ckparrothead
Premium Member
This is all written by me, just so you don't get confused thinking I took this off a draft site or something...
BARRICK NEALY
Barrick Nealy is Hercules in his offense at Texas State. He started his college career playing for Houston and was impressive in four games before injuring a knee in 2002. He transferred to Texas State and in a relatively wide open offense in 2003 he tossed for 3100 yards (6.6 ypa) and 21 TDs with 17 INTs. He didn't do much running just 260 yards and 3 TDs on the ground. The offense changed in 2004 and in the new offense Nealy was asked to do less passing, and he also suffered an injury to his throwing arm in the first game of the season. But, the positive here is that his efficiency went up overall. His completion went from 51% to about 59%, his ypa went from 6.6 to 8.4, and he went from throwing a TD every 23 passes to throwing one every 14 passes. He also increased his rushing efficiency gaining 45 yards a game on 12 carries (on average).
Then, in 2005, he pretty much exploded. He passed the ball a whole lot more again (passed for 2900 yards) but his ypa did not deteriorate much, was still a respectable 7.9 on a completion percentage of 57%. He tossed 21 TDs and only 9 INTs. The big news was that he exploded on the rushing scene with 1057 yards rushing on 159 attempts and 13 TDs. He led his team to an average of 37 points a game. This includes 31 points against Texas A&M...in a game where some folks may have been trying to watch Reggie McNeal do his nasty but instead couldn't keep their eyes off Mr. Barrick Nealy (you people know who you are). In that game Nealy was 26 of 34 for 378 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, rushed 5 times for 36 yards and a TD. He stole the show against a relatively decent TAMU defense.
The physical/mental story is compelling. He's 6'5" and 230 lbs, yet he's a quick runner with great athleticism (as evidenced by 1000+ yards rushing to go along with 2900 yards passing this year). His mental story is very interesting. The guy has been noted as a true student of the game when it comes to breaking down film...and I don't want to say that this is RARE for a running QB, but, it IS kind of rare for a running QB to be noted as a great film guy. In high school he was a first team academic all-state selection, so the guy has shown some willingness to work when it comes to his studies in the past. Nealy was voted the Southland Conference's top player of the year, and was 5th in the voting for the Walter Payton Trophy (given to the top division I-AA player in the country).
Remember...our guys liked Adrian McPherson in the 2005 draft. His throwing ability combined with his size and speed were compelling. Barrick Nealy is a VERY SIMILAR prospect because he owns a cannon for a right arm, runs extremely well, and has excellent size. What could distinguish him from McPherson is the mental side and character, which both have to be considered better than McPherson.
Here's a good read about Nealy:
http://www.statesman.com/horns/content/sports/stories/longhorns/08/31col_texstate.html
In there, note that he's been timed at 4.47 in the 40...with the wind at his back of course, and it is noted that the time was about a tenth better than the year previous...but if 4.47 is his BEST and 4.57 is his WORST then guess what, this guy's one of the most athletic straight up passing prospects in college or the NFL. In the article they also point out how Nealy and his receivers go toe-to-toe every summer with Vince Young and his receivers...and the Texas Longhorns always come away extremely impressed with Nealy. Nealy's had 7 different offensive coordinators in 7 years since high school, and 2005 was the first time he's had the same offensive coordinator two years in a row...and obviously it paid off.
I just noticed that Boomer's boy Colin Lindsay at Great Blue North wrote this about Nealy...
Overall, this is a guy to keep an eye on for the Phins...especially since we showed interest in Adrian McPherson. If we liked McPherson, then Nealy is a freaking gimme.
ERIK MEYER
The other guy to look out for, and I didn't write anything on him last night cuz I ended up writing too much on Barrick Nealy, is Erik Meyer.
This is another physical story. He has started the past 3 years at Eastern Washington and has a lot of raw physical talent and intangibles. He's an athlete, a lot like Fiedler was an athlete. Fiedler was a former decathlete, and although he didn't possess much in the way of straight line speed to rush for a bunch of yards, you can never really argue that Fiedler didn't have good pocket awareness and mobility within the pocket. That was definitely not a weakness. Meyer has rushed for about 16-18 yards a game on average in his career in Eastern Washington. His straight line 40 speed is probably around 5.0, nothing very special there. I say he's an athlete because he's an excellent baseball player and has been drafted by both the Cincinnati Reds and the San Francisco Giants. So you're not really looking at a guy that can turn his mobility into a weapon like Barrick Nealy or Vince Young.
But as far as throwing skills, this guy has them. He's got a he||a strong arm and he's very accurate. He's always been a rather heady player, which is a premium because he's already got such a strong, accurate arm. He reads defenses very well and has natural intangibles. I saw a profile of him on NFL Draft Countdown that mentioned he really presents that "something extra" during the games...he's a gamer. Really gets into it.
Obviously with the coaching staff at Eastern Washington, his mechanics aren't what they should be and he's a project kind of guy. Not unlike Brady coming out, his size isn't what it needs to be, and he needs to pack a little more beef on that skinny frame. And of course, the guy didn't play against top defenses.
Statistically, he's got a really nice 67% completion percentage or his career. That percentage has been consistent throughout his career. He's got a pretty staggering 84-17 career TD-INT ratio, culminating in 30 touchdowns his senior year and only 5 interceptions. This is a guy that punches it in throwing, not running. He also has a pretty staggering 9.4 yard per attempt average for his career, culminating in a 9.8 ypa his final year. He threw for 4000 yards this year in 12 games.
Barrick Nealy finished 5th in the Walter Payton award running, and Meyer was in the top 3 (I think the award ended up going to the RB from Brown). Team scored 35 points a game this year under his leadership.
This is one of those guys that grades like a mid rounder but will probably be available in the late rounds because he doesn't play for a big time program.
I want to say that both Mueller and Linehan having ties to the area could help us in the process of getting to know the kid, but I can't come up with any direct links.
Nonetheless...Nealy and Meyer become very real possibilities if Nick Saban decides he needs to use the early and mid 2006 picks to keep revamping the defense and get some quality offensive line talents. This is a STRONG offensive line draft, and a very strong linebacker draft. We need both. We also need safety. I could see us going Landry-Vaughn-OT in that order in the first three rounds of this draft (unless Vaughn grades round 3 then we take him in the 3rd and an OT in the 2nd). This would all mean that we're looking at guys like Whitehurst, Croyle, Hackney, and IMO Nealy and Meyer.
BARRICK NEALY
Barrick Nealy is Hercules in his offense at Texas State. He started his college career playing for Houston and was impressive in four games before injuring a knee in 2002. He transferred to Texas State and in a relatively wide open offense in 2003 he tossed for 3100 yards (6.6 ypa) and 21 TDs with 17 INTs. He didn't do much running just 260 yards and 3 TDs on the ground. The offense changed in 2004 and in the new offense Nealy was asked to do less passing, and he also suffered an injury to his throwing arm in the first game of the season. But, the positive here is that his efficiency went up overall. His completion went from 51% to about 59%, his ypa went from 6.6 to 8.4, and he went from throwing a TD every 23 passes to throwing one every 14 passes. He also increased his rushing efficiency gaining 45 yards a game on 12 carries (on average).
Then, in 2005, he pretty much exploded. He passed the ball a whole lot more again (passed for 2900 yards) but his ypa did not deteriorate much, was still a respectable 7.9 on a completion percentage of 57%. He tossed 21 TDs and only 9 INTs. The big news was that he exploded on the rushing scene with 1057 yards rushing on 159 attempts and 13 TDs. He led his team to an average of 37 points a game. This includes 31 points against Texas A&M...in a game where some folks may have been trying to watch Reggie McNeal do his nasty but instead couldn't keep their eyes off Mr. Barrick Nealy (you people know who you are). In that game Nealy was 26 of 34 for 378 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, rushed 5 times for 36 yards and a TD. He stole the show against a relatively decent TAMU defense.
The physical/mental story is compelling. He's 6'5" and 230 lbs, yet he's a quick runner with great athleticism (as evidenced by 1000+ yards rushing to go along with 2900 yards passing this year). His mental story is very interesting. The guy has been noted as a true student of the game when it comes to breaking down film...and I don't want to say that this is RARE for a running QB, but, it IS kind of rare for a running QB to be noted as a great film guy. In high school he was a first team academic all-state selection, so the guy has shown some willingness to work when it comes to his studies in the past. Nealy was voted the Southland Conference's top player of the year, and was 5th in the voting for the Walter Payton Trophy (given to the top division I-AA player in the country).
Remember...our guys liked Adrian McPherson in the 2005 draft. His throwing ability combined with his size and speed were compelling. Barrick Nealy is a VERY SIMILAR prospect because he owns a cannon for a right arm, runs extremely well, and has excellent size. What could distinguish him from McPherson is the mental side and character, which both have to be considered better than McPherson.
Here's a good read about Nealy:
http://www.statesman.com/horns/content/sports/stories/longhorns/08/31col_texstate.html
In there, note that he's been timed at 4.47 in the 40...with the wind at his back of course, and it is noted that the time was about a tenth better than the year previous...but if 4.47 is his BEST and 4.57 is his WORST then guess what, this guy's one of the most athletic straight up passing prospects in college or the NFL. In the article they also point out how Nealy and his receivers go toe-to-toe every summer with Vince Young and his receivers...and the Texas Longhorns always come away extremely impressed with Nealy. Nealy's had 7 different offensive coordinators in 7 years since high school, and 2005 was the first time he's had the same offensive coordinator two years in a row...and obviously it paid off.
I just noticed that Boomer's boy Colin Lindsay at Great Blue North wrote this about Nealy...
Great Blue North said:
Overall, this is a guy to keep an eye on for the Phins...especially since we showed interest in Adrian McPherson. If we liked McPherson, then Nealy is a freaking gimme.
ERIK MEYER
The other guy to look out for, and I didn't write anything on him last night cuz I ended up writing too much on Barrick Nealy, is Erik Meyer.
This is another physical story. He has started the past 3 years at Eastern Washington and has a lot of raw physical talent and intangibles. He's an athlete, a lot like Fiedler was an athlete. Fiedler was a former decathlete, and although he didn't possess much in the way of straight line speed to rush for a bunch of yards, you can never really argue that Fiedler didn't have good pocket awareness and mobility within the pocket. That was definitely not a weakness. Meyer has rushed for about 16-18 yards a game on average in his career in Eastern Washington. His straight line 40 speed is probably around 5.0, nothing very special there. I say he's an athlete because he's an excellent baseball player and has been drafted by both the Cincinnati Reds and the San Francisco Giants. So you're not really looking at a guy that can turn his mobility into a weapon like Barrick Nealy or Vince Young.
But as far as throwing skills, this guy has them. He's got a he||a strong arm and he's very accurate. He's always been a rather heady player, which is a premium because he's already got such a strong, accurate arm. He reads defenses very well and has natural intangibles. I saw a profile of him on NFL Draft Countdown that mentioned he really presents that "something extra" during the games...he's a gamer. Really gets into it.
Obviously with the coaching staff at Eastern Washington, his mechanics aren't what they should be and he's a project kind of guy. Not unlike Brady coming out, his size isn't what it needs to be, and he needs to pack a little more beef on that skinny frame. And of course, the guy didn't play against top defenses.
Statistically, he's got a really nice 67% completion percentage or his career. That percentage has been consistent throughout his career. He's got a pretty staggering 84-17 career TD-INT ratio, culminating in 30 touchdowns his senior year and only 5 interceptions. This is a guy that punches it in throwing, not running. He also has a pretty staggering 9.4 yard per attempt average for his career, culminating in a 9.8 ypa his final year. He threw for 4000 yards this year in 12 games.
Barrick Nealy finished 5th in the Walter Payton award running, and Meyer was in the top 3 (I think the award ended up going to the RB from Brown). Team scored 35 points a game this year under his leadership.
This is one of those guys that grades like a mid rounder but will probably be available in the late rounds because he doesn't play for a big time program.
I want to say that both Mueller and Linehan having ties to the area could help us in the process of getting to know the kid, but I can't come up with any direct links.
Nonetheless...Nealy and Meyer become very real possibilities if Nick Saban decides he needs to use the early and mid 2006 picks to keep revamping the defense and get some quality offensive line talents. This is a STRONG offensive line draft, and a very strong linebacker draft. We need both. We also need safety. I could see us going Landry-Vaughn-OT in that order in the first three rounds of this draft (unless Vaughn grades round 3 then we take him in the 3rd and an OT in the 2nd). This would all mean that we're looking at guys like Whitehurst, Croyle, Hackney, and IMO Nealy and Meyer.