Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
1. Further Draft Notes:
75 Levi Brown, T. Penn. St. Here is a player who was regarded as a top ten pick in this draft. Joe Thomas and Levi Brown were the two tackles (possibly three if Justin Blalock is indeed more of a tackle than a guard) in this draft who have the ability to come in right away and start. Therefore, no one can convince me that Levi Brown was a "reach" for the Cardinals at #5...what,... because he wasn't drafted at #8? Sure, it would have been ideal to trade down to #8 to add another pick and draft Brown...but, guess what?, not only did the #8 team (Atlanta) have no interest in trading up, neither did any other team. This pick, because of the imperative need to draft a starter at the tackle position, was a no-brainer.
Had the Cardinals drafted RB Adrian Peterson, major questions would be abounding today in Arizona. First, what about AP's collarbone? Will he have to take a redshirt year to get that shoulder stabilized with a metal plate? Second, if the Cardinals drafted T Justin Blalock in the second round (which would have meant not being able to draft the premier run clogging DT in this draft, by far, in DT Alan Branch), the question would be the old Leonard Davis question all over again...is Blalock better suited to play guard? While I think Blalock would have done OK as the RT...I think he would have struggled in pass protection enough to beg the question as to whether he should be move inside to guard in 2008, and the Cards would have to draft a tackle in the first round all over again.
Levi Brown is a tackle. There is no doubt about that. He will start...probably at RT and he will be a punishing run blocker and a strong blindside pass protector against the LDEs in the NFL for many years to come. I imagine the Cards will ink him to a 6 year deal.
78 Alan Branch, DT, Michigan. Defensive tackles are by far the hardest players to evaluate because of how often they get double teamed (especially the good ones like Branch)...and what the normal scout or fan can't know from play to play is what the DTs responsibility on the play is...if, for example, it is to "sit down" in the double team to control the line of scrimmage, then what one won't likely see is any penetration, just a logjam at the line of scrimmage.
When Alan Branch was occupying two blockers he was enabling his teammates to wreak havoc with the openings Branch was able to create because of his presence. This the major reason why Michigan held its opponents to a piddling 60 yards rushing a game.
Pundits like Mel Kiper have labelled Branch as a bust or boom pick. Well, consider this. First of all, Ken Whizenhunt had to prepare on numerous occasions to try to gameplan against the Jacksonville Jaguars and, therefore, Whiz knows as well as any NFL coach how difficult it is to try to run against big, athletic 6'6" 328 lb. tackles like Marcus Stroud and John Henderson. The ESPN MNF crew was gushing again this weekend as to how absolutlely "huge" the Jaguars are and how they stuffed the Steelers and others.
Right now...Alan Branch can do one very important thing already which immediately makes the Cardinal defense stronger: he can occupy two blockers at the line of scrimmage and not look like he's on roller skates.
This is why even if this is the ONLY thing Branch can do right away, he's already a huge asset for this team. And Branch will do much more than that as time goes by because he's such a good athlete.
To think the Cardinals were able to get him in the second round is phenomenal. I am not sure how many of the fans realize this. Just a month ago, Pro Football Weekly had him going #2 in the draft to Detroit.
The Cardinals basically got two top ten picks, talent-wise in this draft and didn't have to surrender their 2008 first round draft pick. Wow!
53 Buster Davis, LB, Florida St. Davis is right when he says that he would have been a first round pick if he were three inches taller. He was as consistently productive week to week as any LB in the draft, save Patrick Willis whose tackling numbers are off the charts. Davis is a tremendous competitior who possesses remarkable instincts. What he needs is what most LBers need: the freedom to get to the ball unimpeded. The Cardinals put the horse before the cart by adding Alan Branch first, then Davis. The Cardinal fans are going to absolutlely love the energy he will bring to this defense and to this football team. This kid has serious moxie.
18 Steve Breaston, WR/PR, Michigan. The Cardinals were very fortunate that Breaston, who was gaining great momentum coming into the draft having run a 4.42 at his Pro Day, was on the board at #142...especially when Yamon Figurs went much earlier than predicted. Breaston finally gives the Cardinals a legitimate punt returning threat. And what's best about him is he plays his fastest against the fastest opponents...just ask Texas.
89 Ben Patrick, TE, Delaware. How in the world this third round talent slid to the seventh round is beyond one's imagination. The fact is this wasn't a big draft for TEs in general...it became kind of a forgotton position in the middle rounds where usually the good TEs go in the draft. Patrick caught more balls than any TE in this year's draft...he was featured at Delaware and became a Div. 1AA All American. Give Patrick credit for graduating early from Duke and transferring to a program that would feature his skills. Obviously this kid has a vision and that vision is to be catching balls and turning heads on Sundays (and Monday nights!) in the NFL. This is one of the reasons why he hopped on the last second offer to participate in the Senior Bowl. He came there ready to go and he impressed. Patrick will be a steady improver at his blocking...he blocked pretty tenaciously at the Senior Bowl on the plays I saw...and he will display the big soft hands in the passing game that are his meal ticket.
2. More great news! Imagine how tempting it must have been for the Cardinals to want to offer up one of next year's draft picks to compensate for the two they lost in the Gorin and Branch deals. I was actually hoping the Cards would offer a team their 2008 4th rounder for a 5th and 7th, as other teams did. But, the Cards managed to resist the temptation and consider what they managed to do! With two of their excellent UCFA signings they managed to pick up two players that I would have been very happy with them drafting: CB Travarous Bain and QB Toby Korrodi.
Bain is one of the best athletes in this draft and he has something the Cardinals DBs in recent memory haven't had: closing speed. As a cover CB this kid has the talent. His weakness is in run support...alright...so be it. Right now we have good run supporters at CB...in fact, very good run supporters. What we don't have is lock down cover men and Bain could be a huge asset in that regard, either this year, if he makes the 53 man, or next year, after a year on the practice squad (by thenm with John Lott's program under his belt, he may not be so shy about run support).
Korrodi absoltlely turned heads at the Combine by throwing the fastest ball of any QB. Not only does he throw frozen ropes, he's amazingly accurate. This past season he threw for 2,797 yards and 29 TDs with only 5 ints. I don't care if those stats are in Skkorp's backyard in pickup games, those are eye-popping stats. The other thing is...he's left handed...which is a real asset in itself in that the WRs will be catching left handed balls in addition to Matt Leinart's. The knock on Korrodi is his lack of mobility...well he and Kurt Warner can work on that together and maybe get a good chuckle out of their teammates. He and KW can also get a good chuckle out of their common penchant for child rearing...as Korrodi already had three children to feed. The timing of adding this kid is great...if he shows enough talent, the Cards can keep him obn the practice squad for a year and promote him in 2008 when KW may be retiring.
Therefore, would anyone have balked at the following draft?:
1. T Levi Brown
2. DT Alan Branch
3. LB Buster Davis
4. WR/PR Steve Breaston
5. TE Ben Patrick
6. CB Travarous Bain
7. QB Toby Korrodi
If anyone had told me that was the Cardinals draft a week ago, I would have gone out of my mind. (And heck, it would have saved you and me several hundred less moot mock drafts!!!).
3. Of the other UCFAs...
WR Matt Trannon, Mich. St....at his size he could be groomed as a TE. Tall (6'6") and athletic, but not speedy enough to play on the perimeter. Another converted hoops player to TE?
RB Steve Baylark, UMass...you will love this kid...he is a tough inside runner with sneaky quickness...perhaps not as tough as Marcel, but a tad quicker. Both are winners in my book.
WR Evan Prall. Credit the Cards' scouts on this one. Check out these stats on his senior year at E. Stroudsburg St. (PA): 76/1174 yds./17 TDs...and 2 TDs on punt returns. I am totally psyched to see this kid in action. Could he be the A.J. Schable of this year's class?
S Will Culley, Houston. A tall, rangy FS who came back this year from season ending knee surgery in 2005.
75 Levi Brown, T. Penn. St. Here is a player who was regarded as a top ten pick in this draft. Joe Thomas and Levi Brown were the two tackles (possibly three if Justin Blalock is indeed more of a tackle than a guard) in this draft who have the ability to come in right away and start. Therefore, no one can convince me that Levi Brown was a "reach" for the Cardinals at #5...what,... because he wasn't drafted at #8? Sure, it would have been ideal to trade down to #8 to add another pick and draft Brown...but, guess what?, not only did the #8 team (Atlanta) have no interest in trading up, neither did any other team. This pick, because of the imperative need to draft a starter at the tackle position, was a no-brainer.
Had the Cardinals drafted RB Adrian Peterson, major questions would be abounding today in Arizona. First, what about AP's collarbone? Will he have to take a redshirt year to get that shoulder stabilized with a metal plate? Second, if the Cardinals drafted T Justin Blalock in the second round (which would have meant not being able to draft the premier run clogging DT in this draft, by far, in DT Alan Branch), the question would be the old Leonard Davis question all over again...is Blalock better suited to play guard? While I think Blalock would have done OK as the RT...I think he would have struggled in pass protection enough to beg the question as to whether he should be move inside to guard in 2008, and the Cards would have to draft a tackle in the first round all over again.
Levi Brown is a tackle. There is no doubt about that. He will start...probably at RT and he will be a punishing run blocker and a strong blindside pass protector against the LDEs in the NFL for many years to come. I imagine the Cards will ink him to a 6 year deal.
78 Alan Branch, DT, Michigan. Defensive tackles are by far the hardest players to evaluate because of how often they get double teamed (especially the good ones like Branch)...and what the normal scout or fan can't know from play to play is what the DTs responsibility on the play is...if, for example, it is to "sit down" in the double team to control the line of scrimmage, then what one won't likely see is any penetration, just a logjam at the line of scrimmage.
When Alan Branch was occupying two blockers he was enabling his teammates to wreak havoc with the openings Branch was able to create because of his presence. This the major reason why Michigan held its opponents to a piddling 60 yards rushing a game.
Pundits like Mel Kiper have labelled Branch as a bust or boom pick. Well, consider this. First of all, Ken Whizenhunt had to prepare on numerous occasions to try to gameplan against the Jacksonville Jaguars and, therefore, Whiz knows as well as any NFL coach how difficult it is to try to run against big, athletic 6'6" 328 lb. tackles like Marcus Stroud and John Henderson. The ESPN MNF crew was gushing again this weekend as to how absolutlely "huge" the Jaguars are and how they stuffed the Steelers and others.
Right now...Alan Branch can do one very important thing already which immediately makes the Cardinal defense stronger: he can occupy two blockers at the line of scrimmage and not look like he's on roller skates.
This is why even if this is the ONLY thing Branch can do right away, he's already a huge asset for this team. And Branch will do much more than that as time goes by because he's such a good athlete.
To think the Cardinals were able to get him in the second round is phenomenal. I am not sure how many of the fans realize this. Just a month ago, Pro Football Weekly had him going #2 in the draft to Detroit.
The Cardinals basically got two top ten picks, talent-wise in this draft and didn't have to surrender their 2008 first round draft pick. Wow!
53 Buster Davis, LB, Florida St. Davis is right when he says that he would have been a first round pick if he were three inches taller. He was as consistently productive week to week as any LB in the draft, save Patrick Willis whose tackling numbers are off the charts. Davis is a tremendous competitior who possesses remarkable instincts. What he needs is what most LBers need: the freedom to get to the ball unimpeded. The Cardinals put the horse before the cart by adding Alan Branch first, then Davis. The Cardinal fans are going to absolutlely love the energy he will bring to this defense and to this football team. This kid has serious moxie.
18 Steve Breaston, WR/PR, Michigan. The Cardinals were very fortunate that Breaston, who was gaining great momentum coming into the draft having run a 4.42 at his Pro Day, was on the board at #142...especially when Yamon Figurs went much earlier than predicted. Breaston finally gives the Cardinals a legitimate punt returning threat. And what's best about him is he plays his fastest against the fastest opponents...just ask Texas.
89 Ben Patrick, TE, Delaware. How in the world this third round talent slid to the seventh round is beyond one's imagination. The fact is this wasn't a big draft for TEs in general...it became kind of a forgotton position in the middle rounds where usually the good TEs go in the draft. Patrick caught more balls than any TE in this year's draft...he was featured at Delaware and became a Div. 1AA All American. Give Patrick credit for graduating early from Duke and transferring to a program that would feature his skills. Obviously this kid has a vision and that vision is to be catching balls and turning heads on Sundays (and Monday nights!) in the NFL. This is one of the reasons why he hopped on the last second offer to participate in the Senior Bowl. He came there ready to go and he impressed. Patrick will be a steady improver at his blocking...he blocked pretty tenaciously at the Senior Bowl on the plays I saw...and he will display the big soft hands in the passing game that are his meal ticket.
2. More great news! Imagine how tempting it must have been for the Cardinals to want to offer up one of next year's draft picks to compensate for the two they lost in the Gorin and Branch deals. I was actually hoping the Cards would offer a team their 2008 4th rounder for a 5th and 7th, as other teams did. But, the Cards managed to resist the temptation and consider what they managed to do! With two of their excellent UCFA signings they managed to pick up two players that I would have been very happy with them drafting: CB Travarous Bain and QB Toby Korrodi.
Bain is one of the best athletes in this draft and he has something the Cardinals DBs in recent memory haven't had: closing speed. As a cover CB this kid has the talent. His weakness is in run support...alright...so be it. Right now we have good run supporters at CB...in fact, very good run supporters. What we don't have is lock down cover men and Bain could be a huge asset in that regard, either this year, if he makes the 53 man, or next year, after a year on the practice squad (by thenm with John Lott's program under his belt, he may not be so shy about run support).
Korrodi absoltlely turned heads at the Combine by throwing the fastest ball of any QB. Not only does he throw frozen ropes, he's amazingly accurate. This past season he threw for 2,797 yards and 29 TDs with only 5 ints. I don't care if those stats are in Skkorp's backyard in pickup games, those are eye-popping stats. The other thing is...he's left handed...which is a real asset in itself in that the WRs will be catching left handed balls in addition to Matt Leinart's. The knock on Korrodi is his lack of mobility...well he and Kurt Warner can work on that together and maybe get a good chuckle out of their teammates. He and KW can also get a good chuckle out of their common penchant for child rearing...as Korrodi already had three children to feed. The timing of adding this kid is great...if he shows enough talent, the Cards can keep him obn the practice squad for a year and promote him in 2008 when KW may be retiring.
Therefore, would anyone have balked at the following draft?:
1. T Levi Brown
2. DT Alan Branch
3. LB Buster Davis
4. WR/PR Steve Breaston
5. TE Ben Patrick
6. CB Travarous Bain
7. QB Toby Korrodi
If anyone had told me that was the Cardinals draft a week ago, I would have gone out of my mind. (And heck, it would have saved you and me several hundred less moot mock drafts!!!).
3. Of the other UCFAs...
WR Matt Trannon, Mich. St....at his size he could be groomed as a TE. Tall (6'6") and athletic, but not speedy enough to play on the perimeter. Another converted hoops player to TE?
RB Steve Baylark, UMass...you will love this kid...he is a tough inside runner with sneaky quickness...perhaps not as tough as Marcel, but a tad quicker. Both are winners in my book.
WR Evan Prall. Credit the Cards' scouts on this one. Check out these stats on his senior year at E. Stroudsburg St. (PA): 76/1174 yds./17 TDs...and 2 TDs on punt returns. I am totally psyched to see this kid in action. Could he be the A.J. Schable of this year's class?
S Will Culley, Houston. A tall, rangy FS who came back this year from season ending knee surgery in 2005.
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