junk;2002504 said:
Go back and reads Parcells comments on Gurode and the center position and see if you still feel the same way.
Where do you see Sullivan rated as "solid 2nd round prospect"? Granted, it's all a crap shoot because guys will go in unexpected areas, but I don't think he's a high second round prospect.
So, why reach for a lesser player in 1?
I kind of already explained this in previous posts. In a nut shell, Sullivan is the most complete Center Prospect in this draft.
Parcells comments with respects to Gurode, prior to 2006 were not favorable. In a nut shell, he basically said that Gurode needs to wake up and smell the coffee. The people he was immulating and basically surrounding himself with were doing no favors for him. They were cut and so, Gurode had a chance to win the job at Center, based on our needs at the time. Keep in mind that we had just signed Marco Rivera and we still had Larry Allen on the roster at Guard. The only logical place for Gurode to compete was at Center with Johnson, who was not what we really wanted at Center to begin with. He was fine in his technique but he simply could not provide push or even prevent bigger DTs from pushing him back into the pocket. Al, IMO, was never the answer for us at Center.
Eventually, Gurode won out in that battle but this really says nothing about Gurode and what he may or may not be able to do at Guard.
As far as Sullivan is concerned, I can not post the content verbatum but I can provide a summary of how he is evaluated according to the Huddle.
Amoung his positives are listed the following: He has the physical tools to start in any scheme, against any defense. Strong enough to hold at the point of attack against bigger DTs/NTs. Powerful enough, explosive enough to create holes, to get to the next level of the block (LBs). Quick enough to Pull or Trap, and snaps well out of the shotgun. I know that some sites list this as a problem for Sullivan but if you watched ND football, I don't think he has issues with this. It's more a statement of recent QBs at ND. I think you really have to take a good look at the talent level Sullivan was playing with at Notre Dame. It's a mistake to evaluate him on what the team around him did. You have to look at how he played individually. He dominated the people he played against. John Sullivan was graded fairly highly in past years. This last year, he was not graded very highly and I think that it has more to do with the team's performance then what he actually did. Sullivan did not get worse, as time went on. The team got worse and so, it reflects on Sullivan. The only real knock listed with Sullivan is his strength. Even that is really not a knock. It just says that he has to get stronger and that this will eventually help him to become a Pro Bowl type Center at the next level.
His graded out as a 2nd Round pick at Huddle. Personally, as many here know, I put stock in what this publication thinks. I would also add that I've watched Sullivan play and I did not see a player who was subpar by any stretch.
As I said earlier, Center is not a position that is normally graded out as a 1st round pick. I mean, Nick Mangale is probably the best Center prospect to come out in a very long time and he was graded as a 2nd round pick by most publications last year. Doesn't have anything to do with his talent. Has to do with the fact that he played Center. Having said that, he was still taken in the first round by the Jets and he has played well.
Keep in mind that Sullivan played with, for the most part, no returning starters. Most were 1st year starters or guys who had started some games but were not clear cut starters on the OL. Think back to our own OL issues in the early part of the decade. Larry Allen was a good player but nobody looked very good when we were plugging in guys who should not have been starting for us.
