Picture of Brandon Spikes at UF's Pro Day

[Buckybird]

He may have been "listed" at that weight but he didn't pass the eyeball test. I remember the first time I saw a picture of him after the draft thinking that he looked like a Safety.

here's Ray Thompsons body when he arrived in AZ

 

[cardsfanmd]

here's Ray Thompsons body when he arrived in AZ

He must have had the same personal trainer as DRC.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I thought that Spikes was rated too high when some had him listed in the late first round. I felt he was an early 3rd rounder at best. However after posting those times he most likely will be 5th-6th rounder at best IMO.

 

[slinslin]

I hope we get him in the 3rd or 4th.

I don't really care about his 40 time if his cone drill time was good. Really what would be the difference between 4.6 and 5.0 run in a straight line? If a RB gets into the open field you are not going to chase him down by speed anyway.

I doubt the average distance from the snap to a tackle for an ILB is 40 yards or more either and surely not in a straight line.

Anticipation, play reading, taking the right angles, tackling etc is way more important for an ILB then straight speed I'd say.

Also I don't think many people felt Spikes was slow on tape. Maybe he is just not a good track runner.

 

[Tyler]

I hope we get him in the 3rd or 4th.

I don't really care about his 40 time if his cone drill time was good. Really what would be the difference between 4.6 and 5.0 run in a straight line? If a RB gets into the open field you are not going to chase him down by speed anyway.

I doubt the average distance from the snap to a tackle for an ILB is 40 yards or more either and surely not in a straight line.

Anticipation, play reading, taking the right angles, tackling etc is way more important for an ILB then straight speed I'd say.

Also I don't think many people felt Spikes was slow on tape. Maybe he is just not a good track runner.

Maybe he is more used to eye gouging and such, running isnt his strong suit.

You must be registered for see images

Not knocking the guy at all, just sayin.

 

[187]

I hope we get him in the 3rd or 4th.

I don't really care about his 40 time if his cone drill time was good. Really what would be the difference between 4.6 and 5.0 run in a straight line? If a RB gets into the open field you are not going to chase him down by speed anyway.

I doubt the average distance from the snap to a tackle for an ILB is 40 yards or more either and surely not in a straight line.

Anticipation, play reading, taking the right angles, tackling etc is way more important for an ILB then straight speed I'd say.

Also I don't think many people felt Spikes was slow on tape. Maybe he is just not a good track runner.

A poster on another Cards board did some research on linebackers with terrible 40 times over the past 5 years and it is not pretty:

Just thought I would do a little research...

Since 2005, there have been a total of 12 ILB's available for the draft that ran a 4.9 or worse in the 40.

Mike Goolsby
Nigel Eldridge
Jovon Burkes
Kai Parham
Freddie Roach
Trent Bray
Oliver Hoyte
Jon Abbate
Kevin McLee
Patrick Lowery
Brock Christopher
Morris Wooten

A grand total of 0 of them were drafted.

Lionel Turner
Tony Taylor
JJ Milan
Ali Highsmith
Angelo Craig

Are the 5 OLB's running a 4.9 or worse...

Again 0 of them were drafted...

Lance Mitchell
Martin Patterson
Anthony Schlegel
Jimmy Cottrell
Sam McGrew
Ricardo Hurley
Marvin Mitchell
Justin Warren
Vince Hall
Spencer Larsen
Joe Mays
Thomas Williams
Rodrick Johnson
Rod Keith
Steve Allen
Joe Brockington
Mortty Ivy
Maurice Crum Jr.
Adam Leonard

The ILB's over the last 5 years who have run 4.85 or worse in the 40, not including those over 4.9

6 of them were drafted;

Schlegel the highest of them in the 3rd round.

Lance Mitchell in the 5th we know how that worked out due to his failure here in Arizona...

The others Marvin Mitchell, Thomas Williams, Joe Mays and Spencer Larsen...

All were taken in the 5th round or later.

Of those 6, only three are still in the NFL, Williams, Larsen and Mays...

Those three have combined for 48 tackles, one is listed as a LB, one is barely hanging onto the Patriots roster and the third only got a chance to play because of injury....

Basically the chances spikes gets drafted are very low based on past trends, and the chances he has any level of NFL success are even slimmer.

And another tidbit on spikes from the same poster:

A 29" vertical and 9'3" broad show a lack of explosion in his legs. He showed solid COD skills with a nice 3 cone time, but I just do not see the athleticism needed to be a LB at the next level...

I wouldn't touch him before the 6th round.