In my draft thoughts post I mentioned that Montori Hughes looked far more athletic in drills than I was expecting. He looked like a "chiseled" 329 and he moved with the fluidity of a big DE in many of the drills. So I watched what I could find on him: one game compilation and his senior bowl performance.

Basically, he's not a pass rusher and never will be. He has extremely slow feet, like he's wearing concrete shoes. Has shortish arms. TONS of core strength but not a lot of arm strength. Doesn't have a fast first step. He pushed the guard back in the pocket just one time that I saw.

He's really strong in his core strength, and is almost impossible to drive back even on double teams. Problem is, he willingly turns himself sideways (opposite of keeping shoulders square) and in the process pretty much concedes the ability to make a tackle. Keeps his head down too. Players can often run right by him. He's the kind of run defender you'd love to have on a goal line stand where winning the strength battle counts for more than actually getting the tackle, but he could be problematic as an every down nose tackle. Probably not an ideal 1-tech because he's so one dimensional.

In drills he looked fluid like a DE though. I could only find two snaps where Hughes lined up like a 5-tech, and he looked pretty good on both of them. Hughes runs faster than Red Bryant and even showed a nice swim move to slip by the tackle on one of those snaps.

Overall, he's very similar to Red Bryant. Big and "country strong" but not a natural DT. Needs to learn how to keep his head up no matter where he plays, but it will be easier to do that at the 5-tech than at the nose tackle spot, I think. Despite being huge, he's flawed at DT and surprisingly well tailored to a power end role. If Seattle drafted him thinking he's a 3-tech though, big mistake.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

Thank goodness this is a DT deep draft. I was looking at the draft rankings and picking through them for 3 techs. Who do you think might be there at 25? There are a couple that look promising.
Richardson perhaps?

I think Richardson is probably a top 15 lock. I think Kawann Short will be there at #25 though. If I had to bet money on Seattle's first pick, I'd bet on Short.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

Nice breakdown on Hughes by the way.

On Richardson, I've been thinking about this question of him vs. Short quite a bit. In looking at NFL Draft Scout's mock drafts, Rang currently has Richardson going at #20 to the Bears while Brugler has him going #12 to the Dolphins. I agree that #15 range or so is about right for him to go in.

So here's my question -- let's say hypothetically on draft day that Richardson does slip down to #15 and New Orleans is on the clock. If you're Schneider, do you trade up at that point to get Richardson? It's been talked about at length how out of all the DT's in this draft that Richardson is the one guy who could really be the ideal fit for the Hawks -- that pro-typical Bill Walsh DT that could really help turn that line in to something to be reckoned with. If you trade up from #25 though ... it's likely going to cost the Hawks that #58 Pick and they would most likely say goodbye to a player like a Khaseem Greene (for example).

So would it be worth it? In that scenario, would you trade up to nab a Richardson if he falls to down in that #15 Range ... OR do you stand pat and hope for Kawann Short?

Personally, I believe that Schneider will most likely let the first 3-4 rounds of the draft come to him ... but then possibly use those later round picks (specifically the 5th and 6th Round Picks) to perhaps trade back in to the 4th Round if there is a real value player that falls down there. Given that a lot of players from this draft won't make this team anyway, I could certainly see that.

So again, hypothetically if Sheldon Richardson for some reason gets down in that #15 Range ... do you trade up to get him ... OR do you stand pat and simply take the best player available at #25?