NFL Draft RUMORS: Miami Dolphins Eyeing Stephone Anthony, Clemson Linebacker

[Geforce]

The Miami Dolphins have engaged in a fairly significant roster changeover this offseason, especially at the inside linebacker position, and will most likely look to continue that in the draft. They're reportedly eyeing a fast-rising inside linebacker out of Clemson.


According to a report from Draft Insider's Tony Pauline, the Dolphins are paying close attention to Stephone Anthony, a fast-rising prospect out of Clemson that has seen his draft stock trend steadily upward in the months after the collegiate season.

Per Pauline, the Dolphins are set to work Anthony out today after having dinner with the Tiger product last night.


Anthony entered the draft process with little fanfare but thanks to strong efforts at the Senior Bowl and combine has shot up draft boards. He's now a projected early second-round selection that could slot in alongside Koa Misi with the Dolphins.


The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Anthony finished last season for Clemson with 75 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, one interception and 2.5 sacks in 13 games, per CFBStats.com.

http://www.hngn.com/articles/76339/...illip-wheeler-dannell-ellerbe-replacement.htm


Tony Pauline ‏@TonyPauline

Miami Dolphins had dinner with Stephone Anthony/LB/Clemson last night and are working him out today.



Matt MillerVerified account ‏@nfldraftscout


Gave Stephone Anthony a Karlos Dansby comparison from an athletic standpoint. Anthony could play ILB in a 3-4 and is above avg in coverage

 

[nick1]

In before bane says he hates Anthony

 

[hoops]

this is athleticism getting overdrafted at lb yet again...god i hope not

pick 47 i'm officially worried

ryan shazier all over again

 

[FSU Truth]

this is athleticism getting overdrafted at lb yet again...god i hope not

pick 47 i'm officially worried

ryan shazier all over again

Come on man....Shazier will be loads better then Mosely....amiright...

 

[MiamiDolfan85]

...eww Id tather Kendricks @ 14 than this guy in the second....I usually side-eye smokescreen proclaimations, but i pray this is just another clever attempt

 

[hoops]

it's that 6 ft 3 and 245 and the athlete that is selling this guy...that's about it...teams see every down lb athlete

i have no doubts either that pick 47 range is right in his wheelhouse given the ilb options

 

[LordTua]

Pick 47 is going to be Dawson, Denzel or Anthony.

This has me thinking, with the recent backing of Dallas Thomas by Philbin. That #14 will be Waynes (If available), Jalen Collins, Gurley or Parker.

---------- Post added at 01:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:17 PM ----------

Does anyone have a write up on Anthony on hand? I'd like to hear the boards thoughts on him.

 

[Roman529]

We should just trade down for an extra pick and take Kendricks or Perryman if we are looking at a LB in the first two rounds.

 

[ChambersWI]

Actually fits the lb type that the Cincy defenses Coyle was apart of were fond of

 

[Fin Thirteen]

my take on Anthony is:

Athlete - long arms, above average burst, can stack and shed big linemen, delivers a punishing hit
Blitz - Effective blitzer. Very decisive moving forward and gets to the QB in a hurry. Sacks aside, I saw a lot of QB pressures from him which were down purely to his speed.
Tackling - Punishing tackler. Wraps up well on front-up tackles. Less secure in pursuit. Spatial awareness issues means he often gets bumped off tackles by bodies in the way.
Run D - Reads relatively well on run plays and reacts extremely quickly to shut down gains. High TFL numbers corroborate his ability to read and react to the run. Speed and big wingspan help him corral RBs effectively.
Play Action - Gets sold routinely by play action. Can be far too in a hurry to get downfield to read the play correctly. Easily taken out of the play and often has the QB dump in a short pass to his vacated space.
Coverage - Pretty poor in all aspects of coverage. Diagnoses the play late and then appears really clueless as to what to do next. Struggles with zone and regularly late to pick up man coverage and stick to his guy. Good sideline to sideline speed, but neither the awareness nor angles do him any favours or help his team out much.
Leadership - Don't see him reading the offense and/or setting the D. Certainly not a vocal leader of the LB/safety group.

Year 1 I just can't see him being a 3-down backer. I would much rather have a guy who showed the feel for the position and the instincts in coverage, than an above-average athlete. He shows signs of reading what's in front of him pretty damn well at times, so it's not like he's incapable of diagnosing and reacting quickly. But in coverage, he looks really lost and he doesn't display any signs of being the leader of the LB group.

There's unquestionably upside with this kid from what he shows today. Within a year I think you could have yourself a league-average 2-down MIKE. If you want more than that, I think you're projecting abilities onto him that he doesn't currently have. Preston Brown was a superior, more rounded talent last season and he was taken middle of the third. This class has fewer Mike options, so even bumping him up for that, I'd still rate Anthony as a low 3rd to 4th rounder at best.

 

[hoops]

no instincts...gives up the edge or the corner all the time as a result...late vs the inside run game...once he sees it he fires his gun and explodes but this is another one of those upgrade the athlete but dont fix our major problem at mike picks

all post snap reactionary...rarely ahead of the play...picks the wrong gaps to shoot...

 

[datruth55]

Here he is against Georgia and Todd Gurley. Consistently misplayed the run in this game. His D-line does a heck of a job of keeping him clean too...very few instances of a Guard getting to the 2nd level and blocking the linebackers out of the play.

[video=youtube;qfcJrtUPOjA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfcJrtUPOjA[/video]

 

[hoops]

Here he is against Georgia and Todd Gurley. Consistently misplayed the run in this game. His D-line does a heck of a job of keeping him clean too...very few instances of a Guard getting to the 2nd level and blocking the linebackers out of the play.

[video=youtube;qfcJrtUPOjA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfcJrtUPOjA[/video]

watch that play he gives up the corner on and never can get to the angle...no way a mike lb with read and diag should be that darn late...dont get me wrong gurley outruns angles but that mike lb is way way too late on that play...he's lost

if that's the tape i recall seeing...doesnt fix anything for miami other than higher level athlete at mike...be yelling at the tv yet again like i have been for years now "WHERE THE HELL IS THE FREAKING MIKE"

 

[xXwarXx]

Here he is against Georgia and Todd Gurley. Consistently misplayed the run in this game. His D-line does a heck of a job of keeping him clean too...very few instances of a Guard getting to the 2nd level and blocking the linebackers out of the play.

[video=youtube;qfcJrtUPOjA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfcJrtUPOjA[/video]

Guy never gets touched, ever...

But than again, a lot of really good NFL linebackers, dont either, and when they do, don't look like half the player.

 

[datruth55]

watch that play he gives up the corner on and never can get to the angle...no way a mike lb with read and diag should be that darn late...dont get me wrong gurley outruns angles but that mike lb is way way too late on that play...he's lost

if that's the tape i recall seeing...doesnt fix anything for miami other than higher level athlete at mike...be yelling at the tv yet again like i have been for years now "WHERE THE HELL IS THE FREAKING MIKE"

It looked to me like he was doing a lot of guessing in that game. He had a better game against FSU but that was without Jamies Winston at QB (his one suspended game last year) and he did a nice job of reading a screen although he wouldn't have made the play if the ball hadn't been batted down cause there were two O-lineman out in front of the RB and he was all by himself. He also had a couple of nice blitzes in that game but he let a slow (4.91) TE in Nick O'Leary eat his lunch a few times in the passing game.

I'm with you though...don't see the ability to read and diagnose plays. He's got happy feet cause he's not sure where the play is going. Maybe he doesn't know how to study film

---------- Post added at 03:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:10 PM ----------

Guy never gets touched, ever...

But than again, a lot of really good NFL linebackers, dont either, and when they do, don't look like half the player.

Yeah I remember Ray Lewis complaining about the D-line in Baltimore not letting him do what he does, to paraphrase. Then they drafted Ngata. Our D-line didn't keep our linebackers clean that's for sure.