Aaron Doanld the next Geno Atkins????

[Brick Tamland]

i see a lot of similarities between the two. both guys are "considered" undersized by NFL standards (donald 6-1, atkins 6-1), very fast for their size(donald 4.68 40, atkins 4.72 40), strong (doanld 35 reps, atkins 34 reps). geno fell all the way to the 4th round because of his "size" but that didnt stop him from dominating in the NFL. as much as i want hageman because he is a freak of nature, im leaning more towards doanld. i think he will be more of a dominant player than hageman. donald will be the enxt geno atkins draft donald at 14, draft tuitt in the 2nd, resign melton, and hopefully washington progress this off season. thats a nice young front 4.

DE/HYBIRD: washington
DT: donald
DT: melton
DE: tuitt

[BullHeaded]

i see a lot of similarities between the two. both guys are "considered" undersized by NFL standards (donald 6-1, atkins 6-1), very fast for their size(donald 4.68 40, atkins 4.72 40), strong (doanld 35 reps, atkins 34 reps). geno fell all the way to the 4th round because of his "size" but that didnt stop him from dominating in the NFL. as much as i want hageman because he is a freak of nature, im leaning more towards doanld. i think he will be more of a dominant player than hageman. donald will be the enxt geno atkins draft donald at 14, draft tuitt in the 2nd, resign melton, and hopefully washington progress this off season. thats a nice young front 4.

DE/HYBIRD: washington
DT: donald
DT: melton
DE: tuitt

Donald is lighter than Geno Atkins. My problem with him is he is strictly a 3-technique DT and drafting him will dictate our defensive scheme for the next five years (you are not drafting someone 14th overall to not start for the next five years). Also, I worry that as bad as our run D was, a 285 pound DT isn't going to solve many problems there.

The guy I'm leaning towards now is CB Justin Gilbert.
1. Prototypical size: 6'1", 210 lbs.
2. Blazing speed and loose hips at the combine... best 40 time among DBs at 4.37
3. One of the strongest DBs at the combine... he'll be able to play bump and run.
4. Highly productive in college: 7 interceptions with two pick sixes last year. He can do zone coverage too.
5. We have John Hoke as a DB coach who turned both Peanut and Jennings into All Pro CBs and can coach this kid up.
6. He's versatile enough to play CB in any scheme... no matter how our defense evolves he'll fit.
7. He is an outstanding return guy... I believe he was one return TD away from setting an FBS record. He can conceivably replace both Peanut and Hester.

I just wish Donald was closer to 300 lbs like Atkins. I could deal with him being shorter... that is leverage along the line of scrimmage. But I could see Lacy and Peterson running right through his gap. And I can't see him in any other scheme whether its a 3-4 or a 4-3 "wide nine" base. I like Hageman because I could at least see him being versatile enough to fit in multiple positions and in multiple schemes. Although I would have liked Hageman more if we had a DL coach like Marinelli to mold him a la Melton who was also raw. Also, I know everyone is looking at 40 times and bench... but don't look past Hageman's 35.5 inch vertical which is unbelievable for a 312 pound guy. That's a guy who will get some push with those legs at the line of scrimmage if he can keep his pad level low enough. But Gilbert is my first choice at this point... even if he isn't a DL or Safety.

[Brick Tamland]

i see a lot of similarities between the two. both guys are "considered" undersized by NFL standards (donald 6-1, atkins 6-1), very fast for their size(donald 4.68 40, atkins 4.72 40), strong (doanld 35 reps, atkins 34 reps). geno fell all the way to the 4th round because of his "size" but that didnt stop him from dominating in the NFL. as much as i want hageman because he is a freak of nature, im leaning more towards doanld. i think he will be more of a dominant player than hageman. donald will be the enxt geno atkins draft donald at 14, draft tuitt in the 2nd, resign melton, and hopefully washington progress this off season. thats a nice young front 4.

DE/HYBIRD: washington
DT: donald
DT: melton
DE: tuitt

Donald is lighter than Geno Atkins. My problem with him is he is strictly a 3-technique DT and drafting him will dictate our defensive scheme for the next five years (you are not drafting someone 14th overall to not start for the next five years). Also, I worry that as bad as our run D was, a 285 pound DT isn't going to solve many problems there.

The guy I'm leaning towards now is CB Justin Gilbert.
1. Prototypical size: 6'1", 210 lbs.
2. Blazing speed and loose hips at the combine... best 40 time among DBs at 4.37
3. One of the strongest DBs at the combine... he'll be able to play bump and run.
4. Highly productive in college: 7 interceptions with two pick sixes last year. He can do zone coverage too.
5. We have John Hoke as a DB coach who turned both Peanut and Jennings into All Pro CBs and can coach this kid up.
6. He's versatile enough to play CB in any scheme... no matter how our defense evolves he'll fit.
7. He is an outstanding return guy... I believe he was one return TD away from setting an FBS record. He can conceivably replace both Peanut and Hester.

I just wish Donald was closer to 300 lbs like Atkins. I could deal with him being shorter... that is leverage along the line of scrimmage. But I could see Lacy and Peterson running right through his gap. And I can't see him in any other scheme whether its a 3-4 or a 4-3 "wide nine" base. I like Hageman because I could at least see him being versatile enough to fit in multiple positions and in multiple schemes. Although I would have liked Hageman more if we had a DL coach like Marinelli to mold him a la Melton who was also raw. Also, I know everyone is looking at 40 times and bench... but don't look past Hageman's 35.5 inch vertical which is unbelievable for a 312 pound guy. That's a guy who will get some push with those legs at the line of scrimmage if he can keep his pad level low enough. But Gilbert is my first choice at this point... even if he isn't a DL or Safety.

i can see your concern about donald in the lighter end of DTs but atkins weighed in at 291 lbs. at the combine. donald weighed in at 285 lbs. now atkins plays at 303 lbs. so he gained 12 pounds at the NFL. a lot of kids/rookies get bigger and stronger at the pro level because they have better trainers and staff to guide them. thats why donald's weight doesnt bother me that much because i know the bears training staff can fix that. this kid has a very high motor and great work ethic and very athletic for his size, recorded 29.5 sacks in college for a DT. like i said, i love hageman because guys his size dont grow on trees but i just know donald is gonna dominate more in the pro level. one thing that bothered me about hageman is very low sack total, 13 sack total. the scouting report ive read is saying the same thing, they dont understand for a guy his size and strength, why isnt he dominating college football.

if emery is thinking of drafting a DB, i think they should trade down and acquire more picks. that 14th pick needs to be a DL(hageman, donald, nix, ealy) or trade down and get haha or pryor or dennard.

[BullHeaded]

Hey... its a crapshoot. If he's going to be as productive in the NFL as he was in college that would be great. I'm just not as confident. Geno Atkins is more of the exception than the rule and he's even lighter than Geno Atkins. Let me ask you this, if we drafted Donald, would you buy into sticking with the Cover-2 for the foreseeable future?

[patryk7754]

I can't say I've seen him play a lot. McShay has said he's a clone of Melton and Bill Polian absolutely loves this guy which says a lot.

[Brick Tamland]

Hey... its a crapshoot. If he's going to be as productive in the NFL as he was in college that would be great. I'm just not as confident. Geno Atkins is more of the exception than the rule and he's even lighter than Geno Atkins. Let me ask you this, if we drafted Donald, would you buy into sticking with the Cover-2 for the foreseeable future?

im not really a fan of the cover 2 especially the safety we have and rogers and brees always burns us on the cover 2 because the middle of the field is wide open. I was actually happy that they "may" run some hybrid next year. i was actually proposing that last year becaue shae is that perfect hybrid DE. now that shae is moving to LB, washington is another perfect hybrid DE. just like shae, washington played LB and DE in college. having washing roaming around the line with donald and melton in the middle and hopefully tuitt (if he last that long the the 2nd round) at the end, thats a nice athletic front 4.