Great information, as always. You have added so much to this draft season.
Watching tape of Rivers he looks extremely explosive, among the best in the draft. Not sure how Miami would use him, but like you noted he's probably best in a 3-4.
Watt is one of my favorites from this draft class. I wonder if he will continue to improve much like his brother did. He certainly has the work ethic. Lately I've seen him mocked in the beginning stages of round two. In fact, SB Nation had him going #54 to the Dolphins in their recent mock. One of my concerns with the top ranked linebackers, though, is that they all have had injuries. Watt, of course, could end up at DE.
Your analysis of Hall makes me wonder if he just needs good coaching to reach his heights. I guess those are the things decision makers talk about.
I love Witherspoon, but have consistently seen him mocked very low considering his talent level. Not sure what I'm missing, but maybe it's the tackling issue. That seems to be prevalent among the top CB's this year.
I really think Miami looks at safety pretty early. Still think Peppers is in play in round one, if he gets past Baltimore.
Thanks SF! I'm glad that these posts have been enjoyable.
Yeah, I think with Rivers, if he's sitting there at 54, particularly if you didn't draft a pass rusher at 22, and assuming Willis, Watt, and Bowser are off the board (safe assumption, imo), he's worth strong consideration even if he's just a situational pass rusher as a rookie.
With Hall, I don't know if it's him or the coaching. If he interviewed poorly, I would rank him lower (don't know). But, it's hard to question his physical tools.
I agree that most of the top CB's aren't very good tacklers. Many of the CB's project great to press zone schemes because of their length, but those D's typically require the CB's to be more involved in the run game, so teams will have to project which CB's will improve that area in the NFL. Unless Witherspoon is just a soft guy, he has the physical tools to be very good in this area - big CB.
It sounds like Miami likes Peppers a lot, and I wouldn't fault them for that. He's a very good football player. He's lower on my list of players I want at 22, but I'd be cool with the pick.