D’Andre Walker, DE/OLB, Georgia
 

Man this guy is really intriguing. With out All-Star defensive staff, this would be a great high upside pick with one of our 2nds. He can play OLB, but he can also put his hand in the dirt and rush the passer. He’s a bit raw there, but I think he’d be a great fit at SLB.

well, if there's one thing I definitely feel better about, it's this group of coaches and their ability to 'coach guys up' as opposed to the previous staff.

So a guy with a lot of raw ability...if he's got the WANT TO, I think he'll succeed.

I'm very high on Walker.

Tanoh is that you?

staylor, crow, DJ and Meck - you guys are in here a lot:

Quick synopsis on Zach Allen out of Boston College: Is he a fit for the Chiefs? I love him at the POA, he has great bend for a big man and he is LONG. 6'4" 280-285lbs. Many scouts are listing him a best fit 5 tech who can kick inside if need be, but can he be a 4-3 DE? The more I watch, the more I like. He's not a speed rusher, but he has some refined pass rush skills and nice bull rush and rip under move that is deceptively quick. Projecting end of 1st/top of 2nd round.

Thoughts?

I have been laughed at for saying this, but yes, yes I am very optimistic that these guys can make a football player out of Tanoh.

Allen can definitely play SDE, but I think Speaks is such a good fit there that I’m mostly looking for a guy that can replace Ford at LEO next year.

I'm not even sure that Speaks qualifies as a 'good' fit there, but it's the only place on the defense that he fits at all so if they're committed to trying to get something out of him, that's the only way to do to it. So yeah, in terms of immediate areas of emphasis, SDE is low on the list because I think the Chiefs are going to give Speaks a shot to recover some value.

I just don't think the guy's an NFL starter but we'll see. He has a lot of strength work to do if he's going to be someone we can count on for 50+ snaps a game either way.

I disagree and I think he surprises some people in that role this year. I don’t think his upside is particularly high, but I think he’ll be a solid SDE especially with Daly coaching him up.

Speaks reminded me of Hali coming out of college. I think he dramatically improves with better coaching.

I think a lot of it will depend on his fitness.

For a bigger guy, his functional strength seemed really bad. He really needs to kick off 20+ lbs of 'bad weight'. If he does that via converting it to good weight, it will both improve his ability at the point of attack AND it should help him get a little quicker.

I saw a guy who was neither sudden or stout. I simply don't know what the hell you could possibly do with that. He needs a complete off-season physical transformation. And when you look at that pair of monsters at WR that Ole Miss has coming out (AJ Brown and DK Metcalf) you realize that Ole Miss isn't exactly lacking in facilities. There's no good reason for him to have come to the league as soft as he did apart from simply not having the drive to work on himself that other guys coming through that program have demonstrated.

This isn't some dude that came from Wyoming and needs a better strength program to succeed - Ole Miss is an SEC school that's been churning out physical specimens for awhile now. He either 1) didn't put the work in or 2) doesn't have a body that's capable of getting to 'NFL caliber'. Because if what he was last year is the best he can be physically, he's not a starter in this league.

Hali was much stronger and a little more athletic than Speaks, IMO. Had Speaks come out of the draft in the kind of shape Hali did, I don't think we're having this conversation.

It's possible I'm being too hard on him because he was just soooo badly miscast as an OLB, but I saw little get off and a guy who could easily be stood up and pushed backwards by a single blocker if the blocker just stayed patient and let Speaks get to him. The only time he was winning those matchups is if he was stunted into a favorable position or if the OL lunged and lost his technique.

He wasn't beating anyone with any physical skills.

Thanks for the input. I figured Allen would project at SDE and understand that drafting a LEO along with a SLB may be more pressing with Speaks looking like an heir apparent at SDE (merited or not). Speaks looked out of place last season and I hope the scheme change and coaching refines his game.

One thing nobody has really talked about is replacing Allen Bailey. Before being drafted, Bailey played in the 4-3 at Miami and was quite good. A lot of big bodies in this draft that can be had from rounds 1-4 that could likely contribute in a rotation.

The 4-3 kinda makes replacing Bailey unnecessary, IMO.

His greatest skill was the length he brought to the 5-technique while also being extremely strong. Now we don't really need that much length and would be better served trading some of it for a little more athleticism.

Bailey is a born 5 technique in a 3-4, IMO. In this system he's probably a DT and I just think he's a little redundant and can be more easily and cheaply replaced in a mere rotational role.

Hope the Chiefs told the guy to be Chris Jones best friend this Spring. He needs to do the exact same program Jones did this time last year.