Since James Laurinaitis was surrounded
in the Rams linebacking corps last season essentially by two
revolving doors, it’s a lock the Rams are going to look for help at
OLB in this rapidly-escalating offseason. Let’s review who
performed at last Monday’s Combine who may be worthy of interest:
Courtney Upshaw (Alabama) probably
remains the #1 OLB even after Hollywooding everybody and not running
any of the non-positional drills. Wonder if that annoys the scouts as
much as I think it does. But after watching a bunch of meh
performances at the edge-rushing drill, it was eye-opening when
Upshaw knocked that drill out of the park. His two runs were probably
the best two runs. He also showed great footwork on the pad drill,
and the pads weren’t even set up correctly for him. Rams would need
a higher pick than Cleveland’s #22 to get him, though.
Same for Luke Kuechly (B.C.), who, with
a 4.58 40 and 27 bench presses, showed as well as any LB there.
Decent footwork, good pass rush skills, excellent hands and ball
skills. Total package.
A LB who likely made money at this
year’s Combine: Mychal Kendricks (Cal). Who knew you could be
Pac-12 defensive player of the year and still be obscure? Not any
more for Kendricks, though. He smoked a 4.47 and looked good in all
the drills, especially the coverage drills.
Another Pac-12 LB, Josh Kaddu (Oregon),
wasn’t far behind. Also looked good at everything and may have the
best feet of anybody in the LB class. Looked good rushing the passer
and looked good dropping into coverage. Curious that he didn't run the 40.
Tank Carder (TCU) had a fine Combine
for my money. Very good feet. Looked good stepping over the pads,
looked good changing direction. Good ball skills, looked like one of
the better potential pass rushers there. His 4.7 40 shouldn’t hurt
him, either.
Others I liked:
Zach Brown’s (North Carolina) 4.5
probably landed him in the first round. Very good feet, but I didn’t
get a good look at him from TV otherwise. Not sure if he’s a good
pick for the potential #22 yet.
Any time there was an agility drill,
the coaches would pick him Sean Spence (The U) to show it to everyone
else. Terrific feet, exceptional movement skills, showed decent
pass-rushing power. Did just 12 benches, though.
Super sleeper: Keenan Robinson, Texas.
Except for the worst pass drop of the day in coverage drills,
Robinson was one of the most consistent players on the field. Good
footwork and did some nice work in the edge rush drill.
Nathan Stupar’s reputation is as a
technique guy, and it showed. Ran every drill close to perfectly, if
not at the elite athletic level. But his footwork and change of
direction looked good, and his edge pass rushing looked good, too.
Probably falls halfway between Sean Lee and Josh Hull on the Penn
State LB scale.
Kyle Wilbur (Wake Forest) looked very
good in coverage drills. I would like to have seen him play with
better power in the line drills.
Some I’m not sure I want to see:
Vontaze Burfict (Arizona State). Here’s
a piece of work. A guy who repeatedly draws dumb penalties and is a
cheap-shot artist in an era the NFL is cracking down on it hard. He
comes to the Combine and runs like a lineman. 5.09? Are you serious?
He got beaten in the 40, the broad jump, and nearly in the vertical, by
Dontari Poe. Burfict can probably sleep in on Day 3 of the draft.
Lavonte David (Nebraska) seems to have
quick feet but plays with poor balance. He didn’t pass rush with
any power and had a lot of footing problems when changing direction.
Maybe he wore the wrong shoes? Also dropped a ball in a coverage
drill.
Dont’a Hightower didn’t necessarily
impress. He looked high and slow in stack-and-shed and looked just ok
as an edge rusher. This Combine didn’t reveal him to me as much of
a DE or a LB at the next level. Projection seems to be as an ILB. I
don’t think I hurt my amateur analyst status any by admitting I’m
having a little trouble figuring out the Alabama guys.
Defensive backs probably tomorrow,
maybe Gregg Williams, maybe I get a start on the free agency
previews… we’ll see.
-$-
No comments:
Post a Comment