Draft Whispers from Pro Football Weekly - The Orange Mane

BowlenBall · 04-18-2012, 11:03 PM

Some draft whispers from Pro Football Weekly -- these are always fun, because the PFW staff has lots of contacts with scouts and front offices. Half of these are probably the insider's honest opinion, and half are smokescreens:

• “What really bothers me about (Clemson DE-OLB Andre) Branch — where was he earlier in his career? You can make excuses for him and say he split time with (Da'Quan) Bowers, but one-year producers have always scared me. They are chasing the money. Most guys change when they get it. … I thought his pad level was very inconsistent on tape. He’s a digester. He doesn’t feel blocking pressure. I can’t believe he has been talked about in the first (round). I don’t know any (other teams) that graded him there.”

• “To me, (Wisconsin C Peter) Konz does not play with any power. If he does not play with technique, he gets out of sorts. He is smart and tough. I don’t think he is anywhere near the Pouncey brothers. He’s a third-rounder for me.”

• “(Alabama S Mark) Barron was only about 85 percent recovered from surgery at his (pro-day) workout. He didn’t do any of the shuttles or quick movement stuff, but he ran and performed drills. He is the real deal. He is solid. You know exactly what you are getting.”

• “(Michigan State DT) Jerel Worthy is a con guy. I think that will hurt him. He was the most distracted interview we had. He was all over the place. You get excited by some of the flashes on tape — he’s a ‘wow’ player. But he don’t get it. Someone might take him in the first, but you would feel a lot better getting him in the second.”

• “(Stanford TE) Coby Fleener is rising. He does not get outside the first (round).”

• “(North Carolina DE) Quinton Coples tanked it (this year). His play scares me. I don’t know that we could pull the trigger. That’s a tough question, man. We’d have to think about it where we’re picking (in the back half of the first round).”

• “(Illinois DE) Whitney Mercilus is projecting higher as a 3-4 rush guy. That’s who I think will wind up drafting him.”

• “(Texas OLB) Keenan Robinson does not play with any technique. He ran slow (4.8 seconds). We had him in the third (round) during the fall. I don’t know if he goes until the fifth (round). It’s going to take him some time.”

• “(West Virginia DE Bruce) Irvin is starting to heat up in our place, but how high do you take a situational player with a history of issues? … I don’t think he is a bad kid. He’s just immature.”

• “I don’t think (Midwestern State OG) Amini Silatolu is a first (-rounder). I would not take him before the second. He has some issues that you can’t hide in (our town).”

• “(Oregon RB) LaMichael James ran too fast to get out of the second (round). I don’t think he will. We would strongly consider (drafting him) if he’s there.”

• “(USC OLT) Matt Kalil is a good, solid player, but tell me who the next-best left tackle is. Cordy Glenn is a guard for me. (Ohio State’s) Mike Adams is soft and doesn’t train. Riley Reiff has everything you want — he’s just not a very good foot athlete. The guy with left tackle feet is (Oklahoma’s) Donald Stephenson. He doesn’t work and doesn’t lift and had to sit out a season for his (issues). There is a big 'miss' factor there with him, but on his talent alone, he could play at a high level.”

• “You don’t expect nose tackles to be good pass rushers, but (Washington’s) Alameda Ta’amu can really push the pocket. You’d like him to refine his hand placement and be more consistent, but he is strong, and he knocks (blockers) off the ball as well as anyone in the draft. He’ll be a good player in the league.”

• “(Iowa State OT) Kelechi Osemele is intelligent and might be able to convince a coach for 2-3 days at an all-star game that he is a good guy, but when you are around him too long, you realize he is full of it. I think he’ll be a right tackle in the league, not a left.”

• “I think (Mississippi OT) Bobby Massie will go somewhere in the top 50. He’s a right tackle only, for me. Would you be excited to pull his card off the board? I wouldn’t be. But I think he will be a starter and, if he picks it up mentally and works at it, will be fairly solid. You can’t lose sight of the fact that almost every team is down offensive linemen. There just are not enough of them.”

• “(Michigan State’s) Edwin Baker looked good at his pro day. I think he’ll go in the fourth round. I would not take him there — I wouldn’t. I think he is a role player in the NFL. He had a better workout than he played. I just think the way the NFL is now, he will play and be in a rotation and has NFL qualities. You see his speed on stretch plays, but he is not a very big guy. He was getting pushed for playing time — that’s why he came out.”

• “(Auburn OT) Brandon Mosley is a tough guy. He gets after it. He’s a good kid … but he’s always going to be limited by his stiffness. He’s not athletic enough to be a left tackle, and as a right tackle, it’s tough to play strong when your hips are so high. You'd like to get him in the fifth (round)."

• “When you evaluate (Georgia’s) Cordy Glenn at left tackle, you have to remember — he was out of shape and overweight. You have to go back to last year (2010) before the strength coaches came in to get a true read on him.”

• “I think (Oklahoma’s) Ronnell Lewis goes in the second, but to me, he’s a 'reach' guy. I wouldn’t touch him there, and he fits what we do.”

• “(Boise State RB) Doug Martin is a tough one to figure out if you look at this year vs. last year. In 2010, he looks like a surefire late first-rounder. If you watch 2011, there are games where he looks like nothing more than a free agent. I don’t see what everyone else is (seeing) on this year’s tape. If you get the player you see last year, you’d be pretty happy. If you get the 2011 version, you might be disappointed.”

• “(LSU DT) Michael Brockers is big, strong and athletic. He just does not get great push in the middle. … To me, he is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I liked his interview.”

• "The more Courtney Upshaw talked (in the interview process), the more I got scared. He has a lot of distractions in his life. There are a lot of concerns there. We need an edge guy, but we wouldn't touch him in the first (round). I'd have hesitations in the second where we're picking, after hearing him talk about grabbing his girlfriend by the hair."

• "You can't take away (Baylor WR Kendall) Wright's production. He is falling (in the draft), but he's still a playmaker."

• "(Wisconsin OG Kevin) Zeitler struggles in pass pro a little bit. The program is known for its run blocking. That’s their flavor of the day. He has 31-inch arms and gets out of sorts in pass protection."

• "(Former LSU CB) Patrick Peterson had one unique quality — he could fly. That is why he went where he did. He has been more productive as a punt returner than he has been as a corner. He won games as a returner. (Morris) Claiborne is not as fast. I worry about LSU skill guys — look at the corners and safeties and receivers that have come out of the program. How many have been free of issues coming out?"

• "(Iowa OLT) Riley Reiff is a guard all the way. He is a tough, grinding guard — the same as (Ravens All-Pro and former Hawkeye Marshal) Yanda. That’s what I think he is."

• "Everyone says (South Carolina CB) Stephon Gilmore is rising after his workout. That is what I am hearing on the street. He is a big corner, and everyone is going big now. The value is in the late first. I’ve heard teams talking about him in the top 10."

• "(Washington RB Chris) Polk was productive on a (bad) team, but he gained weight this year and lost some speed and did not have any burst. He was coming off knee surgery. I’m not sure if he ever had explosive speed, to be honest. We have him in the fifth (round)."

• "(South Carolina WR) Alshon Jeffery can't run a lick. Show me the tape where he separates with speed or quickness."

• "I hope that big sucker (Alabama RB Trent Richardson) does not come to our division. He's a man's man. I don't want to see him twice a year."

lonestar · 04-18-2012, 11:09 PM

Thanks will help on draft day..

ludo21 · 04-19-2012, 06:27 AM

fun read

Rohirrim · 04-19-2012, 06:47 AM

. It's the America Idol effect. My wife makes me watch that show. Actually, I sit there on my laptop while she watches it. I hear the "judges" getting all worked up and saying how everybody is soooo good, and this is the best group we've ever had on this show, but then you listen to them and realize that only about one of them is even worth a damn. That show has been going for ten years. How many stars have been born from that show. Two?

Every year, the draft is the same. The NFL and the sports media tell us how wonderful everybody is, and all the fans get worked up and excited for the show. Then, three years later, half of them aren't even in the league anymore.

JCMElway · 04-19-2012, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

. It's the America Idol effect. My wife makes me watch that show. Actually, I sit there on my laptop while she watches it. I hear the "judges" getting all worked up and saying how everybody is soooo good, and this is the best group we've ever had on this show, but then you listen to them and realize that only about one of them is even worth a damn. That show has been going for ten years. How many stars have been born from that show. Two?

Every year, the draft is the same. The NFL and the sports media tell us how wonderful everybody is, and all the fans get worked up and excited for the show. Then, three years later, half of them aren't even in the league anymore.

Can you get your wife to watch the draft now that you watch her show?

SouthStndJunkie · 04-19-2012, 07:40 AM

You wonder how many of these insiders/scouts are slinging a little dirt, hoping the guy they sling a little dirt about falls to their pick?

Rohirrim · 04-19-2012, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCMElway

Can you get your wife to watch the draft now that you watch her show?

She's already planning to be out with the girls for that.

Rohirrim · 04-19-2012, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SouthStndJunkie

You wonder how many of these insiders/scouts are slinging a little dirt, hoping the guy they sling a little dirt about falls to their pick?

Yep. That's what you can never know. It's like Spy vs Spy.

BowlenBall · 04-19-2012, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

She's already planning to be out with the girls for that.

All three days?

Rohirrim · 04-19-2012, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BowlenBall

All three days?

Just for the prime time stuff. Works for me.

pricejj · 04-19-2012, 09:06 AM

Zeitler's arms are 32 3/4"...so that one was a lie.

Kendall Wright is INDEED a playmaker, and his value in the 1st remains.

The rest are pretty much accurate as far as I can tell.

27atwater · 04-19-2012, 06:38 PM

It's hard for me to believe Upshaw would discuss puling hair in an NFL interview. He HAS to be smarter than that, right?

BowlenBall · 04-19-2012, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 27atwater

It's hard for me to believe Upshaw would discuss puling hair in an NFL interview. He HAS to be smarter than that, right?

Yeah, that was the most interesting 'whisper' to me as well... what the hell is that all about?

Play2win · 04-20-2012, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

. It's the America Idol effect. My wife makes me watch that show. Actually, I sit there on my laptop while she watches it. I hear the "judges" getting all worked up and saying how everybody is soooo good, and this is the best group we've ever had on this show, but then you listen to them and realize that only about one of them is even worth a damn. That show has been going for ten years. How many stars have been born from that show. Two?

Every year, the draft is the same. The NFL and the sports media tell us how wonderful everybody is, and all the fans get worked up and excited for the show. Then, three years later, half of them aren't even in the league anymore.

Rule #9: Never watch American Idol.

Play2win · 04-20-2012, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 27atwater

It's hard for me to believe Upshaw would discuss puling hair in an NFL interview. He HAS to be smarter than that, right?

Well, that depends, is he related to Gene Upshaw?

Drek · 04-20-2012, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 27atwater

It's hard for me to believe Upshaw would discuss puling hair in an NFL interview. He HAS to be smarter than that, right?

Well he got hauled down to the police station, so I'd bet its something the NFL team brought up.

If you consider how those interviews usually go, very adversarial to say the least, he probably got more than a few "so tough guy, I hear you like smacking women around huh?" His response including his body language and the like all give teams clues about how he works under fire.

The comment might not even be with regards to his character, it could be that the scout thought a hard line question rattled him and views it as an indicator that when trash talk on the field gets personal he'll react the same way.

Chris · 04-24-2012, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

Yep. That's what you can never know. It's like Spy vs Spy.

If you knew who said what, you could track this year over year.

04-18-2012, 11:03 PM	#1
BowlenBall Owner. Philanthropist. Pimp. Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Abu Dhabi Posts: 4,344 Adopt-a-Bronco: Lucas Reed	Draft Whispers from Pro Football Weekly Some draft whispers from Pro Football Weekly -- these are always fun, because the PFW staff has lots of contacts with scouts and front offices. Half of these are probably the insider's honest opinion, and half are smokescreens: • “What really bothers me about (Clemson DE-OLB Andre) Branch — where was he earlier in his career? You can make excuses for him and say he split time with (Da'Quan) Bowers, but one-year producers have always scared me. They are chasing the money. Most guys change when they get it. … I thought his pad level was very inconsistent on tape. He’s a digester. He doesn’t feel blocking pressure. I can’t believe he has been talked about in the first (round). I don’t know any (other teams) that graded him there.” • “To me, (Wisconsin C Peter) Konz does not play with any power. If he does not play with technique, he gets out of sorts. He is smart and tough. I don’t think he is anywhere near the Pouncey brothers. He’s a third-rounder for me.” • “(Alabama S Mark) Barron was only about 85 percent recovered from surgery at his (pro-day) workout. He didn’t do any of the shuttles or quick movement stuff, but he ran and performed drills. He is the real deal. He is solid. You know exactly what you are getting.” • “(Michigan State DT) Jerel Worthy is a con guy. I think that will hurt him. He was the most distracted interview we had. He was all over the place. You get excited by some of the flashes on tape — he’s a ‘wow’ player. But he don’t get it. Someone might take him in the first, but you would feel a lot better getting him in the second.” • “(Stanford TE) Coby Fleener is rising. He does not get outside the first (round).” • “(North Carolina DE) Quinton Coples tanked it (this year). His play scares me. I don’t know that we could pull the trigger. That’s a tough question, man. We’d have to think about it where we’re picking (in the back half of the first round).” • “(Illinois DE) Whitney Mercilus is projecting higher as a 3-4 rush guy. That’s who I think will wind up drafting him.” • “(Texas OLB) Keenan Robinson does not play with any technique. He ran slow (4.8 seconds). We had him in the third (round) during the fall. I don’t know if he goes until the fifth (round). It’s going to take him some time.” • “(West Virginia DE Bruce) Irvin is starting to heat up in our place, but how high do you take a situational player with a history of issues? … I don’t think he is a bad kid. He’s just immature.” • “I don’t think (Midwestern State OG) Amini Silatolu is a first (-rounder). I would not take him before the second. He has some issues that you can’t hide in (our town).” • “(Oregon RB) LaMichael James ran too fast to get out of the second (round). I don’t think he will. We would strongly consider (drafting him) if he’s there.” • “(USC OLT) Matt Kalil is a good, solid player, but tell me who the next-best left tackle is. Cordy Glenn is a guard for me. (Ohio State’s) Mike Adams is soft and doesn’t train. Riley Reiff has everything you want — he’s just not a very good foot athlete. The guy with left tackle feet is (Oklahoma’s) Donald Stephenson. He doesn’t work and doesn’t lift and had to sit out a season for his (issues). There is a big 'miss' factor there with him, but on his talent alone, he could play at a high level.” • “You don’t expect nose tackles to be good pass rushers, but (Washington’s) Alameda Ta’amu can really push the pocket. You’d like him to refine his hand placement and be more consistent, but he is strong, and he knocks (blockers) off the ball as well as anyone in the draft. He’ll be a good player in the league.” • “(Iowa State OT) Kelechi Osemele is intelligent and might be able to convince a coach for 2-3 days at an all-star game that he is a good guy, but when you are around him too long, you realize he is full of it. I think he’ll be a right tackle in the league, not a left.” • “I think (Mississippi OT) Bobby Massie will go somewhere in the top 50. He’s a right tackle only, for me. Would you be excited to pull his card off the board? I wouldn’t be. But I think he will be a starter and, if he picks it up mentally and works at it, will be fairly solid. You can’t lose sight of the fact that almost every team is down offensive linemen. There just are not enough of them.” • “(Michigan State’s) Edwin Baker looked good at his pro day. I think he’ll go in the fourth round. I would not take him there — I wouldn’t. I think he is a role player in the NFL. He had a better workout than he played. I just think the way the NFL is now, he will play and be in a rotation and has NFL qualities. You see his speed on stretch plays, but he is not a very big guy. He was getting pushed for playing time — that’s why he came out.” • “(Auburn OT) Brandon Mosley is a tough guy. He gets after it. He’s a good kid … but he’s always going to be limited by his stiffness. He’s not athletic enough to be a left tackle, and as a right tackle, it’s tough to play strong when your hips are so high. You'd like to get him in the fifth (round)." • “When you evaluate (Georgia’s) Cordy Glenn at left tackle, you have to remember — he was out of shape and overweight. You have to go back to last year (2010) before the strength coaches came in to get a true read on him.” • “I think (Oklahoma’s) Ronnell Lewis goes in the second, but to me, he’s a 'reach' guy. I wouldn’t touch him there, and he fits what we do.” • “(Boise State RB) Doug Martin is a tough one to figure out if you look at this year vs. last year. In 2010, he looks like a surefire late first-rounder. If you watch 2011, there are games where he looks like nothing more than a free agent. I don’t see what everyone else is (seeing) on this year’s tape. If you get the player you see last year, you’d be pretty happy. If you get the 2011 version, you might be disappointed.” • “(LSU DT) Michael Brockers is big, strong and athletic. He just does not get great push in the middle. … To me, he is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I liked his interview.” • "The more Courtney Upshaw talked (in the interview process), the more I got scared. He has a lot of distractions in his life. There are a lot of concerns there. We need an edge guy, but we wouldn't touch him in the first (round). I'd have hesitations in the second where we're picking, after hearing him talk about grabbing his girlfriend by the hair." • "You can't take away (Baylor WR Kendall) Wright's production. He is falling (in the draft), but he's still a playmaker." • "(Wisconsin OG Kevin) Zeitler struggles in pass pro a little bit. The program is known for its run blocking. That’s their flavor of the day. He has 31-inch arms and gets out of sorts in pass protection." • "(Former LSU CB) Patrick Peterson had one unique quality — he could fly. That is why he went where he did. He has been more productive as a punt returner than he has been as a corner. He won games as a returner. (Morris) Claiborne is not as fast. I worry about LSU skill guys — look at the corners and safeties and receivers that have come out of the program. How many have been free of issues coming out?" • "(Iowa OLT) Riley Reiff is a guard all the way. He is a tough, grinding guard — the same as (Ravens All-Pro and former Hawkeye Marshal) Yanda. That’s what I think he is." • "Everyone says (South Carolina CB) Stephon Gilmore is rising after his workout. That is what I am hearing on the street. He is a big corner, and everyone is going big now. The value is in the late first. I’ve heard teams talking about him in the top 10." • "(Washington RB Chris) Polk was productive on a (bad) team, but he gained weight this year and lost some speed and did not have any burst. He was coming off knee surgery. I’m not sure if he ever had explosive speed, to be honest. We have him in the fifth (round)." • "(South Carolina WR) Alshon Jeffery can't run a lick. Show me the tape where he separates with speed or quickness." • "I hope that big sucker (Alabama RB Trent Richardson) does not come to our division. He's a man's man. I don't want to see him twice a year." Last edited by BowlenBall; 04-18-2012 at 11:09 PM..

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04-18-2012, 11:09 PM	#2
lonestar Day One Fan Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: West Texas Posts: 6,213 Adopt-a-Bronco: Decker	Thanks will help on draft day..

04-19-2012, 06:27 AM	#3
ludo21 RIP Darrent Williams Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Glendale, AZ Posts: 17,898 Adopt-a-Bronco: Paul Ernster	fun read

04-19-2012, 06:47 AM	#4
Rohirrim Partisan Human Cannonball Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Twixt Hell & Highwater Posts: 48,791	. It's the America Idol effect. My wife makes me watch that show. Actually, I sit there on my laptop while she watches it. I hear the "judges" getting all worked up and saying how everybody is soooo good, and this is the best group we've ever had on this show, but then you listen to them and realize that only about one of them is even worth a damn. That show has been going for ten years. How many stars have been born from that show. Two? Every year, the draft is the same. The NFL and the sports media tell us how wonderful everybody is, and all the fans get worked up and excited for the show. Then, three years later, half of them aren't even in the league anymore.

04-19-2012, 07:40 AM	#6
SouthStndJunkie Ring of Famer Shannon Says: Listen to The Junkman Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 15,237	You wonder how many of these insiders/scouts are slinging a little dirt, hoping the guy they sling a little dirt about falls to their pick?

04-19-2012, 09:06 AM	#11
pricejj jungle Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Louisville, CO Posts: 5,132	Zeitler's arms are 32 3/4"...so that one was a lie. Kendall Wright is INDEED a playmaker, and his value in the 1st remains. The rest are pretty much accurate as far as I can tell.

04-19-2012, 06:38 PM	#12
27atwater THANK U! sphincter says "what"? Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Sharon, Pa Posts: 1,594	It's hard for me to believe Upshaw would discuss puling hair in an NFL interview. He HAS to be smarter than that, right?