Breakdown of Wisconsin LB Chris Borland (Senior Bowl, career tape and other notes) | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Breakdown of Wisconsin LB Chris Borland (Senior Bowl, career tape and other notes)

JakeMcAwful

JakeMcAwful

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Someone who's been a stand-out in the Senior Bowl practices by all accounts is Wisconsin Badger LB Chris Borland. As we may be in the market for drafting a linebacker, I thought I would pull together some info on him..

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SENIOR (Measurements taken from Senior Bowl)

LBBorland, Chris
WisconsinHeight - 5'11 3/8245 lbsHand - 9 3/4Arm - 28 7/8Wing - 73 3/8

- ESPN Article -
Borland is short at 5-foot-11. His recruiting profile next to Clowney's is laughable. He played soccer and other sports growing up, didn't participate in organized football until high school and appeared headed for a Division III school until wowing Wisconsin at a summer camp before his senior season. Of the 17 players in Wisconsin's 2009 recruiting class graded by ESPN recruiting, Borland received the second lowest.

He'll finish his career Wednesday as one of the best defensive players in team history, a four-year starter with multiple All-America honors who earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors this season. His NFL draft forecast isn't as promising as Clowney's -- most mocks have him in the second or third round -- but few defensive players have more accomplished college careers.

"He's as good as advertised," Andersen said.
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NFL Network - Video with Mike Mayock, Charles Davis & DJ discussing his NFL potential

Senior Bowl performance so far (Will update as I find more)

- Eric Galko (@optimumscouting) -
Tuesday -- "Chris Borland is really taking advantage of the week with another strong performance. He has a real feel for the game and minimizes his size limitations by using leverage and short area explosiveness to his advantage and disengaging quickly from blockers. Scouts have also been impressed with his pursuit effort as he’s been flying to the football all week."

Wednesday -- "Chris Borland excelled again in his diagnosis of plays, composed read steps and instincts. Borland fits in the run game better than any of the backers here, has the hip snap to meet blockers in the hole and stay balanced to disengage for the play. During team drills, he even showcased cover skills by baiting Logan Thomas into a interception on a late shallow cross throw over the middle of the field. Borland will be a riser for us at Optimum Scouting after this week."

- Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) -
"Liked Chris Borland a lot heading into the week. Still do. His instincts are amazing."

- Todd McShay (@McShay13) -
"WISC LB Borland is an animal. Great instincts. Strong this wk as rusher and in cvg. Doesn't have measurables but who cares. He's a player!"

- Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) -
"I think I'm the only 1 that's riding the fence on Chris Borland. Heard "I love that dude" a bunch and "good college player, bad pro" a bunch."

College Stats
Season
GP/GS
UT
AT
Tot. Tackles
TFL
QBS
FF
FR
INT
PD
2009
13/6
36
18
54
10.5
5
5
3
1
3
2010
2/2
5
2
7
2
1
0
0
0
0
2011
14/14
64
79
143
19
2.5
5
0
2
7
2012
12/12
56
48
104
10
4.5
3
3
0
6
2013
12/12
73
39
112
8.5
4
2
2
0
2
Totals
55/48
234
186
420
50
17
15
8
3
18

Game Footage
vs Ohio St (2013)
vs Arizona St (2013)
vs Stanford (2012 bowl)
vs Nebraska (2012)
vs Purdue (2012)
vs Illinois (2012)
vs Illinois (2011)
vs Michigan St (2011)

Massive thanks to the guys over at Draft Breakdown for those videos, thats why I linked to their site rather than the youtube links. So I'm not very good at analysing players and how they'll project to the NFL (you can decide for yourselves with the videos) but from what I see is a hyper-instinctual linebacker who isn't as athletic as you'd like. Great at diagnosing plays, has a bit of difficulty shedding blocks but knows how to blitz well, play coverage with instincts and, imagine this, a solid & reliable tackler. As Mike Mayock put it, "Y'know what, there are certains time when a kid is just a football player". Obviously, I like the guy and I think we really missed that in our LB corps this year.

In terms of the Dolphins taking this guy, I'm not so sure. I expect him to be a mid-low 2nd/high 3rd round pick - and I'm not sure we take a linebacker that high when we already have four commitments at the position (Misi/Ellerbe/Wheeler/Jenkins). But hopefully our new GM is smarter than that, and can see a massive need for an instinctual linebacker and a massive talent in Chris Borland. I'd love to hear your opinions on him though, and whether you want the phins to pick him up.

HOUSEKEEPING By the way, three guys I'm paying close attention to in the senior bowl and draft coverage are RB Charles Sims, OT/OG Zack Martin, and OG Gabe Jackson. Could be potential fits for the phins in rounds 1-3. Worth keeping an eye on, as they're impressing so far. Other notes - here's a journal that's being updated everyday by Vandy WR Jordan Matthews and Chris Borland on their Senior Bowl experiences - worth a read. Finally, if you want a video breakdown of the entire Shrine Game, look no further.
 
Those arms are freakishly short, but it shouldn't matter. Some guys can just ball, if he's there in the 3rd he'd be a great pick.
 
FearTheBeard said:
Those arms are freakishly short, but it shouldn't matter. Some guys can just ball, if he's there in the 3rd he'd be a great pick.
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Agreed, he'd be perfect at the top of the third. If they want him though, our #20 in the second may be needed. Yeah, arms that short could lead to more missed tackles if the technique is off.. Luckily his technique is pretty good but its something to keep an eye on.
 
Love the guy. Don't know if he'll last to the 3rd. I would spend a 2nd and not look back.
 
I would only go 2nd round if we trade down and pick up another 2. Otherwise I am waiting. If you cant get him in 3rd pick up the princeton kid at DT.

If these alot of these guys stock rise, that means others will fall. Let the draft come to you. Thats what Cincy does.
 
finfan54 said:
I would only go 2nd round if we trade down and pick up another 2. Otherwise I am waiting. If you cant get him in 3rd pick up the princeton kid at DT.

If these alot of these guys stock rise, that means others will fall. Let the draft come to you. Thats what Cincy does.
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Sometimes the move needs to made to get the guy you want.. We've been left hanging dry a lot when we waited around - e.g. Cordy Glenn taken one pick ahead of Jon Martin, Jimmy Graham left until the fourth round. I'm not saying Borland is worth the potential trade up, just sometimes its necessary if the right talent drops.

By the way, I love your mock in your sig. Give me Martin / Moses / Borland or Skov (or Christian Kirksey) in the first three rounds and I'll forget everything about this GM mess.
 
By the way, after watching the Senior Bowl - nothing about my opinion on Borland has changed. He showed exactly the same skills he championed in college. He sifted through traffic, made great tackles (8 of them, 1 for loss) and forced a fumble on a great read on an RB dumpoff. He's still limited athletically, and could see his stock drop as a result of this. I noticed one or two times where he got his feet caught in coverage, but its hard to know if that was indecision or just nerves/not being familiar with scheme or teammates.

Three other players that piqued my interest were TE Crockett Gilmore, RB David Fluellen and LB Christian Kirksey. I haven't done any more research into these guys, but they should all be interesting Day 3 options for us.
 
I want this guy bad. his instincts are crazy. he would instantly upgrade this d. take him in the second he is worth it no question.
 
The kid is tiny. If you want to take a chance that his size won't limit his effectiveness in the NFL, then I put it to you that a second rounder is a very high price to find out. Especially with a talent like Smallwood in the second and guys like Lamin Barrow and Shayne Skov in the mix a little further down.

I value instinct more than just about anything at LB, but you have to be prepared to accept the ramifications of having a super-instinctual player arrive at the right place and the right time, and be unable to physically prevent his target from gaining yards. At it's most basic level, Borland has to ankle tackle most RBs, TEs and receivers to be sure of taking them down. Watch the tape. He often starts by wrapping up high and then slips down to take the legs. As human beings are about 2 yards high, every tackle he makes surrenders close to 2 yards more than a LB who can stop a runner in his tracks. That's why RBs who always fall forward have better stats than those who don't. Falling forward with Borland around your ankles isn't hard. Falling forward with Karlos Dansby in your grille is hard.

In many cases, he just won't stop a guy at all, even if he diagnosed the play perfectly. I'm not even bringing up his very short arms at this point, which instantly limits his range in a big way.

I might be prepared to live with that on my roster, but not with a second or even third round pick.

PS I also rate Wisconsin very highly as a producer of NFL-grade talent. The buyer beware is that some players have reached close to their max under the Badgers programme.
 
Fin Thirteen said:
The kid is tiny. If you want to take a chance that his size won't limit his effectiveness in the NFL, then I put it to you that a second rounder is a very high price to find out. Especially with a talent like Smallwood in the second and guys like Lamin Barrow and Shayne Skov in the mix a little further down.

I value instinct more than just about anything at LB, but you have to be prepared to accept the ramifications of having a super-instinctual player arrive at the right place and the right time, and be unable to physically prevent his target from gaining yards. At it's most basic level, Borland has to ankle tackle most RBs, TEs and receivers to be sure of taking them down. Watch the tape. He often starts by wrapping up high and then slips down to take the legs. As human beings are about 2 yards high, every tackle he makes surrenders close to 2 yards more than a LB who can stop a runner in his tracks. That's why RBs who always fall forward have better stats than those who don't. Falling forward with Borland around your ankles isn't hard. Falling forward with Karlos Dansby in your grille is hard.

In many cases, he just won't stop a guy at all, even if he diagnosed the play perfectly. I'm not even bringing up his very short arms at this point, which instantly limits his range in a big way.

I might be prepared to live with that on my roster, but not with a second or even third round pick.

PS I also rate Wisconsin very highly as a producer of NFL-grade talent. The buyer beware is that some players have reached close to their max under the Badgers programme.
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i tend to agree with this...the instincts though are quite high...barrow of lsu is someone that has caught my eye but not as instinctual i think the kirkley kid for iowa is another solid lb and i like his teammate morris instincts even if i dont know much about his range

we could do worse than borland with a 2nd rounder god knows we have done much worse but for me that size bothers me and he is a dive and ankles tackler a lot...he will struggle at the poa unless he can work his way thru trash and find the football clean etc...i don't know tough kid to evaluate...and i think in coverage there will be come issues...looks like mike only to me...might be more inclined if i felt he could hold up in coverage at weak but i dont

i'd probably be more inclined on a 3rd rounder there...don't think i'd pull the trigger in the 2nd...gonna be a lot of people either way wrong on this or way right i see no in between here

kid finds the football though...no doubt about it...plays very smart...even if it is in a small package
 
Lavonte David's knock coming out was he was a bit undersized and he's 2 inches taller than Borland with a frame to put more weight on. David's arms were inches longer. David had the resume and the instincts too and he went in the late second, was it? (BTW, Hickey/Dominik traded up to get him, they liked him so much - Ireland trades up for Daniel Thomas and Will Davis). Khaseem Greene got taken in the fourth last year. Michael Mauti got taken in the 7th. Did Chase Thomas even get drafted? I don't think so, iirc.

Yawin Smallwood is twice the LB that Borland will be in the pros, and he's there in the second this year.

What I don't get is why you would take the risk at that level? This guy will fall in the draft and someone will get a value pick in the 4th or 5th at the earliest, is my guess.
 
lavonte david was a weakside olb though prospect you could get away with that size more there than on the mike in todays nfl...borlands a tough call that's all i know...he reads keys well and has a feel for whats coming and he finds the football...the point about guys always falling forward is one i agree with

khaseem green if you saw him this year showed zero instincts was lost...just terrible...

i dont know...what i do know is instincts at lb are a must...
 
I'm just making the point that there's no need to take a physically limited LB in the second when the draft tells you these guys will always fall.
 
Fin Thirteen said:
I'm just making the point that there's no need to take a physically limited LB in the second when the draft tells you these guys will always fall.
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i think that's probably right but fall out of the 3rd round i doubt it...again though tough call...only takes one team
 
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