2004 Draft main discussion

Spencer's numbers

Some of Spencers career numbers are mind boggling.

4 year starter.
50+ passes defensed
76 tackles as a Senior.

 

This sounds an awful lot like Reggie Howard to me.

 

Kinda. That's not a totally bad thing, since Howard's been playing better. But certainly, despite four years' experience, he's raw and has relied on athleticism.

 

recent gbn report on senior bowl

>>>There was a common theme among this year's Senior Bowl OTs and that was lots of big guys who didn't necessarily move all that well on a consistent basis. Florida OT Max Starks, another of the game's more highly rated players coming into Mobile, in fact, didn't move very well on any basis. The 6-7, 359-pound Starks was a load when going in one direction; indeed, when he locked onto a defensive lineman while drive blocking it was over; when forced to move laterally, though, Starks struggled to maintain his balance; he also was very slow to set up in pass protection and showed little in the way of change of direction capacity; as such he was particularly vulnerable to a hard outside-in move. Of the other OTs, Shane Olivea of Ohio State may have been the most sound fundamentally. Olivea set up well with a good base and arm extension; he also moved his feet reasonably well and was able to stay in contact with a hard outside rush; Olivea, though, tended to play a little high at times and didn't show much in the way of agility in space; he also tended to cheat to the outside and was vulnerable to a hard inside rush. Texas A&M OT Alan Rueber, Stanford's Kirk Chambers, and Travelle Wharton of South Carolina also appeared to be relatively solid fundamentally, but lacked overall quickness and agility. On the other hand, East Carolina OT Brian Rimpf did show decent athletic skills for a big man; but tended to drop his head in pass protection and in the process lose his balance amd momentum. Then there was Sean Bubin of Illinois who appeared to be all over the place technically - he really didn't set up very well, played too high, and didn't show much in the way of balance or lateral movement - but worked hard, used his arms effectively and generally was still on the plus side when the whistle went. In fact, when watching the OTs at this year's Senior Bowl game one had the feeling one was watching a pretty good group of OG prospects.<<<



I've got to believe that we will resign Jeno. Along with Gross and Nelson (sigh) that will give us a foundation of youth that a solid O-line for the future can be built on. I also have to believe that we will draft at least one OL this spring on the hopes of adding a future starter. I just hope we can wait until the 4th or so to address the need. Who do you guys like so far?

 

The more I look.

Nathan Vasher has put up some good numbers over his career. I wish I had more then the Senior Bowl and bowl game tape to watch.

 

Vasher does have nice numbers - I agree and he has a lot of what you look for as a playmaker with speed. As a 1st round prospect, he's small and seems to get man handled by bigger guys. Vasher can be a starter in the league but his upside is limited cause he knows his position well, but still gets overpowered. Vasher is a good 2nd round talent though and he worth that round IMO.

Dunta is an athlete that could become a shut down guy with coaching. I want to see him run a good time before I say 1st rounder but he looks the part athletically.

 

yeah, Vasher makes for an interesting choice here actually.
I was going to say that he might be a guy who can fill in for a playoff-type team that has or will have two good starting corners but needs a third CB/return man to be situationally good.
The problem is, he's not big, he doesn't play the ball enough, and you hate to put a first on a guy who couldn't start in a couple years at the same level as some of the others we're talking about - Hall, Robinson, etc that have more talent but could be used better as nickels right now while they learn.

Of course, he'll be there, and Hall won't. Robinson may, but lacks the return skills. So, short term, Vasher has certainly added value to this team, and would be a fine nickel. But the team would have to be able to believe he can be a starter in the future, to put a 1st into him.

 

I think Strait (shockingly) might just slid a bit. There is a slim chance he is there when we pick. I agree that Hall will go earlier than Strait because he is gonna workout well. Allen and Gamble go earlier too.

Strait is one of those guys that might not blow you away with his workout, and he certainly had a bad SR bowl, but his body of work overall at Oklahoma was incredible. He wasn't thrown at much last season, so his numbers are misleading. The bloom is off the rose a bit with him and he'd be a steal that late because he could be a starter early (albeit picked on) but develop into a shut down player later. Also, unlike Vasher, Strait is physical as a tackler and he's got enough to play with any pro WR. I think the Sr bowl was just a bad experience for the guy. Strait can play and we'd be talking LATE in round 1. Great value to get a CB with his talent there.

 

Strait would work out as well.
I'm a bit concerned, though, that abundant projections of CB at 32 would allow them to forego one in FA.
I guess if we brought Howard back very, very cheaply, and drafted a 1st, we'd still improve. But damn that.

 

Vontez Duff fits the mold here also, thats a little scary though...