Film Review of 2014 Draft Class

[dantheman41]

Shamar Stephen (UConn) Scouting Report

Positives: Does a nice job of using leverage to bull rush people. Plays with a lot of power. Has excellent size and length. Uses his hands well to get off blocks. Good player against the run and the pass. Nice array of pass rush moves.

Negatives: Not an athletic, explosive player.

How he could fit on this team: 1 tech

Overall feeling: Wow pleasant surprise. Really liked the player, very disruptive for a man his size. Could be a nice find, but I am not sure he fits the mold of an up the field explosive player for this team. I would take him in the middle rounds if available.

 

[dantheman41]

Eathyn Manumaleauna (BYU) Scouting Report

Positives: Very active, hard working player. Has a great deal of power. Excellent at shedding blocks in the running game. Excellent defending the run.

Negatives: Cannot get off blocks rushing the passer. Generates little if any pass rush. Not an athlete. Not explosive or quick twitch. Not a play maker.

How he could fit on this team: 1 tech, but he might be better suited at a nose tackle in a 3-4. Does his best work lining up over the center.

Overall feeling: Decent player, not bad. Not worth getting excited about either. A solid, rotational guy in the NFL. There's a spot for him somewhere, but probably not on this team.

 

[dantheman41]

Christian Kirksey (Iowa) Scouting Report

Positives: Always around the ball. Smooth moving athlete. Tracks the ball down really well. Very effective when used in coverage. Saw him even cover receivers across the field. Really fast player. Very aggressive player. Nice job getting off blocks.

Negatives: Needs to put on a little weight, and spend some more time in weight room.

How he could fit on this team: Weak side linebacker

Overall feeling: This guy could be a steal. Really like him! I would love to see him compete with Bruce Carter for the starting gig. I think he has all the traits and characteristics to be good in the NFL.

 

[robert70x7]

Ethan Westbrooks

 

[tm1119]

I'll leave this here since there isn't going to be much to review on him, but I really like Jordan Tripp from Montana as a mid round prospect. 4-3 LB seems to be very thin this year and he could be an interesting guy to take without investing a premium pick.

 

[dantheman41]

Chris Borland (Wisconsin) Scouting Report

Positives: Plays with a lot of power and strength. Excellent blitzer, and has a knack for getting to the QB. Real low center of gravity. Excellent motor. Very active. Smart football player. Always around the ball. Good in his drops in zone coverage.

Negatives: Lacking ideal height. Don't see great side to side quickness. Does not have the athleticism, instincts or the side to side speed of Kuechly or Lee. Does not have the speed to cover drag or crossing routes. Gets way behind the receiver. Whiffs on a lot of ankle tackles.

How he could fit on this team: Middle linebacker

Overall feeling: Good football player. I don't love him as much as I thought I would. Lot of buzz on this kid. I wouldn't draft him in the first 2 rounds. More a 3 or 4th round guy to me. Don't see an ELITE player, but a solid player.

 

[dantheman41]

CJ Mosley (Alabama) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent in space. Really good in coverage, saw him cover receivers and tight ends excellent. Always around the ball. Does excellent job of getting his hands on the ball in coverage. A smart football player and knows exactly where he needs to be. Excellent play recognition, knows exactly what QB is going to do before the snap. Excellent, violent tackler. When he sees it, hits it quick! Excellent straight line speed. Plays stronger and bigger then his size. Leader on the field.

Negatives: Difficult time getting off blocks. Tends to get overmatched physically and thrown around a lot. Don't see great side to side speed, or catch up speed.

How he could fit on this team: Could play either the mike or the weak side.

Overall feeling: Like him a lot. Don't LOVE, but I think he is good in every area. Fundamentally sound, good against the run and in coverage. He is a play maker. I see him getting a lot of interceptions at the next level. Tends to get his hands on a lot of balls. I would be OK with them taking him in the 1st round. Would be an upgrade from Bruce Carter, better all around football player. Not nearly as gifted physically though.

 

[dantheman41]

Shayne Skov (Stanford) Scouting Report

Positives: Big, strong physical linebacker who can really move. Excellent tackler, always gets ball carrier on the ground. Really good size. Does a nice job of getting off blocks. High motor guy. Makes a lot of tackles. Really good side to side speed. Tracks and runs down ball carriers.

Negatives: Did not see used in a coverage a lot, worries me.

How he could fit on this team: I would play him either at Mike or Strong side linebacker in this scheme. Has the ability to play either.

Overall feeling: Really really good football player. Really like this kid. Hard to find negative about him. Does everything really well. This kid deserves more hype then he's getting. What a pleasant surprise. I don't see a huge discrepancy between him and Mosley. Much better to me then Borland.

 

[tm1119]

Shayne Skov (Stanford) Scouting Report

Positives: Big, strong physical linebacker who can really move. Excellent tackler, always gets ball carrier on the ground. Really good size. Does a nice job of getting off blocks. High motor guy. Makes a lot of tackles. Really good side to side speed. Tracks and runs down ball carriers.

Negatives: Did not see used in a coverage a lot, worries me.

How he could fit on this team: I would play him either at Mike or Strong side linebacker in this scheme. Has the ability to play either.

Overall feeling: Really really good football player. Really like this kid. Hard to find negative about him. Does everything really well. This kid deserves more hype then he's getting. What a pleasant surprise. I don't see a huge discrepancy between him and Mosley. Much better to me then Borland.

He definitely needs to be high on the board our 2nd round pick. He's the kiko Alonzo of this draft class. Very underrated mlb

 

[dantheman41]

Yarwin Smallwood (UConn) Scouting Report

Positives: Really excellent size and length. Nice job of using his long arms to get off blocks. Excellent straight line speed. His length really helps him in coverage. Hard to get the edge on him because of his combination of straight line speed and length.

Negatives: Not a real smooth, fluid athlete. Plays too upright. Does not always take the best angles. Falls for the fake a lot. Does not possess great quickness, or a great first step. Not a great form, wrap up tackler.

How he could fit on this team: Middle linebacker

Overall feeling: Good player with high upside, but not in love. Taking a smaller school player is always risky. Call me crazy but I like Skov better. Doesn't probably have the upside of Smallwood, but is a more sure thing.

 

[dantheman41]

He definitely needs to be high on the board our 2nd round pick. He's the kiko Alonzo of this draft class. Very underrated mlb

I am shocked how good this kid is. LOVED him.

 

[Leadbelly]

I think Skov will be very popular with 3-4 teams looking for an ILB.

Really wish Dallas was still one of them.

 

[xwalker]

Kelcy Quarles (South Carolina) Scouting Report

Positives: Excellent length and size. Nice job of timing the snap count and getting off quick.

Negatives: Not a good motor. Cannot get off blocks at all. Not athletic or explosive. Not a smart football player. Presents zero pass rushing ability whatsover. Clumsy, and not a smooth athlete.

How he could fit on this team: Probably has the size to be either 1 or 3.

Overall feeling: Very disappointing. Don't see a good football player at all. Saw make very few plays, especially considering he was lining up next to best defensive player in the country.

I don't get this assessment. He had 9.5 sacks this season. He looks good in the game footage that I've seen.

 

[xwalker]

Louis Nix III (Notre Dame) Scouting Report

Positives: Powerful use of hands. Excellent swim move. Powerful man. Very lean for a guy his size. Does a good job of filling holes in the run game.

Negatives: Off the field too much for my linking. Not a 3 down player. Not explosive enough. Generates little in the pass rush department. Too often gets handled by 1 guy. On the ground way too much.

How he could fit on this team: 1 tech.

Overall feeling: Not a fan. Not what this team needs. Generates little pass rush, and do not seem a disruptive football player. Have a hard time believing this guy is a 1st round player. Just do not see what the big fuss is all about. The good news is I doubt the team goes this direction because he is not the up the field explosive guy the team is looking for.

I don't understand this analysis either. I was surprised at how much he was in the backfield. Against the run, most teams appear to run away from him.

I doubt if he is a Marinelli type DT, but he's about as quick and disruptive against the pass as any 330+ DT that I've seen.

 

[dantheman41]

I don't understand this analysis either. I was surprised at how much he was in the backfield. Against the run, most teams appear to run away from him.

I doubt if he is a Marinelli type DT, but he's about as quick and disruptive against the pass as any 330+ DT that I've seen.

Sorry don't agree. Even scouts I talk to said he wasn't the player this year that he was in 2012. Maybe I should have watched 2012 tape but didn't see it this year

 

[dantheman41]

I don't get this assessment. He had 9.5 sacks this season. He looks good in the game footage that I've seen.

Don't see an explosive player.. Would expect a player lining up next to clowney to have those kinda numbers

I don't get this assessment. He had 9.5 sacks this season. He looks good in the game footage that I've seen.

I watched 3 games on him. I look beyond the numbers. To me those numbers are expected for a player lining up next to Clowney all year. Clowney gets all the attention on him from opposing offenses.

I may be wrong, I just was not at all impressed with him. Not a quick twitch guy at all. I invite you to watch a few games on him, and still tell me you really like him.

 

[dantheman41]

I don't get this assessment. He had 9.5 sacks this season. He looks good in the game footage that I've seen.

By the way, I was trying to look for those salary cap numbers that you broke down in one of the forums... Can you tell me those numbers on how easily the cowboys can be over $10 million under the cap?

 

[xwalker]

By the way, I was trying to look for those salary cap numbers that you broke down in one of the forums... Can you tell me those numbers on how easily the cowboys can be over $10 million under the cap?

The following is based on:
Restructure Romo, Carr, Witten and Lee.
Cut Ware in March (a restructure would actually free up more, but push 11M into the future).
Make Austin a June 1st cut.

Total Active Contracts $102,379,487

Dead Money $11,809,439

Total Cap Hits $114,188,926

Salary Cap with 2013 rollover $127,915,619

Amount Available $13,726,693


Contract # Player Cap Hit
1 Tony Romo $11,737,000
2 DeMarcus Ware $8,571,500
3 Brandon Carr $7,139,500
4 Jason Witten $5,378,250
5 Miles Austin $2,749,400
6 Sean Lee $3,684,000
7 Orlando Scandrick $6,601,250
8 Doug Free $6,520,000
9 Morris Claiborne $4,435,773
10 Kyle Orton $4,377,500
11 Mackenzy Bernadeau $4,074,166
12 Tyron Smith $3,976,031
13 Dez Bryant $3,148,500
14 Jermey Parnell $1,833,334
15 Phil Costa $1,725,000
16 Travis Frederick $1,561,370
17 Bruce Carter $1,544,645
18 Barry Church $1,500,000
19 Justin Durant $1,450,000
20 LP Ladouceur $1,005,000
21 Gavin Escobar $956,931
22 DeMarco Murray $946,094
23 Tyrone Crawford $733,813
24 Everette Brown $730,000
25 Nick Hayden $730,000
26 Corvey Irvin $730,000
27 George Selvie $730,000
28 Terrance Williams $684,868
29 Dwayne Harris $682,515
30 Kyle Wilber $679,805
31 JJ Wilcox $661,517
32 Matt Johnson $645,146
33 Martez Wilson $645,000
34 Frank Kearse $645,000
35 Sterling Moore $645,000
36 Tyler Clutts $645,000
37 B.W. Webb $605,845
38 James Hanna $596,213
39 Cole Beasley $570,500
40 Orie Lemon $570,000
41 Lance Dunbar $570,000
42 Darrion Weems $570,000
43 Joseph Randle $542,220
44 DeVonte Holloman $521,055
45 Jakar Hamilton $504,333
46 Ben Bass $500,747
47 Jeff Heath $495,666
48 Cameron Lawrence $495,000
49 Ronald Leary $495,000
50 Player #50 $420,000
51 Player #51 $420,000

 

[xwalker]

Don't see an explosive player.. Would expect a player lining up next to clowney to have those kinda numbers

I watched 3 games on him. I look beyond the numbers. To me those numbers are expected for a player lining up next to Clowney all year. Clowney gets all the attention on him from opposing offenses.

I may be wrong, I just was not at all impressed with him. Not a quick twitch guy at all. I invite you to watch a few games on him, and still tell me you really like him.

Do you think I posted without watching the player? I've watched Quarles in multiple games.

At DT is either going to get single blocked or double-teamed. Regardless of the DE, only 1 DT is going to get double-teamed. Quarles was beating the 1-on-1 blocking. If a player like Donald gets double-teamed in the NFL, he's not going to have much success. The primary concept in Marinelli's scheme is to get 1-on-1 blocking for the 3-tech which is where I would expect Quarles to play.

 

[dantheman41]

Do you think I posted without watching the player? I've watched Quarles in multiple games.

At DT is either going to get single blocked or double-teamed. Regardless of the DE, only 1 DT is going to get double-teamed. Quarles was beating the 1-on-1 blocking. If a player like Donald gets double-teamed in the NFL, he's not going to have much success. The primary concept in Marinelli's scheme is to get 1-on-1 blocking for the 3-tech which is where I would expect Quarles to play.

Thanks for the numbers. I guess we will see who is right over time. I like others a ton better for this team