Stl Bills Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Daniel Mogollon, of DraftBible.com, reports University of Missouri TE worked out at his school's Pro Day Thursday, March 20. Rucker ran a 4.71 40-yard dash, had a 37-inch vertical jump and a nine-foot, eight-inch broad jump. He said that he ran slower than he expected but his vertical was impressive. Rucker did not perform at the 2008 and his vertical jump of 37-inches would have placed him second. Scouts view the vertical jump as the most important drill for tight ends because it measures explosiveness. The Ruckus is still nursing a sore hammy. I don't care what Kiper or Mayock say, this is the best TE in the draft and he might be around in the 4th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsD#1in2008 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 i know i think he could be a steal if we drafted him later instead of wasting it on Fred Davis or Keller in the early rounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStranger76 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Totally agree he is a guy flying under the radar and would love to grab Harvey in the 1st, WR in the 2nd and still land a pretty good upgrade at TE with Martin Rucker in the 3rd!!! Oooooooooooooh yeah brother!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJPearl2 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 This guy is a beast. Getting him in the 3rd (if he's still around) would be a steal and immediately upgrade our TE position. The TE class is so deep this year that the Bills were smart to avoid overpaying for a 2nd level TE like Troupe. How's this for a Mock Draft: #1 D. Harvey - DE Florida #2 M. Manningham - WR Michigan (I know, I know, he may be gone here) #3 M Rucker TE Mizzou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Anderson's Lunch Pail Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I'm hoping he's still there in the third. With the clog of TEs at the top (Davis, Keller, Bennett and Rucker) it will be interesting to see who falls - if any of them - to us in the third if we decide to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_red Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 This guy is a beast. Getting him in the 3rd (if he's still around) would be a steal and immediately upgrade our TE position. The TE class is so deep this year that the Bills were smart to avoid overpaying for a 2nd level TE like Troupe. How's this for a Mock Draft: #1 D. Harvey - DE Florida #2 M. Manningham - WR Michigan (I know, I know, he may be gone here) #3 M Rucker TE Mizzou funny. This class is not deep at all. There are okay reciving TE's but almost none can block. Overall I'd say it's a avg class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Pretty much everybody is saying this is a deep TE class...... I just think that a quality Tight End is going to be huge in Trent Edwards developent.....that and a big WR that will go up and get a ball......this is the time of year when posters start downplaying the need for a quality tight end..... And then every year after the season we keep talking about how the playoff teams all have a good one....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stl Bills Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 funny.This class is not deep at all. There are okay reciving TE's but almost none can block. Overall I'd say it's a avg class. Get used to it. With the evolution of the spread offense this is what most TEs will look like turning pro. And who's to say most of these guys can't block, most weren't asked to block in college.......doesn't mean they can't. Rucker's a max effort player who will develop into a complete TE in the nfl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStranger76 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Exactly Stl Bills. Most of these guys will be able to block just fine when taught how to do it by an NFL coach, and especially Rucker! I bet he could get some good practice from his older brother MIKE RUCKER NFL DE as well..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_red Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Get used to it. With the evolution of the spread offense this is what most TEs will look like turning pro. And who's to say most of these guys can't block, most weren't asked to block in college.......doesn't mean they can't. Rucker's a max effort player who will develop into a complete TE in the nfl. I dout he does. Is not an aggressive in-line blocker. Will take on nickel backs and small defenders. Does not show the desire to be a blocker. He doesn't do much after the catch. Rucker is a one-dimensional pass catching TE and that's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJPearl2 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 This is a deep class. But time will tell one way or another. We've had good blocking TEs for years, but they can't catch worth sh--. Im dying to see a TE that can go vertical and test a secondary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stl Bills Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 I dout he does. Is not an aggressive in-line blocker. Will take on nickel backs and small defenders. Does not show the desire to be a blocker. He doesn't do much after the catch. Rucker is a one-dimensional pass catching TE and that's it. I don't know what so called "draft expert" wrote that but take it from someone who has seen every snap the kid has ever played. Missouri wasn't Chase Daniel's team last year it was Martin Rucker & Chase Daniel's team. Is not an aggressive in line blocker....... He never lined-up "in-line" so how can you judge his in-line blocking. Yeah thats a hurdle he'll (and others) will have to overcome in the NFL but its unfair to say they CAN'T do something just because they were never asked to at the college level. This kid is an absolute firey competitor and as I said before he's a max effort guy who gives you everything he's got on every play. Rucker was always the player at Mizzou sealing downfield blocks for WRs like Jeremy Maclin and Will Franklin. He's 6ft 5in @ 255lbs and still has room to fill out, at another 10-15 lbs in an nfl conditioning program and you have a beast @ TE. Does not show desire to be a blocker............. He doesn't lack desire in any apspect of his game. Plain and simple he's a competitor & a leader. Doesn't do anything after the catch? This is what obviously shows you've never watched him play. The guy never goes down............he a lot like Lynch in the way he never stops his legs and will drag 2-3 defenders down the field. He's a beast. Heres his interview from the combine where he talks about getting better at blocking and becoming a complete TE...... Martin Rucker Interview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_red Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Fact is he will be nothing more than a #2 TE. It's fair to say you are a Missouri fan so IDK what you say. In the NFL he will do almost nothing after the catch and will be a sub-par blocker. He had great hands and will catch almost everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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