Official 2015 NFL Draft Thread

Found on the internet: Some people just make crap up.

Or just copy-paste without giving a source.

That Fanspeak site really bogs down a PC. It's kind of fun though and I'd be happy as heck if it came out like this:

 

R1: Maxx Williams TE Minnesota

R2: Deion Barnes OLB Penn State

R3: Ifo Ekpre-Olomu  CB Oregon

R4: Stephone Anthony ILB Clemson

R5: Mike Hull  ILB  Penn State

R6: Henry Anderson  DE Stanford

R7: Tyrus Thompson OT Oklahoma

 

I think Thompson, Anthiny and Ifo go earlier than that personally, but I went with their board.

Just put 'em in jello.  You're never to high for jello.

Mmm.... Jello wrestling.... 

Miami ILB Denzel Perryman interview:

Who are some of the teams you've met with thus far at the Senior Bowl? 

"The Raiders, Packers, Broncos, Chiefs, Falcons, Browns, I talked to Tampa Bay. I met with Chip Kelly (Eagles head coach)." 

Are there any teams that you feel have shown more interest in you than others? 

"I've been hearing I'm big on Oakland's board and on Denver's board. Also Green Bay and the Dolphins." 

Pitt OL TJ Clemmings interview:

Who are some of the teams you've met with thus far at the Senior Bowl? 

"I met with the Raiders, Green Bay Packers, Browns, Chiefs, Colts and Dolphins." 

Washington DL Danny Shelton interview:

Who are some of the teams you've met with thus far at the Senior Bowl? 

"Today I have a meeting set up with the Texans. I've met with the Browns, Bears, Packers, Buccaneers, Dolphins. A lot of teams really." 

Do any of those teams stand out as showing the most interest in you? 

"I really don't know. It is all the same kind of meetings just seeing where you're coming from and my background."

Perryman is so interesting.  I thought he was going to go pro after the 2013 season.  I'm not so concerned about the height of interior front seven players in the 3-4, but one has to wonder if Thompson is?  Perryman is 5-10 5/8.  One thing we know is that Thompson hasn't drafted a short defensive back in quite some time now.  Is being under 5-11 too short for a linebacker in Thompson's book?  He did take D.J. Smith but he didn't last very long.

 

Thompson had a long history of only drafting college left tackles and then the Packers would move them around to different spots along the line.  Then he broke tradition last year, drafted a college center and hit the jackpot.  Clemmings started 26 games on offense (was a defensive lineman early in his college career) and all of those starts were at right tackle.  He also fits into more of the lengthy, athletic mode more than the short-armed trench battler that Thompson has picked in the past.  But an intriguing guy who is a good player that still has room to become much better.  He'd be a solid pick at #30.  I think Thompson will view OT as the #1 need if Bulaga leaves. 

 

Five months ago Shelton would have been my favorite pick at #30, but first round nose tackles generally become top half of the first round nose tackles when they total 9 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss during the season.  Can't blame the Packers for doing their due dilligence on him, but I don't think he'll even be available in a reasonable trade up situation.  I'd love to be wrong about that.

Don't overthink this draft. Green Bay needs an inside middle linebacker. Period. Clay beat the ever living **** out of himself going inside and out. When Hawk had to cover for him everything fell apart. 

 

ILB, ILB, ILB. Don't care about BPA. At all. Determine the best ILB fit. If he's there take him. If he's not and you can trade down for your next best fit, do that. There are 3 really strong ILB picks this year. GB better get one of them. 

 

If Perryman, McKinney, and Kendricks all go before 30 then it's a damn conspiracy to keep Green Bay down. 

 

 

Blasphemy.

 

Always go BPA

 

It just happens the BPA will be a linebacker this year.

 

Fact

The correct draft strategy is very clear - BAB

 

My Fanspeak draft

The best strategy as our friends from Chicago have shown, is to find your biggest weakness and attack it from multiple angles. Allow them to demonstrate:

 

 

QB Christian Ponder MINNESOTA CHICAGO

QB Michael Vick NEW YORK JETS CHICAGO

QB Brian Hoyer CLEVELAND CHICAGO

QB Jake Locker TENNESSEE CHICAGO

I agree about Perryman's height, but I think the success of Chris Borland (who actually is a similar prospect) makes the height debate a little less credible. Thompson seems to put the most stock in attitude/personality so if Perryman passed the interviews then I think he's an option. Unfortunately I think Perryman will continue to rise (ala CJ Mosely and Ryan Shazier) and may not even be available by the time we pick.

As for Tackle, I still think Tretter might be in the back of their minds. I know that many disagree and the Mario Williams strip/sack still lingers, but if Bulaga isn't there I think they look in his direction before they spend a 1st on another Tackle. If Bulaga walks then I think they will draft another Tackle in r4 or r5 and let that player compete with Tretter. If Bulaga stays then I think they look to bolster interior OL depth with a true Guard.

Three more ILB's I really like:

 

TCU ILB Paul Dawson

5'10"/230 lbs.

Like Perryman he's a little on the small side, not an intimidating physical presence, but he is a smart, instinctive LB who reacts quickly. He's too quick for OL to get their hands on him and he flows to the ball really well. I expect him to test well at the combine and I like him to go anywhere from the end of round 2 to the end of round 3. 

 

Central Florida ILB Terrance Plummer

6'1"/235 lbs.

He looks bigger and stronger than 235 lbs., looks like he could easily add another 10 or so pounds. Very good, tough LB with a good nose for the ball. He needs to learn to shed OL a little better, but he reads the play and attacks. Good hitter also, actually he kind of reminded me of Des Bishop...very strong and aggressive player who gets a little over aggressive at times. I expect him to go anywhere from early round 4 to late round 5. 

 

South Florida ILB Reshard Cliett

6'2"/235 lbs.

Very aggressive, rangy athlete who reminds me of DeAndre Levy. He looks to have good instincts and seems to play with a lot of energy. I think definitely will go somewhere in round 4 or round 5.

Kendricks is the guy I really want. He's somewhat akin to a healthy Nick Barnett in that he can be anywhere on the field and hold his own, though Kendricks has more upside as a blitzer. "Isolate the receiver on the ILB" and "Double team up front, screen the edges and make the ILB make the play" would no longer be the standards for attacking the Green Bay defense.

does Kendricks fancy himself a small business owner also?  Maybe a nightclub?

Does he swing a fancy samurai sword after every tackle?  Hope so.  

now if we could just get the right coach...

Seems a lot of mocks have either Perryman or Kendricks available at #30 but have GB picking a NT or DT instead.  

I think some of it comes from the perception/idea that many ILBs are pulled in Nickel/Dime packages and are a lesser value. TT is also said to be a proponent of 'big bodies' and 'it's hard to find good ones.'

Fanspeak is fun to play with. IIRC, in the past they included other sites boards (maybe Walter Football) for use. From what I've seen so far I will not be surprised if Thompson tries to trade out of the 1st. Sort of like he did when he drafted Jordy.

 

Based on recent NFL history, it takes an extra special player to be an ILB drafted in the 1st round, and then perform to justify that draft position to the fans.

 

 

ILB might rank #1 and #2 on this team's list of needs, but I think anything in the front seven is in play for R1.

How they view Raji (need to re-sign v. let him walk) will play a large roll in how they target RD1.  If this is a good draft for ILB's they could very well go DT/NT in RD1.

Kendricks is a good ILB and the comparisons to Barnett are fair, but I never really felt Barnett was a great fit for this D. It was like night/day when he was injured and Bishop replaced him. Barnett struggled with the same thing Hawk/Jones struggle with: shedding OL and getting to the ball cleanly. Bishop, like Barrington, struggled with being over-aggressive and just flat out missed at times, but I will take a player who is over-aggressive than a player who is under-aggressive or thinking too much (like Hawk and Jones). 

I feel your (and some others') love of Bishop is rather tinted against his fairly serious faults. He was an old-school thumper, but outside of the short area, he was a mess. What I would have liked to see was a Barnett/Bishop tandem as their strengths could help cover the other's weakness. Barnett could get from sideline-to-sideline and could cover the seam, the flat or even run deep. Bishop could better stand up an OG.

 

Hawk couldn't do either. He wasn't fast and wasn't stout and that hasn't changed.

Des could get outside of the short area at times

 

 

Barnett was decent.  He was unlike Hawk in that he was aggressive, but sometimes too aggressive and he'd shoot the wrong gap.  He was a lot like Hawk in that he was really good at making tackles 6 yards downfield after getting dragged for a while.  He was just too small and yes, that 2010 defense got markedly better when Bishop hit the field.  

Lets face it, that 2010 defense got a lot stronger when Howard Green came in around the same time and Walden started taking Poppinga's snaps. Barnett could be over-aggressive at times, sure, but he was a damn sight better than Hawk.

If Hawk is the measuring stick....you need to find a different stick

If Hawk was a penis you would not only need a penis pump to enlarge but Cialis to last until the fourth quarter.  And you would never get there too early again.

 

Have a nice day.  Sunny again in South Padre.  

personal experience Rpackya?

2010

One of my all time favorite pictures.

 

This was our year.   It was time....dammit

That was a 15 yard penalty. Marshawn Lynch grabbing his crotch, not so much.

It took Nick a couple years to turn into Nick. Year 2 or 3 Ha Ha knocks that Wilson 2 point conversion prayer away or just picks it off. Maybe he even grabs Burnett by the shoulder and tells him he's not going down after that pick. Ha Ha was looking to clear a path.

 

Ha Ha needs to keep developing but it does look like GB may have found the safety it desperately needed. 

 

 

from what I saw this year I'm thoroughly DELIGHTED with HHCD.

Only thing I didn't like about Clinton-Dix was his lack of wrapping up when attempting to make a tackle.  Too many times he'd just try to put a shoulder into a running back only to bounce off.  Overall he did seem to play that back end pretty well for a rookie.  There were some misses but it wasn't like he was getting torched left and right.  If I were to grade him I'd go with a B-, pretty solid for a rookie and could easily improve with some work on his tackling.

He tackled very well more often than not.

 

 

 

The 2 plays by HHCD that really impressed me were:

Breaking up that pass to Gronk in the endzone, I haven't seen a packer safety do that in a long time.

Grabbing Martellus Bennett 1" short of the goal line and never letting him cross it.

Those are 2 big dudes who were about to make big plays and HHCD won both battles. 

 

That dude is a keeper and will only get better, hell for a rookie safety I would give him an A for the season, I didn't expect him to have as much impact as he did.  

Completely agree, although Jerron McMillian and Doc Jennings set the bar pretty low for an upgrade at the position.