There are 5 elite prospects with a chance to be there at 28

Killerinstinct

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I have been looking at all of the players and analyzing the way the draft could play out and have come up with 5 players that I think could end up being elite players that have a shot at being there at 28.

I will provide my opinion on why I believe each player is elite, why each has a shot at being there at 28. I will also make a case for selecting each and also reasons for not selecting each.

1. Tim Williams DE- He's the "War Daddy" we have a shot at. He might be the best pass rusher in the draft and to get him at 28 would be a potential coupe. Quick twitch, explosive, powerful out of the 3 point stance, agile, relentless, can bull rush and at the same time can bend around the outside. He is exactly what we need.

Why he could be there at 28. Off the field problems and linked to the green leafy stuff.

Why should we select him? Because he is exactly what we need.

Why should we not select him? He could end up in trouble like Gregory.

2. Jabrill Peppers SS- Versatile, Dynamic, elite player with blazing speed that shows up on the field that can fill multiple roles, hard hitter with tremendous instincts and closing speed. On defense Could be your starting safety. Like a missile against the run and agile enough to play man coverage. Excellent blitzer as well. On special teams one of the best kick returners in the country. You could also play him on offense a few plays a game along the lines of the Dunbar role.

Why he could be there at 28. A combination of factors. He wasn't a safety in college. There are two other elite safety's in this draft and this is a rare deep draft for safety prospects. He is unproven as a safety.

Why should we select him? He will be an elite safety that also fills other needs. This is based on projection and just seeing what an incredible athlete he is and he has the size to play safety. He could also eliminate the need to carry a 3rd RB freeing up a roster spot to carry an extra DE or other player. He could also be a kick returner although I would reserve him for situations where we really need a big return.

Why should we not select him? I think he would make an amazing safety but that has not been proven on the field. He only played 1 full year of college football and spent most of his time at LB.

3. Marlon Humphrey CB - Perfect size combined with elite speed. Proven against top competition in both man and zone coverage. Active in run support too. Has the size and length to cover tall receivers and at the same time has the blazing speed and quickness to handle the smaller speedy receivers.

Why he could be there at 28. Deep CB class Only played two years in college. Past Alabama CB's have disappointed.

Why should we select him? He is an elite player at a position of need that can play both man and zone and handle tall receivers as well as speedy receivers. He becomes your shut down corner that covers the oppositions best weapon.

Why should we not select him? This is a deep draft for CB's and we can likely land a starting caliber CB as late as the 3rd round.

4. John Ross III WR - Blazing speed and electric with the ball in his hands. Can blow the top off the defense and would create nightmares for opposing DC's. Would make every other offensive weapon we have that much better. Every time he touches the ball he is a threat to take it all the way.

Why he could be there at 28. Limited playing time in college. Injury history. Two other elite receivers rated above him and a deep WR class.

Why should we select him? He is the added dimension that takes our offense to the next level. We can avoid paying Twil the huge salary he will likely demand and receive.

Why should we not select him? Other needs are potentially more important to address and his admittedly incredible accomplishments were limited to basically one year.

5. David Njoku TE - Rare combination of Size, Speed, Agility and proper catching technique for a TE. He could be the next Gronk. He would create matchup nightmares for opposing defenses. LB's would have a horrible time trying to cover him and even safety's would have a hard time keeping up with him. Would be dangerous in the red zone with his height and leaping ability and at the same time has the athletic ability to take a screen pass to the house.

Why he could be there at 28. He has limited playing time in college and his ceiling is based on projection. Also it is rare for two tight ends to go in the 1st rd.

Why should we select him? Dangerous player that could take our offense to another level and make the transition away from Witten palpable.

Why should we not select him? Unproven ceiling. Limited time in college. With Witten still here he wouldn't likely get the playing time you would like your 1st rd pick to receive immediately.

You don't normally expect to be able to land an elite talent at 28 but here are 5 players that I believe will prove to be elite NFL players that have a shot at being at 28. Each of these players(with the exception of Williams) are leaving college early and even with limited time in college they have demonstrated that they are elite enough to be probable 1st rd picks. I don't believe any of them would be available late in the 1st if the stayed in college another year.

I enjoyed reading about each of these guys and here are a few tidbits I learned.

Jabrill Peppers was so good in High School he won the state championship at one high school his Freshman and Sophomore years. Then he moved and the school he went to won the state championship his Junior and Senior years. Dayuuumm. He was also the no 2 national recruit when he left High School. He also set the state 100 meter dash record as a high schooler.

Marlon Humphrey was a 5 star recruit from Hoover High school in Alabama and the no 1 prospect in the state. As a high School track star he won the state championship in the 60 and 400 meter dash, 60 meter hurdles and 4 by 400 meter relay. He set state records in all 4. His father was NFL running back and college track star and his mother was a college track star as well.

John Ross is said to be the fastest player in college football. We will find out at the combine but 4.25 is said to be his 40 time.

David Njoku was also a Track and field star. He was a High Jump champion and at the U of M he nailed the 2nd best high jump in U of M history at 2.09 meters. Imagine a guy his size doing that! What a weapon he could be.

ESPN ranked Tim Williams the No 1 ranked high school player In Louisiana coming out of high School.

Anyway, I believe these are the 5 players that could be there at 28 that give us a chance to land an elite player late in the 1st rd. Thanks for reading.
 

Sandyf

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Nice list, now just have to see if McClay agrees with you and those 5 guys being 1st round talent on his board where there will be only 15 to 20 guys. Like Williams but would only take a shot on him in the second through a trade down. Not a fan of Ross, just to small for me. TE is nice but unless it is Howard, not spending a 1st on a TE. Peppers could be the sleeper in the draft of 1st round guys to me, kid just makes plays. If Humphrey is available, I would be shocked but I also would run the name up to the guys to pick him.
 

rkell87

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Williams is just a weapons charge and weed right? Texas is open carry now so not a concern and weed isn't a concern to me either, most college players smoke it, my guess is a ton of NFL players do too and as long as he doesn't end up in the drug program in the NFL early on he'll be fine.


All that said I really want peppers
 

Sarge

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Williams is just a weapons charge and weed right? Texas is open carry now so not a concern and weed isn't a concern to me either, most college players smoke it, my guess is a ton of NFL players do too and as long as he doesn't end up in the drug program in the NFL early on he'll be fine.


All that said I really want peppers
This type thinking is how we handled the Gregory deal. We see how that turned out. I predict they are gun shy (no pun intended) on Williams and I don't blame them one iota.
 

rkell87

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This type thinking is how we handled the Gregory deal. We see how that turned out. I predict they are gun shy (no pun intended) on Williams and I don't blame them one iota.
Gregory was in the drug program from the jump, Williams is yet to be seen. Fail at the combine sure take him off the board, otherwise i'm not punishing him for something at least 70% of NFL players already do
 

reddyuta

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The Gregory experience will take Williams right off our board for the first round.
It might, details are murky apart from the gun charge.if he is chronic user like Gregory than I don't want him at all.
 

tm1119

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I think you're throwing the term elite around way too freely...but I guess everyone has their own definition of the term.


Williams does have elite speed for a pass rusher, yes. Does that give him potential to be an elite 4-3 DE in the NFL? No, I don't think so. You need to to be able to play 3 downs well to be considered elite. Don't think that's Williams at all. Maybe if he sorts out all of his issues and gets drafted by a 3-4 team.

Peppers...there's a lot of players you could "project" to be elite. Projecting him to be elite at a position you're saying he didn't play in college is a pretty big leap.

Humphrey is grabby and needs technique work. There's nothing holding him back from being a top 10 pick like the others, other than the fact that he's just not. IF he straightens out his flaws, COULD he be a lockdown CB?...sure. But again, there's a decent amount of guys you can say the same about.

I think Ross could be an elite SPEED WR, but when put up against some of the 6'2+ 210+ monsters I don't think he will stack up as an overall elite WR. I see a lot more DeSean Jackson (without the attitude) than I do Antonio Brown or TY Hilton.

Njoku...yeah I can see him being elite so I'll agree with this 1.
 
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Williams is a no-go with his pot issues. We've had too many players lately disappoint greatly in that area. This team doesn't need another one-especially in the first round. Humphrey, IMHO, is not an elite CB. I watched several Alabama games, & he didn't splash in any of them. With that D-line putting so much pressure on up front, you'd think he's have plenty of opportunities to get picks. There will be better corners available at 28. If they take a WR at 28, I'll scream, since we have three-four very good WRs, & maybe ONE very good pass rusher. We're even thinner at CB. David Njoku is an interesting TE prospect, but he's only 6-4, 245. I'd like to see us get a Witten clone, like Jake Butt, who's stock has dropped due to an ACL injury. If we can get either him or Jeremy Sprinkle, Arkansas, who has similar size at 6-5, 255, I'd be happy. That leaves Peppers. Being an Ohio State fan, I can tell you that the guy is a royal pain in the butt, but we found a way to neutralize him for the most part in our last game against him. Having said that, he is an elite athlete, & if he can prove he can play the SS position, I would not be against his selection. However, I believe there are CBs, like Gareon Conley, Ohio St., Sidney Jones, Washington, & Teez Tabor, Florida, who are better corners than Humphrey. There might be a few DEs who blow up the Combine that we may be able to get. Derek Rivers, DE, Youngstown, recently put out a video showing him bench 225 lbs. 32 times. At only 6-4, 250, that's one strong due. He showed up big time at the Senior Bowl. There's also 6-7, 280 lb. Tanoh Kpassagnon, who was a terror for Villanova, & at the Senior Bowl. It would be intriguing having him on one side & 6-7, 280 lb. David Irving on the other. Besides, I still think that one of the top pass rushers with few off-field issues will drop into our lap, like Missouri's Charles Harris, or Wisconsin's TJ Watt. I think we'll see Watt show at the Combine that he has more athleticism than many think.
 

The Realist

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Per Dane on draft show Tim Williams went to HS on LSU's campus at University High and LSU dropped out of recruiting him. Dane says there is a lot of smoke around him (no pun intended) and where there's smoke there's fire. And he only averaged 30 snaps per game this year for a reason. He's either dumb or can't play the run.
 

tm1119

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Per Dane on draft show Tim Williams went to HS on LSU's campus at University High and LSU dropped out of recruiting him. Dane says there is a lot of smoke around him (no pun intended) and where there's smoke there's fire. And he only averaged 30 snaps per game this year for a reason. He's either dumb or can't play the run.

Glad you brought this up because not enough people are talking about it. A 235 pound(ish)part time 3-4 rush linebacker isn't making the transition to 4-3 end easily. And before everyone says Gregory... we never actually saw him succeed on the field for any kind of extended period of time so we have no idea wether he's a fit in our D or not yet.
 

fishspill

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So many see Ross as just a "speed" WR but the dude runs his routes crisp and he looks NFL ready in every way. Is he a China doll? Maybe. I think he's worth the risk.

If no productive D player makes it to #28 then keep offense in mind.
 
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