Explain Barron's rise up the draft boards, please

[Wimbo]

Looking back to the draft guru's lists of top players at the end of the 2011 NCAA football season, Mark Barron was not appearing on the top-25 lists that I could find (November, December 2011). Statistically, his Senior season produced a little less than his Junior season. Sometime in January he starts showing up as 18-20th overall ranking. Now, I am seeing him ranked as high as the #7 overall prospect for the draft. That is a pretty big jump up the draft board for a non-premium position. I am not dismissing him, just curious as to why he is gaining momentum as the draft gets closer, even though there really is not any new information on him to consider. Thoughts?

 

[Hostile]

His Pro Day Workout was impressive. Interviews with the Bama coaches have yielded info that he was the QB of a very good Bama Defense. Safety is a thin position and he is impressing at the right moment.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

Stock rose after the nfl started evaluating players and not draft guru's

 

[funkytown]

Leader and Quarterback of a stacked national championship team.

Extremely weak safety class.

The emergence of the hybrid TE's that can get down the field like WR's, thus enhancing the need for better safety play.

And a pretty good football player

 

[Wimbo]

His Pro Day Workout was impressive. Interviews with the Bama coaches have yielded info that he was the QB of a very good Bama Defense. Safety is a thin position and he is impressing at the right moment.

Yeah, I get that. I just think that kind of info should solidify an opinion of a player rather than move him up 20 spots in the first round. Think about it - that is a 700+ point move on the draft trade chart (for reference, pick 1.26 is worth 700 points. Pick 1.07 is worth 1500 points). He is being moved into the Elite category, and he isn't even considered to be a good cover guy.

I know it happens every year, but I am just not sure I understand it. You have 13+ games of recent film on a guy to build your opinion of him (plus lots of other info), and then his Pro Day causes that big of a correction? Seems extreme to me.

 

[Wimbo]

Stock rose after the nfl started evaluating players and not draft guru's

Thanks for the smartypants remark. None of us have any of the team's draft boards, so we follow the published opinions of people like Kiper and Mayock. These guys, and many others, are the ones who have made the huge swings in Barron's rankings.

 

[KnowledgeBarnes]

Stock rose after the nfl started evaluating players and not draft guru's

I tend to agree, nothing about Todd McShay or Mel Kiper says football expert imo.

 

[SDogo]

Thanks for the smartypants remark. None of us have any of the team's draft boards, so we follow the published opinions of people like Kiper and Mayock. These guys, and many others, are the ones who have made the huge swings in Barron's rankings.

Not giving a smartypants answer by any means but he is onto something. Barron is rising in the media and with the draft sites but most of the time when you see a meteoric rise such as we have seen with Barron it's not that NFL teams are just getting hot on him, its that the internet world is finally catching up.

Not tooting my own horn here but 3 months ago when people were asked to name their top 5 targets for the Cowboys and I put down Barron I was basically tarred and feathered.

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4405947&postcount=15

Matter of fact, I was the only one who mentioned Barron

 

[Wimbo]

I tend to agree, nothing about Todd McShay or Mel Kiper says football expert imo.

Ok, forget those two guys & consider the general opinion of this forum.

Look at this poll from March 19 - just over a month ago. HERE.

Out of 85 votes, only one poster selected Barron over people like Decastro, Cox, Upshaw, Poe, Brockers, (and others), or trading down.

Now, take a look at this thread from TODAY.
Opinions of him have changed greatly.

 

[Wimbo]

Leader and Quarterback of a stacked national championship team.

Extremely weak safety class.

The emergence of the hybrid TE's that can get down the field like WR's, thus enhancing the need for better safety play.

And a pretty good football player

I agree with all of that, but none of it is new information in the last month.

 

[theogt]

Maybe he's just where he's always been on team's boards, and the draftniks are just catching up. He's always been a mid first round player from what I've seen.

 

[SDogo]

Maybe he's just where he's always been, and the draftniks are just catching up.

This as well :laugh1:

 

[Wimbo]

Barron is rising in the media and with the draft sites but most of the time when you see a meteoric rise such as we have seen with Barron it's not that NFL teams are just getting hot on him, its that the internet world is finally catching up.

This makes sense, I guess. Assuming that teams indeed have him in their top 10 overall.

I was basically tarred and feathered.

Yeah, but you make those feathers look good. Now everyone is wearing them.

 

[Wimbo]

Maybe he's just where he's always been on team's boards, and the draftniks are just catching up.

Ok, so what do you think is causing the draftniks to suddenly get hot on him?

 

[theogt]

Ok, so what do you think is causing the draftniks to suddenly get hot on him?

I think the average fan, and even most avid fans, are horrible at judging safety talent. I don't think they have any idea what they are looking at or what they should be looking for. I think that's probably true of 90+% of draftniks out there too. But when teams start opening their mouths closer to draft time, and guys like Casserly start paying attention, the truth sort of rises to the top.

 

[Wulfman]

Ok, so what do you think is causing the draftniks to suddenly get hot on him?

As we get closer to the draft, they're talking to more and more front office people around the combine, pro days, etc. That information is more updated than what they speculated going into the college season. Those guys aren't working the phone lines talking to scouts during the college season, for the most part...it all begins after the post-season. When they start talking to more and more scouts and the same guy's name gets mentioned over and over again, suddenly he begins to rise on their charts.

I daresay that most of the teams that are "suddenly" hot for Barron had him rated fairly highly all along...they just didn't tell the draftniks that.

And it's too bad I hadn't made my return back then, Sdogo...I would have done my best to back your stance on Barron. Of course, that might not be very good backing, depending on other's opinions...but it's the thought that counts.

 

[Wimbo]

I think the average fan, and even most avid fans, are horrible at judging safety talent. I don't think they have any idea what they are looking at or what they should be looking for. I think that's probably true of 90+% of draftniks out there too. But when teams start opening their mouths closer to draft time, and guys like Casserly start paying attention, the truth sort of rises to the top.

I agree with this. Without the all-22 film, it is impossible to see what the DB's are doing and when.

 

[MonsterD]

He is being moved into the Elite category, and he isn't even considered to be a good cover guy..

He will never be elite, that is what bugs me.

 

[Wulfman]

He is being moved into the Elite category, and he isn't even considered to be a good cover guy.

While I'm not ready to say that he is elite in terms of being the best in the league on day 1, I will say that many people whose opinions are respected think that he is a decent cover guy...he just wasn't asked to do it that much this past season. Saban said in one of the interviews that Barron did everything they asked him to do, and that there was nothing they asked him to do that he couldn't. That included picking up TEs in the middle and even covering some slot receivers. Now he's not going to be asked to cover slot receivers very often at the next level. That's what slot corners are for. But being able to cover TEs is huge.

 

[SDogo]

And it's too bad I hadn't made my return back then, Sdogo...I would have done my best to back your stance on Barron. Of course, that might not be very good backing, depending on other's opinions...but it's the thought that counts.

Just don't leave again and we will call it even!