DantheMan 2016 Draft Thread

[dantheman41]

Sheldon Rankins - 6'1 299 lbs (Louisville)

Positives: Is built like a tank, with super powerful lower body. Can beat you in so many ways. Very active, heavy hands that fight through blockers. Does a nice job splitting double teams. Outstanding motor, plays hard every play. Position versatility, can play the 1, 3, and even DE at times. Equally good rushing the passer and making plays in run game.

Negatives: Not ideal height or length. Not overly explosive off the snap. Doesn't have great snap anticipation, very slow reacting to the snap. Doesn't always rush with a purpose, sometimes you wonder where he is trying to go or what he is doing.

Where He Fits and My Opinion: Good player I like, but do not love. I love that he can is equally good at rushing the passer and stopping the run. I don't see a dominant inside player, but he is worth a late 1st round pick. Not a top 15 player in my view.

 

[dantheman41]

Adolphus Washington - 6'3 301 lbs (Ohio State)

Positives: Tall. athletic frame who moves really well. Does a nice job splitting blockers and making plays behind the line of scrimmage. Shows nice awareness by sniffing out screens. Has a really good motor, don't see him ever give up.

Negatives: Don't see a guy that plays with power, lets offensive lineman just sit on him. Doesn't get a ton of movement. Doesn't always bring ball carriers down, whiffs on lot of tackles.

Where He Fits and My Opinion: Just average in every sense of the word. Heard good things and was excited to watch him, but very disappointed. Guess he can get better, but he needs to get significantly stronger. Don't see him make a lot of plays. Mid rounder in my view.

 

[dantheman41]

Jarran Reed - 6'3 307 lbs (Alabama)

Positives: Extremely long arms and body. Able to control blockers with his long arms. Will take on the double teams. Will clog holes in the run game. Makes a ton of stops and tackles which is nice to see from defensive lineman. Has position versatility, I think he would be better as a 3-4 DE.

Negatives: Not going to give you anything in the pass rush department. Probably not a 3 down player at the next level. Gets very tired very easily and can't go all out every play. Not an athletic player, his movement skills are limited to within the hash marks.

Where He Fits and My Opinion: Not a fan. If your looking for a run stuffing 1 tech or 5 tech in a 3-4 this might be your guy. Don't see a 1st round player at all. 2 down players don't excite me especially as a high draft pick.

 

[dantheman41]

Thinking about doing a guide and working like crazy on it the next few weeks to get it out the beginning of april. In depth reports on a TON of guys. Little more in depth then these reports, and a LOT more people. You guys be into it? These are going to my exclusive reports, and my honest opinions...

 

[egn22]

What about Vernon Butler DT Louisiana Tech?

 

[dantheman41]

Vernon Butler - 6'3 316 lbs (Louisiana Tech)

Positives: Long arms with a muscular, lean physique. Violent tackler. Very powerful with excellent point of attack strength. Shows violent hands that allow him to get good push. Very powerful lower body allowing him to drive and push offensive lineman back. Has position flex, can play nose tackle in 3 man front, 1 tech, 3 tech or even 5 tech in a 3-4. Does an outstanding job running stunts and winning both the inside and outside counters. Shows really nice pursuit and makeup speed chasing ball carriers from behind.

Negatives: Plays at too high a pad level allowing defenders to get leverage on him. Doesn't always rush with a purpose, looks lost at times. Would like to see him develop some more pass rush moves. Doesn't make enough stops in the run game. Looks overly gassed at certain times of the game where he isn't running full speed. Would like to see him better disengage and get off blocks, doesn't have much of a counter. Played against small school competition that he didn't always dominate the way you would like.

Where He Fits and My Opinion: Good player that is probably best suited in a 3-4 defense. His length and size would be perfect for that scheme. He shows some nice traits, but I just don't know where he would best be suited in a 4-3. Not explosive enough to be a 3 tech in our scheme. Most likely play 1 tech in our scheme. Like the player, don't love him.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Laughing at the numbnuts who said your rankings of the QB's was the worst he'd ever seen.....and that was a couple months ago, and now all the big name scouting services have them the same that you do. You were one of the first touting Wentz. I don't agree with all your reports, but appreciate the effort you put into them. DOn't see any bias in your rankings which is hard to do.

 

[dantheman41]

Laughing at the numbnuts who said your rankings of the QB's was the worst he'd ever seen.....and that was a couple months ago, and now all the big name scouting services have them the same that you do. You were one of the first touting Wentz. I don't agree with all your reports, but appreciate the effort you put into them. DOn't see any bias in your rankings which is hard to do.

Thanks I honestly appreciate that... I'm wrong at times and have been the last few years on some guys like every one. But I've hit on a ton of players too that I absolutely loved

 

[egn22]

I agree, I was very impressed when I looked at the date of the Wentz evaluation in this thread and realized Dan the Man was ahead of Kiper and those guys on Wentz.
This thread is MONEY!!!!!

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Watching Goff's workout....he already has the Dad belly working. I can only imagine how much crap he will get if we draft him....

 

[21Savage]

Watching Goff's workout....he already has the Dad belly working. I can only imagine how much crap he will get if we draft him....

Peyton had that his whole career.

 

[TheCount]

This may be breaking the rules, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the "specialness" of Ezekiel Elliot as a prospect compared to the "specialness" of Reggie Bush as a prospect.

Specifically, the chorus for taking Zeke at 4th overall is growing but I still worry that Reggie Bush was just as heralded a prospect (even with a different skill set) and yet, at his peak, Reggie was more very good than great.

 

[casmith07]

Thinking about doing a guide and working like crazy on it the next few weeks to get it out the beginning of april. In depth reports on a TON of guys. Little more in depth then these reports, and a LOT more people. You guys be into it? These are going to my exclusive reports, and my honest opinions...

I'd love a PDF I could read on my iPad.

 

[casmith07]

Robert Nkemdiche - 6'3 294 lbs (Ole Miss)

Positives: Kid is an absolute freak athlete. Never gets stopped in his tracks so powerful. Have seen him just throw guys to the ground like they were nothing. Impacts so many plays that aren't on the stats sheet. Has a really good first step. Times the snap count at times getting so much penetration in the backfield. Can move all over the defensive line and be disruptive. His ceiling is HUGE and he's only going to get better each year.

Negatives: For being as talented as he is, his stats are very underwhelming. His off the field issues are a huge question mark. His ball awareness at times isn't very good.
Where He Fits and My Opinion: This kid is a top 5 talent in this draft. Has the potential to be the best player in this draft. WOW. If I were the Cowboys I would do so much investigative work on this kid. He can be a 10+ sack player in the NFL rushing from the inside. Absolutely love what I see, and to think he's going to be a much better player in the NFL then he was in college.

This makes me pretty happy, considering he might be sitting there in the 2nd round. I watched all of his 2014 video available and all of his 2015 video. The improvement from him is night and day. In 2014 he was good, but didn't quite have the strength, and was kind of a stand up/stonewall guy most of the year. 2015? He was throwing guys like children everywhere, putting offensive linemen on skates on a regular basis. The strength difference was startling.

Definitely would draft him if available. He's going to be a great player at the next level. His technique and fundamentals are also sound, too, so he should contribute as a rookie from day one.

 

[dantheman41]

I'd love a PDF I could read on my iPad.

I'm working on it now... It's going to be available as a kindle download. You can download the kindle app to read it on your app. Spending SO much time on it

 

[dantheman41]

This makes me pretty happy, considering he might be sitting there in the 2nd round. I watched all of his 2014 video available and all of his 2015 video. The improvement from him is night and day. In 2014 he was good, but didn't quite have the strength, and was kind of a stand up/stonewall guy most of the year. 2015? He was throwing guys like children everywhere, putting offensive linemen on skates on a regular basis. The strength difference was startling.

Definitely would draft him if available. He's going to be a great player at the next level. His technique and fundamentals are also sound, too, so he should contribute as a rookie from day one.

I absolutely agree if he can straighten out his life and not be such a knuckle head

 

[dantheman41]

Matt Judon - 6'3 275 lbs (Grand Valley State)

Positives: An extremely muscular build with thickness and length. He is a true quick twitch player who shows he can light up at right or left DE. An amazingly athletic player who possesses a great first step to frequently beat tackles at the initial snap. Had 20 sacks, and led the DII level this year. Shows he has the flexibility, bend and agility to go skinny on tackles. Disrupts so many plays that aren't even on the stat sheet. Can win in a variety of ways.

Negatives: Tends to take some overaggressive angles out running the plays on occasion. Has had some injury concerns in college. Obviously the small school competition is going to be a huge transition to the NFL.

Where He Fits and My Opinion: Found another pet cat! This kid is outstanding, and has a real shot to be a starter at the next level. I think he could be the RDE we desperately need. I would absolutely pull the trigger with our 3rd round pick.

 

[casmith07]

I absolutely agree if he can straighten out his life and not be such a knuckle head

The good thing I've seen is that he's come straight out to the media and said he made a mistake, took full responsibility.

 

[dantheman41]

The good thing I've seen is that he's come straight out to the media and said he made a mistake, took full responsibility.

Thats a positive! Hope he isn't off too many draft boards

 

[Dalmations202]

Dan,
Can you rank the DL from best down, as you think they should be drafted by Dallas? Say at least the top 5-10