2013 Ask Jeff Risdon a Question

[Icness]

How would you rank the WR's if every single one of them realized their full potential?

Interesting question, making me be an optimist...

1. Watkins
2. Lee
3. Benjamin
4. Evans
5. M. Bryant
6. D. Adams
7. O. Beckham
8. B. Coleman
9. C. Latimer
10. J. Landry
D. Moncrief and A. Robinson are right there too. I should probably mention Herron and Paul Richardson, could be higher if I thought about it more.

[BearTooth]

Jeff, gimme 3 players that consensus draft opinion is vastly underrating. And three that they're overrating.

Good question!

Three overrated in terms of ability, and the first two are easy:
1. Calvin Pryor
2. Justin Gilbert
3. Marcus Roberson/Loucheiz Purifoy. Both suck, Roberson sucks less.

as far as draft stock being overrated:
1. Jordan Matthews, will not go before the 3rd round. I've actually bet $100 on that. Good player but no special traits to offer, other WRs have a special trait or two that will get them drafted over him.
2. Louis Nix. His teammate Tuitt will go before him. I vehemently disagree with that, but I'm not running the draft. Tuitt is a 5th rounder to me, pops straight up out of his stance all the time.
3. Tiny Richardson. Two words: arthritic knees. Stock killer.

Underrated in ability terms:
1. Terrence Brooks. Better player than Calvin Pryor or Ahmad Dixon, won't be drafted as such.
2. Xavier Su'a-Filo. Will be one of my 25 highest grades
3. Aaron Murray. I have to redo my QB rankings, he's no worse than 5th.

Underrated in terms of perceived draft stock:
1. Jawuan James
2. Marcus Martin. could be 1st center taken. I've yet to evaluate him.
3. Kyle Fuller. Very real possibility he goes in the 20s. 45th overall is his draft floor

Good stuff. I agree with you on Justin Gilbert and Kyle Fuller. I also think that Nix, mostly because he will appeal to only 3-4 teams, will drop farther than he's ranked now. Interesting about Murray. I've been hearing his name a lot recently. Need to do more research on him.

Hey, remember those conversations with scouts you used to have. Any plans for more of those?

[Twolf16]

Please name your top 5 cornerbacks and their strengths and weaknesses.

[kdawg32086]

Jeff, am I right to think that Nix screams future Baltimore Raven or Pittsburgh Steeler? Seems like he would fit in with the d-line's they've built.

Also, how would you rate the top ILB's in the draft this year (hoping dbag Zumwalt isn't on the list)?

BTW, glad you're on the Aaron Murray bandwagon. In terms of college QB's I thought he was the best QB in the entire country...including my boy Mariota at Oregon.

Sent from my LG-C800 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[penquin11]

Two Questions here:

1. What Offensive linemen are being underrated this year? (ie: see Larry Warford last year)


2. What every happened to Cyril Richardson, there was a ton of hype about him earlier in the season, now it seems as if he has fallen off the face of the Earth.

[studcrackers]

aaron donald's not making it to the cowboys is he?

[studcrackers]

Jeff, gimme 3 players that consensus draft opinion is vastly underrating. And three that they're overrating.

Good question!

Three overrated in terms of ability, and the first two are easy:
1. Calvin Pryor
2. Justin Gilbert
3. Marcus Roberson/Loucheiz Purifoy. Both suck, Roberson sucks less.

as far as draft stock being overrated:
1. Jordan Matthews, will not go before the 3rd round. I've actually bet $100 on that. Good player but no special traits to offer, other WRs have a special trait or two that will get them drafted over him.
2. Louis Nix. His teammate Tuitt will go before him. I vehemently disagree with that, but I'm not running the draft. Tuitt is a 5th rounder to me, pops straight up out of his stance all the time.
3. Tiny Richardson. Two words: arthritic knees. Stock killer.

Underrated in ability terms:
1. Terrence Brooks. Better player than Calvin Pryor or Ahmad Dixon, won't be drafted as such.
2. Xavier Su'a-Filo. Will be one of my 25 highest grades
3. Aaron Murray. I have to redo my QB rankings, he's no worse than 5th.

Underrated in terms of perceived draft stock:
1. Jawuan James
2. Marcus Martin. could be 1st center taken. I've yet to evaluate him.
3. Kyle Fuller. Very real possibility he goes in the 20s. 45th overall is his draft floor

i think i disagree w/you on gilbert, but im a little hesitant. ive seen damn near every game the dude's played. goin into his junior year he was getting hyped as a 2nd rounder to potential late 1st and absolutely sucked donkey dick the entire season. which is what made me skeptical goin into this year, and it's like he did a complete 180, he was a shut down corner this year (better than verett) and part of why ok state put together the best defense they've had since ive been a fan of theirs. he was a badass last year

and the big time mizzou wideouts did nothing against him in the cotton bowl

plus w/his speed and shiftiness, he's one of the best return guys if not the best in the draft

[Icness]

aaron donald's not making it to the cowboys is he?

Very, very slim chance

[Icness]

Please name your top 5 cornerbacks and their strengths and weaknesses.

I did this a couple weeks ago:
http://football.realgm.com/src_article/ ... big_board/

Top five there were:
1. Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State--Savvy press corner who plays bigger than his size, excellent with the ball in the air.

2. Jason Verrett, TCU--Naturally sticky cover man with great fight/size of dog ratio; lack of size and bulk is a valid concern.

3. Bradley Roby, Ohio State--Play fell off in ’13 but has all the physical tools and competitiveness to bounce back and be best-in-class.

4. Kyle Fuller, Virginia Tech--Lost half ’13 with an injury, and that gives pause with his frame, but showed great instincts and awareness when healthy.

5. Lamarcus Joyner, Florida State--Playmaker. Undersized and a lousy tackler, but nobody attacks the football better. Might be better as sub-package safety hybrid.

If you want to play Joyner at safety, and I do, throw Gilbert in there as #5. One guy I do like more the more I watch of him is Philip Gaines of Rice. Impressed me with his closing burst and eyes during Shrine week, now I've seen a couple more games to back it up.

Gilbert, Dennard and Fuller in that order will be the first three CBs off the board, and they'll all be gone by pick 26. None will go higher than 12 though.

[Icness]

Two Questions here:

1. What Offensive linemen are being underrated this year? (ie: see Larry Warford last year)


2. What every happened to Cyril Richardson, there was a ton of hype about him earlier in the season, now it seems as if he has fallen off the face of the Earth.

1. Jon Halapio. I wrote him up here: http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/?p=2624
Seeing him forklift Dan McCullers and then pancake Will Sutton twice all within a 5-rep time frame on the first day of Senior Bowl practice really won me over. He's not a zone blocking guy but the rules are moving zone run blocking away anyways. Not for every team but could start right away for a team like Tampa or Carolina.

A couple other guys to keep an eye on are Joel Bitonio from Nevada and Marcus Martin from USC. Bitonio flat-out kicked Anthony Barr's a$$, shut him down completely. That's impressive. Martin is raw but the most physically gifted center in this class. And I say that as a huge Weston Richburg fan.

2. Richardson has quite the build but he sets up so narrow. He doesn't transform his strength into power, doesn't use his back and hips in concert with his shoulders well at all. He had a lot of problems overextending at targets in pass protection; if you're familiar with Vlad Ducasse, you've seen Richardson before. Cyril is better than that and far from a lost cause though, and all that ails him is coachable...in time.

[Manhattan Project]

No need to go into detail, but just curious to see what your thoughts are on the first five reaches and five slips of the draft? It seems that every year that there will be a guy that battled injuries throughout the year and slip in the draft and GM's that just fall in love with the potential or fear the run on positions.

[hermes]

http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/2014/0 ... rterbacks/
just saw your latest mock jeff, do you think its very likely that manziel pulls a brady quinn/aaron rodgers and falls that far? if he does get past 8 there can be a pretty steep fall but do the raiders, bucs and vikings all pass on him?

is manziel the only one of the top 3 qbs that has a chance to fall out of the top 10?

[Icness]

No need to go into detail, but just curious to see what your thoughts are on the first five reaches and five slips of the draft? It seems that every year that there will be a guy that battled injuries throughout the year and slip in the draft and GM's that just fall in love with the potential or fear the run on positions.

Reaches:
Any QB not named Teddy Bridgewater in the top 10. Bortles will be the first. Not that I'm hating on him because I do see the potential, but he's a major projection right now
Any safety in the top 20. Calvin Pryor will be the most egregious; he's not a top 50 player to me
Justin Gilbert
David Yankey, who would not even be a third rounder if he went to Indiana instead of Stanford
Kelvin Benjamin. I am higher on him than most but in this deep WR draft taking him in the top 25 is a major risk

Fallers:
These are all just guesses, mind you...
Johnny Manziel
Taylor Lewan
If Mike Evans doesn't go at 9 or 10, he's not going to any teams currently between 11-17
Some people in the league I absolutely trust tell me there's no way Aaron Donald goes in the top 25 at his size. I've heard from others of equal repute that he's gone before Dallas picks. So he's a potential faller.
Darqueze Dennard. I can see all the corners falling further than expected; no way any go before Chicago picks and they're no lock to take one either. Dennard is more apt to fall because he's smaller and holds a hell of a lot.

[Icness]

http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/2014/03/mock-draft-iii-the-fall-of-the-quarterbacks/
just saw your latest mock jeff, do you think its very likely that manziel pulls a brady quinn/aaron rodgers and falls that far? if he does get past 8 there can be a pretty steep fall but do the raiders, bucs and vikings all pass on him?

is manziel the only one of the top 3 qbs that has a chance to fall out of the top 10?

That's just an idea I went with there. It could happen, it could look foolish in a couple of months. I do not see the Vikings taking him, have that on pretty solid authority.

My friend Ben Allbright insists that the Raiders would take Carr over Manziel. Ben can be obnoxious about it (you can tell him on Twitter I said that) but he's very plugged into the QB situations.

Bortles and Bridgewater will both be gone no later than 8 overall. The third QB could be Manziel (or Bridgewater) at 4 to CLE, Carr to OAK at 5 (from above) or a Quinn/Rodgers situation like you laid out.

My guesstimate at this point is that three go in the top 8 and then the next comes off in the 20s or at 33.

[gswhoops]

Not a question (and no offense to you, Jeff) but I would probably break my TV if the Niners ended up making the moves from your latest Mock.

Do you *think* they'll end up going after big WRs like Benjamin and Coleman (two of my personal least favorite WR prospects in this class)

[Turk Nowitzki]

http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/2014/03/mock-draft-iii-the-fall-of-the-quarterbacks/3/
just saw your latest mock jeff

Just glancing at this mock, no Chris Borland in the first 3 rounds? Is that something that's likely to happen?

[studcrackers]

Idk if I could see jerry jones passing up Manziel

[Manhattan Project]

Excellent stuff, I always find it interesting to watch the risers and fallers right before the draft.

[Icness]

Not a question (and no offense to you, Jeff) but I would probably break my TV if the Niners ended up making the moves from your latest Mock.

Do you *think* they'll end up going after big WRs like Benjamin and Coleman (two of my personal least favorite WR prospects in this class)

Hard to say what they're going to do with all those picks until after free agency. I don't mean to cop out, but it is what it is.

But yeah, I do see them going after a bigger wideout. Coleman is probably a reach too far, though Harbaugh's arrogance (not a negative here) probably believes he can coax the best out of him. Coleman has no lower than the 3rd-highest ceiling of any WR in this draft. That's going to be attractive.

Look at Benjamin in the BCS title game and that's him in a nutshell. Had an ugly drop, ran a bad route that led to a negative play, but also made the GW TD and another clutch tough catch after beating very tough coverage. If you're not dependent upon him, he can be a very nice piece to have.

[Icness]

http://www.detroitlionsdraft.com/2014/03/mock-draft-iii-the-fall-of-the-quarterbacks/3/
just saw your latest mock jeff

Just glancing at this mock, no Chris Borland in the first 3 rounds? Is that something that's likely to happen?

You know what, that's an oversight on my part. I think he goes between 55-75 overall. He could slide to the late 3rd/early 4th just because the market for ILBs that don't rush the passer isn't that hot. He's a top 45 prospect to me, consummate football player.