Film Review of 2014 Draft Class

[dantheman41]

Great reads. Thank you for the hard work. When you get to evaluating the RBs, would you please take a look at James Sims from Kansas? 'Preciate ya!

Surely! Been so busy lately. Fell behind big time. Might get to do some more offensive tackles tonight

 

[dantheman41]

Really enjoying all the reading.

Thank you Dan.

Ok, question, Robert Mathis got 19.5 sacks as an OLB. But for many years he was a DE. He is 6 foot two and 246 pounds. Does this open up a lot of players to be DEs for the Cowboys? The 246. Dee Ford?

Tough to say. I think height is overrated. Guys like Mathis and Dumervil have played in both schemes, and been extremely successful. But it seems the Cowboys scouts certainly value raw measurables such as height especially for DE's even though I don't agree with it. I don't know if that will prevent them from drafting a guy like Dee Ford.

In the past it has, but maybe it'll change with the changes in the scouting department.

 

[xwalker]

Tough to say. I think height is overrated. Guys like Mathis and Dumervil have played in both schemes, and been extremely successful. But it seems the Cowboys scouts certainly value raw measurables such as height especially for DE's even though I don't agree with it. I don't know if that will prevent them from drafting a guy like Dee Ford.

In the past it has, but maybe it'll change with the changes in the scouting department.

I'm curious about the Cowboys/Marinelli's take on short DEs. The DEs in Chicago were very tall. Simeon Rice in Tampa Bay was tall. Most of the guys the Cowboys have brought in are tall with long arms. Guys like Selvie, arRayford, etc..

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I'm curious about the Cowboys/Marinelli's take on short DEs. The DEs in Chicago were very tall. Simeon Rice in Tampa Bay was tall. Most of the guys the Cowboys have brought in are tall with long arms. Guys like Selvie, arRayford, etc..

He likes his DE's to be bigger from what I can tell. If you look at his DE's in the past, he likes them to be a bit bigger. The exception to that would be Spires. He was both shorter and liter but then again, the Bucs were trying to replace Spires for forever, seems like.

 

[dantheman41]

Taylor Lewan (Michigan) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent size. Excellent with his hands in using them to sustain blocks and keep runners in front of him. Excellent feet, moves really well and gets into his stance really quick. Excellent at getting out in space. Excellent athlete. Nice job of getting in front of screens and timing them well. Excellent in the running game, clears the lane really well.

Negatives: Don't see the mean streak. Struggles in pass protection at times against good quick inside moves, or rushers with violent hands. Has a tendency to collect a lot of penalties.

How he could fit on this team: Tackle

Overall feeling: Good player. Little raw in pass protection, but was really impressed with his run blocking. Gets down the field, and is excellent in space. Needs to learn to use technique better in pass protection. Has the physical abilities needs a little coaching up.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Taylor Lewan (Michigan) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent size. Excellent with his hands in using them to sustain blocks and keep runners in front of him. Excellent feet, moves really well and gets into his stance really quick. Excellent at getting out in space. Excellent athlete. Nice job of getting in front of screens and timing them well. Excellent in the running game, clears the lane really well.

Negatives: Don't see the mean streak. Struggles in pass protection at times against good quick inside moves, or rushers with violent hands. Has a tendency to collect a lot of penalties.

How he could fit on this team: Tackle

Overall feeling: Good player. Little raw in pass protection, but was really impressed with his run blocking. Gets down the field, and is excellent in space. Needs to learn to use technique better in pass protection. Has the physical abilities needs a little coaching up.

I love this player and I absolutely disagree about the evaluation on his ability to play nasty. He does play nasty and I like that about him. I believe that this kid has the same type of physical talent Fisher had last year. He will not be the top pick in this draft but if you could get this kid at say 10 or lower, and let me tell you the Giants are watching this guy from what I hear, he would be a steal IMO. I absolutely love this guy.

 

[Alexander]

I love this player and I absolutely disagree about the evaluation on his ability to play nasty. He does play nasty and I like that about him. I believe that this kid has the same type of physical talent Fisher had last year. He will not be the top pick in this draft but if you could get this kid at say 10 or lower, and let me tell you the Giants are watching this guy from what I hear, he would be a steal IMO. I absolutely love this guy.

He is a very aggressive player. Agreed wholeheartedly.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Getting revenge on a michigan state player is one aggressive play. I don't know if he is aggressive like that the majority of his playing time or if it just became cliche to say because of that play and some of his off the field idiot moments.

 

[Oh_Canada]

He likes his DE's to be bigger from what I can tell. If you look at his DE's in the past, he likes them to be a bit bigger. The exception to that would be Spires. He was both shorter and liter but then again, the Bucs were trying to replace Spires for forever, seems like.

Spot on-rare to see him chase smaller ends, got a feeling Kareem Martin, the Urban kid and Crichton will be high on his list.

 

[Muhast]

Loucheiz Purifoy (Florida) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent size and length. Excellent physical tools. Extremely athletic, and excellent closing speed. Good blitzer. Good special teams player. Huge ceiling. Has the physical upside of Patrick Peterson, but like Peterson very raw coming out.

Negatives: Has had off the field issues. Very raw in his technique and coverage ability.

How he could fit on this team: He could play either outside corner spot, and can probably play in the slot as well.

Overall feeling: Sky is the limit for this kid. Probably has the highest ceiling of all the corners. But need to dig deep on his off the field issues. Needs to be refined in his technique. But like Patrick Peterson, with the proper coaching it doesn't need to take long.

I liked reading most of your reviews, I think you do a great job. This one, however, I disagree with completely. He isn't even close to a Patrick Peterson type of player. He had basically zero production over his college career. He is a horrible tackler. Absolutely horrible. 2 interceptions and 12 pass deflections over 3 years. And after his combine outing, he will be lucky to go in the first 4 rounds in my opinion.

 

[dantheman41]

I liked reading most of your reviews, I think you do a great job. This one, however, I disagree with completely. He isn't even close to a Patrick Peterson type of player. He had basically zero production over his college career. He is a horrible tackler. Absolutely horrible. 2 interceptions and 12 pass deflections over 3 years. And after his combine outing, he will be lucky to go in the first 4 rounds in my opinion.

I wrote this before the combine. I don't think I was in the minority on this player... Lot of guys had pinned as 1st round player. Has very rare physical abilities. You can ask anyone around him at Florida and they will tell you same things.

Patrick Peterson is not a great corner either. He's a great athlete and football player. He is way overrated as far as his coverage ability. Patrick Peterson is a joke as a tackler! Had 3 tackles all year I believe

 

[Muhast]

I wrote this before the combine. I don't think I was in the minority on this player... Lot of guys had pinned as 1st round player. Has very rare physical abilities. You can ask anyone around him at Florida and they will tell you same things.

Patrick Peterson is not a great corner either. He's a great athlete and football player. He is way overrated as far as his coverage ability. Patrick Peterson is a joke as a tackler! Had 3 tackles all year I believe

So where do you see him now?

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Thank you for these reviews. Very appreciative of all the work you have put in.

 

[dantheman41]

So where do you see him now?

Pro day is going to be huge for him. Probably more of a 2nd to 3rd player

 

[Muhast]

Pro day is going to be huge for him. Probably more of a 2nd to 3rd player

Hmm interesting. Thanks again for your reviews!

 

[dantheman41]

Zach Martin (Notre Dame) Scouting Report

Positives: Does a really nice job in the run game. Sustains and finishes blocks. Allows very little movement against strong and stout defenders. Very hard worker. Excellent in zone blocking systems. Picks up blitzes with ease. A technician, uses excellent technique. Has the strength to easily kick inside. Has the frame to add more size. Played really good against good opponents, such as Sutton and at senior bowl. Position flex. Really smart player.

Negatives: Little experience in man blocking schemes. Has trouble 1 on 1 against overly athletic or quick ends. Has shorter arms then usual for tackles.

How he could fit on this team: Can play either inside or outside.

Overall feeling: Love the player. At tackle, I think he is a small step down from Lewan, but at guard he could be elite. He will be good at whatever position they use him at. Much better player then Pugh last year. Excellent fit in the zone scheme.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Ra'Shede Hageman (Minnesota) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent excellent size! Explosive for a man his size. Very powerful. Uses his length well in disturbing passes. Position flex. Takes on a lot of double teams. Very high ceiling. Uses his raw skill well in the run game.

Negatives: Very raw pass rusher. Needs to develop more of a skill set. The only rush he has is his bull rush. Needs to learn how to use leverage more. Does not make enough plays for my liking. Has a hard time getting off blocks, needs to learn how to use his hands more effectively. Plays too upright.
How he could fit on this team: I would use him as a 1 tech in this scheme.

Overall feeling: Like him as a 1 tech. He has the measurables, but is the most raw of the DT's I have reviewed. Has a huge ceiling but needs to be refined in his pass rush ability. Has bust potential as well. If he got drafted by the Cowboys, Marinelli could develop him greatly. Be a really nice scenario for him, and I think he could reach his ceiling and be a dominant player. Reminds me of Brockers a little. Lengthy player with great size, but very raw. Excellent against the raw, but pass rush ability needs to be refined.

Early on I wrote this guy off as being more of a 3-4 based off of scouting reports and size. Now that I start to see film on the guy , I think he could be a sleeper pick for Dallas. Monster of a man who is athletic enough to play multiple position. I have only saw limited snaps from him so let me know if I'm wrong, but his biggest weakness seems to be the double team. Often shoots the gap and doesn't seem to actually recognize the double team coming, and just tries to power though it. For that reason I'm hesitant to put him every down at the 1 tech. Still though I think he could spell Melton, play passing downs as the 1tech, be a force on goal line/short yardage, and some creativity used to get him in the game. With a weak LB group, If we do go with Donald/Hageman I could see a lot of 5 man fronts. You put Selvie - Hageman - Bass - Melton - Crawford heads up on each lineman and hope they can get to the qb. They can't double team everyone.

 

[xwalker]

Early on I wrote this guy off as being more of a 3-4 based off of scouting reports and size. Now that I start to see film on the guy , I think he could be a sleeper pick for Dallas. Monster of a man who is athletic enough to play multiple position. I have only saw limited snaps from him so let me know if I'm wrong, but his biggest weakness seems to be the double team. Often shoots the gap and doesn't seem to actually recognize the double team coming, and just tries to power though it. For that reason I'm hesitant to put him every down at the 1 tech. Still though I think he could spell Melton, play passing downs as the 1tech, be a force on goal line/short yardage, and some creativity used to get him in the game. With a weak LB group, If we do go with Donald/Hageman I could see a lot of 5 man fronts. You put Selvie - Hageman - Bass - Melton - Crawford heads up on each lineman and hope they can get to the qb. They can't double team everyone.

His weaknesses are all mental. I don't think many people question his physical ability.

 

[starfrombirth]

I agree. Only DT I take before him would be Donald

I must see something different when I watch tape than you about donald. Thanks for the website by the way. I watched him against FSU and Georgia Tech and although he made a few plays, I was constantly seeing him run himself or spin himself out of plays. He would frequently spin in front on the guard and lose site of the ball or jump the gap and have the rb run right past him. He seems slow footed to me as well. He does penetrate and I can see as that being his hallmark but...... I see a good player but not enough to warrant all the rave reviews

 

[starfrombirth]

That site was very bad for me. I went back and reviewed a larger sample size of some of the players I've been spouting my mouth off and I might have to eat a little crow. I still don't see the rave about Donald (maybe just my untrained judgemental eye) but I used to think he wasn't as good as Jernigen. I was wrong! They both have different strengths to be sure but yeah Donald isn't that bad and Jernigen isn't that good as I've believed. Donald is much more disruptive (the only team I could compare apples-apples was georgia tech) but Jernigen was MUCH better against the run. Jernigen was not nearly as much in the backfield tho. I'm not seeing what you guys are seeing about Hagemon either. Could you help me out? I saw a guy that was routinely handled one vs one and little to no penetration. I was expecting much more. Like I said, this site might have been very bad for me thanks for all the work you did.