Post-free agency draft updates (visits, reported targets etc)

[uk_dolfan]

@nickbaumgardner: Jabrill Peppers says one team wanted him to play LB, one wanted him on offense, 30 saw him at safety.

 

[datruth55]

3) Jordan Willis/DE/Kansas State: Teams love versatile athletes who can rush the passer. Willis proved he was the premiere athlete at the defensive end position during the combine when he timed 4.53s in the 40 and 6.85s in the short shuttle as well as touching 39 inches in the vertical jump after weighing in at 255 pounds. He then went on and showed his versatility at the Wildcats pro day, looking flawless in both defensive line and linebacker drills. I think it will be a stretch for Willis to end up in the late part of Round 1 but would expect him to be off the board during the top half of the second frame. Willis worked out for the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, will be working out for the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Bucs in the coming weeks and has a visit to Tampa Bay on his schedule. The Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys are also showing a lot of interest in Willis.

5) Josh Jones/S/North Carolina State: People seem to dismiss Jones when the conversation turns to the top safeties in the draft, though this is not true in the scouting community. He tested incredibly well at the combine and when teams went back and watched the film, they saw a potential top-50 pick. Jones has worked out for the Jacksonville Jaguars and will be working out for the Arizona Cardinals in future. His list of official visits includes the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.

http://draftanalyst.com/surprise-risers

 

[miamifire]

Wouldn't mind Peppers. Then draft a guard.

 

[Travis34]

Like that we are interested in Willis... I just don't know about at 22. Don't know much about the safety, I'll defer to hoops / j-off. I hope we are interested in Marcus Williams. I wonder if he will run again at a pro day?

 

[dolphinlifer]

We need youth at DE. As far as immediate impact 1st round pick DE might not be the position you look for. That would probably go to guard or FS. I wouldn't have any issue grabbing one of those two needs if a guy is graded similarly and looking for a DE in round 2 or 3. It's easy to say that well we have these 3 guys and some are old and some are average, but that's not generally the point people are making. The point I think most are making is that we have a 3 deep rotation at DE, and for this upcoming season that is true. We have pretty well 1 elite pass rusher and 1 elite run defender, and one guy who's kind of average. In the NFL that's a pretty good group and not a top level need. Not like we can't find a contributor at DE outside of the 1st round.

I'm not opposed to DE in round 1 at all, but there could be more immediate impact position groups worth looking at. If a DE is graded significantly higher, and this is obviously supposed to be a good draft for it, then you pull the trigger since it's a premium position and we don't exactly have a ton of long term security there.

really agree with this, what round with ov had in? was that a deep de class? We are most likely going to groom whatever de is there whereas most people drafting a de is doing so because its an immediate need, doubt we will NEED a strong pass rushing de for two more years, i believe wake still has two good years left, he's old but he really takes care of his body and seems to age well. Since we are going to groom the de i would much rather draft one in rounds 3+ with a lot of upside but is more raw, that would be a lot better decision than wasting an early pick on something we don't need right away. We do need a fs and a lb, those should be the first two picks, possibly a guard in there too, hoping they draft two guards in this draft, we need it for depth whereas most other places we are good outside of safety depth.

 

[DefensiveEnd76]

http://draftanalyst.com/march-24-pro-day-update-cal Said to be showing a lot of interest in Michigan DE Chris Wormley's services. Wormley measured 6'5" 297, ran the 40 in 4.8 seconds, did 23 reps, 31.5" vertical jump, had arms that measured 34 1/8" and 10 1/2" hands. Some scouts say he is a better all around DE than Taco Charlton.

 

[maralieus]

The staff always allow draft talk in the mains as we approach the draft (we have had threads popping up for weeks) if it is going to be here anyway it is best to try consolidate some of it into a thread like this, we had a very similar one last year.

Yeah if you start a thread on the draft forum I know I wont see it.

---------- Post added at 06:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 AM ----------

http://draftanalyst.com/march-24-pro-day-update-cal Said to be showing a lot of interest in Michigan DE Chris Wormley's services. Wormley measured 6'5" 297, ran the 40 in 4.8 seconds, did 23 reps, 31.5" vertical jump, had arms that measured 34 1/8" and 10 1/2" hands. Some scouts say he is a better all around DE than Taco Charlton.

Was listening to our very own podcast crew at peefectville perfectvillethe other day and they were talking about how VERY few DE's have ever had success running a 4.8 or slower. Seems like it might be one of those telling stats for that position.

 

[Beach Bum]

When it comes to DE in our system, what body type do you guys prefer? The big guys like Taco, Wormley, and Willis or the smaller quicker guys like Reddick, Barnett, or Harris?

 

[mmikel30]

You want an answer ...just looks the Bengals defensive rodter

 

[j-off-her-doll]

Yeah if you start a thread on the draft forum I know I wont see it.

---------- Post added at 06:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 AM ----------



Was listening to our very own podcast crew at peefectville perfectvillethe other day and they were talking about how VERY few DE's have ever had success running a 4.8 or slower. Seems like it might be one of those telling stats for that position.

It's less telling than the other drills. JJ Watt, Trey Flowers, Michael Bennett, Joey Bosa, and Chandler Jones all posted 4.8 40s or worse. Frank Clark posted a 4.79.

That 7.08 3-cone is impressive - in the range of Chandler Jones, though Womley is about 30lbs heavier than Jones was. Because it's a Pro Day time, it requires some skepticism, but agility looked like a major strength at Michigan.

 

[ChambersWI]

Yea DE is still the most critical positions as is LB.

To put DE in perspective: a 35 year old, a bunch of 1 year left on their contract guys and Andre Branch. Gotta think that pass rusher has the edge at 22. Have to see how the board plays out.

Let's also keep in mind that this staff wasn't as high on Fede as Philbin and Coyle were as well. And while this is an insanely deep DE class, you want to take a top guy if you have the chance. Let's ask this, how many times has there been an insanely deep draft class in a position we are weak at and we not taken advantage? That goes for safety too.

 

[Beach Bum]

You want an answer ...just looks the Bengals defensive roster

If this was in reply to my question, I wasn't asking what Burke might prefer, I wanted to know what everyone around here thinks. I personally think the smaller, faster guys like Cam Wake have more success, but that is just a guess. A lot of guys around here have more experience than I do and I wanted to know if they thought the smaller guys would do better, too. Of course providing they can somewhat hold the edge.

 

[ChambersWI]

Also based on what we've done previously, it would not shock me if Chris Wormley is a lot higher on our board that others

 

[j-off-her-doll]

Also based on what we've done previously, it would not shock me if Chris Wormley is a lot higher on our board that others

Do you prefer Charlton to Wormley?

I really don't love either at 22, but Wormley would interest me at 54, assuming he makes it, which seems iffy.

 

[ChambersWI]

Do you prefer Charlton to Wormley?

I really don't love either at 22, but Wormley would interest me at 54, assuming he makes it, which seems iffy.

For the Miami Dolphins? Wormley. Kid has a great work ethic and is a leader. We also like to shift a a DE to DT on passing downs and did that under Coyle too. Wormley is also great at Stunts. He's a lot more athletic than given credit for. Just based on what I've seen of him at Michigan (including getting up to 320 as a Sophomore at Hokr's request as the team needed a nose tackle) I don't se e him being anything less than very solid.

That being said I think Taco has the potential to develop into a great player. He was always a part of a deep DL at Michifan, but the other tricky thing was under Hoke Michigan rotated the DL a freakish amount. .. like there was a point where they would have a different DL out for every snap, so Taco didn't get consistent time until his Junior year where he became the main back up and then the main pass rusher as a swnior