Appearing: Paul Burmeister, Charles
Davis, Michael Lombardi, Brian Baldinger, Mike Mayock
* Team news:
Colts at #1: have invited Andrew
Luck for a pre-draft visit; aren’t inviting Robert Griffin III. I
think Griffin actually turned down an invitation to work out for the
Colts.
Vikings at #3: after starting
speculation the Vikings could have interest in Justin Blackmon on the
previous show, today they’re on to Morris Claiborne. Davis says the
Vikings “have” to consider him; they have all kinds of problems
in their secondary. That would again likely drop Matt Kalil to #6.
Baldinger wonders if that wouldn’t also put pressure on teams like
Cincinnati, Chicago, or Detroit to trade up to go after the corner
they want. Burmeister suggests that cornerback could be the most
popular position selected in the first round. You basically need
three starting-quality corners to get by in the league these days.
(The Rams might have 1.5 right now.) The Vikings beat writer follows
up by saying they should jump for Kalil at #3.
Browns at #4: We’re talking
about this pick again? Their beat writer sees them going with Justin
Blackmon, with a chance of picking Ryan Tannehill. Can see David
Wilson of Virginia Tech or even Brandon Weeden going at #22.
Chiefs at #11: did a lot in free
agency to upgrade their offense. Primary needs seem to be linebacker,
interior offensive line, possibly nose tackle. Names tossed out
include David DeCastro, Dontari Poe, Michael Brockers for an all-LSU
defensive line, Luke Kuechly. Davis wants them to make a move up for
Tannehill.
Jets at #16: Have worked out
Quinton Coples, Andre Branch, will probably work out Courtney Upshaw.
Strongly looking for an outside set-the-edge defender.
Tennessee at #20: DE isn’t as
big a need as CB now that the Titans have signed Kamerion Wimbley.
Will be hoping for Dre Kirkpatrick or Stephon Gilmore to slide a
little.
* Ex-Ram news: BILLY DEVANEY’s
on? Mmm-kay. He believes the Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin are
basically even, as NFL Network continues its desperate attempt to
drum up doubt and controversy over the first two picks. Devaney says
Griffin should be getting more credit for his high-quality deep arm.
Burmeister asks him about Richardson vs. Blackmon for Cleveland’s
pick, but he doesn’t really offer an opinion on one over the other.
Says how smart Humgrum and the Cleveland front office are. Showing no
sense of fun, Burmeister skips the Rams’ pick and asks Devaney if
Miami should take Tannehill at #8. Devaney just goes on about how
qualified Miami is to make the pick since OC Mike Sherman was his
coach at Texas A&M. In all, Devaney’s appearance was
essentially useless, other than he got to say nice things about
several NFL front offices, if he’s looking to join on somewhere.
* Player news: Mayock comes on
to gush about Tannehill. Superior athlete, 6’4”, 220 franchise
quarterback can make every pass in the NFL repertoire, can push the
ball down the field. Despite his lack of starts at the college level,
the need for QBs will drive his stock into the top 10, possibly as
high as Cleveland’s #4. Better athletically than Blaine Gabbert or
Christian Ponder from last year’s draft, even athletically with
Jake Locker.
Lombardi interviewed Notre Dame safety
Harrison Smith. He discussed how he called adjustments on defense
(based on formation) and how he got more work covering man-to-man
this past season. Still doesn’t sound like he’s done a lot of it.
Davis called him a terrific tackler. Looks a little uncertain at
times while backpedalling, but once he decides where to go, he gets
there in a fury. Breaks down well into man coverage when zone
coverage breaks down. Mark Barron is the #1 prospect at safety over
Smith because he’s been coached by Nick Saban and played in an
NFL-style system. But Smith has a bigger frame and is built for the
long haul.
Stephon Gilmore showed much better
production in college than Dre Kirkpatrick in just about the same
number of games. 181 tackles vs. 91, for instance. And Kirkpatrick
has only three career INTs? Gilmore reminds Baldinger of Al Harris,
with a lot more speed. Elite ball skills, clean off the field,
effective blitzer, excellent tackler. Kirkpatrick is also an
excellent tackler and gunner on special teams. Gilmore has better
straight-line speed and better transitional speed.
Mayock’s top 5 tackles: Kalil, Riley
Reiff, Jonathan Martin, Mike Adams, Cordy Glenn.
For about the fourth straight day, the
show discusses which Stanford o-lineman should be drafted first
between David DeCastro and Jonathan Martin. Looking at the boatloads
of money guards are getting in free agency this year, they’re
obviously hard to find. As relatively inexpensive as he’d be as a
rookie, Lombardi calls DeCastro too good a value to pass up. Davis
has DeCastro higher on his board, citing his movement skills, vision,
ability to pull and trap, ability to get to second level. Can even
play center, snapped to Luck at Stanford’s pro day. More natural
athlete than Martin.
-$-
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