George Iloka FS

[RealCowboyfan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpDoLVHhZbg

COWBOYS NEXT SAFETY. 6-4 230

[Eskimo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpDoLVHhZbg

COWBOYS NEXT SAFETY. 6-4 230

He is absolutely gigantic for a safety.

I wonder if this is one of those cases where a college safety has to convert to LB in the pros. Maybe he could play WLB in a 4-3.

Regardless, his 40 was marginal at 4.66 but his short shuttle was CB-like at 4.03 so maybe he does have the agility to a giant safety.

I guess a lot will really depend on his instincts for the position but he seems to have the athleticism required for the position and he looks like a decent tackler on tape.

Nevertheless, in a pass-happy conference where he started 40 games he only had 7 INTs. That's horrifically bad for a FS.

[RealCowboyfan]

He is absolutely gigantic for a safety.

I wonder if this is one of those cases where a college safety has to convert to LB in the pros. Maybe he could play WLB in a 4-3.

Regardless, his 40 was marginal at 4.66 but his short shuttle was CB-like at 4.03 so maybe he does have the agility to a giant safety.

I guess a lot will really depend on his instincts for the position but he seems to have the athleticism required for the position and he looks like a decent tackler on tape.

Nevertheless, in a pass-happy conference where he started 40 games he only had 7 INTs. That's horrifically bad for a FS.

It's a bargain for the 4th Round.

[2much2soon]

The first thing that jumped out to me about Iloka as a freshman at BSU was that when he got his hands on someone, they went down. He also had beautiful tackling form, right off the bat in college. One of the best pure tacklers I have seen in a long time.
He won't be able to cover speed WRs in the NFL, but he can more than hold his own with the new breed of giant TEs that NE is popularizing.

[Hoofbite]

He is absolutely gigantic for a safety.

I wonder if this is one of those cases where a college safety has to convert to LB in the pros. Maybe he could play WLB in a 4-3.

Regardless, his 40 was marginal at 4.66 but his short shuttle was CB-like at 4.03 so maybe he does have the agility to a giant safety.

I guess a lot will really depend on his instincts for the position but he seems to have the athleticism required for the position and he looks like a decent tackler on tape.

Nevertheless, in a pass-happy conference where he started 40 games he only had 7 INTs. That's horrifically bad for a FS.

I was looking at his numbers as well and noticed that.

I don't know what to make of him. He's awfully damn big for a safety and seems to lack top end speed. Doubtful he could recover very well if he was even a bit out of position.

Then again, he may play faster than his 40 would indicate.

Who knows.

If he were a late round pick I wouldn't mind too much, not that I know where he's projected.

[Hoofbite]

The first thing that jumped out to me about Iloka as a freshman at BSU was that when he got his hands on someone, they went down. He also had beautiful tackling form, right off the bat in college. One of the best pure tacklers I have seen in a long time.
He won't be able to cover speed WRs in the NFL, but he can more than hold his own with the new breed of giant TEs that NE is popularizing.

That's an interesting take.

Good point.

[Eskimo]

It's a bargain for the 4th Round.

Maybe but he is projected for the 3rd right now, I think.

[Future]

The first thing that jumped out to me about Iloka as a freshman at BSU was that when he got his hands on someone, they went down. He also had beautiful tackling form, right off the bat in college. One of the best pure tacklers I have seen in a long time.
He won't be able to cover speed WRs in the NFL, but he can more than hold his own with the new breed of giant TEs that NE is popularizing.
Witten, Gates, Shockey, Tony Gonzalez, Jermichael Finley all have essentially the same skill set and all came before Gronk and Hernandez.

NE might be "popularizing" it, but they're hardly the first. Blame ESPN for that...

[BAT]

Witten, Gates, Shockey, Tony Gonzalez, Jermichael Finley all have essentially the same skill set and all came before Gronk and Hernandez.

NE might be "popularizing" it, but they're hardly the first. Blame ESPN for that...

And before that, there was John Mackey, Kellen Winslow, Jay Novacek, Shannon Sharpe, Kellen Winslow II, Jeremy Shockey, Dallas Clark, etc.

Not really that cutting edge. Except NE uses it's TEs (they have multiple players with this skill) as their primary receivers. The WR are afterthoughts.