TreeRon":1bdfrw1s said:
I see Weaver going higher in the draft than our pick in a few mocks. SBNation has him at 18 to Miami.
I'd be shocked if he's in R1. There are far too many players that will/should rise ahead of him as familiarity with other candidates improves.
He is helped by the lack of competitive talent at a position of ever present need for the NFL. So he could remain an R1 talent. If you are looking at tiers of players, it looks like Chase Young, and then about 5-7 guys in 2 tiers that are not really differentiated by much if at all. But on boards look like there is more than a full round between them. I expect that good teams that are picking late in the round will understand this and opt to cull from the 3rd tier late in R2 or even R3.
I expect that he'll be pushed back by many current late 2nd/early 3rd round prospects (as of now) that are on the list. Particularly amongst offensive tackles, which is starting to look kind of strong. I can see Mekhi Becton, Josh Jones and Isiah Wilson all leapfrogging Weaver in this class pretty easily.
At this time of year, about 10 of the prospects rated in the 15-32 overall range end up being late 2nd, even third round picks. Weaver has that kind of vibe. On tape, he looks almost exclusively as a base 5T. He doesn't show any real ability to bend. Has a very good get off, but consistently has shown little ability to convert speed to power. Looks like he's quick off the ball, but doesn't have another gear. Strong, but not long and you see it both when he engages with OL on pass rush, and in his tackling.
He has some size and power. Probably a lesser version of LJ Collier as a prospect. Collier has more length/power and better use of hands to go with an added 20+ lbs. Their agility is kind of comparable.
R1 edge guys are almost all twitchy sack artists. Weaver has a lot of sacks, but it's not against good competition. It's not necessarily his fault -- that's the schedule. But I don't find the numbers remotely compelling or translatable at the next level. Or more precisely, the next-next level.