So I spent the last couple days re-visiting every snap of DGB I could find online(not the highlight ****, and I came to the conclusion that this guy would be a horrible pick in the 1st round:
1.) EFFORT - This dude plays with no ferocity at all when he has to block and he's on the backside of the play concept. He often just gives up on his assignment unless the play is to his side.
2.) SOFT - Gets redirected too easily for a guy that is 6'5 230lbs. Will struggle to get clean releases vs big, physical press corners backs in the NFCW. Teams in college feared his speed and the spread mizzou used, so he saw a ton of off coverage; however, nobody is scared in the NFCW. YAC(yards after contact) are almost non-existent. I saw dude consistently go down to arm tackles.
3.) BALL SKILLS - This right here is the deal breaker for me. This guy does a horrible job at competing for 50/50 balls(contested passes), especially balls that need to be high pointed. Lack of persistence, effort and ferocity - common theme here...He doesn't have a very big catch radius for a guy that is 6'5 and has a huge height advantage over his opponents. He had a 33" vertical and short 32" arms at the combine; it shows in the film too. Fails to consistently extend those arms and naturally resorts to letting the ball get deep into his body.
4.) Too raw - routes are raw, often rounded and he doesnt know how to sell them or set them up. He needs a ton of work and coaching.
all this is nothing without a few examples:
:38 - BEAUTIFUL on this skinny post! This is EXACTLY what I want to see from a dude his size. Excellent job of using his size and going up and GRABBING THAT ****. Impose your will on that little ****** DB. He had no chance vs that huge 6'5, 230lbs frame with all the inside leverage controlled by DGB. With that said, you can't draft in the first round based off of inconsistent flashes....
4:12 - 3-yard slant. horrible job of selling the route(no head fake, no stutter) and fails to utilize his size advantage to deter defender and control the inside by boxing out DB. Needs to grab that ball and not let it come to him.
4:30 - good example of #3 and inability on 50/50 balls. You're 6'5, but a DB that is a foot shorter is shoulder to shoulder on the jump ball.
5:17 - back corner fade. Sound familiar? Look familiar? Throw appeared overthrown initially, but on replay you can clearly see it was clearly catchable. DGB is tentative as the ball is in the air, bad timing on his jump and shows off that sad 33" vertical from the combine. He basically let the much smaller DB dictate how the play unfolded. #1 and #3 again.
I didn't even mention his off the field concerns.
The reason Kelvin Benjamin started growing on me late was because I was surprise by his ability to high point the ball and his huuuuuge catch radius.
Conclusion: **** NO TO DGB IN THE 1st. The only game I noticed where he completely took over was against Kentucky where he dominated the midgets assigned to him. I like his height and his ability with the ball in his hand in the open field. If you give this guy a free release or cushion he will EAT it up in a hurry. He is really fast for a guy his size. He doesn't have bad hands at all(pretty good actually), but it's his innate catching approach of letting the ball get deep that worries me. Not a 1st round pick and more likely to be Jon Baldwin 2.0 than Megatron 2.0.