about 2 out of 5 of his pass attempts in the games I graded involved him sitting in the pocket and delivering. For perspective on this, both Cam Newton and Ryan Mallett sat in the pocket and delivered the football a higher percentage of their throws than Colin, and Newton's percentage was much closer to Mallett's than it was Kaepernick's. About 1 in 3 of Colin's pass attempts were designed roll-outs or screen passes. This was a much higher portion (a difference of +10%) of Kaepernick's passing than that of Cam Newton, who is more often accused of playing out of a gimmick offense where decision-making is minimized by screens and roll-outs. I didn't see Colin coming under as much pressure as guys like Newton and Ryan Mallett, as Nevada's playbook with all of the screen passes and roll-outs tended to keep defenders out of Kaepernick's face.
He is at his absolute best when moving out of the pocket, creating better angles and sight lines, and throwing the ball with impressive accuracy on the run. However, I did not necessarily find that Colin beat the blitz or dealt with pressure consistently. Boise State blitzed him very aggressively while Boston College sat back and played his eyes more. Both teams occasionally dropped an extra defender or two into coverage to try and confuse him.
What I found is on these plays where defenses tried to put pressure on the quarterback by blitzing him or by surprising him with extra defenders in coverage, Colin was just 13 of 26 passing for 153 yards, 0 TDs and 1 interception. He had 2 rushes for 20 yards with a TD, but also a lost fumble, and was sacked 2 times for -19 yards in losses. The touchdown he got during this subset of plays was the scramble against Boise State where a blitzing corner lost contain, and Colin spun outside of him. It was an excellent play by Colin, but you wonder if he will be able to do that sort of thing against pro athletes like Vontae Davis.
Overall, a net 5.1 yards per play with 1 TD and 2 turnovers against two of the only good defenses his Nevada Wolfpack faced this year, has to be concerning when it comes to reading complicated blitz and drop defenses, and beating them. It definitely lends credibility to the theory that his extended throwing motion impacts the versatility of his arm, the ability to flick the ball to a short receiving option without tipping off the defense. It also shows that Nevada's offense was so simplistic, relying so heavily on roll-outs and simplified reads, that he doesn't necessarily read the blitz pre-snap very well to where he can hit the defense where it'll hurt.
Another thing you notice the more you watch him under fire by blitzing and pressure is that his speed and athleticism is a very long striding speed that must be built up with at least 15 to 20 yards of space. He lacks a lot of the quick twitch elusiveness and lower body explosion that one might expect out of a guy that runs in the low 4.5's as he does. This translates to elusiveness in the pocket and in short spaces that is actually not on par with some of the quarterbacks in this Draft that possess more agility and lower body explosion, such as Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton and Christian Ponder. If Kaepernick is kept in a relatively small box, his elusiveness and ability to make a rusher miss is not much, if any better than passers in this Draft that look far less athletic running the 40 yard dash.
Kaepernick's accuracy has been spotty over his college career. He averaged 58% completion for his four years as a starter. That improved to 65% as a senior, but as I mentioned before, he had a significantly higher percentage of passes that were roll-out and screen plays, which tend to be higher percentage passes, especially as he tended not to aggressively throw the ball down the field on his roll-outs, which is something you would see a Cam Newton or Ryan Mallett do much more frequently. When you watch enough of his throws you start to build a view of Colin's accuracy. He does not lose accuracy on the move, which is an impressive quality. However, his ball placement from inside the pocket tends to be very inconsistent, often throwing the ball high or wide.
His biggest weakness from an accuracy standpoint is one that is shared by Blaine Gabbert of Missouri. That is to say, his accuracy tends to break down significantly on the deep ball. He has no feel for throwing a consistent deep ball with correct touch, distance and ball placement. This showed on tape, on the rare occasions when Colin would throw deep, and it also reared its head at the NFL Combine on deep ball drills.
It should have been relatively easy, on three consecutive throws with the same timing and no coverage, nobody to jam the receiver, to get into a rhythm make your deep throws look uniform. Kaepernick's trajectory, timing and distance were all over the place on his deep throws, as if even with all his four years of starting experience, he still can't decide how he's going to throw that ball.
The question becomes, how big of a deal is bad deep accuracy at the next level? It's impossible to answer that without discussing Kaepernick's biggest issue translating to the next level, his lack of timing and ability to process the field quickly. He does not necessarily throw with anticipation, nor does he read the field in a timely manner. Mike Mayock did a good job pointing out on one of his throws at the Senior Bowl how Colin rolled out and had the look he wanted, had a receiver with separation, but he just couldn't see the play. One usually is not as concerned about a 6'5" quarterback's ability to see the field from the pocket, but considering how much Nevada wanted to get Colin out of the pocket with better sight lines, that becomes more of a question mark.
The accuracy he loses in the pocket, but seems to gain back when moving outside the pocket, could be due to an inability to process information on the field quickly. On the move, with clear sight lines a passer gets the chance to be an athlete. In the pocket, a passer is forced to be a quarterback, and there's a difference.
The deep ball (or lack thereof) comes back into play in the type of offense that fits him at the next level. An offensive coordinator is going to want to utilize his mobility, accuracy on the run, and safe decision-making much as Nevada did, getting him outside the pocket with play action and designed roll-outs. This way, you can open up his vision and let him be an athlete. When he stays in the pocket, the kinds of passes he will be asked to make will be a little more on the predictable side. This type of offense generally requires you to be able to throw the ball deep, off the play action and on the run. Can he do that? This is an area where someone like a Jake Locker differentiates himself from a Colin Kaepernick. Though both have issues with reading the field in a timely manner from inside the pocket, which will lead to both playing in similar offenses, Locker's ability to throw the ball deep and make "wow" plays with his arm from outside the pocket is much more established.
Seeing all of the above, I have to conclude that any talk of Colin Kaepernick rising into the late 1st round (as you may have heard lately) is very difficult to support. My primary problem with Colin Kaepernick as a draft prospect is that the three things that make him unique, are not things I value at the next level.
The first element of his story that makes him unique is rushing production that he has managed to layer on top of his passing production in college. That's a very unique accomplishment, and indeed he holds NCAA records to that effect. However, I do not find this to be a key trait at the next level. His NFL coaches are not going to ask him to run the ball 200 times in a season. Contrarily, you'll notice that his passing production while good, is not very unique in the WAC. Ryan Colburn of Fresno State was able to achieve similar-looking passing production facing mostly the same defenses.
The second element of his story that makes him unique, which is somewhat related to the first, is the straight line build-up speed he is able to achieve when running distances. A 40 yard dash in the low 4.5's at his height and size is very unique and it sparks a lot of intrigue. However, I don't value the straight line build-up speed at the next level nearly as much as I value elusiveness, agility and lower body explosion, none of which are at unique levels on a Colin Kaepernick.
The third and final element of Kaepernick's story which I find to be unique is his arm strength. He can really drive the football like few others. However, I view arm strength to be a requirement, not an incremental benefit. In the NFL, passers tend to need a requisite amount of arm strength to have the versatility to complete the passes they'll need to make (i.e. 'make all the throws'), but nobody has ever shown me that once you're beyond that requirement, incremental increases in arm strength lead to increases in production. Driving the football as fast as Colin Kaepernick is capable is definitely a tool in his toolbox, but not one he can make significantly better use of on a large number of throws, especially if he lacks accuracy on deep verticals.
Arm versatility, which in my book includes things like the quickness of your release and ability to get the ball out at different platforms, is more of a benefit than arm strength. Incremental increases in arm versatility will benefit you at the next level as they help you stay one step ahead of the defense. Whereas Colin's arm strength increases his arm versatility, his elongated mechanics contrarily detract from it.
Once you get beyond the three elements of Colin's story that make him a unique, interesting prospect, none of which I value at the next level, what is left? Pretend for a moment that everything about Kaepernick's story was exactly the same except for three things: 1) Kaepernick showed up at the Combine and had all of the same jump and agility measures but ran a 4.7 instead of a 4.5, 2) His rushing statistics in his senior year (and other years) looked more like 95 runs for 200 yards, and 3) Instead of leaving smoke trails on his intermediate passes, he had 'good' velocity.
What makes him significantly better than a Jeff Van Camp of Florida Atlantic, Ryan Colburn of Fresno State, or Taylor Potts of Texas Tech? This is what bothers me about Colin Kaepernick as a draft prospect, and it is the reason why ultimately I would be hard pressed to draft him before the 3rd or 4th round come April.
So that’s Kaepernick in the bag, although one footnote is that he’ll be coming to Davie for a private workout in late March. But it’s not just the QB position Miami are looking to upgrade. Who else have they been showing an interest in during the past seven days?
Players Dolphins Have Met
Pro day season is well under way. The Dolphins will be on hand in Gainesville later today for the Florida Gators event but they’ve been very busy since last we spoke.
Scouts were on hand at the FIU pro day and Miami was well represented at the Auburn workout to see amongst others Heisman winner Cam Newton. Meanwhile on the same day strong-armed Ryan Mallett was also throwing for the NFL and the Dolphins were on hand there as well.
(Just a footnote to the Razorbacks pro day because the non-eligible juniors also ran for the scouts. A WR that we’re all very high on for 2012 is Joe Adams and he blazed the track with a 4.30 forty. And he may not even be the best Arkansas WR available next year! )
There was also a good turnout at the Alabama event and it was interesting to watch just how closely the Dolphins paid attention to everything that Mark Ingram did. Front row for the forty yard dash which was much quicker and ranged anywhere from the mid 4.4’s to the mid 4.5’s but a solid improvement on what he achieved in Indianapolis. However it was during the drill portions that the Dolphins scouts were really prominent, paying close attention and making copious notes at every catch, cut and jump that the 2009 Heisman winner made during a very, very strong workout.
The Dolphins were also keeping a close eye on OT Gabe Carimi and DE JJ Watt at the Wisconsin pro day. Watt is the ideal five technique end although it may be that he comes off the board before Miami goes on the clock at 15. The San Diego Chargers are noted to be very interested in the relentless underclassman and it could be that Miami listens to phone calls from AJ Smith for the second year running if Watt is there when our pick comes around, especially as the Chargers will be keen to get in front of New England which would seem another great landing spot for the talented Badger.
Jeff Ireland made his annual stop off at the University of Miami day but adverse weather conditions called a halt to it before it had really got under way and has been rescheduled. However Ireland did get some face time with one of Chris’s favourite offensive linemen, G/T Orlando Franklin.
Looking for acorns at the Kent State pro day the Dolphins were keen on slightly undersized OLB Monte Simmons who measured in at 6’1, 234lbs but flashed a remarkable 84 inch wingspan. Both the Steelers and the Ravens – 34 defenses also - who were also on hand paid great interest to Simmons who is scheme diverse and registered 21.5 sacks and 38.5 TFL in his career at KSU.
The Dolphins also kept an eye on Penn State transfer Cobrani Mixon who is an excellent LB and had a terrific workout but has some pretty serious off field issues. One of those issues relates to an arrest in 2008 with free safety Brian Lainhart who Miami also ran the rule over. Both were charged with felony burglary. Lainhart is fairly talented at 6-foot 1/4, 211 pounds. He ran the 40 in 4.64, had a 4.32 short shuttle and 6.63 three-cone drill, as well as a 37 ½-inch vertical, a 10-5 broad jump and 23 reps on the bench press. He’s had issues with neck and shoulder injuries in the past but he’s often around the football.
Miami was one of 29 teams on hand a the Northwestern pro day to see the Wildcat players but also 34 players who either attended high school in the area or attended a smaller school in the state. They were also on hand to see the Oklahoma event and spent time at the Cal pro day with TB Shane Vereen who’s flying under the radar a little bit. He’s flashed some big time talent at times for the Bears and seems to have been stereotyped as purely a 3rd down back but I think there’s more to his game than just 3rd downs.
The Dolphins also attended the Nebraska pro day and saw Niles Paul, an excellent receiver who we reported last week met with Miami at the Combine, run under 4.40. And they were one of 27 teams on hand at the Rutgers pro day.
Miami was also in Bloomington, Indiana last week to watch the Hoosiers prospects work out including QB Ben Chappell and OT/G James Brewer. One Indiana player who hasn’t been able to work out either at the Combine or at the pro day is WR/KR Tandon Doss, a junior who I thought might squeak into the late first round if he’d have run well. I’m unsure as to whether he’s going to be able to work out at all before the draft as he recovers from groin surgery but this is a kid with real talent. Weighing in at 6’3, 205lbs, he has the ability to press the boundary corner down the field and has excellent – mid 4.4 – speed.
Another wideout with excellent speed is Kentucky’s Randall Cobb who has done a really nice job since the end of the season in raising his draft stock. Both he and TB Derrick Locke stood on their Combine numbers but interested Dolphins scouts watched Cobb closely as he looked fantastic catching the ball from Brian Hartline’s brother Mike. Cobb, who can play outside, in at the slot and as a running back even participated in a few TB drills under the direction of Bengals running backs coach Jim Anderson. He has the position and return versatility that Miami likes. Does he have enough deep speed for what the Dolphins truly desire?
Miami had two scouts on hand at the TCU pro day to see amongst others QB Andy Dalton and WR/KR Jeremy Kerley and they were at the Tennessee pro day on Friday where vastly under the radar WR Denarius Moore blazed a 4.37 and MLB Nick Reviez, son of former Dolphins kicker Faud tried out at FB. They were also on hand to see Ohio State’s cadre of players work out and paid particular attention to OG/C Justin Boren.
As for specific player workouts, Portland State TE Julius Thomas was at the facility yesterday and met with the coaches including new TE coach Dan Campbell and GM Jeff Ireland. Miami have already been to see Thomas play during the season and he’s a kid we’ve talked about extensively in this years Draft Winds already.
Sticking with tight ends, there’s another workout scheduled for Arkansas’s DJ Williams who it appears Miami, according to sources, have a significant interest in. I would think Williams should come off the board in the 2nd to early 3rd round area so unless the Dolphins can get back in that 2nd round then they seem destined to miss out on the Mackey Award winner who might just be the seam busting threat that the team has been crying out for.
Miami is also going to have a visit from Auburn QB Cam Newton. Our position has been made very clear on Newton in one of our earlier pieces, suffice to say that nothing has really changed since the end of the season and no amount of throws in shorts and t-shirts is going to change our minds from what we saw on tape at Auburn and indeed in a handful of games at Blinn Community College. Newton’s situation remains precarious in terms of his final draft position although it would seem doubtful that he will last into double figures. With no CBA and hence no trades, it would make it very difficult for the Dolphins to move up.
One of the most controversial prospects in the draft process is Washington’s Jake Locker who some teams believe is a mid-first-round pick and others feel is well short of the required talent. Remember, this was a kid who was touted as the No. 1 overall selection last year had he declared but who decided to stay with the Huskies and despite a poor individual campaign, led his team to a Bowl win. He has some serious accuracy issues at times but when outside the pocket, he can be deadly. He’s very athletic, tough, a tremendous leader and an equally tremendous kid. I know that Chris wouldn’t draft him before the 4th round and I don’t think drafting him in round 1 helps Ireland and Sparano who need success now, because he’s a project. But they’re keen to see more of him after speaking to him in Mobile and he’ll be at the facility in Davie soon.
People are always trying to find the next someone. The next Clay Matthews is apparently Arizona OLB Brooks Reed whose star is very much in the ascendancy. Here’s a kid at around 6’2, 260 who has great instincts and an edge rush ability, plus the flowing locks that remind people of Matthews. He’s not as good as the Packer standout but he is another who’s moving up a la Christian Ponder and could eventually find himself in the top 32 picks come draft day. Miami will also have him in for a private workout.
LB coach Bill Sheridan conducted a private workout for Reed’s team mate LB Ricky Elmore yesterday. The 6’4, 257 pounder ran a 4.79 forty at the Wildcats pro day on Saturday and led the PAC 10 in sacks the past 2 seasons, compiling 21.5 take downs in that time. I’m not sure Elmore’s going to be anything more than a situational rusher and special teamer at the next level as he has a tendency to struggle when defenders get their hands on him and he can get washed out in the run game. However he has proven that he can consistently get to the passer off the edge.
Whether he has the ability in space to drop back in coverage remains to be seen.
The Dolphins have an interest in New Mexico left tackle Byron Bell who at 6’5 and 348lbs commands respect. He’s been one of the more consistent tackles in the country and possesses a terrific wingspan and excellent football strength. He’s had some off the field concerns but could be an interesting late round developmental type. He recorded more than 100 knockdown blocks this season alone.
The Dolphins have also had meetings with two more linebackers, Mike Mohammed of Cal who Richard talked about a couple of weeks ago and can play in a 3-4 and Bruce Carter of North Carolina who’s coming off a serious injury but could be the most athletic LB in the draft when healthy. He has questionable instincts and his stock may fall some due to the situation surrounding many of the Tar Heels and the injury, but he has top 20 talent on his day.
And finally, Miami also met with East Carolina WR Dwayne Harris at the Combine. Harris is smaller at 5’9, 200lbs. He’s an interesting player for Miami to have met with because he really doesn’t offer a great deal more than what we actually have. He’s not blessed with great size, he doesn’t look overly quick on tape and in many respects he’s a poor mans Davone Bess; he’s an excellent route runner who isn’t going to beat anyone deep down the field. He has return capabilities, but there are much better players than Harris in terms of return potential with regards the 2011 Draft.
That’s it for this week. Remember, next week we’ll be breaking down Christian Ponder and hearing what it’s like to play against him and how you defend him from someone whose defense dominated the Seminoles in 2010. Until then, have a great week.
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[h2]Draft Winds: Breaking down QB Colin Kaepernick[/h2]
By Dave Hyde March 15, 2011 10:26 AM
Draft Winds is an impeccably researched, refreshingly thorough and immeasurably long look at the upcoming draft through the prism of the Dolphins by Simon Clancy, Chris Kouffman and Richard Lines of UniversalDraft.com . You can follow them on Twitter at @siclancy and @ckparrot.
Hello again. Many thanks for continuing to support us and reading our weekly offerings. Whilst the issues with the CBA look set for the court room, we’re full steam ahead for the end of April. And for the next two weeks we’re going to look very hard at two quarterbacks we think the Dolphins will be showing a lot of interest in. We know that the coaching staff has met and interviewed both since the start of this Draft run and we’re going to look critically and analytically at what they offered at the college level and how we think that translates to the 2011 Dolphins if indeed they decide that drafting a passer high is the plan.
Next week we’re going to discuss one of the fastest climbing quarterbacks in the 2011 selection meeting, Florida State’s Christian Ponder who it seems could well end up in the first round and perhaps even in the middle of the first if what we’re hearing is to be believed. But this week it’s Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick and Chris has been doing the heavy lifting with the senior from the desert.
The Colin Kaepernick file:
The fifth-year senior and four-year starter is one of the more intriguing prospects in this year's quarterbacks class. Not highly recruited coming out of high school because he was figured to be a baseball star, he redshirted his first season at Nevada but went on to become the only player in NCAA history to rush for 4,000+ yards while also passing for 10,000+ yards. Those hailing from the Bill Parcells school of profile drafting will appreciate Kaepernick's experience level (about 49 games with significant playing time), the fact that he's a college graduate, and the fact that he's a winner (32 wins, including a 13-1 record as a senior).
Combining with his unique production, his experience level, and winning record at Nevada, is an extremely fascinating blend of size and physical tools. Measuring in at just under 6'5" and 233 lbs, Colin ran in the low 4.5's at the NFL Combine, with a 32.5" vertical, 4.18 second short shuttle and 6.85 second cone drill. Those numbers would be considered good on a wide receiver prospect, let alone a quarterback.
He carries a howitzer on his shoulders that officially clocked the fastest ball velocity at the Combine, at 59 mph on the radar gun. And, if all that doesn't intrigue you enough, he has a squeaky clean record off the field and is by all accounts a hard working, humble, good-natured and well-grounded kid.
So, what's the catch? The catch is that, not unlike Tim Tebow a year ago, Colin has some funky throwing mechanics that may not translate at the next level. Also like Tebow, he comes from a very non-pro-style offense, and will have to work heavily on his pro timing, anticipation, and field vision. Essentially, he's a quarterback that you have to build from the ground up, even though he's already a four-year starter with 1,200+ college throws under his belt.
Colin has a lanky build, with extremely long arms, long legs and big feet. There is some school of thought that the best combination for a quarterback is to have a tall guy with short arms, which keeps his delivery nice and short. Kaepernick can fall into taking long strides into his throws and generating the necessary torque with the ball in a wide orbit away from his core.
I know from talking to Richard here at Universal that he believes that his stride is likely going to keep him from ever being a highly accurate quarterback much like a Donavan McNabb. Kaepernick has a loop like Tebow did and I believe he is even more prone than Tebow to giving away his intended target with his head, shoulders and motion. The tremendous velocity he achieves on intermediate throws helps to counter-balance some of the length in his targeting and drawback, but then his shorter touch passes can fall victim to remnants of the same motion, with the delivery looking too long and drawn out, giving defenders time to get a jump on the receiver and prevent yards after the catch.
If one were to watch closely his games against Boise State and Boston College, two of the more respectable defenses he faced this season, one would clearly see defenders getting a little bit of a jump on the ball due to Colin's build-up and delivery. Additionally, he can get some balls batted down at the line when kept in the pocket, because he gives defensive linemen a little extra time to react to the ball.
Nevada did not ask Kaepernick to become a true pocket passer. I found that only about 2 out of 5 of his pass attempts in the games I graded involved him sitting in the pocket and delivering. For perspective on this, both Cam Newton and Ryan Mallett sat in the pocket and delivered the football a higher percentage of their throws than Colin, and Newton's percentage was much closer to Mallett's than it was Kaepernick's. About 1 in 3 of Colin's pass attempts were designed roll-outs or screen passes. This was a much higher portion (a difference of +10%) of Kaepernick's passing than that of Cam Newton, who is more often accused of playing out of a gimmick offense where decision-making is minimized by screens and roll-outs. I didn't see Colin coming under as much pressure as guys like Newton and Ryan Mallett, as Nevada's playbook with all of the screen passes and roll-outs tended to keep defenders out of Kaepernick's face.
He is at his absolute best when moving out of the pocket, creating better angles and sight lines, and throwing the ball with impressive accuracy on the run. However, I did not necessarily find that Colin beat the blitz or dealt with pressure consistently. Boise State blitzed him very aggressively while Boston College sat back and played his eyes more. Both teams occasionally dropped an extra defender or two into coverage to try and confuse him.
What I found is on these plays where defenses tried to put pressure on the quarterback by blitzing him or by surprising him with extra defenders in coverage, Colin was just 13 of 26 passing for 153 yards, 0 TDs and 1 interception. He had 2 rushes for 20 yards with a TD, but also a lost fumble, and was sacked 2 times for -19 yards in losses. The touchdown he got during this subset of plays was the scramble against Boise State where a blitzing corner lost contain, and Colin spun outside of him. It was an excellent play by Colin, but you wonder if he will be able to do that sort of thing against pro athletes like Vontae Davis.
Overall, a net 5.1 yards per play with 1 TD and 2 turnovers against two of the only good defenses his Nevada Wolfpack faced this year, has to be concerning when it comes to reading complicated blitz and drop defenses, and beating them. It definitely lends credibility to the theory that his extended throwing motion impacts the versatility of his arm, the ability to flick the ball to a short receiving option without tipping off the defense. It also shows that Nevada's offense was so simplistic, relying so heavily on roll-outs and simplified reads, that he doesn't necessarily read the blitz pre-snap very well to where he can hit the defense where it'll hurt.
Another thing you notice the more you watch him under fire by blitzing and pressure is that his speed and athleticism is a very long striding speed that must be built up with at least 15 to 20 yards of space. He lacks a lot of the quick twitch elusiveness and lower body explosion that one might expect out of a guy that runs in the low 4.5's as he does. This translates to elusiveness in the pocket and in short spaces that is actually not on par with some of the quarterbacks in this Draft that possess more agility and lower body explosion, such as Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton and Christian Ponder. If Kaepernick is kept in a relatively small box, his elusiveness and ability to make a rusher miss is not much, if any better than passers in this Draft that look far less athletic running the 40 yard dash.
Kaepernick's accuracy has been spotty over his college career. He averaged 58% completion for his four years as a starter. That improved to 65% as a senior, but as I mentioned before, he had a significantly higher percentage of passes that were roll-out and screen plays, which tend to be higher percentage passes, especially as he tended not to aggressively throw the ball down the field on his roll-outs, which is something you would see a Cam Newton or Ryan Mallett do much more frequently. When you watch enough of his throws you start to build a view of Colin's accuracy. He does not lose accuracy on the move, which is an impressive quality. However, his ball placement from inside the pocket tends to be very inconsistent, often throwing the ball high or wide.
His biggest weakness from an accuracy standpoint is one that is shared by Blaine Gabbert of Missouri. That is to say, his accuracy tends to break down significantly on the deep ball. He has no feel for throwing a consistent deep ball with correct touch, distance and ball placement. This showed on tape, on the rare occasions when Colin would throw deep, and it also reared its head at the NFL Combine on deep ball drills.
It should have been relatively easy, on three consecutive throws with the same timing and no coverage, nobody to jam the receiver, to get into a rhythm make your deep throws look uniform. Kaepernick's trajectory, timing and distance were all over the place on his deep throws, as if even with all his four years of starting experience, he still can't decide how he's going to throw that ball.
The question becomes, how big of a deal is bad deep accuracy at the next level? It's impossible to answer that without discussing Kaepernick's biggest issue translating to the next level, his lack of timing and ability to process the field quickly. He does not necessarily throw with anticipation, nor does he read the field in a timely manner. Mike Mayock did a good job pointing out on one of his throws at the Senior Bowl how Colin rolled out and had the look he wanted, had a receiver with separation, but he just couldn't see the play. One usually is not as concerned about a 6'5" quarterback's ability to see the field from the pocket, but considering how much Nevada wanted to get Colin out of the pocket with better sight lines, that becomes more of a question mark.
The accuracy he loses in the pocket, but seems to gain back when moving outside the pocket, could be due to an inability to process information on the field quickly. On the move, with clear sight lines a passer gets the chance to be an athlete. In the pocket, a passer is forced to be a quarterback, and there's a difference.
The deep ball (or lack thereof) comes back into play in the type of offense that fits him at the next level. An offensive coordinator is going to want to utilize his mobility, accuracy on the run, and safe decision-making much as Nevada did, getting him outside the pocket with play action and designed roll-outs. This way, you can open up his vision and let him be an athlete. When he stays in the pocket, the kinds of passes he will be asked to make will be a little more on the predictable side. This type of offense generally requires you to be able to throw the ball deep, off the play action and on the run. Can he do that? This is an area where someone like a Jake Locker differentiates himself from a Colin Kaepernick. Though both have issues with reading the field in a timely manner from inside the pocket, which will lead to both playing in similar offenses, Locker's ability to throw the ball deep and make "wow" plays with his arm from outside the pocket is much more established.
Seeing all of the above, I have to conclude that any talk of Colin Kaepernick rising into the late 1st round (as you may have heard lately) is very difficult to support. My primary problem with Colin Kaepernick as a draft prospect is that the three things that make him unique, are not things I value at the next level.
The first element of his story that makes him unique is rushing production that he has managed to layer on top of his passing production in college. That's a very unique accomplishment, and indeed he holds NCAA records to that effect. However, I do not find this to be a key trait at the next level. His NFL coaches are not going to ask him to run the ball 200 times in a season. Contrarily, you'll notice that his passing production while good, is not very unique in the WAC. Ryan Colburn of Fresno State was able to achieve similar-looking passing production facing mostly the same defenses.
The second element of his story that makes him unique, which is somewhat related to the first, is the straight line build-up speed he is able to achieve when running distances. A 40 yard dash in the low 4.5's at his height and size is very unique and it sparks a lot of intrigue. However, I don't value the straight line build-up speed at the next level nearly as much as I value elusiveness, agility and lower body explosion, none of which are at unique levels on a Colin Kaepernick.
The third and final element of Kaepernick's story which I find to be unique is his arm strength. He can really drive the football like few others. However, I view arm strength to be a requirement, not an incremental benefit. In the NFL, passers tend to need a requisite amount of arm strength to have the versatility to complete the passes they'll need to make (i.e. 'make all the throws'), but nobody has ever shown me that once you're beyond that requirement, incremental increases in arm strength lead to increases in production. Driving the football as fast as Colin Kaepernick is capable is definitely a tool in his toolbox, but not one he can make significantly better use of on a large number of throws, especially if he lacks accuracy on deep verticals.
Arm versatility, which in my book includes things like the quickness of your release and ability to get the ball out at different platforms, is more of a benefit than arm strength. Incremental increases in arm versatility will benefit you at the next level as they help you stay one step ahead of the defense. Whereas Colin's arm strength increases his arm versatility, his elongated mechanics contrarily detract from it.
Once you get beyond the three elements of Colin's story that make him a unique, interesting prospect, none of which I value at the next level, what is left? Pretend for a moment that everything about Kaepernick's story was exactly the same except for three things: 1) Kaepernick showed up at the Combine and had all of the same jump and agility measures but ran a 4.7 instead of a 4.5, 2) His rushing statistics in his senior year (and other years) looked more like 95 runs for 200 yards, and 3) Instead of leaving smoke trails on his intermediate passes, he had 'good' velocity.
What makes him significantly better than a Jeff Van Camp of Florida Atlantic, Ryan Colburn of Fresno State, or Taylor Potts of Texas Tech? This is what bothers me about Colin Kaepernick as a draft prospect, and it is the reason why ultimately I would be hard pressed to draft him before the 3rd or 4th round come April.
So that’s Kaepernick in the bag, although one footnote is that he’ll be coming to Davie for a private workout in late March. But it’s not just the QB position Miami are looking to upgrade. Who else have they been showing an interest in during the past seven days?
Players Dolphins Have Met
Pro day season is well under way. The Dolphins will be on hand in Gainesville later today for the Florida Gators event but they’ve been very busy since last we spoke.
Scouts were on hand at the FIU pro day and Miami was well represented at the Auburn workout to see amongst others Heisman winner Cam Newton. Meanwhile on the same day strong-armed Ryan Mallett was also throwing for the NFL and the Dolphins were on hand there as well.
(Just a footnote to the Razorbacks pro day because the non-eligible juniors also ran for the scouts. A WR that we’re all very high on for 2012 is Joe Adams and he blazed the track with a 4.30 forty. And he may not even be the best Arkansas WR available next year! )
There was also a good turnout at the Alabama event and it was interesting to watch just how closely the Dolphins paid attention to everything that Mark Ingram did. Front row for the forty yard dash which was much quicker and ranged anywhere from the mid 4.4’s to the mid 4.5’s but a solid improvement on what he achieved in Indianapolis. However it was during the drill portions that the Dolphins scouts were really prominent, paying close attention and making copious notes at every catch, cut and jump that the 2009 Heisman winner made during a very, very strong workout.
The Dolphins were also keeping a close eye on OT Gabe Carimi and DE JJ Watt at the Wisconsin pro day. Watt is the ideal five technique end although it may be that he comes off the board before Miami goes on the clock at 15. The San Diego Chargers are noted to be very interested in the relentless underclassman and it could be that Miami listens to phone calls from AJ Smith for the second year running if Watt is there when our pick comes around, especially as the Chargers will be keen to get in front of New England which would seem another great landing spot for the talented Badger.
Jeff Ireland made his annual stop off at the University of Miami day but adverse weather conditions called a halt to it before it had really got under way and has been rescheduled. However Ireland did get some face time with one of Chris’s favourite offensive linemen, G/T Orlando Franklin.
Looking for acorns at the Kent State pro day the Dolphins were keen on slightly undersized OLB Monte Simmons who measured in at 6’1, 234lbs but flashed a remarkable 84 inch wingspan. Both the Steelers and the Ravens – 34 defenses also - who were also on hand paid great interest to Simmons who is scheme diverse and registered 21.5 sacks and 38.5 TFL in his career at KSU.
The Dolphins also kept an eye on Penn State transfer Cobrani Mixon who is an excellent LB and had a terrific workout but has some pretty serious off field issues. One of those issues relates to an arrest in 2008 with free safety Brian Lainhart who Miami also ran the rule over. Both were charged with felony burglary. Lainhart is fairly talented at 6-foot 1/4, 211 pounds. He ran the 40 in 4.64, had a 4.32 short shuttle and 6.63 three-cone drill, as well as a 37 ½-inch vertical, a 10-5 broad jump and 23 reps on the bench press. He’s had issues with neck and shoulder injuries in the past but he’s often around the football.
Miami was one of 29 teams on hand a the Northwestern pro day to see the Wildcat players but also 34 players who either attended high school in the area or attended a smaller school in the state. They were also on hand to see the Oklahoma event and spent time at the Cal pro day with TB Shane Vereen who’s flying under the radar a little bit. He’s flashed some big time talent at times for the Bears and seems to have been stereotyped as purely a 3rd down back but I think there’s more to his game than just 3rd downs.
The Dolphins also attended the Nebraska pro day and saw Niles Paul, an excellent receiver who we reported last week met with Miami at the Combine, run under 4.40. And they were one of 27 teams on hand at the Rutgers pro day.
Miami was also in Bloomington, Indiana last week to watch the Hoosiers prospects work out including QB Ben Chappell and OT/G James Brewer. One Indiana player who hasn’t been able to work out either at the Combine or at the pro day is WR/KR Tandon Doss, a junior who I thought might squeak into the late first round if he’d have run well. I’m unsure as to whether he’s going to be able to work out at all before the draft as he recovers from groin surgery but this is a kid with real talent. Weighing in at 6’3, 205lbs, he has the ability to press the boundary corner down the field and has excellent – mid 4.4 – speed.
Another wideout with excellent speed is Kentucky’s Randall Cobb who has done a really nice job since the end of the season in raising his draft stock. Both he and TB Derrick Locke stood on their Combine numbers but interested Dolphins scouts watched Cobb closely as he looked fantastic catching the ball from Brian Hartline’s brother Mike. Cobb, who can play outside, in at the slot and as a running back even participated in a few TB drills under the direction of Bengals running backs coach Jim Anderson. He has the position and return versatility that Miami likes. Does he have enough deep speed for what the Dolphins truly desire?
Miami had two scouts on hand at the TCU pro day to see amongst others QB Andy Dalton and WR/KR Jeremy Kerley and they were at the Tennessee pro day on Friday where vastly under the radar WR Denarius Moore blazed a 4.37 and MLB Nick Reviez, son of former Dolphins kicker Faud tried out at FB. They were also on hand to see Ohio State’s cadre of players work out and paid particular attention to OG/C Justin Boren.
As for specific player workouts, Portland State TE Julius Thomas was at the facility yesterday and met with the coaches including new TE coach Dan Campbell and GM Jeff Ireland. Miami have already been to see Thomas play during the season and he’s a kid we’ve talked about extensively in this years Draft Winds already.
Sticking with tight ends, there’s another workout scheduled for Arkansas’s DJ Williams who it appears Miami, according to sources, have a significant interest in. I would think Williams should come off the board in the 2nd to early 3rd round area so unless the Dolphins can get back in that 2nd round then they seem destined to miss out on the Mackey Award winner who might just be the seam busting threat that the team has been crying out for.
Miami is also going to have a visit from Auburn QB Cam Newton. Our position has been made very clear on Newton in one of our earlier pieces, suffice to say that nothing has really changed since the end of the season and no amount of throws in shorts and t-shirts is going to change our minds from what we saw on tape at Auburn and indeed in a handful of games at Blinn Community College. Newton’s situation remains precarious in terms of his final draft position although it would seem doubtful that he will last into double figures. With no CBA and hence no trades, it would make it very difficult for the Dolphins to move up.
One of the most controversial prospects in the draft process is Washington’s Jake Locker who some teams believe is a mid-first-round pick and others feel is well short of the required talent. Remember, this was a kid who was touted as the No. 1 overall selection last year had he declared but who decided to stay with the Huskies and despite a poor individual campaign, led his team to a Bowl win. He has some serious accuracy issues at times but when outside the pocket, he can be deadly. He’s very athletic, tough, a tremendous leader and an equally tremendous kid. I know that Chris wouldn’t draft him before the 4th round and I don’t think drafting him in round 1 helps Ireland and Sparano who need success now, because he’s a project. But they’re keen to see more of him after speaking to him in Mobile and he’ll be at the facility in Davie soon.
People are always trying to find the next someone. The next Clay Matthews is apparently Arizona OLB Brooks Reed whose star is very much in the ascendancy. Here’s a kid at around 6’2, 260 who has great instincts and an edge rush ability, plus the flowing locks that remind people of Matthews. He’s not as good as the Packer standout but he is another who’s moving up a la Christian Ponder and could eventually find himself in the top 32 picks come draft day. Miami will also have him in for a private workout.
LB coach Bill Sheridan conducted a private workout for Reed’s team mate LB Ricky Elmore yesterday. The 6’4, 257 pounder ran a 4.79 forty at the Wildcats pro day on Saturday and led the PAC 10 in sacks the past 2 seasons, compiling 21.5 take downs in that time. I’m not sure Elmore’s going to be anything more than a situational rusher and special teamer at the next level as he has a tendency to struggle when defenders get their hands on him and he can get washed out in the run game. However he has proven that he can consistently get to the passer off the edge.
Whether he has the ability in space to drop back in coverage remains to be seen.
The Dolphins have an interest in New Mexico left tackle Byron Bell who at 6’5 and 348lbs commands respect. He’s been one of the more consistent tackles in the country and possesses a terrific wingspan and excellent football strength. He’s had some off the field concerns but could be an interesting late round developmental type. He recorded more than 100 knockdown blocks this season alone.
The Dolphins have also had meetings with two more linebackers, Mike Mohammed of Cal who Richard talked about a couple of weeks ago and can play in a 3-4 and Bruce Carter of North Carolina who’s coming off a serious injury but could be the most athletic LB in the draft when healthy. He has questionable instincts and his stock may fall some due to the situation surrounding many of the Tar Heels and the injury, but he has top 20 talent on his day.
And finally, Miami also met with East Carolina WR Dwayne Harris at the Combine. Harris is smaller at 5’9, 200lbs. He’s an interesting player for Miami to have met with because he really doesn’t offer a great deal more than what we actually have. He’s not blessed with great size, he doesn’t look overly quick on tape and in many respects he’s a poor mans Davone Bess; he’s an excellent route runner who isn’t going to beat anyone deep down the field. He has return capabilities, but there are much better players than Harris in terms of return potential with regards the 2011 Draft.
That’s it for this week. Remember, next week we’ll be breaking down Christian Ponder and hearing what it’s like to play against him and how you defend him from someone whose defense dominated the Seminoles in 2010. Until then, have a great week.
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I'm hoping Patterson does drop to #7, cb is definitely a weakness for the Niners.
