I was wrong about Chandler Jones. I try not to be over reactionary about these types of things, because doing so will usually make you look stupid. But in watching countless tapes and meticulously analyzing Chandler Jones, I’m already looking dumb, so why not? Honestly, I could have easily done this after Week 1. Chandler Jones is already standing out. Chandler Jones is already an impact player,  just 2 games into his career, which is more than I ever expected from him.

Did I call Chandler Jones undraftable, or anything like that? No. What did I say about him? I recall saying something to the effect of, “Chandler Jones is a 4th round talent, and that’s mostly based on his long arms and natural power.” I thought his upside was Ray Edwards. (In his Vikings days, remember, I didn’t say Jones was undraftable.) A nice complementary pass rusher who would Keep Reading…

It’s not hard to let the mind wonder about former Memphis, and current Chiefs DT Dontari Poe. We’re talking about a 6’4, 350 pound man (read: freak) that’s putting up 45 reps of 225 and running sub 5 forty yard dashes. I considered myself to be squarely in the “Pro-Poe” camp throughout the draft process, but it’d also be unfair to say that there were no concerns. If you were in love with Dontari, it likely wasn’t entirely based upon his play. Much of the time at Memphis, Poe was rather underwhelming, especially considering his level of competition. There were certainly a lot of things that needed to be adjusted technique wise in order for him to be a productive football player. However, I felt as if he showcased some natural skills that made him very much worthy of where he was drafted. These feelings weren’t solely due to his Keep Reading…

In 2011, Tyron Smith started all 16 games for the Dallas Cowboys at the RT position, which he played at USC. The fact that he played RT in college was seen as a source of concern to some. Others pointed to the fact that he was reportedly only 280 pounds during his time at USC. Due to this, people questioned his run blocking ability, his strength, and his ability to add weight to his frame. He was also just 20, and despite starting for 2 years, he was looked at as raw.

Tyron Smith appeared destined to be a Late 1st, or Early 2nd round pick, mainly based on his tremendous upside. However, his post season weigh in of 307 pounds, combined with his monster Pro Day vaulted him into top 15 talks. While watching him as a college player, you could tell that he was more than just Keep Reading…

Aldon Smith declared for the 2011 NFL Draft after a sub-par Red Shirt Sophomore year. His sack numbers went way down, and a lot of people in the draft community seemed to be a bit ambivalent towards him as a prospect. Assuredly, he was greatly affected by a fractured fibula injury, but watching him play his RS SO year didn’t make him seem like he’d be an upper echelon pass rusher in the NFL, especially right off the bat. In addition to Smith’s down year, his combine numbers weren’t of the same caliber of other “freak” athletes either. Another thing was that it always appeared to me as  Smith looked better rushing from the inside, and had a lot of his production come from the DT spot. This was one of many reasons to question how Smith would fare in the NFL.

Recently, I’ve been watching a lot of Keep Reading…

In my last article, I opened by talking about how important a fit is to a prospect. This is perhaps most true for the prospects that are raw in certain nuances of their position. These players, who can almost be looked at as pieces of clay, are heavily dependent on the sculptor. On one hand, the sculptor can produce something beautiful, such as Vulca’s Apollo from Veii, and on the other hand, you might get something that looks like it came out of a high school ceramics class. Or even worse, something a toddler mashed together with Play-Doh.

A piece of clay that every offensive coach wants work with is one that is 6’4, 215 pounds, can run a 4.36 40 yard dash, and posts vertical leaps and broad jumps of 39.5 and 133 inches respectively. Of course, we aren’t talking about just a piece of clay at this point, Keep Reading…