I hope Tommy Blake DE From Texas Christian Becomes A Cowboy

[RealCowboyfan]

This guy is going to be a steal. He is first round talent and has the potential to be another Dwight Freeney according to sportingnews. This guy is a monster. He's big and fast. Blown up 3-4 linebacker/or possible 3-4 Defense End.

Tommy Blake

Height:: 6-3
Weight:: 285
40 Yard Dash:: 4.60

Strengths: When 100 percent, is an elite prospect. Is athletic, with the quickness, speed and explosive closing burst to chase down plays all over the field. Strings out perimeter runs to his side, keeping ballcarriers inside him and breaking free to make tackles. Shows acceleration and burst to turn the corner and crush the quarterback. Fakes and freezes offensive tackles on pass rushes, and then explodes past them. Is surprisingly effective with a fast spin move, and drives blockers into the quarterback with a bull rush. Shows a rare competitive spirit, going all out on every snap.


Weaknesses: Missed a good portion of the '07 season with what has been termed "mental issues." Once he returned, was overweight and nowhere near the player he was as a junior. If unable to deal with stress that follows being an elite prospect, could crumble in the NFL spotlight. Struggles at times to shed blockers once locked up on him. Shows adequate first step off the snap.
Bottom line: Blake was an elite end for TCU in '06 and showed the athleticism to possibly play linebacker in a 3-4. He was a surefire top-five overall pick before this season, but his struggles on and off the field in '07 will keep him from being selected anywhere near that high. If he straightens himself out, Blake has Dwight Freeney-like potential. However, there are red flags -- a la Dimitrius Underwood -- that he likely will slip into the fifth round.

 

[MonsterD]

He has serious, serious, I mean Alonzo Spellman/Demetrius Underwood issues.

Edit: or Issac Hilton the guy who had talent but peed himself during his combine.


I wouldn't mind if we picked him up as a URFA and got a team of psychologists to evaluate him.

 

[TheCount]

Mental issues? Those are the worst kind of issues.

 

[Big Dakota]

Wing Nut, nuff said.

 

[CantonBound08]

It is sad really. I hope it is nothing major. I thought I read earlier this year where he had battled depression (not that depression isn't major). However, I would think that depression wouldn't be as bad as say...bi-polar.

 

[speedkilz88]

Strictly an OLB in the 3-4, the write up evens mentions that he was overweight at 285 and wasn't the same player. He needs to get down in the 260 area probably.

 

[Paniolo22]

It was either Bi-Polar or that fear of the public thing that Ricky Williams had. Whichever it was, 6th round or later would be fine.

 

[joseephuss]

Strictly an OLB in the 3-4, the write up evens mentions that he was overweight at 285 and wasn't the same player. He needs to get down in the 260 area probably.

That is what I was thinking. He is not big enough to be DE in the 3-4. Is he athletic enough to be a OLB in the 3-4? He seems comparable to Ellis. I like Ellis and what he brings to the team, but he has some limitations of what he does out in space.

 

[sago1]

If he's got mental issues, he'll be lucky to get drafted at all. More likely Cowboys know all about him & could draft him real late or sign him as an undrafted rookie -- that's if Cowboys want to spend time on him.

 

[big dog cowboy]

If we end up with some extra 6th's or 7th's I'd take a shot at this guy.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Wow....he does seem awesome. ....but, where do we put him?

 

[Woods]

If we end up with some extra 6th's or 7th's I'd take a shot at this guy.

Yes, that's what I was thinking.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Ex-TCU DE Blake trying to bounce back


07:29 PM CST on Thursday, March 6, 2008


Rick Gosselin
• E-mail

FORT WORTH – Tommy Blake probably would have been a first-round draft pick had he decided to skip his senior season at TCU and enter the 2007 NFL draft.

In hindsight, Blake probably should have. A year later, he may not be a first-day NFL draft pick.

Blake was once one of the most feared pass rushers in college, leading the Mountain West in sacks and tackles for loss in 2006. He was the conference's defensive player of the year in 2005 and the preseason choice for the same honor in 2007.

But Blake bolted the team last August and wound up missing five games with an undisclosed leave of absence that no one at TCU seems to want to discuss.


Getty Images
TCU DE Tommy Blake led the Mountain West in sacks and tackles for loss in 2006. "It was a problem between myself and my family, and I needed some time to deal with it," Blake said. "I dealt with it."

But Blake didn't appear ready to play when he finally hit the field last fall. He returned heavy and played slow, collecting only four sacks. He was invited to the East-West Shrine Game and checked in at 287 pounds. He played as a junior in the 255-260 range.

But Blake took his first step toward rebuilding his draft stock at TCU's pro day Thursday when he showed up weighing 272 pounds and ran his 40-yard dashes in the upper 4.7s.

"There are still a lot of question marks from the way his season went last year," said Hall of Famer Joe Greene, who scouts for the Pittsburgh Steelers. "If the ball clubs can answer those questions, he probably didn't lose any ground. But if they can't answer those questions, it's going to hurt [him]."

With the NFL placing a greater premium on character these days, Blake will be examined under a microscope by teams in this draft process. But he doesn't seem worried about it.

"Football is football," he said. "If you can play, you can play."

Blake will find out on draft day if the NFL subscribes to that same philosophy.

-------------------------------

The mysterious Tommy Blake

8:25 PM Thu, Mar 06, 2008 | Permalink
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips

Hall of Fame scribe Rick "Goose" Gosselin went to TCU's pro day to try to find out a little bit more about pass-rusher Tommy Blake.

Blake went from a projected first-round pick to a mystery when he left the Horned Frogs in August for undisclosed reasons. He returned to the team but missed five games and wasn't anything close to the force that he was as a junior.

He returned heavy and played slow, collecting only four sacks. He was invited to the East-West Shrine Game and checked in at 287 pounds. He played as a junior in the 255-260 range.
But Blake took his first step toward rebuilding his draft stock at TCU's pro day Thursday when he showed up weighing 272 pounds and ran his 40-yard dashes in the upper 4.7s.

"There are still a lot of question marks from the way his season went last year," said Hall of Famer Joe Greene, who scouts for the Pittsburgh Steelers. "If the ball clubs can answer those questions, he probably didn't lose any ground. But if they can't answer those questions, it's going to hurt [him]."


OLB, which Blake would play for a 3-4 team, isn't a need position for the Cowboys. DeMarcus Ware should be a monster for years, 2007 first-round pick Anthony Spencer showed potential as Greg Ellis' injury replacement/backup last season, and SMU product Justin Rogers is a project who produces on special teams.

But the Cowboys might want to take a chance on Blake if he slides into the second day of the draft. They liked LT Doug Free enough to draft him in the fourth round last season, and Blake dominated Free in TCU's Poinsettia Bowl rout of Northern Illinois.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

While I detest these absurd pre-draft comparisons like "the next Freeney" , Blake does have tons of talent and would be perfect for a 34 team. That 285 in this writeup is way off -- that's his ballooned-up obese weight. He was about 250 to 255 at TCU, which makes him too small for a 43 team anyway.

But as already said, he has bigtime issues. Maybe a team like the Cowboys with all its resources could be the team to help him out, and maybe it would help him to be relatively close to his Texas gulf coast home. But you still can't use a very high pick on him, because he could wipe out completely.

Still... His talent as even a part-time passrusher would be awesome to have.

 

[THUMPER]

I would not mind spending a late round pick on the guy (4th or later depending on how he checks out) but would like to see him go through a lot more psychological evaluation before the draft. We are not really in need of another OLB but you can never have enough good pass rushers. He would be a project player.

 

[YosemiteSam]

If this guys slips to the second day, he would be a steal. More of a steal than Canty was in the fourth round. Of course, he had issues. The question is, can he keep his head on straight. The Cowboys have put a pretty good player support group in place and rightfully so after all the issues they had and the troubled players they have brought in.

If he falls into the second day, I think it would be foolish not to take him. It would allow us to keep a very good rotation. If you liked the "Cowboy defense" that Wade employed last year with Ware, Ellis and Spencer on the field at the same time. This guy would take Ellis' place in the near future.

 

[hendog]

I would definitely take a 2nd day flier on him.

 

[jterrell]

He is apparently bi-polar and I would stay away... far, far away because that just never seems to end well. The football lifestyle is a horrid place for someone who is bi-polar as the ups and downs are already incredibly intense... just ask ex-TCU center Barrett Robbins.

 

[David276]

he is a beast i have a few friends that go there. yet he will probably get selected in the early second round or first. another lb in the early rounds again?!?!


haha if every fan of a texas team had their way the cowboys would be starting next year Roy Williams(det), Limas sweed,jamal charles, Ricky williams, Leonard davis, Wes Welker, Justin blalock, half of the texas players that defected to OU . adrian peterson, mike williams, cedric benson as a fullback, vince young would be romos back up ,derrick johnson, Aaron Ross, micheal griffin, huff from oakland. Red Bryant. Force Micheal Crabtree to declare early somehow. tommy blake, zach thomas, ect mixed in with farve pacman jones and darren mcfadden to solidify that rb position. barber would be in there somewhere.

 

[IronCowboy]

Everyone has issues, especially when your in your early 20s. You start turning into a man at that age.

Cut the kid some slack, we dont have very many needs, so whats wrong with wasting a 4th or 5th round pick on a guy who was a Top-15 pick before he fell off the map with mental issues.