As a life long Crimson Tide Fan, here is my take:
Ragland is portrayed as a big hitter of sorts. He IS, but he wasn't THE biggest hitter on the Tide, as hard as this must be to believe. In my strong opinion, Ragland wasn't even the hardest hitting LB on the Tide! Reuben Foster (who stayed in school ) hits like a truck. Here ya go:
What Ragland is GREAT at is being around the football. He is NOT as bad in coverage as some claim. AGAIN, he is right there where the football is. Guys like that can win you games with big plays. He can blitz too, but I openly confess that I do not understand what Ryan is trying to do on defense. Ragland can be effective as a blitzing LB, better than his college numbers indicate. But it won't work as well when Hughes and Dareus are running backwards into pass coverage. How could it?
As much as I like the pick, Whaley continues to be a concern with regards to trading away our resources, let alone the contract to McCoy and even Clay. And he still has not addressed the RT position, which is just stupid.
In summary, I urge fellow Bills Fans not to worry so much about Ragland. The kid can play.
From where I sit, Whaley and the Ryans are the problem, but not for long imo.
GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!