This weekend while contemplating how to spend the next 3 weeks until trainig camp and after hearing the many complaints about our lack of O-line depth I have decided to do some digging on J.D. Quinn, the undrafted OG/C we signed from the University of Montana. We all know he was busted with Rhett Bohmar for taking money from a car dealership and got 3 DUI's while in college, but what do we know about him as the football player.
As a junior in 2007, Quinn started five games at right guard and one at center for the Grizzlies, earning first-team All-Big Sky honors as well as honorable mention All-American honors.During the 2008 season, Quinn switched from right guard to center, was the starting center in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Div. II) title game which Montana lost to Richmond (Brandon London's dad coached the team)and earned second-team All-Big Sky honors. I was glad to learn that Quinn played both center and guard while at Montana, but I was hoping Quinn would have dominated the lesser competition. Due to his lack of accolades I just didn't see proof of that happening.
Next I turned to his pre-draft analysis, and that's where I found more of what I was looking for. SI.com reports Quinn as a big, nasty lineman who displays good football intelligence. Effective with shotgun snap, quickly gets into blocks and turns defenders off the line. Keeps his knees bent, moves his feet throughout the action, and displays solid overall body strength. Effectively quarterbacks the offensive line, and works well with teammates, displaying good blocking vision. This is exactly the kind of O-linemen our FO looks for big and nasty, with a high football IQ.
At his Montanta pro day Quinn actually didn't perform that bad. He measured in at 6-3 and 299 pounds and posted times of 5.26 and 5.22 in the 40. He completed 19 reps on the bench and a 27 1/2" verticle. He ran a 4.90 20-yard shuttle on a bad surface and an 8.09 second 3-cone drill, with an 8-0 foot broad jump. I was hoping for more reps on the bench but he did well in all other catergories. Strenth is something our offseason conditioning program will definately have helped him with.
Also, while looking I found quite a few teams would have had him on their draft board. Cameron Foster, Quinn's agents said 20 NFL teams told him that if not for the off-the-field issues, they had Quinn projected as a draft pick, some as high as the third round. Now this may be a players agent blowing smoke up the media's butt to get his player a better FA contract, but it may also very well be the truth. Why draft a player who has conduct problems, when you can sign him after the draft and use that pick on someone else. There is no need to lie to the agent especially if you are looking to sign him as a FA after the draft.
This area of personal conduct is what truely worries me when it comes to Quinn. He has stated through his agent that he is attending AA meetings and that he has realized he is his own worst enemy, but he said those things before and repeated the same suspect behavior. I am hoping for his sake he doesn't have a repeat performace as our FO will not hesitate to release him if he finds himself in trouble with the law again.
So let me know what you think. Can this kid be another FA diamond in the rough a-la Davone Bess, a practice squad developmental player, or is he destined to be another traing camp casualty. I know one things for sure, he is one person I will definately be paying attention to come training camp.
As a junior in 2007, Quinn started five games at right guard and one at center for the Grizzlies, earning first-team All-Big Sky honors as well as honorable mention All-American honors.During the 2008 season, Quinn switched from right guard to center, was the starting center in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Div. II) title game which Montana lost to Richmond (Brandon London's dad coached the team)and earned second-team All-Big Sky honors. I was glad to learn that Quinn played both center and guard while at Montana, but I was hoping Quinn would have dominated the lesser competition. Due to his lack of accolades I just didn't see proof of that happening.
Next I turned to his pre-draft analysis, and that's where I found more of what I was looking for. SI.com reports Quinn as a big, nasty lineman who displays good football intelligence. Effective with shotgun snap, quickly gets into blocks and turns defenders off the line. Keeps his knees bent, moves his feet throughout the action, and displays solid overall body strength. Effectively quarterbacks the offensive line, and works well with teammates, displaying good blocking vision. This is exactly the kind of O-linemen our FO looks for big and nasty, with a high football IQ.
At his Montanta pro day Quinn actually didn't perform that bad. He measured in at 6-3 and 299 pounds and posted times of 5.26 and 5.22 in the 40. He completed 19 reps on the bench and a 27 1/2" verticle. He ran a 4.90 20-yard shuttle on a bad surface and an 8.09 second 3-cone drill, with an 8-0 foot broad jump. I was hoping for more reps on the bench but he did well in all other catergories. Strenth is something our offseason conditioning program will definately have helped him with.
Also, while looking I found quite a few teams would have had him on their draft board. Cameron Foster, Quinn's agents said 20 NFL teams told him that if not for the off-the-field issues, they had Quinn projected as a draft pick, some as high as the third round. Now this may be a players agent blowing smoke up the media's butt to get his player a better FA contract, but it may also very well be the truth. Why draft a player who has conduct problems, when you can sign him after the draft and use that pick on someone else. There is no need to lie to the agent especially if you are looking to sign him as a FA after the draft.
This area of personal conduct is what truely worries me when it comes to Quinn. He has stated through his agent that he is attending AA meetings and that he has realized he is his own worst enemy, but he said those things before and repeated the same suspect behavior. I am hoping for his sake he doesn't have a repeat performace as our FO will not hesitate to release him if he finds himself in trouble with the law again.
So let me know what you think. Can this kid be another FA diamond in the rough a-la Davone Bess, a practice squad developmental player, or is he destined to be another traing camp casualty. I know one things for sure, he is one person I will definately be paying attention to come training camp.
