CK, do you think he would be good value at #9, or a reach?
It is difficult to tell. Prior to the Senior Bowl, Staley was a solid second round pick, high second round.
He came out of the Senior Bowl with several scouts claiming he had solidified a first round grade. I believe this was for several reasons.
One, he held his own during the week. Coming from little old CMU, that was a big question, does he hold his own against bigtime DEs. What does he look like against them? Does he look totally different than he did on film? He did not. He looked the same, displayed the same strengths and weaknesses.
Two, he improved during the week with coaching. Had an ok Monday, a bad Tuesday, and by Wednesday and Thursday, was really out there impressing everyone, having worked out many of the kinks he previously displayed. The positive progress is a big thing they look for, it was one of the reasons we were all high on Levi Brown out of the Senior Bowl.
Three, his interviews. Everyone came out thinking he was among the most impressive interviews in Mobile, including Randy Mueller. Interviews are important, crucially important for OL. They tell you what kind of player/personality you're going to be adding to your team at a position (OL) where personality and demeanor play a big part. Also, hard work off the field plays a huge part for OL because these guys need to work constantly to keep their bodies strong and fit, heavy, quick, as free of fat as they can, etc. It's easier to be Ted Ginn Jr. at 174 pounds and stay the same way you are than it is to be a Joe Staley at 306 pounds. You have to work at it more. Staley, who had already shown the ability to grow impressively from 230 pounds to 300 pounds in a relatively short period of time while maintaining his speed and explosiveness, had great interviews and that may have shown teams he has what it takes to actually improve on his flaws.
So after Mobile, he comes out with a first round grade, according to scouts.
In Indy, he benches the bar 27 times, not bad at all for such long arms (about 34.5 inches). He has to take a rain check on his measurements though because of injury.
His pro day was r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s.
It takes a while to really digest a pro day like that. He had a 1.64s 10 yard split, a 4.78 in the 40, 32 inch vertical, 9'4" broad jump, 4.40 shuttle, and 7.09 cone drill at 6'6" and 306 pounds.
The 10 yard split, the 40 yard time, the shuttle, and the cone drill are all the best marks among any of the OL in the 2007 Draft. The 32 inch vertical narrowly misses the mark, by 1 inch I believe. The 9'4" broad jump mark is, as far as I can tell, second only to Tony Ugoh.
One long-time scout called it the best pro day workout he's ever seen an OL have...and I have no reason to not believe him as it is the best I've seen as well.
In the wake of the pro day, Mel Kiper put Staley #13 overall on his Big Board. Immediately after, I saw a note from Steel City Insider saying that his sources informed him that the Steelers, who choose #15, had been secretly showing interest in Staley. SCI was going to keep that one under his hat for a few more weeks for surprise effect, until Kiper put Staley at #13 overall.
Before Indy, it seems we were having this exact same discussion about Levi Brown. Brown was a mid-first round guy that was climbing a bit, not quite getting those top 10 ratings and there are all these people saying reach, reach, reach, just because Brown was more of a top 15 guy instead of a top 10 guy.
Well I say bullsh-t on a stick. Don't get caught up so much in ranking differences of like 5 spaces. That's not what this process is about. This process isn't such an exact science to where draft boards all approximate each other within 5 spaces and if you take a guy 5 spaces higher than where some draft board had him ranked a month ago, you "reached".
Further, this is a supremely important position. You can win without a franchise LT, absolutely. But it's a heck of a lot easier to win WITH one...and it's nearly god damn impossible to find one unless you go high and take the guy you think is a franchise LT while you have the chance to do so.
I say that Marcus McNeil and Jammal Brown were huge catalysts for two of the most successful offenses this season, the Chargers and Saints. The Saints took Brown in 2005, played him at RT where he played well, moved him to LT and he became a pro bowler. Marcus McNeil's addition to the team netted LaDainian Tomlinson a record-shattering year and Phil Rivers a pro bowl in his first year as starter.
To me this isn't about "reaching". This is about players. Who do you like more. Let's say we have Ted Ginn Jr., Joe Staley, Levi Brown, Leon Hall, Darrelle Revis, and Adam Carriker all sitting at #9. Who do you like most? Which player will help your team the most? That is the question, not would so-and-so be a "reach".
