Getting Defensive

[dreamcastrocks]

In the interest of full disclosure, I need to start this series by indicating I was COVID restricted all year and did not see a game in person. On the other hand, I have time plus DTV with Sportspac, so I was able to record tons of games, like in the old days. I also had a few evaluators send me some clips of key sections of full field films. So I did the best I could for you with those limitations. Of course these evals will be impacted by Pro Days & the Combine. BTW the NFL is on schedule to hold the Combine March 1-7. The expectation is the virus will have peaked well before then. So, here goes what I’ve seen.

The Cards defense has a hole in the middle of its D-line. They had hoped Phillips would be the answer. In part because of injury, Phillips has been a non-factor. Fotu was a reach to fill the gap and has flashed occasionally, but looks inconsistent at best.

Thus Jordan Davis is a player of great interest to many Cardinal fans. Literally a mountain of a man, he is an anchor of massive stature. Coming in at 6’6” and 360 lbs, he is quite a load to move. That size has made it very difficult to maintain peak condition. This lack of conditioning has limited Davis to about 25 snaps a game. The rumor is Georgia was unable to persuade him to improve his stamina. Many talent evaluators would tell you this rarely changes just because a player moves to the NFL. So do you want to use a first round pick on a part-time player? Oddly I’m betting someone will before the Cards select him. The reason is simple. Davis may well be the only serviceable DT in the draft. Don’t get me wrong. Other DTs, especially underclassmen, could well be elevated. The Cards would be taking a huge risk if they go that route in round 1.

Direct quote from Davis after the game.

“I’d say we wasn’t as conditioned as we should have been, especially on my part,” Davis said. “And definitely this week we’ve been working hard. Coach Smart has been working us hard. And actually I’m about to go run right now after this meeting.”

Davis had four solo tackles against Alabama but the Tide finished with 536 yards and 41 points, both season highs in Georgia allowances by wide margins.

“I had to look at myself and realize I wasn’t doing enough,” Davis said. “I try not to let things get to me and affect me like that, but that game, it definitely stung a little bit. Because obviously every game you go into you expect to win. And not winning that game and the SEC Championship hurt a little bit. But we knew we had a new opportunity. And with new opportunities you have a chance to be different.”

What did he do from the SEC Championship game? Came in 15 pounds lighter, (in about a month's time) doing what he was supposed to do and had a really good game.

So I'd take him where we draft in the 1st round and not look back. I personally think he will be gone before we pick anyway, but I can dream.

 

[Russ Smith]

Direct quote from Davis after the game.



What did he do from the SEC Championship game? Came in 15 pounds lighter, (in about a month's time) doing what he was supposed to do and had a really good game.

So I'd take him where we draft in the 1st round and not look back. I personally think he will be gone before we pick anyway, but I can dream.

I can't speak to what Harry said I don't know but there's a bunch of stories that say otherwise on how hard the kid works now. Again he came late to Football he wanted to be a basketball player or a DJ. Come on the kids nickname in football is Godzilla, in music DJ Oreo, how can you not love that?

The legend of Georgia's Jordan Davis is growing

Meet the 6-foot-6, 340-pound nose tackle who's creating Heisman buzz and has the Dawgs' faithful hopeful that this is their year for a national championship run.

www.espn.com

If you watched the Georgia version of the national title game they were talking about NFL scouts saying they are not sure they've ever seen a guy that big who's that flexible, the ESPN article talks about it too you just don't expect someone that huge to be able to bend the way he does, it's because of the basketball background

 

[reebokalone2001]

Davidson was selected for the Shrine game. Top prospects get Senior Bowl invites. Watch to see if the Senior Bowl picks him up later. He has the run stopper frame teams are looking to find. He has good upper body strength with a good tackle radius. He also has good lower body strength which enables him to drive back his targets. He knows low man wins, showing good use of leverage. When anchoring he often stacks up blockers so others can make the tackle He has good burst and speed, pursuing well even through traffic. He’ll even pursue downfield. He quarts up nicely to tackle even when moving down the line. When rushing the passer he does a good job of staying in his running lane to bottle up the QB, but he seldom is much of a factor in getting to the QB.
When he fails to stay square, he struggles to make tackles, so he will be most effective playing a one gap system. At times he struggles to shed strong blockers. He needs to address his use of hands to be more effective. He can be faked by good play action. He seems to tire on long drives and take plays off, so his motor is in question. He can be goaded into being overly aggressive. Essentially he’d be a late round project if the Cards want another. They already have quite a few.

Nice write-up Harry, thanks a lot. I would love to track how his career proceeds wherever he lands. He was a great Sun Devil. The kid has a heart and improved every year.

 

[slanidrac16]

last six weeks of the season?

the Cards were getting beaten, often badly, on both lines of scrimmage

I am a believer that to have any chance, K1 has to be kept clean. Look at Brady yesterday in the first half --

so -- to me the priority is offensive line and its reasonably deep, with a few good OT or IOL guys available at 23

Yes except it’s Keim who will making the pick.

 

[BritCard]

I can't speak to what Harry said I don't know but there's a bunch of stories that say otherwise on how hard the kid works now. Again he came late to Football he wanted to be a basketball player or a DJ. Come on the kids nickname in football is Godzilla, in music DJ Oreo, how can you not love that?

The legend of Georgia's Jordan Davis is growing

Meet the 6-foot-6, 340-pound nose tackle who's creating Heisman buzz and has the Dawgs' faithful hopeful that this is their year for a national championship run.

www.espn.com

If you watched the Georgia version of the national title game they were talking about NFL scouts saying they are not sure they've ever seen a guy that big who's that flexible, the ESPN article talks about it too you just don't expect someone that huge to be able to bend the way he does, it's because of the basketball background

Davis had Nkemdiche written all over him.

 

[TheCardFan]

How do we feel about going after Stephon Gilmore?

He is a true #1 CB that probably won't break the bank due to his age.

 

[Russ Smith]

Davis had Nkemdiche written all over him.

Why? He hasn't once been in trouble with the law or any of the other stuff Nkemdiche had done in college when we drafted him. Nkemdiche's issues were never weight it was always teh million dollar talent 10 cent head

 

[General Chaos]

Yea, and Nkemdiche was kind of a tweener DE/DT.

 

[BritCard]

Why? He hasn't once been in trouble with the law or any of the other stuff Nkemdiche had done in college when we drafted him. Nkemdiche's issues were never weight it was always teh million dollar talent 10 cent head

Nothing to do with the law. Lot's of other interests, late to football so hasn't grown up wanting it, lack of effort in keeping himself in shape etc etc

 

[Russ Smith]

Nothing to do with the law. Lot's of other interests, late to football so hasn't grown up wanting it, lack of effort in keeping himself in shape etc etc

Davis said he switched to football because he saw he could get a scholarship and make a living at it.

 

[BritCard]

Davis said he switched to football because he saw he could get a scholarship and make a living at it.

Well yeah, I'm always weary of players that are in it for a living and not because they love it.

When you get to the NFL it's 24/7 none stop grind. You have to love it.

 

[DVontel]

I don’t want Davis at all, but he’s nowhere near like Nkemdiche.

 

[Russ Smith]

Well yeah, I'm always weary of players that are in it for a living and not because they love it.

When you get to the NFL it's 24/7 none stop grind. You have to love it.

The GOAT in the NFL is Tom Brady, who wanted to be a baseball player, catcher. He said he chose football in the end because he couldn't hit the curveball and thought his best chance at making a living in sports was football. He was drafted by the Expos and in talking to other Expos players they told him go play football at Michigan you'd be crazy to play minor league baseball if you have a chance to play football, Brady said in the end it was his experience on an all star team in baseball after HS where he was overmatched trying to hit the curve. Said if football didn't work out he'd give baseball another try,

It's VERY common in sports that great players start out playing another sport.

 

[BritCard]

The GOAT in the NFL is Tom Brady, who wanted to be a baseball player, catcher. He said he chose football in the end because he couldn't hit the curveball and thought his best chance at making a living in sports was football. He was drafted by the Expos and in talking to other Expos players they told him go play football at Michigan you'd be crazy to play minor league baseball if you have a chance to play football, Brady said in the end it was his experience on an all star team in baseball after HS where he was overmatched trying to hit the curve. Said if football didn't work out he'd give baseball another try,

It's VERY common in sports that great players start out playing another sport.

Outliers don't disprove the rule and Brady didn't have a history of getting out of shape to the point they had to limit his snaps.

Davis is a beast. A team that is already stacked can afford to take the risk on him.

This team cannot afford the luxury of taking the risk on a player like that. This team needs to pick whoever the most sure fire thing is at #23. Probably a CB or WR looking at the depth.

All this is arbitrary anyway because he should be well gone by #23 and if he isn't then we should be wary of why.

 

[Harry]

How do we feel about going after Stephon Gilmore?

He is a true #1 CB that probably won't break the bank due to his age.

He is on a slight downward trend IMO. I think his cost would be too steep.

 

[BritCard]

Going back to the draft I can't see any options on the defensive side other than Edge.

There's a way you can bring Chandler back, but not one that doesn't massively tie your hands together on everything else.

There are only 2 guys I see possibly being available at #23 and that's David Ojabo and Jermaine Johnson. I like both. Both are built to play OLB in a 3-4 too.

Ojabo intrigues me. He's raw, only started for 1 year, but he's got all the tools. He's going to run quick like Oweh last year. I think had he stayed in college next year he would have been a top 10 pick in the 2023 draft. He might only be a situational player in his first year, he'd have to rotate with Kennard, but you would be getting a future star on the cheap.

 

[Russ Smith]

Outliers don't disprove the rule and Brady didn't have a history of getting out of shape to the point they had to limit his snaps.

Davis is a beast. A team that is already stacked can afford to take the risk on him.

This team cannot afford the luxury of taking the risk on a player like that. This team needs to pick whoever the most sure fire thing is at #23. Probably a CB or WR looking at the depth.

All this is arbitrary anyway because he should be well gone by #23 and if he isn't then we should be wary of why.

Side note but the entire reason Brady wasn't drafted higher is he was considered a bad athlete. That's what all teh scouting reports said on him, not athletic, can't move, it's amazing he wound up being the GOAT he's the biggest outlier in history.

But I used him because there are literally tons of examples of guys who switch sports and become NFL stars.

The knock on Davis is going to be his size, he has to stay in shape. I'm just saying the claim he doesn't love football is not proven we have no idea if he does or not, it wasn't his original love but that's the case with tons of guys in the NFL, including Tom Brady

 

[slanidrac16]

Going back to the draft I can't see any options on the defensive side other than Edge.

There's a way you can bring Chandler back, but not one that doesn't massively tie your hands together on everything else.

There are only 2 guys I see possibly being available at #23 and that's David Ojabo and Jermaine Johnson. I like both. Both are built to play OLB in a 3-4 too.

Ojabo intrigues me. He's raw, only started for 1 year, but he's got all the tools. He's going to run quick like Oweh last year. I think had he stayed in college next year he would have been a top 10 pick in the 2023 draft. He might only be a situational player in his first year, he'd have to rotate with Kennard, but you would be getting a future star on the cheap.

So with this staff and “ intricate” defense we can anticipate seeing him on the field in 2023-24?

 

[GatorAZ]

The GOAT in the NFL is Tom Brady, who wanted to be a baseball player, catcher. He said he chose football in the end because he couldn't hit the curveball and thought his best chance at making a living in sports was football. He was drafted by the Expos and in talking to other Expos players they told him go play football at Michigan you'd be crazy to play minor league baseball if you have a chance to play football, Brady said in the end it was his experience on an all star team in baseball after HS where he was overmatched trying to hit the curve. Said if football didn't work out he'd give baseball another try,

It's VERY common in sports that great players start out playing another sport.

And they guy he couldn’t beat out his Jr year was a two-sport superstar growing up but never panned out. I think Henson got called up by the Yankees for a few days and also started a game for the Cowboys.