A few PFF tidbits, Cowboys and others

[Titleist]

I think part of the reason why Mathieu was a good fit at Arizona (well, as good of a fit as you'd get) was because they have a responsible, respected team leader and past LSU teammate (P. Peterson) to mentally coach and watch over Tyrann. Some teams just "fit" for certain players and my guess is that the transition to the NFL for Mathieu would be much harder on any other team.

 

[xwalker]

Yeah, I agree. About all you can do with PFF is break down left/right tackles, and beyond that, not much. Smith hasn't looked to have much help all year long, and he's been really good against some elite competition.

Yes, the Cowboys have altered their OL scheme to help hide Free's weaknesses. They have the RG keep a closer than normal spacing to Free, especially immediately after the snap. This minimizes the outside rushers ability to beat Free to the inside; therefore, Free can over-set to the outside giving him an advantage over the rusher.

They have the Center help more to the right, with his initial move to the right on most pass protection plays. The result is that Tyron Smith is on a island and Leary's job become more like an OT defending the edge than a normal Guards responsibilities.

Summary: All 4 other players jobs are more difficult because Free is the weak link. It really makes Leary's job difficult. It's sad that they have to increase the degree of difficulty on Leary who had zero experience coming into this year in order to cover up for Free who is the long term veteran and highest paid player.

It's even sadder that garbage like PFF is praising Free and giving other players lower grades than they should get without accounting for their increased degree of difficulty.

 

[visionary]

LOL! At the scouts on this board who said Warford didnt fit the scheme. You can either block or you cant.

escobar was just a better pick
give him time to develop
wait until season #4

 

[DogFace]

Sorry but that's silly.

The Honey badger was a no go. Wayyyyy too many issues.
Repeatedly tested positive for weed usage then was caught in house full of weed.

It it hard to get kicked out of the LSU football program when you are a good player but he did.

Not sure what the issue was with Warford. A lot of folks here liked him and he played tough competition in the SEC. But the Honey Badger earned his way into the box and off our boards.

I guess. I don't smoke it but don't see it as a problem. At all. If there were other problems yes. The fact that he couldn't stop just to pass the test may be that problem.
I liked him a lot coming out if lsu.

 

[DogFace]

We'll see. Great player, yes. But he is very small and I wonder if he'll wind up having an injury-filled career similar to Bob Sanders.

That is possible. But apparently he's playing corner now not safety like Sanders. He is very small though.

 

[DogFace]

Mathieu's character concerns were NOT over blown. And I absolutely agree with not drafting him. You ought to ask yourself why so many teams took him right off their draft boards.

Now Warford to me is the much bigger question considering our needs. I have a feeling that the Boys had some inside dirt on him and that is why he was completely off our board. Would be a bummer to find out that that dirt was not accurate or that Warford had moved on from that.

I'm a Kentucky fan with the local inside knowledge. There was never any dirt on him that I heard. Yeah I hope it wasn't just a bad pass on him.

I know of mathiues issues. Maybe they were right to pass. To me weed is not that big of a red flag to pass on him. Maybe mo didn't vouch for his character like Peterson did in Arizona. I just know he's a playmaker and was maybe worth the risk. You may be right though.

 

[jterrell]

I guess. I don't smoke it but don't see it as a problem. At all. If there were other problems yes. The fact that he couldn't stop just to pass the test may be that problem.
I liked him a lot coming out if lsu.

anytime you have habits that fall outside what is allowed by the league you play in that is a problem.
weed could eventually be legalized but as long as he can't stop and it is tested for that is a problem.

the issue with Honey Badger will be can he get to next season without failing a test.

athletically his size was a question. he is essentially a great nickel back.
we could have used him for sure.
but giving up draft picks for guys that have admittedly failed 5 or more drug tests is crazy.

 

[xwalker]

The Warford and mathieu non picks get me. Mathieu the most. If you watched him play in college you just knew.
I thought his character issues were over blown.
Would love to have had either or both.
I know they weren't on our board. They should have been IMO.

Character issues don't usually show up immediately. It's the probability that they will eventually get in trouble or be a bad influence on the locker room that keeps teams from drafting them.

It far too early to judge teams that passed on Mathieu just because he is having a good rookie season. Teams that passed on him probably knew that there was a high probability that he would have some initial success.

Warford was far from a no-brainer type pick. His primary asset was being big and strong. He is really slow and had terrible technique in college.

The OG that I rue them not getting is Alvin Bailey. He was a UDFA and has been active as the primary interior backup for Seattle this season. He showed similar strength to Warford in college but was a much much better athlete. There were some vague rumors that he was a head-case, but he was never in any trouble.

 

[DogFace]

anytime you have habits that fall outside what is allowed by the league you play in that is a problem.
weed could eventually be legalized but as long as he can't stop and it is tested for that is a problem.

the issue with Honey Badger will be can he get to next season without failing a test.

athletically his size was a question. he is essentially a great nickel back.
we could have used him for sure.
but giving up draft picks for guys that have admittedly failed 5 or more drug tests is crazy.

Yes. Probably correct. I've rarely seen a playmaker like him though.

 

[DogFace]

Character issues don't usually show up immediately. It's the probability that they will eventually get in trouble or be a bad influence on the locker room that keeps teams from drafting them.

It far too early to judge teams that passed on Mathieu just because he is having a good rookie season. Teams that passed on him probably knew that there was a high probability that he would have some initial success.

Warford was far from a no-brainer type pick. His primary asset was being big and strong. He is really slow and had terrible technique in college.

The OG that I rue them not getting is Alvin Bailey. He was a UDFA and has been active as the primary interior backup for Seattle this season. He showed similar strength to Warford in college but was a much much better athlete. There were some vague rumors that he was a head-case, but he was never in any trouble.

I'm a UofK fan and saw and heard a lit about Warford. I thought he's be a perfect fit but I'm certainly not an nfl scout. He's had a good start. Guess we will see.
Hopefully Escobar will pan out and make it less significant a pass up.
I'm happy with the t will pick and Wilcox. So maybe 2nd would've been too early to select him.

Mathieu was a Big time playmaker as I'm sure you know. But yeah. A lot of issues.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Eric Fisher 74 out of 79 OTs. That's hilarious. Last I heard of him was that he couldn't even start until someone got hurt. I never thought he was first round pick material let alone the top pick in the draft. It was rumored that the Chiefs tried desperately to trade the top pick but nobody wanted it.

That draft has to be one of the worst for talent in the top ten picks.

 

[Fletch]

Sorry but that's silly.

The Honey badger was a no go. Wayyyyy too many issues.
Repeatedly tested positive for weed usage then was caught in house full of weed.

It it hard to get kicked out of the LSU football program when you are a good player but he did.

Not sure what the issue was with Warford. A lot of folks here liked him and he played tough competition in the SEC. But the Honey Badger earned his way into the box and off our boards.

The Honey Badger loves burnin' trees. Not a biggie. A house full of Hippie Lettuce is a concern though.

 

[Nexx]

Everyone who says this, I wonder, if before the draft they would be comfortable taking OL with the first two picks, and having two rookies starting on the interior of the OL.

i loved the fred pick, then i was praying warford would be there in the 2nd... and he was but we all know how that went. our biggest weakness has been our oline for so long. costa, bernie, arkin, leary, livings, out of those how many did you think would be good solid starters for us? at the beginning of the season i would have said ZERO. 3 positions needed to be improved, taking the first two picks to try to fix this would have been my preference. of all the positions i would have said skip in the 2nd.. QB and TE come to mind first. i would have been fine with dline in the second as well but the escobar pick smelled of stupidity from our GM.

 

[NJ22]

PFF's player rankings are beyond a joke. Look at Nate Livings from last year which they labeled a "stud'". LOL With that said, Bernadeau is doing a solid job this year which is more than I thought he was capable of.

After catching up on the Bernadeau/PFF thread, I subscribed to a month of PFF's premium stats. Here are a few Cowboys season grades and some grades of other players we've hashed over here:

OL:

MacKenzy Bernadeau #21 among guards (out of 75)
Ronald Leary #59 among guards, Much lower grades in pass pro than in run game.
Travis Frederick #9 among centers (out of 35)
Tyron Smith #12 among tackles, #9 among left tackles
Doug Free #18 among tackles, #6 among right tackles

Defense:

Jason Hatcher #5 in DT/NT category
Nick Hayden #68 of 69 at DT/NT
Sean Lee #6 at ILB
Barry Church #25 of 84 at safety
JJ Wilcox #53 at safety
Jeff Heath #64 at safety

I just saw that Zordon already has a thread with the cornerbacks, but here they are again:
Orlando Scandrick #24 of 112
Brandon Carr #44
Morris Claiborne #97

Other notables around the league:

Larry Warford #4 at guard
David DeCastro #13 at guard
Kevin Zeitler #25
Chance Warmack #48
Peter Konz #35 of 35 centers listed
Brian Schwenke #22 at center, the only other rookie on the center list
Eric Fisher #74 of 79 tackles
Tyson Clabo #66 of 79 tackles
Justin Pugh #40 at tackle
Shariff Floyd #53 of 69 at DT/NT
Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson #2 and #4 at CB. Not bad for your starting corners for the Cardinals.

 

[Iron_Man]

Everyone who says this, I wonder, if before the draft they would be comfortable taking OL with the first two picks, and having two rookies starting on the interior of the OL.

Travis and Warford I would have been ok with. There is always a learning curve regardless. Berny does not impress me. He has done better the past month, but hoping to see a real starter next year.

 

[SportsGuru80]

Everyone who says this, I wonder, if before the draft they would be comfortable taking OL with the first two picks, and having two rookies starting on the interior of the OL.

Yes I was! I would have been very happy with Wotford at RG

 

[Risen Star]

Everyone who says this, I wonder, if before the draft they would be comfortable taking OL with the first two picks, and having two rookies starting on the interior of the OL.

I would have been.

But I also would never let first year impact factor into a draft decision. That's another way of saying drafting for need.

 

[Corso]

About all you can do with PFF's rankings for tackles is to separate out the LT's from the RT's...at least they give that breakdown, it makes for a little more context in looking at the two positions.

The surprise for me was seeing Konz dead last among centers. He wasn't very good at guard last year, but I figured he'd benefit from the move back to center this year.

That is surprising. I thought he would be pretty good.
I wonder why he has been struggling...

 

[Corso]

Everyone who says this, I wonder, if before the draft they would be comfortable taking OL with the first two picks, and having two rookies starting on the interior of the OL.

I honestly would have been very comfortable with it, personally.

It didn't happen though, so I won't dwell in the past.

You can rue on every draft. Hell- every team can rue on every draft, every year for that matter...

 

[Future]

I would have been.

But I also would never let first year impact factor into a draft decision. That's another way of saying drafting for need.

Escobar has a higher ceiling than any lineman we could have take....