Dustin's Full 3 Round Mock Draft.

[Superman]

Wow, didn't know that at all about being coached by Gerhart's dad.  Pretty cool really, and it makes a bit more sense why he looked comfortable running the ball.

 

As for the film, I agree with you, his coverage (and for scouts, projecting how well he will be able to cover) is the biggest question.  I'm not that good, so I can't say with any real conviction.  I think he could be good at it, and perhaps that's the reason why his best projection is at a 3-4 sam - because you can make it with more accuracy.  We've seen him play there for the majority of his snaps. 

 

With Dustin's mock, I thought that with as far as (in my opinion) that he slipped, the mid-3rd round would be a reasonable place to take a chance on him as a sam backer.  If he doesnt' work out there, you still have a decent edge rusher in situational downs.  A GM may look at the scenario as you have, and it's pretty reasonable.  I completely understand it and can't really argue with it.  If I were a GM, I think I would want to be more aggressive, especially with my picks from the 3rd or 4th round and on.  May seem like a waste if it doestn' work out, but if it did, it's a good pick - story of any draft, eh?  Of course, i'ts easy to say I'd want to be aggressive from behind the computer screen.  Completely different story where my job is on the line, and I could be out of a job pretty quick if I was overly aggressive and wrong more often than not (but in this case, the GM taking the risk would be Jerry Jones, and he's not getting fired as GM, lol).

 

Based on your adjustments to Dustin's mock, I think the best 4-3 Sam backer available would be Smallwood. You both have Skov going to the Giants four picks earlier. Problem is, I don't think Smallwood fits Marinelli's ideal, given his slowness (I haven't watched him in a while, but I feel like he's faster than his times indicate; I was shocked at his 40). Or they could come back for a backer in the 4th and take Christian Jones. There are other guys who better fit the mold, IMO, that would make it a real head scratcher if they tried to convert someone like Bradford.

 

Between Marinelli and Kiffin, this is a stubborn set of Tampa 2 coaches who want their kind of guys. I'd be less surprised by them drafting Telvin Smith to play Sam, to be honest. We drafted Phillip Wheeler late in the third when Dungy was still here (his last draft, as a matter of fact), but Wheeler had a ton of coverage experience and was productive from that backer position at Georgia Tech. And we still left him on the bench for a while.

[OffensivelyPC]

Based on your adjustments to Dustin's mock, I think the best 4-3 Sam backer available would be Smallwood. You both have Skov going to the Giants four picks earlier. Problem is, I don't think Smallwood fits Marinelli's ideal, given his slowness (I haven't watched him in a while, but I feel like he's faster than his times indicate; I was shocked at his 40). Or they could come back for a backer in the 4th and take Christian Jones. There are other guys who better fit the mold, IMO, that would make it a real head scratcher if they tried to convert someone like Bradford.

 

Between Marinelli and Kiffin, this is a stubborn set of Tampa 2 coaches who want their kind of guys. I'd be less surprised by them drafting Telvin Smith to play Sam, to be honest. We drafted Phillip Wheeler late in the third when Dungy was still here (his last draft, as a matter of fact), but Wheeler had a ton of coverage experience and was productive from that backer position at Georgia Tech. And we still left him on the bench for a while.

I wasn't a huge fan of Smallwood before his 40 time, but even I was shocked at that one.  But to my understanding, he tweaked his hamstring during the 40, so it was understandable.  It kept him from running the 40 again at his pro day, but I would ahve to imagine he's faster than the 5.0 time.