What are the chances Poona Ford makes it?

danp1990

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Long time no post guys! But I with the last few years of the same thing and not holding coaches accountable and saying O-line is getting better . I kinda just gave up on hoping things will get better under Bevell the mongoloid and thee atrocious line coaching by Cable.

But with the silent and solid moves this off-season, I feel a renewed hope for the upcoming season!!

Back to the question at hand, what do you guys think will be the odds a guy like Poona Ford makes our squad? This guy's senior bowl workouts,drills , and game tape are ridiculous! Just low balled because he was 5:11ft , for god sakes man ! If he has proven himself, why not give him a shot? I really think this is one of our key additions this offseason. F.Y.I the great John Randle H.O.F , my favorite 3tech DT was only 6ft. So it can be done at that size.

But I feel like this D-Line is heavy stacked! DE : Frank Clark, Smith, Dion Jordan, Raheem Green.
DT: Reed, Shamar Stephen,Quinton Jefferson,Tom Johnson and Poona Ford.

IF this Undrafted Poona can show nothing but great things in O.T.A's ,and Preseason I sure hope that the mantra of always compete earns him a spot in the 53
 

vin.couve12

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I think his chances are fairly decent simply because I don't think that there is really another 1T on the roster outside of Reed.
 

Seymour

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I have no idea of his chances, but I hope the best for him. He seems to have a great attitude. Here is a recent write up on him. :2thumbs:

https://247sports.com/college/texas...ahawks-as-free-agent-2018-NFL-Draft-117789921
“Seattle was a team that flew me out for a visit and showed real interest in me, so that really meant something," Ford said. "It’s a beautiful place and a beautiful city that I fell in love with, and I think it will be a good situation for me."

The Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year made the most his draft process, performing well enough at the East-West Shrine Game to get an invite to the Senior Bowl, where Ford flashed some pass rush ability from the interior in practices leading up to the game. However, a body of work that included being named the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2017 wasn’t enough to get Ford invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.

The lack of an invite could have impacted Ford’s draft status and while it’s not a consolation prize in that regard, NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock told Horns247 at Texas Pro Day in March that Ford should have been competing in Indianapolis.

“Productive, tough,” Mayock said of what he liked about Ford. “I think what’s happening is that so many juniors are coming out each year that they’re holding spots for juniors and kicking some of the seniors out, but there’s no doubt he should have been invited to the combine.
 

ImTheScientist

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I think he gets in our DT rotation this season for sure.
 

kf3339

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Ford is my UDFA adopt a rookie this year. He is going to make this team. Book it. :irishdrinkers:
 

sutz

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If he has the basic strength and technique needed, being an inch or two short shouldn't be a problem. In fact, it could help him in one way at least. It would be easier to get under his opponents pads and generate leverage to move the guy.

There are some advantages to being small that can be exploited by someone with talent and training. I'm sure that any martial artist on the board could point that out. It's not all about being bigger.

Chartric Darby played for us at 6'0" for several years. Not a superstar, but a good solid DT.
 

jammerhawk

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The team was highly interested in him and had him here for pre-draft visit.

He's a Pete type DT and strong against the run with some ability to push the pocket inside. Very hard to move out of the way when he sets his anchor. He's got an 80" wingspan and 33+" arms. His only knock is his height but his squatty shape allows him to be superior as far as playing with leverage.

I suspect he's got a good chance to make the 53 and even to get some meaningful time if his play is anything like it was in college. I like his positive attitude as well.

I think he was a pure steal as a UDFA and should have been drafted. Happy he's here.
 

chet380

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Poona-Tang!! ... sorry, I couldn't resist it -- if he turns out half as good as John Randle, he's a keeper.
 

scutterhawk

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sutz":6losqwfd said:
If he has the basic strength and technique needed, being an inch or two short shouldn't be a problem. In fact, it could help him in one way at least. It would be easier to get under his opponents pads and generate leverage to move the guy.

There are some advantages to being small that can be exploited by someone with talent and training. I'm sure that any martial artist on the board could point that out. It's not all about being bigger.

Chartric Darby played for us at 6'0" for several years. Not a superstar, but a good solid DT.
THIS ^^^^^^^^
I like the hell out of Ford, and I too believe that his lower center of gravity is going to be huge for our Defense...If he can master hand fighting anywhere close to Michael Bennett's, he's going to wreak havoc for the Seahawks Defensive front.
 

bighawk

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In my opinion he makes the team easily. He is young cheap and he has an upside. Youth always wins out. He will play his way on to the team.
 

vin.couve12

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OK so I guess I should be more analytical. Ford is less than a 1.5 inches shorter than Bane so roughly an inch. Their wingspan, with roughly 33 inch arms each and a broad back, is over 80 inches for each player while also having a wide base a good anchor/lower body development. Ford's pro day is probably even a little bit better than Bane's in every category, however,with the exception of the 10 yard split. Bane's was better, which is illustrated by Mebane being quite the interior pass rusher for his first 3-4 years or so before he widened out even more.

The point is, it's not just that he's a shorter DT with natural leverage that likens him to Mebane. The wingspan and surprising athleticism is going to be really familiar to Pete and it's something he can absolutely use. I think Naz is a heck of a 3T, but he's not a 1T even though he was used as such when Reed was out. And I really don't think there is another DT on the roster who is stout enough to take on combos and doubles as a natural 1T. Reed can, Naz is a 3T, and I think Ford is going to be so familiar in this defense and will show up as the gamer that he is, that he'll earn a spot. It's really pretty likely, IMO. The rest is kind of wide open, IMO. Given that we have two 5Ts on the roster in Jordan and Green, Q-Jeff is going to have to show out at 3T and really make a case over Johnson to stick. I'm not expecting anything from Stephen even though he's got a record of being a role player and I'm expecting even less of Wilson. I keep looking at Jackson and wondering what he's up to being at 295 pounds right now though.

I like this group and I think it's going to be competitive, but Ford has some traits that are real assets for us and is familiar. I just don't see him getting cut. That said, I don't know that Reed is only, merely a pure 1T on 1st and 2nd down either. He can play 3 really well himself so there's still some fluid functionality there with how the roster shakes up. Crossed my mind that we might keep 5 DTs, but I don't know about that.
 

Zeearend

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I always like to see the underdog (no pun intended) succeed. Guys that don't fit the ideal picture but make it through hard work, tough mentality and transforming their disadvantages into advantages. Poona Ford looks like one of those so I hope he makes the 53.
 

vin.couve12

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Zeearend":1z121div said:
I always like to see the underdog (no pun intended) succeed. Guys that don't fit the ideal picture but make it through hard work, tough mentality and transforming their disadvantages into advantages. Poona Ford looks like one of those so I hope he makes the 53.

If you're over 300 pounds, you run a sub 5 40, and have a wingspan of over 80 inches, then you're good. If you're about 6'0 or 5"11 and 5/8ths, then you just have natural leverage, which isn't a disadvantage. Being that height doesn't necessarily mean that a player has a good center of gravity, but the longer the athlete, the more rare the equilibrium to control it. If a NT or 1T is 6'4 or over, it is a rarity where the player still maintains a good center. The position requires both raw power and the correct geometry to hold sometimes twice their weight with proper lean at the proper time dynamically.

EDIT: You could almost call it the Atlas of 1st and 2nd down. For more reasons than one.
 

Zeearend

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vin.couve12":1e6agwmp said:
Zeearend":1e6agwmp said:
I always like to see the underdog (no pun intended) succeed. Guys that don't fit the ideal picture but make it through hard work, tough mentality and transforming their disadvantages into advantages. Poona Ford looks like one of those so I hope he makes the 53.

If you're over 300 pounds, you run a sub 5 40, and have a wingspan of over 80 inches, then you're good. If you're about 6'0 or 5"11 and 5/8ths, then you just have natural leverage, which isn't a disadvantage. Being that height doesn't necessarily mean that a player has a good center of gravity, but the longer the athlete, the more rare the equilibrium to control it. If a NT or 1T is 6'4 or over, it is a rarity where the player still maintains a good center. The position requires both raw power and the correct geometry to hold sometimes twice their weight with proper lean at the proper time dynamically.

EDIT: You could almost call it the Atlas of 1st and 2nd down. For more reasons than one.

Thank you for the insight. Still learning the details of Football as I am from across the pond. From several articles I concluded that his measurements were different from a typical 1T, but as you write this isn't as much so. But then I wonder why did he go undrafted? What's your opinion on this?
 

chris98251

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Well if nothing else Wilson and Ford will be able to start marketing step stools for the Urinals in the locker rooms for too short players.
 

TasteTheBeastmode

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Zeearend":2hxakx6n said:
vin.couve12":2hxakx6n said:
Zeearend":2hxakx6n said:
I always like to see the underdog (no pun intended) succeed. Guys that don't fit the ideal picture but make it through hard work, tough mentality and transforming their disadvantages into advantages. Poona Ford looks like one of those so I hope he makes the 53.

If you're over 300 pounds, you run a sub 5 40, and have a wingspan of over 80 inches, then you're good. If you're about 6'0 or 5"11 and 5/8ths, then you just have natural leverage, which isn't a disadvantage. Being that height doesn't necessarily mean that a player has a good center of gravity, but the longer the athlete, the more rare the equilibrium to control it. If a NT or 1T is 6'4 or over, it is a rarity where the player still maintains a good center. The position requires both raw power and the correct geometry to hold sometimes twice their weight with proper lean at the proper time dynamically.

EDIT: You could almost call it the Atlas of 1st and 2nd down. For more reasons than one.

Thank you for the insight. Still learning the details of Football as I am from across the pond. From several articles I concluded that his measurements were different from a typical 1T, but as you write this isn't as much so. But then I wonder why did he go undrafted? What's your opinion on this?

Hi Zeearend

Good to see some of our European neighbors taking an interest in our uniquely American sport.

You posed your question to vin.couve12 but this is my take on why he and others like him go undrafted. It's about fear of getting fired.

First of all the NFL has massive turnover every year. A scout or a low or mid level coach can lose his job any given year for nearly any reason including simple unrelated frustration from ownership, upper management or the head coach. Even upper management and head coaches have a short lifespan at most places. Fear of being fired is a constant. The pressure to win that breeds that stress and turnover means everyone has to be accountable for every decision. That leads to a huge tendency for all involved to make safe "defend-able" decisions.

Secondly Draft picks are EXTREMELY valuable. It's how you inject talent into your team. It's also the only time that talent is added relatively cheaply. Rookies don't make the big money of free agents. A team that doesn't consistently draft well is going to be a perennial loser. Short of play calls at the end of Super Bowls few things in the NFL are more scrutinized than the draft picks. There are entire careers made in the media analyzing and critiquing teams draft picks. Teams are assigned an A-F grade for their draft each year and it's broadcast and debated nation wide on TV and around the world on the internet. Anyone doing things outside the norm is descended upon.

Every single position in the NFL has the "Prototype", the perfect physical specimen to play that position. The prototype has it's perfect target points and it also has it's upper an lower limits.Things like minimum height for some positions like QB's and Linemen and maximum and minimum weights for receivers and RB's It's very scary for anybody who can be called in to account, to actually decide to vary from the prototype. If say 30% of draft picks are busts it's easy to defend picking the prototype guys who failed. "Who could of known? He was the perfect prototype for the position." But if your, 1 inch under the prototype minimum guy, flames out then "Why the hell did you draft this guy?" questions get thrown around and are harder to answer. If your down to looking at 2 guys for a position and the physical performances are similar, bench press, 40 times, vertical and long jumps, 3 cone drill, etc, then the guy who physically is closer to the prototype in size is going to get the nod every time. Taking the safe route by coaches and scouts means that sometimes he gets the nod even when his performance might be a little lower.

While guys like vin.couve12 can say 1 inch in height doesn't matter as long as the guy has the weight and speed and arm span (and he's likely right) he and the rest of us on the internet will not be fired if said short guy fails and is considered a wasted draft pick by the national press. You and I and vin.couve12 don't think an inch in height is that big a deal but some in the business and in the press treat such things as cast in stone laws of nature. Sometimes former NFL players are the most dogmatic about it. I personally think it's how they rationalize why they got selected for an NFL career while the shorter guy that played just as well did not.

Pete Carrol and John Schneider are one of the few HC, GM combos willing to take some big risks when it comes to stepping away from the prototype template. As a newcomer and an outsider I'm not sure how aware you are of the circumstances surrounding Russell Wilson when he was drafted. At this point given his fantastic level of success, two Super Bowl appearances and Seattle's first Lombardi trophy, it might seem a little silly to be told that the minimum standard for a QB has forever been six feet. At 5' 10" Russell was considered to short to EVER play in the NFL. Based on his college stats and performances had he been 6' or taller he would have been considered a shoe in first round selection. But he is not 6' and when Seattle drafted him in the 3rd round one of the nations leading draft experts went into a full blown temper tantrum on live TV criticizing Seattle as idiotic and called it a wasted pick. One of the local Seattle sports radio personalities, a 6' 5" former NFL QB himself, said that Wilson's height was an insurmountable limitation and that if Wilson ever became even an average NFL quarterback he'd eat his microphone. (Did he ever do that BTW?) Had Russell Wilson not become successful, Pete and John would have been forever branded idiots for taking that one risk and many in the media would have been calling for their jobs at every rough patch.
 
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