P51

Looks like a WILL to me in a 43. Round 6 at best, 7 or Priority UDFA more likely IMO. A couple things I saw: Will stack, then get blasted in the run game and needs to be kept clean to make plays by his defensive lineman, but he will take on any blocker in the hole. Small and quick, reminds me of Telvin Smith (D. Campbell as well), not quite as athletic laterally, but good speed and can hang with faster RB's and TE's down the field easily. Very good pass defender in man (as illustrated by the 5:03 mark play), seems innate to me as well, several times throughout the video he locates pre snap (call out) or immediately post snap and covers his man (RB and TE) immediately without hesitation. I did not see much in zone, but in man he played the TE option route head up and immediately broke on the TE's movement correctly, thats excellent coverage technique for a LB. He did a great job running down plays from the backside. If his man stays in to block, Brown did a good job of immediately blitzing and putting pressure on the QB from the inside when his man dedicated himself to protection. Natural instincts for sure, no hesitation in his movements, he sees it and goes. I only watched this video, but he looks like a potential sub package guy who could also potentially provide depth, special teams help and maybe spot start? My .02

Ive been watching Rasul Douglas (CB - WVU) today and the more I watch, the more I love... Ive elevated him from a 2nd round prospect to a 1st. Going to take a break on him for a while and come back later and see if it wasnt just "love at first sight." Anyone else have any thoughs on him?

Watching the senior bowl practice yesterday: Rasul Douglas (CB - WVU) has some serious coverage skills in press and he baited the WR and QB into doing what he wanted them to do in drills, I have a 2nd round grade on him and if he keeps it up, I could see going in the first round. Long, tall and athletic; I think I have my prospect crush, he gets his eyes on the ball as quickly as any prospect in this draft from what I have seen so far. I need to watch more of him, but I watched him vs. Texas and "he good", looks like Richard Sherman from what I have seen so far. The skills on tape is aligning with his Senior Bowl practice showing. Blokes: Antonio Garcia (LT - Troy) as I get into my 2nd tier watch list, I think you are spot on, if that was you I think threw the shout out. I think his ceiling is the highest of any of the tackles I have seen to date.

I think his range is 1-44 right now myself. I have a 2nd round grade on him but I could see him going much higher, being a trade back into round 1 target, or going high in round 2 but not past Buffalo pick (depending on TT and pick 10), I'd be more surprised if he made it out of the first 10 picks or so in round 2 than if he went #1 overall.

Fair enough, makes sense. I hadn't thought of it like that in that vein with the QB situaution.Trade up is a possibility in that situation...

He'd be a great fit for the Packers, Lions and Bears, he's certainly be an upgrade, there are a bunch of teams he'd be an upgrade for.

Do you thinking signing Tyrod is the tipping point towards not rebuilding vs. not resigning him and then rebuilding?

Agree 100%, Gillislee is a guy I'm nervous about this offseason, they need to lock him up IMO especially with Dennison coming in, I could see him getting poached a la Hogan after a lowball offer. He'd be a great pickup for a team like the Skins.

I was watching Marlin Humphrey (CB/S - Bama) this morning and was wondering about the boards thoughts on him? High IQ zone defender with some good man skills, but his "eyes on" read, react and diagnosis skills are among the best in the class IMO along with D. King. His ability to read multiple routes and the QB at the same time is rare (USC tape), I think he'd be a great fit in McDermotts D with his field vision, ability and physicality in run support. I think 10 is too high, but he's a great trade down target. I do think he's a potential safety conversion guy down the road, but has the skills to play corner now and for the foreseeable future. I see Quentin Jammer with better cover skills. Thoughts?

Well said, I agree with next years class looking good at this point with next years crop showing a better skill set than this years already on the field. I do think this years QB class is getting pushed up (possibly with the idea of people reaching so positional talent will fall, which is what I believe, the lying season is well under way!) and the teens is even high for this class.

RANK 10 BILLS Corey Davis - WR, Western Michigan: Davis is a complete receiver who would be an excellent complement to Sammy Watkins. His combination of route running, ball skills and toughness is outstanding. Love the mock pick by Daniel Jeremiah. I would be a happy camper, with the safeties and Foster off the board

Watched him vs. Alabama, did a great job of pushing and forcing the speed rush arc (williams/anderson) deeper than the QB, reset and adjusted/mirrored very well vs. the counter moves inside and I thought did a good job with his footwork, good hand usage and was quick to reset when they were swatted, batted or he dropped them, good job keeping head up on contact for the most part, kept his feet moving on contact in the run game too, anchored well vs. the bull rush (allen/anderson), good balance and was not on the ground very much, a couple of good combo blocks and 2nd level movement, alert with his head on a swivel when not immediately engaged. On one play in the 4th Q with about 9 minutes left on a 4th and 2 he did an excellent job pushing his man inside then picking up the twisting DT, thats quality heads up blocking. Lamp held his own very well vs. 3 future high draft picks in Allen, Anderson and Williams. Not sure what the measurables will be with him, but he looks like a G who can play T to me. Im looking forward to watching him on tape a little more and seeing how things shake down with him during the process.

Yeah, I think there is a slim chance he could go to the 9ers if they want to model their D after their recent glory years D. I think he's that talented that even as a ILB he could go to top 5 and it wouldnt shock me. A. Curry went 4, Hawk went 5 and R. McClain went 8, Foster is better than all of them coming out, Keuchly went 9, Mayo 10, and Willis (Foster reminds me alot of NFL Willis) went 11, Foster is in that latter group talent wise athletically and mentally, maybe more physical. I actually have Foster rated ahead of all 6 I just mentioned at this point and I dont see my grade (Top 5) dropping at all. Foster and Trevathan would allow the Bears to attack their front 5 (3DL & 2 "OLB") and match up in coverage on the back end with their 2 ILB's in man or fire zones and zones. Thats what the 49ers used to do alot with Wilis and Bowman in their heyday, its rare for a D to do that with a pair of ILB's. Bears are a good spot for him for sure IMO as well. Historically his talent could land him 4-11 and I have him going to Cincy at 9 in the mock, mock, mock I am working on. He could fall a little because of the depth at the top end of this draft, but I think his range is 2-11 and I dont see how he falls past the Saints at 11 and he is IMO a legit option at for Buffalo if he makes it that far.

I concur.

Rivers did beat Peyton "legend" Manning in back to back years in the playoffs. The "he was unarguably the not the best QB for a long stretch" IMO is a false narrative, from 2008-2011 he led the NFL at some point in many passing categories including TD passes, ypa, passing yards and quarterback rating and beat Manning twice in the playoffs, he was the AP MVP in 2010, through 2011 Rivers had the highest passer rating of all time and the 2nd best TD/Int ratio of all time, in 2013 he had the best 3rd down conversion rate passing, in 2014 he became the first NFL player ever to have a passer rating over 120 for five consecutive games, in 2012 he became seventh fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach 25,000 career yards. He has been playing with the big boys passing for quite a while. Compared to Ben and Eli, I think I already showed that he just as good if not better than both as a individual player. Ill say it again; winning a superbowl does not make one a great player, Steve Largent, Barry Sanders, Warren Moon, Derrick Thomas, Dan Fouts, Eric Dickerson, Dick Butkus, Earl Campbell and Sonny Jergenson were all great players in the hall who did not make/win a superbowl. Rivers franchise and surrounding team has not been very good the last couple years, he played under Shottenheimer who was 5/6-13 ? in the playoffs, Norv Turner has a slang term "norved" named after him and the last couple years his teams have had horrible injury and talent problems at WR and their offensive line has been a work in progress to say the least. Recent and past history of the team and the circumstances should not factor into a individual players achievements, I would go as far to say that he has been turning water into box wine.... Now as far as the writers or hall of fame voters go... Many of them are buffoons and that is more why he wont get in, writers many of whom never played are voting, which is a joke, mostly because they make $h!t up as they go: “Belichick asks me what’s the criteria, and I said I don’t know,” Cole says. “We’re making it up as we go along.” another good one: “There are certain writers who really do a good job. They call people and get the info necessary to make a decision,” Brandt says. “But most of these guys on here have never seen these players closely enough. All of a sudden the writer who’s the best orator sways things. It’s unfair.” http://mmqb.si.com/2014/01/31/pro-football-hall-of-fame-2014-voting I dont know how anyone can watch him play, look at his career resume and go: "Nope, not a hall of famer." Mean while Warren Moon is in and never made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs, so is Sonny Jergenson who never even lead his team to the playoffs as a starter, he is better than them statistically and he went farther in the playoffs. 2 questions. 1 - If (yes its hypothetical) Philip Rivers played for the Giants or Steelers and all things else were the same do you think they would not have won those 4 superbowls with him? Considering Ben had the worst (if my memory serves me) QBR in superbowl history in a win in one of his two. 2 - Would you take Philip Rivers as the QB of the Buffalo Bills today?

Here is my take on this: Brady, Manning and Rodgers IMO are easily 3 of the greatest QB's of all time, top 10 and I dont know any knowledgeable football people who disagree. So comparing just about anyone outside the likes of Joe Montana, Brett Farve, Dan Marino, Otto Graham and Johnny Unitas is pointless. Is Rivers one of the 10 greatest QB's ever, no. Brees is pretty close IMO to being in this rare air. Rivers is IMO worthy of Canton in the next tier of QB's at this point and he is approaching the top tier in terms of individual success, team wise the Chargers dont stack up. I believe the whole "winning a super bowl" requirement is truely lame and lazy, if you put Tom Brady on the 2016 Cleveland Browns, they are not going to the Super Bowl, Playoffs or even out of top ten in the draft. So much goes into winning football teams/programs. Ownership, management, coaching, and circumstance are things certain players can not control. Is Trent Dilfer a greater QB than Dan Marino because he won a super bowl? Of course not, that is one of the dumbest things I ever hear, "He never went to/won a super bowl." As my niece still says: "Weak sauce of the highest degree." Marino, Fouts, Kelly, Moon are certainly worse QB's than Brad Johnson, Joe Flacco and Mark Rypien... Does anyone really believe Terry Bradshaw was the reason the Steelers won 4 superbowls???? Was he even one of the best 10 players on those teams??? I constantly hear people say Eli M. and Ben R. are/going to be HOF QB's, they came from the same class as Rivers so a look at their careers and instantly people will say: "Eli won two SuperBowls and so did Ben, Rivers 0." What does that have to do with Rivers play? A stat comparison: Between the 3, who has the best career completion %, TD/Int ratio, QB Rating, Passing Yards per game and thrown the fewest INT's? Answers: RIVERS, RIVERS, RIVERS,RIVERS and RIVERS!! Rivers is #2 on career TD's between the 3. Granted he plays a full season next season, he will hit and surpass the 47,000 career passing yards mark, in which every other QB to do so is in the Hall or going to be in the Hall. Yes he has 156 career picks, Favre has 336, Eli and Ben have more, John Elway 226, if Rivers throw 20 picks a year for the next 3 years, he will have fewer career INT's (216) than John Elway (226) in 6 fewer career games, Rivers also has a better INT/G ratio than Elway, .86 : .97. Is he better than Elway? IMO no, but his current and projected career passing #'s are better. He is in the top 15 and will finish in all likelyhood in the top 10 in most major statistical career passing categories. The most important thing to me is the eyeball test, and Rivers play is IMO HOF caliber, he is as competitive a QB (played in the AFC Championship game with a torn ACL) as you will find, he is accurate and smart, and I dont think he's ever missed a game despite taking numerous beatings on the field. So looking at his play on the field, current stats (even in comparison to 2, 2x superbowl champions, in which his career stats are better or comparable at the worst), overall body or work and projected career stats and considering his best WR statistically was Malcom Floyd during Rivers time in SD, with a whopping 321 receptions in 11 (+/-) years (yes he has had Gates at TE, which he has benefited from). My answer to your question: It's a Yes to me for Rivers (the individual player) in the Hall now based on his career up to this point in time, and I believe when he's done his career body of work will be a confirming yes as well. Its a passing era and RIvers IMO stacks up, not at the top but right there under now and infusing himself into that top group. If one predicates HOF credentials on team success, then probably not, because football after all is a individual sport which is why Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson and Joe Flacco will be receiving their Gold Jackets any day now, and that should be the measuring stick. (This sarcasm is not directed at you personally, its a legit question you asked and a good one IMO).

You should read my context post on the last page, especially considering your contextless 21 picks this year. Rivers has been in the league for 13(?) years and if that is right, he is averaging 12 INTs a season, take out his first two years and he averages 14 a season while averaging 28.5 passing TD's over that time and 313 career passing TD's as a starter, Tyrod has 37 passing in his career, for an average of 18.5, PR also has 5 playoff appearances to TT's 0 as a starter. Rivers = HOF QB Taylor = Marginal Starter No arguement, I was thinking the same thing about relative terms in this "arguement".

This*

Couldnt agree more. Edit: If there was more than one (the one who signed/signs him) GM who said he would take TT over PR, I would be shocked.

IMO... Rivers = Playoffs for Bills Rivers > Taylor, every year of their careers. Context: Rivers carried the Chargers on his back in 2016. The S.D. Chargers were missing their top 2 WR's the whole season with Johnson not making it to the season and Allen out in game week 1, Rivers turned Tyrell Williams (Who?) and Dontrell Inman (Who?) into productive NFL receivers, neither of which were even drafted that I can recall. The Chargers were 4-2 in games in which Melvin Gordon balanced the offense with 20 or more carries (1-6 in games with <20 carries), he also lost his 3rd down back in week 2. PFF had the Chargers with the 4th worst OL heading into the season and 2nd worst at the end, they could not run or pass block anyone, yet Rivers and Chargers managed 5 wins and to only lose 5 more games by less than a score. Defensively they lost Verrett in week 4, Teo their defensive playcaller and co captain in week 3 and had nothing at Safety having Weddle leaving in FA. They had 20 guys on IR to end the season losing most in the first 4 weeks of the season. He has as many 4th quarter comebacks in his career as Jim Kelly, 22, which historically puts him in the top 21 of all time. He's a competitor who played on a torn ACL if I remember correctly. Buffalo would be lucky to have him even if only for 2-3 years, especially with this team, even at his "advanced" age (Rivers just turned 35, playoff QB's: Brady - 39, Big Ben - 34, Rodgers - 33, Ryan - 31). He's one of the 10 best QB's in the league.

As soon as I heard about McDermott being hired, I thought your King-crush would make a lot of sense in the draft! Personally I don't think he has the long speed, I have him as a conversion guy.

I'm right there with you, I can't recall listening to anything else in the morning since.... How long has it been?

I thought a case could be made for him being the best player on the field through the 3rd quarter of the NCG. I think he's in play at 10 with McDermott in all likelyhood being the next HC, thought so before too lol, more so now, his play speed is elite!

I'd do it...

Do you take medication? I didn't say it was an NFL defense. However the majority of the players on that defense are going to play in the NFL, that was my implication in saying a future NFL defense. Because as a matter of fact I get your whole point with statement 1. I played college football (hold your horses) against guys who played in the NFL, since then I have coached guys who have made it to the NFL, I am well aware of the talent differences. I've heard NFL personnel men say the entire front 7 will get a shot at the league, Allen, Foster, Humphrey, Williams are all projected 1st round picks this year with Tomlinson, Jackson and Anderson projected to go in the subsiquent 3 rounds, so yes the majority of the defense will at the least get a shot to play in the NFL, not including guys like Fitzpatrick who will next year. The defense is made up of many guys who will play in the NFL, you realize that, right? That what makes what happened last night special. Again, I'm not saying an NFL QB is the only one who could make those plays, your right the last one was a great call and the execution of it was "NFL style", that was in reference to Clemsons offense not just running college spread stuff, the Pats run that play, the Chargers used it on the Bills a couple years ago, as well as every other NFL team in the League at some point. Yes it was an easy throw. Wholy good lord, talk about exaggerating things, I never mentioned the lobbing of passes to Williams continually or he and others making great plays (although lobbing it up does happen often in the NFL), effing a, I'm already married... I specifically stated they ran their normal spread college stuff, never mentioning your point #3. My point was they ran some NFL stuff, particularly in the last :19 of the game, in particular the 2 plays I mentioned, one a scissors route combo, another a slant flat for the win, both are "NFL style" in that they are plays run and executed in the NFL, which they also were last night, which is a big part of the reason Clemson beat Alabama last night, the receivers for Clemson made great plays along the way to, no doubt. The narrative of the board has nothing to do with what I said. Simply put; Watson executed at least a couple NFL passing concept in the last :19 of the game that I noticed. He is capable of it as demonstrated on those 2 plays against "the greatest defense in college football" (according to many others), with lots of NFL level talent. Personally I have him as a 2nd round QB and would place him behind David Carr who I had the same rating coming into his draft right now, mostly because of his inconsistencies passing the ball throughout his career. He made himself a lot of money last night and NFL execs took notice against that defense, the majority of which will see an NFL field in some capacity. Saying that I could see him going in the top 5 of this draft, this type of momentum can be priceless and the list of misses that high in the draft is truely mind numbing, Watson has more to hang his hat on than say Akili Smith or mentally than Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf.