I take the trade down, of course. And, I think I may shock some people, but there are some guys that, while I like the film, I just do not love the player. Cannot understand why, but just do not have that warm and fuzzy feeling about and I am drafting this one using instincts....
22-Jason Verrett, CB, TCU-I have said this before, if he were 2" taller, I think he might be the top corner in this draft. He just does everything well. He can play the edge, handle the slot, has quickness, long speed, ball skills, and will tackle. This draft is flushed with bigger corners and passing on Dennard might be a mistake, but Verrett adds a talented player and some versatility to the cornerback position. He could be the slot corner as a rookie, and that is even with the group of guys coming back.
46-Marcus Smith, OLB, Louisville-while there are plenty of guys getting hype, like Mack, Ford, and some others, Smith seems to have quietly made his way through the draft process without a ton of talk. He is 6033-251 and ran a 4.66 forty. Good quickness, KEI of 69. Good film, explosive guy that tallied 14.5 sacks last season.
54-Cyrus Kouanjio, LT, Alabama-plenty of people here DND this guy, I am not one of them. I truly thinks he is still a top 25 guy when this is all said and done, especially when he got good reviews from his last workout. The NFL tends to forget the bad pretty quickly.
97-Bruce Ellington, WR, SC-I so want to just take the bigger WR, but I am having some trouble with the drops of guys like Moncrief and Bryant. I go back and forth on those guys. I read this morning that Kiper thinks if Ellington is taken outside of the first round, someone is getting a steal. Maybe that is swaying me. Dunno. Welcome to smurfville.
118-Phillip Gaines, CB, Rice-was chatting with Wexell about Gaines at one point this offseason, Wexell said the feeling he got was Gaines would not make it out of the 2nd round, too talented. Dunno about that, smaller school guys that can run sometimes go high, sometimes they slide into the middle rounds. In this case, he slipped. I take him. He is my bigger corner to pair with Verrett.
157-Taylor Hart, DE, Oregon-I like his game. My only problem with Hart is I continue to want to take him higher. I think he goes higher. There is a lot of guys some have rated down that I like a lot and he is one of them. Tough run defender that can get some push. He goes hard and just reminds me so much of Aaron Smith.
173-Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, OT/G, Canada-my sleeper OL late. Athletic, good power, smart as hell. He needs to be coached up and has some stuff to learn, but he has the nasty demeanor and work ethic to be an elite player. I really think he could become a special guard and he has the potential to play tackle. In fact, I think he could play any OL position. Medical student that only practiced one day a week due to studies. College coach called him the best player he ever coached. Played RT in the East-West Shrine game but was a LT in college. Just too much raw talent to not try and develop him.
192-Quincy Enunwa, WR, Nebraska-big WR that has the same issues Moncrief and Bryant have, he can have some head scratching drops. He has great hands as he can make some very tough catches. He is not afraid of traffic. Excellent athlete, big, powerful guy. Good blocker.
215-Justin Jackson, ILB, Wake Forest-not a great draft to find that ILB sleeper, but I like the film on Jackson and I think he is athletic enough to fill the role. He did not run the 40 prior to the draft due to injury but reportedly runs in the 4.45 range. He did do the other parts of the workout with a bench of 27, VJ of 39.5", BJ of 10'3", shuttle of 4.29 , and cone of 6.75. He shows some ability in coverage (although still developing as a zone coverage guy) and is willing to stick his nose in it when it comes to the run. This late, that is all I can ask.
230-Aaron Colvin, CB, Oklahoma-Colvin was a senior bowl invite and considered much high than this. He tore his ACL in practice and that was it. He will be a guy that likely hits the IR shelf for a season. Tired of watching teams take great talent late because of injury and a year later, they have that talent to use while our late picks are moving on with their life's work.
