2015 Draft / LBs / For my fellow draft nerds

[Chopper0080]

First off, this Sat 9/6/14 is some must see TV for looking at LBs.

Michigan St. vs Oregon
*Michigan St. has two LBs who will get tested in space. #89 Shilique Calhoun & #34 Taiwan Jones. Two guys who will be on the Cardinals radar next spring. Bonus watching is Oregon DE Arik Armstead 6'7 296.

Secondly, here is a list of LBs to watch for this college season. Hit your DVR if you see the game on.

OLB
Randy Gregory - Nebraska - 6'6 - 245
Shilique Calhoun - Michigan St. - 6'4 - 257
Alvin Dupree - Kentucky - 6'4 - 267
Owamagbe Odighizuwa - UCLA - 6'3 - 270
Bronson Kaufusi - BYU - 6'7 - 263
Kyler Fackrell - Utah St. - 6'5 - 245
Dante Fowler Jr. - Florida - 6'2 - 261
Vic Beasley - Clemson - 6'2 - 235
Noah Spence - Ohio St. - 6'3 - 252

ILB
Benardrick McKinney - Mississippi St. - 6'4 - 245
Denzel Perryman - Miami - 5'11 - 242
AJ Johnson - Tennessee - 6'2 - 242
Taiwan Jones - Michigan St. - 6'3 - 252
AJ Tarpley - Stanford - 6'2 - 238

This isn't the entire list, but some of my favorite names.

Shilique Calhoun, Alvin Dupree, and Owa Odighizuwa are guys to watch. They really fit what we seem to like at OLB, but have + pass rush skills.

 

[gmabel830]

Owamagbe Odighizuwa

Bless you.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Randy Gregory is probably the best overall player you've listed. He has Von Miller-like skills.

I remember everyone wanting Von Miller on the board, and I wanted Robert Quinn. I'd still take Robert Quinn over Von Miller

 

[kerouac9]

Randy Gregory is probably the best overall player you've listed. He has Von Miller-like skills.

I remember everyone wanting Von Miller on the board, and I wanted Robert Quinn. I'd still take Robert Quinn over Von Miller

I didn't want Von Miller. Not sure how I felt about Robert Quinn. At least we got his Tarheel front-seven teammate, who's name I can't remember, either. I'm pretty sure that I wanted Peterson, and then maybe Quinn.

Grantland has a historically awesome pieces on the Spartans' defensive scheme here: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/michigan-state-oregon-pat-narduzzi-defense-breakdown/

 

[Chopper0080]

Randy Gregory is probably the best overall player you've listed. He has Von Miller-like skills.

I remember everyone wanting Von Miller on the board, and I wanted Robert Quinn. I'd still take Robert Quinn over Von Miller

Re: Gregory. He is arguably the most athletic/explosive guy on the list, but he is also a JUCO guy, and they tend to come with baggage. We will see what his is. I don't see Von Miller in his game...he doesn't look that fluid to me. My NFL comp is probably Chandler Jones or Demarcus Ware. Gregory is more DE than LB at this point.

Re: Quinn vs Miller. They play two different positions so it is tough to say. The issue at the time was that both seemd to be a better fit for a 4-3 defense, which is what they both went to in the end. Miller is used as an WOLB, and then edge rusher in certain situations. Quinn is exclussively a 4-3 DE.

 

[Russ Smith]

Odighizuwa coming off a knee injury, looked ok in his first game, still not sold on him yet.

I really like perryman at Miami, if he were 2 inches taller he'd be rated much higher. He's a terrific inside LB but he's listed at 6 foot and probably shorter so they project him into the 2nd round even the 3rd maybe. Very strong kid and just has a knack of getting to the guy with the ball.

The little bit of games I watched this weekend I found myself watching pass rush and inside LB's since I think we need them both.

 

[juza76]

Gregory is a tremendous athlete, long arms, fast ,spin move, powerfull and i wish him as our first selection in the next draft

 

[Shaggy]

Bless you.

Ha ha, really did get a laugh out of that.

 

[cardpa]

First off, this Sat 9/6/14 is some must see TV for looking at LBs.


OLB
Randy Gregory - Nebraska - 6'6 - 245
Shilique Calhoun - Michigan St. - 6'4 - 257
Alvin Dupree - Kentucky - 6'4 - 267
Owamagbe Odighizuwa - UCLA - 6'3 - 270
Bronson Kaufusi - BYU - 6'7 - 263
Kyler Fackrell - Utah St. - 6'5 - 245
Dante Fowler Jr. - Florida - 6'2 - 261
Vic Beasley - Clemson - 6'2 - 235
Noah Spence - Ohio St. - 6'3 - 252

ILB
Benardrick McKinney - Mississippi St. - 6'4 - 245
Denzel Perryman - Miami - 5'11 - 242
AJ Johnson - Tennessee - 6'2 - 242
Taiwan Jones - Michigan St. - 6'3 - 252
AJ Tarpley - Stanford - 6'2 - 238

Don't expect to see Spence until the third game of the year for OSU because he is suspended until then for testing positive for ecstasy. Local Harrisburg Pa boy who played for Bishop McDevitt. Had a big career at the high school level.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Re: Gregory. He is arguably the most athletic/explosive guy on the list, but he is also a JUCO guy, and they tend to come with baggage. We will see what his is. I don't see Von Miller in his game...he doesn't look that fluid to me. My NFL comp is probably Chandler Jones or Demarcus Ware. Gregory is more DE than LB at this point.

I was thinking more build than anything else....Gregory is pretty slight, but he looks slight so he should fill out.

Re: Quinn vs Miller. They play two different positions so it is tough to say. The issue at the time was that both seemd to be a better fit for a 4-3 defense, which is what they both went to in the end. Miller is used as an WOLB, and then edge rusher in certain situations. Quinn is exclussively a 4-3 DE.

Honestly, I think the scheme fit is an overplayed argument. Even if Quinn played as a 3-4 backer, he would be an animal. If we had drafted Quinn, I would bet we either would have moved to a 4-3, or we would play a system similar to what Carroll runs up front with Quinn playing the "Leo" position.

I'd trade Peterson plus another pick for Quinn in a heartbeat, and I wanted him then as well.

 

[Buckybird]

Well said chopper.

I wouldn't at all be pissed if the Cards invested all 7 picks next year on OLB & ILB!!!

 

[Chopper0080]

Well said chopper.

I wouldn't at all be pissed if the Cards invested all 7 picks next year on OLB & ILB!!!

If they didn't address the position in FA they probably could justify doing so.

They will have at least 2 openings no matter what, filling one OLB spot and one ILB spot. We will see if Minter works out, but if he doesn't flash, I'm sure we can pencil that one in. Only thing I'm really confident in is that Shaughnessy and Okafor will rotate at one OLB spot.

Hell, if we could pull Alvin Dupree, AJ Johnson, and Taiwan Jones out of the first four rounds, I would be thrilled.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I haven't seen the BYU kid, Kaufusi, play. I think it's hard to be athletic enough at that size to play OLB in the NFL. Unless he's a freak athlete, he has to be a pass rusher only. Not that that's a bad thing.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Cross Noah Spence off the list. He failed a second drug test and is out(at least for this year) at OSU. He likes the Molly from what I hear.

 

[overseascardfan]

Cross Noah Spence off the list. He failed a second drug test and is out(at least for this year) at OSU. He likes the Molly from what I hear.

Wow, kid goes against athlete's drug of choice....pot for moleculars? That stuff is dangerous.

 

[GiantCardFan]

Chopper, are these basically guys best suited to a 3-4?

 

[Twist18]

If I remember right, Gregory is injured and will miss 6-8 games, unless the first diagnosis was wrong.

 

[Denny Green Fan]

First round prospect Noah Spence...Ohio st de fails another drug test.

My Kentucky Wildcats play Florida today and I am going to take a good

look at Dante Fowler.

 

[Finito]

Striker from Oklahoma is as fast as I've ever seen coming around the edge if you remember he destroyed Cyrus last year. However he's only 6 feet tall but when he dips that shoulder it's damn near impossible for these massive tackles to get to him

 

[Finito]

Holy crap right side left side don't matter he's getting there anytime he wants. Flat out dominate

 

[BigRedArk]

Striker from Oklahoma is as fast as I've ever seen coming around the edge if you remember he destroyed Cyrus last year. However he's only 6 feet tall but when he dips that shoulder it's damn near impossible for these massive tackles to get to him

He was unstoppable last night for OU vs Tennessee!

He's a JR, 6' 221 lbs OLB. OU switched to the 3-4 Defense last year. He does more than just rush the QB. He will defend the rush and pursue the RB also! Relentless is a good word to describe his style of play.

Geneo Grissom is a SR LB for OU this year too. He's pretty good. He is a playmaker and can be disruptive. I have no idea what Round of the draft he will project to, but he might be a bargain if he is around in the mid to later rounds of the draft.

 

[Russ Smith]

Probably too small for the NFL but Eric Kendricks is a terrific college LB. More of an inside than OLB. Myles Jack is the better pro prospect but I'm not convinced Kendricks isn't the better player right now

 

[Chopper0080]

Probably too small for the NFL but Eric Kendricks is a terrific college LB. More of an inside than OLB. Myles Jack is the better pro prospect but I'm not convinced Kendricks isn't the better player right now

Only spot for Kendricks is inside in a 3-4 on our team.

 

[Chopper0080]

This team really needs to look at pressure defensive players in the front 7.

 

[Russ Smith]

Only spot for Kendricks is inside in a 3-4 on our team.

Yeah more inside than outside but probably too small.