Players to Watch for 2024 Draft

[throwing BBZ]

On 3/1/2024 at 7:05 PM, Zoltan said:

 

I see us adding depth in FA and draft but doubt we go with any big name FA or early pass rushers, it's a down year for pass rushers and I don't see any that will come in and be an immediate upgrade over what we already have.

 

 We don't need some all-time Elite 1st year DE wonder. We aren't playing in the AFC Championship game next season. Someone quickly better than Lewis would be a bump, who has a likelihood of being better than either Kwity and Ekuban in year 2-3, we need that guy. Latu looks worthy, impressive. 

 There are at least 6 guys going to be available at 15 I will be giddy about, so trading back to 20-22 seems wise.

[Superman]

On 3/1/2024 at 11:47 PM, stitches said:

Oh you mean the weight itself. For Latu it's 258 and it's 4.45. Which means he's in the 45th percentile of all DEs who've tested... which is... average-ish. I wouldn't call it poor, it's just weird designation for simplicity sake I would guess... everything below average(which this technically is - barely below average) just shows as red(poor). Maybe they can adjust their designations a bit to better represent the scores. Don't pay too much attention to the color and designation itself. Look at the number and percentile of athlete it shows the player to be. 

 

Oh, that could be a blind spot at DE, especially if they're including 3-4 DEs. 

[stitches]

25 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Oh, that could be a blind spot at DE, especially if they're including 3-4 DEs. 

True, I didn't even consider the possible inclusion of 3-4DEs... or 3-4 OLBs? I don't know how they designate them. I can see them actually putting a 3-4DE as an interior player while the 3-4OLBs would be designated as DEs... 

 

I don't know... For example, here's Dallas Turner and he's designated as a DE:

 

BTW... look at that arm length for Dallas Turner. IMO it's not out of the question that Ballard might see him as a RDE(What Gus Bradley and the traditional Seahawks type scheme calls LEO). Think Kemoko Turay type... Think Ngakoue... We have Ebukam playing that role now, but if Ballard wants a more dominant player Turner actually looks to me like reasonable approximation to that type of player that you can line up wiiiiiide wide out in 2 point stance... and just let him go berserk 1-on-1 vs OT. 

 

In fact... looking at his testing... the more I think about it the more I feel like he's a prime candidate for us to take at 15(if he's there), even though he doesn't look like the prototypical Ballard DE. IMO that's mainly because those LEO types are not very common and we have so far addressed that position mainly via FA(Ebukam, Ngakoue)... and before that Ballard actually used a second round picks on Turay and Banogu, both of whom were supposed to be that type of player... and both of them were players at about the same size as Turner. 6'3 250 for Banogu, 6'4" 253 for Turay... and both of them had length... (33.5+" arms)... 

 

IMO if Bowers is gone... Turner is more likely pick than any of the CBs at 15... 

[Superman]

4 minutes ago, stitches said:

True, I didn't even consider the possible inclusion of 3-4DEs... or 3-4 OLBs? I don't know how they designate them. I can see them actually putting a 3-4DE as an interior player while the 3-4OLBs would be designated as DEs... 

 

I don't know... For example, here's Dallas Turner and he's designated as a DE:

 

BTW... look at that arm length for Dallas Turner. IMO it's not out of the question that Ballard might see him as a RDE(What Gus Bradley and the traditional Seahawks type scheme calls LEO). Think Kemoko Turay type... Think Ngakoue... We have Ebukam playing that role now, but if Ballard wants a more dominant player Turner actually looks to me like reasonable approximation to that type of player that you can line up wiiiiiide wide out in 2 point stance... and just let him go berserk 1-on-1 vs OT. 

 

In fact... looking at his testing... the more I think about it the more I feel like he's a prime candidate for us to take at 15(if he's there), even though he doesn't look like the prototypical Ballard DE. IMO that's mainly because those LEO types are not very common and we have so far addressed that position mainly via FA(Ebukam, Ngakoue)... and before that Ballard actually used a second round picks on Turay and Banogu, both of whom were supposed to be that type of player... and both of them were players at about the same size as Turner. 6'3 250 for Banogu, 6'4" 253 for Turay... and both of them had length... (33.5+" arms)... 

 

IMO if Bowers is gone... Turner is more likely pick than any of the DEs at 15... 

 

I watched some of Turner, he was almost always in a two point stance, and has little to no pass rush moves. It's just speed and some bend to beat blockers, but once they engage with him, he's mostly losing the rep. And he's not very good against the run.

 

I don't mind having a hybrid pass rusher with freakish traits, but I don't think he fits what the Colts want at DE as a player. Ngakoue was a productive pass rusher, and they let him walk after one year. Ebukam is better against the run.

[stitches]

45 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I watched some of Turner, he was almost always in a two point stance, and has little to no pass rush moves. It's just speed and some bend to beat blockers, but once they engage with him, he's mostly losing the rep. And he's not very good against the run.

 

I don't mind having a hybrid pass rusher with freakish traits, but I don't think he fits what the Colts want at DE as a player. Ngakoue was a productive pass rusher, and they let him walk after one year. Ebukam is better against the run.

I think there is a big gap between Ngakoue who was the worst DE defending the run in the NFL for a few years in a row and what the Colts would find acceptable. I was one of the biggest proponents of not re-signing Ngakoue precisely because I thought he was unplayable against the run. I don't see the same with Turner. Is he great against the run? No. But IMO he can be playable against the run... and potentially exceptional as a rusher. What games did you see of him? I haven't seen a lot. I saw the Ole Miss one and one of the Georgia games... I thought he looked good and even showed some speed to power moves which surprised me since I knew he was a slight DE(btw I agree with you on the lack of technical refinement). I will need to watch more of him, but I'm telling you the profile screams Ballard type to me - exceptional length, exceptional explosiveness and speed... kind of similar to how Richardson's profile screamed Ballard to me last year. 

[Solid84]

1 hour ago, stitches said:

True, I didn't even consider the possible inclusion of 3-4DEs... or 3-4 OLBs? I don't know how they designate them. I can see them actually putting a 3-4DE as an interior player while the 3-4OLBs would be designated as DEs... 

 

I don't know... For example, here's Dallas Turner and he's designated as a DE:

 

BTW... look at that arm length for Dallas Turner. IMO it's not out of the question that Ballard might see him as a RDE(What Gus Bradley and the traditional Seahawks type scheme calls LEO). Think Kemoko Turay type... Think Ngakoue... We have Ebukam playing that role now, but if Ballard wants a more dominant player Turner actually looks to me like reasonable approximation to that type of player that you can line up wiiiiiide wide out in 2 point stance... and just let him go berserk 1-on-1 vs OT. 

 

In fact... looking at his testing... the more I think about it the more I feel like he's a prime candidate for us to take at 15(if he's there), even though he doesn't look like the prototypical Ballard DE. IMO that's mainly because those LEO types are not very common and we have so far addressed that position mainly via FA(Ebukam, Ngakoue)... and before that Ballard actually used a second round picks on Turay and Banogu, both of whom were supposed to be that type of player... and both of them were players at about the same size as Turner. 6'3 250 for Banogu, 6'4" 253 for Turay... and both of them had length... (33.5+" arms)... 

 

IMO if Bowers is gone... Turner is more likely pick than any of the CBs at 15... 

I agree Turner could be a good option for LEO, but he’s had (by far) the most of his snaps at OLB. This last season is the one he’s had the most snaps at REO/LEO - about a third of his Dline snaps. 

[Superman]

3 hours ago, stitches said:

I think there is a big gap between Ngakoue who was the worst DE defending the run in the NFL for a few years in a row and what the Colts would find acceptable. I was one of the biggest proponents of not re-signing Ngakoue precisely because I thought he was unplayable against the run. I don't see the same with Turner. Is he great against the run? No. But IMO he can be playable against the run... and potentially exceptional as a rusher. What games did you see of him? I haven't seen a lot. I saw the Ole Miss one and one of the Georgia games... I thought he looked good and even showed some speed to power moves which surprised me since I knew he was a slight DE(btw I agree with you on the lack of technical refinement). I will need to watch more of him, but I'm telling you the profile screams Ballard type to me - exceptional length, exceptional explosiveness and speed... kind of similar to how Richardson's profile screamed Ballard to me last year. 

 

I think Ngakoue is probably a good comp for him, though. Maybe more upside as a rusher, but I don't see him holding his own in the run game if he has to take on OTs on the edge.

 

I'll try to watch some more, and take note of the games I watch. I didn't get into a serious study of him, it just looks like he's a 3-4 edge in the NFL, and our defense doesn't make good use of that kind of hybrid. Even as a LEO, I think the run assignments are problematic. He does have speed to power, but mostly out of two point stance; I don't really view speed to power as a "move," but it's a way for him to win. Not sure it translates against most NFL OTs, but with his length, he'd have a chance.

 

I like Dallas Turner, a pass rush specialist. If the Colts did draft him, I'd hope they have a better plan for him than they had for Ben Banogu, for example. I just think he's at his best from a two point stance, and would be a significant liability in the run game. But I'll get back to you on that.

[stitches]

33 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I think Ngakoue is probably a good comp for him, though. Maybe more upside as a rusher, but I don't see him holding his own in the run game if he has to take on OTs on the edge.

 

I'll try to watch some more, and take note of the games I watch. I didn't get into a serious study of him, it just looks like he's a 3-4 edge in the NFL, and our defense doesn't make good use of that kind of hybrid. Even as a LEO, I think the run assignments are problematic. He does have speed to power, but mostly out of two point stance; I don't really view speed to power as a "move," but it's a way for him to win. Not sure it translates against most NFL OTs, but with his length, he'd have a chance.

 

I like Dallas Turner, a pass rush specialist. If the Colts did draft him, I'd hope they have a better plan for him than they had for Ben Banogu, for example. I just think he's at his best from a two point stance, and would be a significant liability in the run game. But I'll get back to you on that.

Who's your favorite DE so far from the ones you watched? 

 

I think I like Latu the best. He's the most technically sound and kind of the most fun to watch. I'm not sure Ballard would spend that high of a pick for a non-elite athlete though. At least he showed he's not a bad athlete at the combine.

[Superman]

16 minutes ago, stitches said:

Who's your favorite DE so far from the ones you watched? 

 

I think I like Latu the best. He's the most technically sound and kind of the most fun to watch. I'm not sure Ballard would spend that high of a pick for a non-elite athlete though. At least he showed he's not a bad athlete at the combine.

 

There's a lot to like with Latu right now, but I'm not sure about his upside. Productive and technically sound, but not a lot of room to go up. He's older, and his injury history is a problem. 

 

Verse isn't super impressive to me. I see what he can do, but he's kind of reckless and all over the place. I've only watched a little of Chop Robinson so far. 

 

I don't know, no one really has jumped out at me so far.

[KB]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Oregon C Jackson Powers-Johnson is a future All-Pro<br> <a href="https://t.co/7bk7vknjK5">pic.twitter.com/7bk7vknjK5</a></p>&mdash; Kendell Hollowell (@KHollowell_) <a href="https://twitter.com/KHollowell_/status/1765467015530336690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

First time trying this so hopefully it works, but this set of blocks by JPJ makes me want him on our line. Tossed that linebacker aside like it was his little brother.