Draft Buzz
 

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DRAFT BUZZ

Crashing the party
Posted: March 25, 2015 | No Comments
With the 2015 draft still some 5 weeks away there appears to be considerable movement of players up and down draft boards around the league. The following are a number of players who may not have been much more than third-day prospects when the draft process started, but have moved well up since and may actually have begun to get just a hint of late first-round consideration by some teams.

Clemson ILB Stephone Anthony: Thought of a productive, but somewhat limited athlete with mid-to-late round prospect for the upcoming draft, Anthony has been pushing the envelope right through the pre-draft process starting at the senior Bowl where he was all over dispelling the notion that he had primarily between the tackles range. Anthony then had an outstanding combine where he clocked a very fast time of 4.56 seconds in the 40-yard dash, the third-fastest time among all defensive front-seven players in Indianapolis this year. For good measure, Anthony also had an athletic 37-inch vertical, while his agility drill times were all among the top figures at the position. Finally, Anthony showed plenty more agility and fluidity in positional drills at both the combine and the Tigers’ pro day earlier this month. NFL teams still have some concerns about Anthony’s natral football instincts, particularly when dropping into coverage, however, because of his toughness when making the tackle and overall athletic skills, Anthony has gone from a possible 4th-5th round pick this year to a point where he is contending with the likes of Mississippi’s State Benardrick McKinney, Eric Kendricks of UCLA and Miami’s Denzel Perryman to be the first inside linebacker off the board. Indeed, there is a palpable buzz that a team like Green Bay could actually be looking at him as a possibility for their late first round pick.

Oregon OT Jake Fisher: We kind of joked early in the 2014 college season that Fisher should maybe get some Heisman consideration when the Ducks’ offense just took off after missing some time with an injury. Turns out Fisher may get the last laugh. Fisher is a former TE who has shown in pre-draft workouts that he he is a much more fluid, athletic offensive lineman than previously thought. At the combine, for example, Fisher had the second fastest 40 clocking among offensive linemen at 5.01 seconds, while he posted a 32.5-inch vertical, which also tied for second among OL, and then blew away the competition at the position in the agility drills. All that has NFL teams thinking of a Fisher as a guy who could come in and start at RT right away, but what has pushed his up boards across the league is the sense that he has the feet and work ethic to eventually play at LT at the next level, although he still needs to add some strength and clean up some technical issues, in particular his hand usage off the snap. However, at 6-6, Fisher has the frame to bulk up to the 320 pound range – he weighed 306 at the combine – and given the value team’s place on the LT position, is another player who now looks like a solid early-to-mid-second round candidate who no one would be totally shocked if some team ultimately pulls the string in the latter part of the opening round.

Central Florida WR Breshad Perriman: If UCF’s Perriman didn’t have teams thinking about him as a potential early pick prior to his pro day this week, then they almost certainly will after he reportedly ran the 40 in something in the 4.3 range. In fact, Perriman may be just what the 2015 draft needs and that’s yet another really good prospect at receiver as he has a rare combination of size (he’s 6-2, 212), track speed and leaping ability. He also plays fast with an explosive first step and the ability to make sudden cuts. Indeed, he emerged as one of college football’s most dangerous big-play receivers last fall when he averaged almost 21 yards per catch (on 50 total receptions) and scored a team-leading 9 TDs on a team that really didn’t throw the ball all that well. In the past, though, Perriman has gotten by on his pure speed and athleticism and will need to clean some things up when he gets to the pros. In particular, his routes are sloppy as he tends to round them off and his hands are average at best as he lets too many passes get into his pads. Still, you can’t teach speed and athleticism such that his physical traits and ability to hit the big play should warrant plenty of early round consideration this year. And yes for the record, he is the son of former Miami WR Brett Perriman, who had a solid 10 year NFL career.

Arizona State FS Damarious Randall: No player in the 2015 draft class has come further, faster than ASU’s Randall who wasn’t even playing football four years ago. Indeed, Randall played baseball at a community college in 2011 before transferring to Mesa Community College where he was a JC All-American in 2012 after picking off 9 passes that year. Randall then played the last two years at ASU where he evolved into one of the most productive safeties in the country as he led the team with 106 tackles last fall, including 9.5 for loss, while he picked off 3 passes and broke up 9 others. Randall isn’t all that big at just 5-11, 195, but he can really run and has great instincts and ball skills. Indeed, there are some teams that are reportedly looking at him as a possible corner, although he is probably a little stiff in the hips to hold up on an island against elite receivers. Still, Randall was only one of two safeties to run under 4.5 seconds at the combine (along with Eric Rowe of Utah), while he was in the top 2-3 prospects at the position in the other key physical tests including the agility drills. And in a year in which ball-hawking free safety types are about as rare as hen’s teeth, Randall is another guy with the potential to be off the board within the first 40 or so picks at this year’s draft.

Bonus buzz: In addition to the above players, there is something of a buzz that QBs Bryce Petty of Baylor and Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson may have passed Brett Hundley of UCLA as the #3 prospect at the position this year behind Jameis Winston of Florida State and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota. Hundley is by far the best athlete of the three, but Petty and Grayson are just better passers out of the pocket. And given that there are simply more than two teams with major QB issues heading into the draft, the question around the NFL is just how early teams that don’t get Winston or Mariota will feel the pressure to get the next best thing at the position and that could mean reaching a tad in the second round. There has also been something of a buzz around the league of late that nobody should be surprised if Georgia RB Todd Gurley is selected a lot earlier than where he is being projected in most current mock drafts. Gurley, of course, was considered to be the best player in college football last season before he tore an ACL in October that sent his stock tumbling. However, Gurley’s rehab is reportedly going well such that he may not have to wait much past the first 10-12 or so picks before he starts to come into play, that is if somebody doesn’t pull the trigger in the top 10.

Can not wait tell draft day should be exciting and good haul for KC this year !

LBs to me seem the hardest to judge/rate, and its too bad because thats a place I was wanting to find another DJ!

My big board ugh....
#35 Kendricks
#42 Anothny
#46 Mckinney
Shaq Thompson no idea where to slot this player can he be a good ILB ?
Paul Dawson?

Kendricks makes a ton of sense for us, if he's available in the 2nd. Spending a 1st on a non-elite ILB makes no sense. Stephone Anthony is probably just as good of a get in the 2nd, anyway, there's no reason to reach.

McKinney, it sounds like, has a very real chance of becoming a Chief if he's available in the 2nd as well -- not only is he a widely valued SILB (not by me, particularly), there was a rumor going around that the Chiefs were looking at him as a very real possibility to flex out to rushbacker and potentially replace Justin Houston.

Shaq Thompson... eh. He's very talented and could probably play in any defense, but he's going to be gone by our 2nd round pick, and I don't want to burn a 1st on any of these guys.

Paul Dawson, in my opinion, could be an excellent value acquisition on the 3rd day of the draft. He is very, very talented but will likely fall like a rock due to his abysmal Combine workout. I think he's excellent, and I'd definitely take him in the 4th or 5th.

The ILB that's the true heir to DJ, though, is Denzel Perryman, who is easily the best ILB this draft has to offer, and has Pro Bowl potential. He's just an excellent general to have in the middle of your field, plays extremely tough, and does all the little things right with no apparent weakness. The downside to Perryman is that he's pretty much the player right now that he's ever going to be in the NFL. He's a pure "safe" pick, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I think Perryman and perhaps Thompson are the only ILBs worth taking in the 1st. But honestly, with DJ and Mauga, we can probably pick up another guy or two in free agency and Bob Sutton can make them fit. There is so much talent at OL and WR in the first few rounds (to say nothing of CB, and who knows if Reid wants to take a shot on a QB), that I'd just wait until the late rounds to go ILB.

Thanks Direckshun

The Chiefs are really in a good spot this year, If they want they could build a hell of a OL for the future.
Or Go bat crazy on some bad ass Dbs and have a lights out secondary full of head hunters.

My guess is DL/OL/DB/WR/LB for the first 5 picks in any order depending whos available come picking time , and with ten picks shore up some special team type players that can play more than one position, training camp should be real interesting come final cut down.
It all starts up front DL or OL ,
The secondary is pretty good right now, they could go DL, more push up the gut collapse the pocket and make our current secondary that much better....

So ready for draft day... to get here

Perryman does not impress me.

Guys, if we based our ILB assessment simply on vids of their college production last year, does not Paul Dawson look head and shoulders better than any other ILB coming out this year? He seems to have a very high football IQ and when he got to someone, they went down.

I know said "knucklehead" showed up looking like some out of shape fatty for the combine, but it's hard to ignore his play. Typically, I'm not big on guys with "baggage", but I think I'd definitely expend the resources necessary to figure out who this Paul Dawson guy is (e.g. can he be coached, does he have his head on straight or can he get it on straight, etc.). Seems to me this guy has a ton of talent.....kind of a natural gift for football.

I think McKinney is in the mold of a Melvin Ingram. You'll start him at ILB but he has the flexibility to rush from the OLB spot.

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I'm not going to lie, folks, I've clocked Perriman at 4.2 in that Vine on my iPhone. I think it's legit.

Perryman or Perriman?

Because Denzel Perryman's the best ILB in this draft.

I clocked Perriman 4 times based on that vid and got 4.30, 4.34, 4.35, 4.30. So, I'm going with 4.32. That's still much faster than I thought he was. He's legitimately a 4.3 guy.

:spock:
Um, you can't tell when he crosses the line because of the perspective. Grain of salt.

His combine was flat out awful. He tried to put on weight and didn't do it well. He claims he tweaked his hamstring on his first 40 run.

He's not a knucklehead nor does he have baggage. He failed a UA for adderol because he didn't have a prescription. He was late (we're talking minutes here) for meetings and weight lifting sessions.

If he is there in the 2nd, the Chiefs should draft him.

I clocked him in the 4.2s. Kccrow clocked him in the low 4.3s.

Shrug.

He ran a 4.78 at the combine. It's highly unlikely he ran under a 4.5

???