Must have player in FA or Draft

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bsuhawk

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Mazi Smith may be off the board surprisingly fast, but I would be surprised if Siaki Ika wasn't available after his lackluster combine. Compare his spider chart to Jerrod Clark, a late day 3 prospect NT from Coastal Carolina. Clark has the same height and weight with better athleticism and much longer arms, which is an important measurables for any two gapping DL.

View attachment 58361

Baylor's pro day is next Monday, so it's possible that Ika could improve on this and/or add an impressive bench. Right now though I'd have a tough time getting excited about drafting him anywhere on day 2.
I'm also afraid Mazi Smith will be gone by pick 37, which is why I'm considering him at #20. The problem is #20 seems high for a 2-down NT.
 

AgentDib

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I'm also afraid Mazi Smith will be gone by pick 37, which is why I'm considering him at #20. The problem is #20 seems high for a 2-down NT.
That's when you start talking to your DL coach and your DC/former DL coach. Mazi Smith had the best bench at the combine for a DL and is reportedly extremely athletic, although he skipped agility testing at his pro day last Friday. Can this player be disruptive on passing downs at 1T or even sliding over to 3T? At times last year on passing downs we played in that two DL front and I could see Smith sliding out to 3T in that alignment.

“These coaches gettin’ paid a lot of money to know and be able to see (my) traits,” Smith said. “Really, I’m trying to listen to what they say, what they see — and what they tell me I need to work on.” Mostly, Smith says, he’s getting question about his ability to rush the passer. He didn’t do much of that at Michigan, where he was utilized primarily as a traditional nose tackle, tasked with clogging up the middle, taking on double teams and opening up lanes for others.

One curveball is that I would have expected us to be talking to Smith about the felony gun charge last October and I haven't seen any interviews or visits set up. That might mean we're really interested and doing our due diligence secretly, or it could also mean we're not interested.
“It comes up,” Smith said. “They about to invest a lot of money. They gotta know the ins and outs of what you got going on.”
 

toffee

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We desperately need a nose tackle, we have Al Woods and Mone on roster, Al can take limited snaps due to his age, and Mone is injured. Mazi seems to be the best in this draft although it was a bit concerning that a physical freak refused to take the test in combine and pro-day except bench press.
 

AgentDib

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We desperately need a nose tackle, we have Al Woods and Mone on roster, Al can take limited snaps due to his age, and Mone is injured. Mazi seems to be the best in this draft although it was a bit concerning that a physical freak refused to take the test in combine and pro-day except bench press.
It's safe to say that the Feldman freak writeup on Mazi contained at least some hyperbole.
Smith does 22 reps on the bench press, but that’s with 325 (not 225). He close-grip benched 550 pounds. He vertical-jumps 33 inches. He broad-jumped 9-4 1/2. Smith, who had 37 tackles last season, has clocked a 4.41 shuttle time, which would’ve tied the best by any defensive tackle at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, and it would’ve been better than any defensive tackle weighing 310 pounds or more in the past decade,” Bruce Feldman explains.

Simply put, there isn’t a physical test that Mazi Smith isn’t the best athlete performing. In particular, his rotations strength is off the charts. He literally maxes out Michigan’s combo-twist machine at 600 pounds. He’s the type of athlete strength coaches dream about.
He did have the best DL bench at the combine, but his only other measured tests have been two pro day jumps; a vert of 29.5" and a broad of 107". Both good for 323lbs, but not nearly as good as Feldman was hyping and so it should make people take the reported shuttle with a grain of salt too.

For comparision, 33" vert would be in the 68th percentile for all DL at the combine, while a 29.5" vert is only in the 31st percentile. Mazi is in the 93rd percentile in terms of weight.
 
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toffee

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It's safe to say that the Feldman freak writeup on Mazi contained at least some hyperbole.

He did have the best DL bench at the combine, but his only other measured tests have been two pro day jumps; a vert of 29.5" and a broad of 107". Both good for 323lbs, but not nearly as good as Feldman was hyping and so it should make people take the reported shuttle with a grain of salt too.

For comparision, 33" vert would be in the 68th percentile for all DL at the combine, while a 29.5" vert is only in the 31st percentile. Mazi is in the 93rd percentile in terms of weight.
When he won't run, it raised some flags :)
 

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Its is my belief that Captin Jack is twice the player Sanders is, for instance when Campbell gets his hands on you its game over. Sanders just misses on to many tackles.

Cheers
 

jammerhawk

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Chawk:

I just believe that Sanders is a better athlete than Campbell.

Campbell was voted the best LB in college though, and is a great player but to me the better choice is Sanders who is a superior athlete to Campbell.

Attached here are two draft profiles and from them you can see why I think sanders is a better choice than Campbell. Our thoughts though don't mean much and we will see what the team thinks on day 2 or 3 of the draft. With the additions of both Bush and Wagner though perhaps the priority of need has decreased enough to allow a later choice to be made.

Maybe Sewell from the Ducks might be an alternative on late day 2 or Dorian Williams on day 3?


 

Sun Tzu

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Chawk:

I just believe that Sanders is a better athlete than Campbell.

Campbell was voted the best LB in college though, and is a great player but to me the better choice is Sanders who is a superior athlete to Campbell.

Attached here are two draft profiles and from them you can see why I think sanders is a better choice than Campbell. Our thoughts though don't mean much and we will see what the team thinks on day 2 or 3 of the draft. With the additions of both Bush and Wagner though perhaps the priority of need has decreased enough to allow a later choice to be made.

Maybe Sewell from the Ducks might be an alternative on late day 2 or Dorian Williams on day 3?


What is in the two draft profiles that helps anyone see why you think Sanders is a better choice than Campbell?

Missed tackle rate for the top three linebackers: 5.2%, 8.9%, 19.6%. Guess which number is Sanders'.

With the lack of contact in NFL practices, it seems likely that poor tackling will carry over from college to the pros.
 

Fade

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The same answer I'd give nearly every draft. I'm obsessed with interior pass rush.

Kance & Adebawore. These guys will do special things if placed inside on passing downs.
 
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bsuhawk

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Walter Football just released an updated mock draft and they have Jack Campbell going to Detroit at #18. This pick was not flagged as "rare," so it's starting to look more likely that Campbell will go in the first round. Mazi Smith is also showing up in the first round more often. While I think both Campbell and Mazi Smith are excellent values at #37, I'm not nearly as excited about taking either of them at #20, especially considering the DLs (Myles Murphy, Calijah Kancey, Bryan Bresee) and WRs (Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Quentin Johnston, Jordan Addison, Zay Flowers) who might be available. I'm especially torn about picking Mazi Smith. If Campbell goes before pick #37 I would be okay with selecting Drew Sanders, Trenton Simpson, or Daiyan Henley. However, IMHO there's a much bigger gap between Mazi Smith and the next two NTs (Keeanu Benton and Siaki Ika).
 

toffee

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I have been trying to draft Kancey-Campbell-Mazi on my PFF simulator, even with our 2 firsts and 2 seconds, getting all three hasn't been easy. In fact down right impossible, getting two of the three is quite doable, not all three. But I feel like with all three gives us a lot of flexibilities, a 4-3 of Jones-Kancey-Mazi-Reed and Mafe-Bobby-Nwosu; or, a 3-4 of Jones-Mazi-Kancey and Mafe-Campbell-Bobby-Nwosu both sounded pretty good.

From these three, I suppose Mazi at NT and Campbell at MLB are more pressing needs?
 

toffee

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The same answer I'd give nearly every draft. I'm obsessed with interior pass rush.

Kance & Adebawore. These guys will do special things if placed inside on passing downs.
I once asked Seifert, although he didn't like talking football with neighbors, about the joy of having Young and Stubblefield as DTs, that was when Stubblefield was juiced up. He mumbled something like shortest distance just to get rid of me lol, but yes @Fade , shortest distance.
 
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bsuhawk

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By the way, I find it very annoying that you now have to subscribe to PFF to do a seven-round mock draft. 🤬
 

irfuben32

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I know we have holes to fill and TE is not one of them but I am more and more wanting to come out of this draft with Darnell Washington. Pete wants a run first philosophy, having a guy who blocks like an extra tackle would be huge for the run game. Which would help the passing game and the defense.
 

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