These players are under-rated

[Hunter2_1]

The following is a list of players who I see undermocked on nearly all the mocks done both on here and in the media. Some of them I can't understand how they're so low.

Which ones do you agree with/disagree with?

 

1. Jordan Elliot, DL, Missouri

An interior D lineman that can rush the passer. He might be a first round talent, closer to Kinlaw and Brown (the consensus top two interior men). Elliot is a better pass rusher than Brown. He needs polishing, because he has some flaws, but I think he can be a handful. Bigger than you think at 6'4/302.

 

2. Joe Bachie, ILB, Michigan St

I get the limitations - he doesn't have much range or explosive power, he'd struggle in passing lanes in the NFL etc, but his strengths are PROPER strengths for an inside linebacker. Smart (he chooses his moments well, hangs back when senses PA/misdirection) he has good leadership, and can flow to the ball carrier fighting through traffic. 4th round for me, but I've seen him 5-UDFA range. And he seems to be tanking boards due to the PED thing, but...dude, c'mon. 

 

3. Curtis Weaver, DE, Boise St

Probably going to be a day 2 steal. In the media, they seem to be riding him due to his frame and being a bit fat - something that can easily be sorted (in 99% of cases). Production is great! Good hands, natural pass rusher. A lot of prospects seem to have athletic tools but not the technical skills - this guy is the opposite. He can get more athletic and powerful and fast etc, he already has the hands.

 

4. Mitchel Wilcox, TE, USF

Undrafted on most mocks. But in a TE class where it seems the justification of drafting most of them is "he can be a solid TE2 option who plays a role", with Wilcox, you get a guy who can already block with power, finds his way to the second level to block, and has a possession catch in him. It looks like he can get bigger as well, and he's already 250lbs. He's not athletic at all, but if you need a blocking TE with potential (like my team) in the 6th, why not? Oh small hands...

 

5. Isaiah Wilson, T, Georgia

Trust Georgian Tackles called Isaiah! Gets lost in this draft because of all the other tackles, not least his book-end mate, but this guy is a huge nasty mauler and just will not get drafted on our consensus mocks. Needs a bit of polishing, but in a few years, I bet he is ending fools.

 

6. Willie Gay Jr, LB, Mississipi St

Tore up the combine. 99th percentiles all over the place. 4.46 forty. Rangey, athletic LB. Needs coaching. If his main negative is his off-field incident whatever it was, then it says something about his play ability. In a different draft, I bet he gets more buzz.

 

7. Antonio Gandy-Golden, WR, Liberty

Height and weight stands out immediately, after catch can be pretty devastating because he also has agility. The physical tools are there. He had the dropsies, and struggled a bit on the initial phase of routes (whether it was fighting through press or traffic, or a slow get off). But with his size + agility, and ability to high point the ball - this guy could be a steal!

 

8. Terrell Burgess, S, Utah

Versatile! Has played corner, and he can cover slot VERY well. His awareness and reading the field seems to be awesome, zero penalties in his career. He's not a hitter, but he's smart....boy he's smart. I'd actually be thrilled to take him wherever...steal.

 

9. Zach Shackelford, C/G, Texas

Leader, leader, leader. By all accounts there, he has a very high work ethic and they'd all follow him over a cliff if he asked. I've got him on here because my team took an undrafted C with leadership, and he's now our captain and by all accounts a top 5 C when healthy. Zach Shack is worth a punt!

Edited April 17, 2020 by Hunter2_1

[beekay414]

4 of the 9 you listed are going to be 2nd day picks, and 3 of them early 2nd day. Wouldn't say Elliott, Weaver, Gay Jr and Wilson are underrated at all. 

Bachie is a 2 down LB. There's room for him on a team but he's a victim of the current landscape of the league. You need your ILB to be able to move.

Not sure you can underrated a TE3 like Wilcox. He can't move at all and he doesn't separate. He's fine as an in-line blocker but that's all he is, an extension of the OL.

Gandy-Golden is a victim of a deep class. That's all. Think he has a lot of fans.

Burgess can be Buffalo Micah Hyde. I'll agree with you there.

Can't speak on Shackelford. You can find starters at IOL at any point in the draft or even after it. 

[BayRaider]

Burgess is gonna be a steal for someone. I honestly think he goes higher than people think. Mid 2nd. 

[Hunter2_1]

1 hour ago, beekay414 said:

4 of the 9 you listed are going to be 2nd day picks, and 3 of them early 2nd day. Wouldn't say Elliott, Weaver, Gay Jr and Wilson are underrated at all. 

 

Disagree. You don't see people talking them up in the way they ought to be. In Elliott's case, I wouldn't be that surprised if a team drafts him day 1. We've seen it with lesser players in the same position (Easley, Brown). 

[Hunter2_1]

46 minutes ago, BayRaider said:

Burgess is gonna be a steal for someone. I honestly think he goes higher than people think. Mid 2nd. 

Yep, same. Really good player

[beekay414]

18 minutes ago, Hunter2_1 said:

Disagree. You don't see people talking them up in the way they ought to be. In Elliott's case, I wouldn't be that surprised if a team drafts him day 1. We've seen it with lesser players in the same position (Easley, Brown). 

They are all in the range of a top 60 pick. None of them are underrated. If you're a 1st or 2nd rounder, how are you underrated?

And PFF has been pimping Elliott from the start of the draft process so it's not a hot take at all. 

Speaking of PFF, you seem to parrot them a lot. You plan on doing your own evaluations or just piggybacking off them?

[Soko]

44 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

If you're a 1st or 2nd rounder, how are you underrated?

This can’t possibly need explaining...

[HoboRocket]

3 hours ago, Hunter2_1 said:

 

7. Antonio Gandy-Golden, WR, Liberty

Height and weight stands out immediately, after catch can be pretty devastating because he also has agility. The physical tools are there. He had the dropsies, and struggled a bit on the initial phase of routes (whether it was fighting through press or traffic, or a slow get off). But with his size + agility, and ability to high point the ball - this guy could be a steal!

Man, I didn't even really see bad drops when I evaluated him. I think his hands are his biggest strength. Incredible grip strength, good form with late hands, cradles the ball and latches on immediately. He's a better version of Hakeem Butler IMO.

Edit: better because he has better hands.

Edited April 17, 2020 by HoboRocket

[Hunter2_1]

3 hours ago, beekay414 said:

They are all in the range of a top 60 pick. None of them are underrated. If you're a 1st or 2nd rounder, how are you underrated?

You can be elite and still underrated. Underrated is not the same as a sleeper.

3 hours ago, beekay414 said:

And PFF has been pimping Elliott from the start of the draft process so it's not a hot take at all. 

Speaking of PFF, you seem to parrot them a lot. You plan on doing your own evaluations or just piggybacking off them?

 

You're still annoyed that I used their facts to ruin your Love love. Too obvious

[Hunter2_1]

2 hours ago, HoboRocket said:

Man, I didn't even really see bad drops when I evaluated him. I think his hands are his biggest strength. Incredible grip strength, good form with late hands, cradles the ball and latches on immediately. He's a better version of Hakeem Butler IMO.

Edit: better because he has better hands.

No, I didn't catch many but it's usually the first thing scouts put in the negative. NFL says;

 

"Hard to unsee poor focus drops that plagued him in 2018"

While his hands were superior in '19, it's possible that focus drops could return with bigger, better players beating on his routes from snap to whistle

 

Seems to be based on 18

Edited April 17, 2020 by Hunter2_1

[HoboRocket]

56 minutes ago, Hunter2_1 said:

No, I didn't catch many but it's usually the first thing scouts put in the negative. NFL says;

 

"Hard to unsee poor focus drops that plagued him in 2018"

While his hands were superior in '19, it's possible that focus drops could return with bigger, better players beating on his routes from snap to whistle

 

Seems to be based on 18

My main concern with him is that he doesn't seem to have any way to beat press. With smaller corners, that's not a big issue since he's a master at making contested catches, boxing out defenders and has awesome size. In that regard, he's everything that Collin Johnson should be. However, I'm concerned about his ability to beat larger corners or safeties in press coverage. His deep speed is good enough where he'll still be useable in that regard but he's not going to burn teams. He can still be a deep threat similar to a Mike Evans. His get-off isn't as pretty as I'd like, and for a physical receiver, his hand fighting and punching isn't where it should be. However, with the grit that he has, he projects well on that regard. He doesn't lack want-to. He's really, really tough after the catch, but he's not very elusive. Some of his juke attempts were embarrassing. He's more straight-line in that regard. He still abuses defenders after the catch. Overall, I have a late-3rd round grade on him, but he could easily go in the 2nd with his physical traits and toughness. However, he could also easily slide like we've seen with Hakeem Butler (hyped as a first-round prospect), Simmie Cobb's (hyped as a day 2 prospect), and Auden Tate (hyped as a day 2 prospect).

[Hunter2_1]

16 minutes ago, HoboRocket said:

My main concern with him is that he doesn't seem to have any way to beat press.

Yes, this came up too. Disappointing for a 230+ WR.

16 minutes ago, HoboRocket said:

 

With smaller corners, that's not a big issue since he's a master at making contested catches, boxing out defenders and has awesome size. In that regard, he's everything that Collin Johnson should be. However, I'm concerned about his ability to beat larger corners or safeties in press coverage. His deep speed is good enough where he'll still be useable in that regard but he's not going to burn teams. He can still be a deep threat similar to a Mike Evans. His get-off isn't as pretty as I'd like, and for a physical receiver, his hand fighting and punching isn't where it should be. However, with the grit that he has, he projects well on that regard. He doesn't lack want-to. He's really, really tough after the catch, but he's not very elusive. Some of his juke attempts were embarrassing. He's more straight-line in that regard. He still abuses defenders after the catch. Overall, I have a late-3rd round grade on him, but he could easily go in the 2nd with his physical traits and toughness. However, he could also easily slide like we've seen with Hakeem Butler (hyped as a first-round prospect), Simmie Cobb's (hyped as a day 2 prospect), and Auden Tate (hyped as a day 2 prospect).

Agreed with all. I feel like he'll come into his own vs teams that like to use zone. Where do you think he'll be selected then? I honestly have no idea, but the reason I have him in OP is I guess he's going to be taken in like R5 or 6 but should be 3 or 4, for me.

[HoboRocket]

1 hour ago, Hunter2_1 said:

Yes, this came up too. Disappointing for a 230+ WR.

Agreed with all. I feel like he'll come into his own vs teams that like to use zone. Where do you think he'll be selected then? I honestly have no idea, but the reason I have him in OP is I guess he's going to be taken in like R5 or 6 but should be 3 or 4, for me.

I think Gandy-Golden will go early on day 3 - likely in the round 4 compensatory picks range. He should go higher, but this is a deep class, and Van Jefferson (someone who's universally liked by evaluators) is likely to be available at the start of the 4th round. There are just so many options with 23 WRs who could justifiably be selected on the first two days of the draft. But yeah. I think a team will move up for him in that late round 4 area.

[MWil23]

I know he's a D1/D2 pick, but I legitimately think Winfield is the best S in the draft.