Film Review of 2014 Draft Class

[dantheman41]

I agree with the compliments you have been getting and think a sticky thread is deserved.

Thanks guys I appreciate it! I don't want to just 'like' based off of what I read and others say. I want to have a specific idea of what each player can do for the cowboys. So any mock drafts, or viewpoints I have on what this team should do, will go based off of what I see on tape.

 

[visionary]

Great great thread
thanx for doing all this work

 

[dantheman41]

Marcus Smith (Louisville) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent hand use. Very violent at the point of attack with his hands. Has an explosive get off. Tends to find where there is a hole open. Excellent motor. He goes 100% every play. Very athletic. Made several BIG plays for their defense in critical times of the game. Excellent pursuit. Does not get fooled. Forces fumbles.

Negatives: Does not have ideal length and height for a DE. Likes to rush standing up. Has difficulty shedding blocks in the running game. Does not win with power.

How he could fit on this team: Scheme versatile. Used in coverage a lot for Louisville. 3-4 teams might target him. I thought he could do just fine as a DE for this team on either side.

Overall feeling: WOW! What a pleasant surprise. Favorite player I have watched so far on tape. Gets penetration almost every time he rushes. He has all the tools to be a premier rusher. It didn't matter where he was, and who he went up against. Love love love this kid. Hope this team doesn't write him off because of his height.

 

[dantheman41]

Stephon Tuitt (Notre Dame) Scouting Report

Positives: Stout at the point of attack. Powerful lower body. Excellent measurables, size, length. Takes on multiple blocks almost every play. Very good in the running game. Bats down a lot of throws.

Negatives: I don't see an explosive football player. Struggles to get off blocks. Not a very good pass rusher.

How he could fit on this team: I don't see a fit. Too big to be a DE in this scheme, and not explosive enough. With his size, I would see him being more of a 3-4 DE.

Overall feeling: Not a fan at all. I was excited to watch him, but came out very disappointed. Do not see this team taking a liking to him at all.

 

[tm1119]

Stephon Tuitt Scouting Report

Positives: Stout at the point of attack. Powerful lower body. Excellent measurables, size, length. Takes on multiple blocks almost every play. Very good in the running game. Bats down a lot of throws.

Negatives: I don't see an explosive football player. Struggles to get off blocks. Not a very good pass rusher.
How he could fit on this team: I don't see a fit. Too big to be a DE in this scheme, and not explosive enough. With his size, I would see him being more of a 3-4 DE.

Overall feeling: Not a fan at all. I was excited to watch him, but came out very disappointed. Do not see this team taking a liking to him at all.

Out of curiosity, what ND games did you watch?

 

[dantheman41]

From this year USC and Rutgers. Last year Stanford. Really am not impressed with him. Why you like him?

 

[JBS]

Could you please add the schools these guys play for?

Don't want to be a pain, but I'm sure as you go along, a lot of these guys I won't know just yet..sorry... Don't hate me lol

 

[dantheman41]

Ben Gardner (Stanford) Scouting Report

Positives: Really persistent player. Saw multiple occasions her splitting double teams. Extremely hard working, never gives up on plays. Surprisingly quick off the snap. Very smart player. Versatile, moves all over the defensive line. Never fooled on option plays. Wins in a lot of different ways. Really good special teams player for Stanford too.

Negatives: Coming off serious arm injury. Not great measurables, size or length.
How he could fit on this team: I see him as a strong side end in this scheme. Has the size to even move inside on passing downs.

Overall feeling: Glad I checked him out! Really like him. Reminds me of Rob Ninkovich with the Patriots. Wins in a lot different ways. Scrappy player. Plays with chip on his shoulder. Just a guy you want on your team. Just a flat out football player, like Dwayne Harris. Don't see a HUGE difference with him and his Stanford teammate Murphy.

 

[dantheman41]

Could you please add the schools these guys play for?

Don't want to be a pain, but I'm sure as you go along, a lot of these guys I won't know just yet..sorry... Don't hate me lol

Sure! No problem.

 

[JBS]

This thread is awesome. Great work

 

[dantheman41]

Kareem Martin (North Carolina) Scouting Report

Positives: Good explosion, but not great. Excellent closing speed in pursuit. Excellent length, hard to get away from him. All the measurables you can ever want.

Negatives: Not great motor. Seems to lose interest if initially blocked. Plays half speed WAY too much. Struggles to get off blocks. Doesn't have the quickness you want from an edge rusher. Doesn't convert speed to power well. Gets no push in his power rush.

How he could fit on this team: Defensive end in this scheme.

Overall feeling: Very raw and unrefined at all. He is a boom or bust type project. If you just look at his body on tape, he looks almost identical to JPP. Same body type. I just don't see the power or the explosiveness of JPP. Is that because he is still too raw, or just doesn't have it? Not sure. Just does not make enough plays for me on tape. Too high a risk for me.

 

[dantheman41]

Demarcus Lawrence (Boise State) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent explosion off the snap. Good length. Really good swim move. Good motor. Runs full speed every play. Excellent pursuit.

Negatives: Never seen a player get so manhandled at times. Needs to do some serious strength training and bulk. On the ground a lot. Cannot win with power by any means.

How he could fit on this team: Defensive end in this scheme.

Overall feeling: Similar to Martin in the respect that he is raw. He isn't great at anything. He has potential to get better, but nothing WOWS me with this player. He is just OK at everything. I guess the best thing you can say about him is he is explosive. Looks more like a safety then a defensive lineman.

 

[tm1119]

From this year USC and Rutgers. Last year Stanford. Really am not impressed with him. Why you like him?

He's not my favorite or anything but yeah I wouldn't mind him. I see him as a Hatcher type. Tall, long arms, and fairly quick for a man his size. Maybe it was the fact that he played outside and looked slow for a DE? I mean he did have 3.5 sacks and 3.5 TFL in the 2 games you watched from him this year.

 

[dantheman41]

He's not my favorite or anything but yeah I wouldn't mind him. I see him as a Hatcher type. Tall, long arms, and fairly quick for a man his size. Maybe it was the fact that he played outside and looked slow for a DE? I mean he did have 3.5 sacks and 3.5 TFL in the 2 games you watched from him this year.

Don't see anywhere close to the explosion that Hatcher plays with. But he is also bigger then Hatcher too. Maybe if he played at 290 and moved to the 3 tech he could be quicker and more explosive. Saw his sacks in those games to be more of coverage sacks, and one of them the QB ran right into him. Don't see a 1st round player. Don't hate but don't love

 

[Marktui]

Will Sutton and Aaron Donald are my favorites so far from the DT class. Neither have prototype size, but both are upfield type penetrators that seem to fit Marinelli's scheme.

Michael Sam is like a version of Elvis Dummerville, shorter compact guys that have speed to get the edge. I definitely like him more than Ealy. Other thing about Ealy I noticed is that he is off the field a lot. On film also it seems that Sam has a quicker get off than Ealy.

 

[dantheman41]

Haven't checked out DTs yet. But completely agree with your assessment of Sam. Love the player. Hope they don't write him off because of size

Will Sutton and Aaron Donald are my favorites so far from the DT class. Neither have prototype size, but both are upfield type penetrators that seem to fit Marinelli's scheme.

Michael Sam is like a version of Elvis Dummerville, shorter compact guys that have speed to get the edge. I definitely like him more than Ealy. Other thing about Ealy I noticed is that he is off the field a lot. On film also it seems that Sam has a quicker get off than Ealy.

 

[dantheman41]

Chris Smith (Arkansas) Scouting Report

Positives: Good power. Has a nice bull rush.

Negatives: Very little athletic ability. Not a great get off, or great athleticism. Get blown off the ball way too much. Doesn't play 100% every play. Jogs way too much in pursuit. Off the field too much for my liking.

How he could fit on this team: Defensive end in this scheme

Overall feeling: Probably the worst of all the DE's I have seen. A late round pick in my assessment. I was really struggling to find good things to say about him. Couple of the games I watched I didn't see 1 real positive play from him. Thats extremely discouraging.

 

[dantheman41]

Trevor Reilly (Utah) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent movement skills, really fluid. Used successfully in coverage a lot. Plays like a man possessed. Really fast, athletic player. Hard hitter, in a lot of piles. Excellent spin move. Has a high ceiling. Smart player. Really good against the run. Excellent instincts. Really quick to read and react. Moves around. Some games they play him as a DE, others more of a linebacker.

Negatives: Is he a disciplined player? Little all over the place. Might be more of a 3-4 outside linebacker. Lacking ideal size for a DE. Needs to add strength and doesn't play powerful enough to play defensive end. Little too overaggressive at times. Raw as a pass rusher.

How he could fit on this team: I would LOVE this player as a weak side linebacker. Exactly the guy you want lighting a fire under Bruce Carter's butt. Has the exact opposite characteristics. Plays his heart out every play. Excellent in coverage, and understands zones and drops. If he has a bad characteristic it is his overaggressiveness, which we all wish Bruce Carter had a little more of.

Overall feeling: Like the player, but I doubt this team will like him unless they think he could play the weak side linebacker. The lack of height and bulk makes drafting him unlikely as a DE. A 3-4 team that likes their rush linebackers to be used in coverage is more likely to take him. Excellent coverage skills. Really moves well in space. A team better able to use his ability to cover should take him.

 

[Leadbelly]

Marcus Smith (Louisville) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent hand use. Very violent at the point of attack with his hands. Has an explosive get off. Tends to find where there is a hole open. Excellent motor. He goes 100% every play. Very athletic. Made several BIG plays for their defense in critical times of the game. Excellent pursuit. Does not get fooled. Forces fumbles.

Negatives: Does not have ideal length and height for a DE. Likes to rush standing up. Has difficulty shedding blocks in the running game. Does not win with power.
How he could fit on this team: Scheme versatile. Used in coverage a lot for Louisville. 3-4 teams might target him. I thought he could do just fine as a DE for this team on either side.

Overall feeling: WOW! What a pleasant surprise. Favorite player I have watched so far on tape. Gets penetration almost every time he rushes. He has all the tools to be a premier rusher. It didn't matter where he was, and who he went up against. Love love love this kid. Hope this team doesn't write him off because of his height.

Marcus Smith and Michael Sam are my two favorites at the position. You're seeing exactly what I've always liked in them. Also agree with your take on Ealy…mediocre. Every time I tuned in to watch Ealy, Sam was destroying the play from LDE while Ealy was still stuck at the line. Ealy may be capable as a LDE in the pros, but those aren't 1st round guys unless you're talking about J J Watt.

I think you should possibly consider Khalil Mack as a DE for us. It will all be 2-pt stance work, but he's rushing the passer 90% of the time. He's always listed as a OLB only, but he's in the same area as Sam and Smith. He's built pretty stout. I see some potential in his frame that could max out around 265 or so. He has enough power and a strong enough base to rock back OT, whereas Anthony Barr (at roughly the same size) is pretty thin-legged and an OLB only. Mack reminds me of someone like Cameron Wake at Miami.

James Gayle is another one I like a lot, but on the strong-side only.

 

[HeavyBarrel]

Nice work, thanks for the analysis!