2021 NFL Draft Thread

[NYRaider]

4 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

This is a lazy analysis. Because White has struggled in coverage, Parsons will?

Parsons has a unique skillset. He's explosive, creates turnovers and has elite closing speed to the ball. He relies on that too much at times and needs to work on diagnosing plays with better instincts.  His ball skills in coverage just okay, but he's shown he can run with any TE or RB you throw at him in coverage.

He explodes off the screen when you watch him in all aspects. Speed, change of direction, power, tackling, closing to the ball. He is a transcendent talent at LB who is going to dominate as a pro. 

If Gus Bradley couldn't find a way to use a player who can blow up plays and create turnovers in his defense, you have the wrong defensive coordinator. 

Not saying that's the only reason but Parsons wasn't asked to play in coverage a ton at Penn State and is a year removed from playing football. We saw how many of the rookies struggled to make the adjustment last year and he's a guy that will likely have a similar off-season with limited OTA's etc. after a year of not even playing.  

I like Parsons I just think he'd fit better with a team that's actually going to use him in a way that showcases his strengths rather than pigeon holes him into having to drop back into coverage the majority of the time. 

If he falls to #17 and we take him I wouldn't be upset in the slightest and I think he's a guy you start at SLB from day 1. 

Which is something else that I am actually concerned with. Is Bradley an upgrade over Guenther? Probably. But when you look at his coaching resume it's not that impressive, especially when Seattle's defense didn't skip a beat once he left. He has had success when he has had All-Pro/HOF type of talent to execute his scheme and his defenses have been pretty meh outside of that. 

So my biggest concern is that we'll likely target players almost exclusively based on how they fit into Bradley's scheme when it really hasn't proven to be that effective of a scheme. 

And when you look at a guy like Brandon Staley who was just the DC for the Rams and got hired by the Chargers. One of the reasons their defense was the best in the NFL was because of how versatile his scheme was and the fact that he built his scheme to suit the strengths of his personnel. I saw a in depth article about how he's essentially that anti-Gus as a guy who's always looking to switch it up while Bradley relies on the same coverages, etc essentially 100% of the time. 

[Jeremy408]

Just now, NYRaider said:

Not saying that's the only reason but Parsons wasn't asked to play in coverage a ton at Penn State and is a year removed from playing football. We saw how many of the rookies struggled to make the adjustment last year and he's a guy that will likely have a similar off-season with limited OTA's etc. after a year of not even playing.  

I like Parsons I just think he'd fit better with a team that's actually going to use him in a way that showcases his strengths rather than pigeon holes him into having to drop back into coverage the majority of the time. 

If he falls to #17 and we take him I wouldn't be upset in the slightest and I think he's a guy you start at SLB from day 1. 

Which is something else that I am actually concerned with. Is Bradley an upgrade over Guenther? Probably. But when you look at his coaching resume it's not that impressive, especially when Seattle's defense didn't skip a beat once he left. He has had success when he has had All-Pro/HOF type of talent to execute his scheme and his defenses have been pretty meh outside of that. 

So my biggest concern is that we'll likely target players almost exclusively based on how they fit into Bradley's scheme when it really hasn't proven to be that effective of a scheme. 

And when you look at a guy like Brandon Staley who was just the DC for the Rams and got hired by the Chargers. One of the reasons their defense was the best in the NFL was because of how versatile his scheme was and the fact that he built his scheme to suit the strengths of his personnel. I saw a in depth article about how he's essentially that anti-Gus as a guy who's always looking to switch it up while Bradley relies on the same coverages, etc essentially 100% of the time. 

I completely agree with everything you just said about Parsons. It is definitely Something to think about that he hasn't played football in a whole year.

When it comes to Bradley I just don't think you can ignore that he's the only DC that won a Super Bowl with that defense(While blowing out the best offense in football at the time). I mean thats also on the resume (But I mean we already talked about it so it's an old conversation lol).

When it comes to Brandon Staley a big reason why is the front was good it's simply because he has all pro players that were brought onto the team before he was the defensive coordinator(Meaning he did not play a part in their development). I think a lot of coaches look good when they are under those circumstances(See Paul Gunther). This is not to discredit Brandon Staley as a defense of mind but I'm just saying there are other key factors. 

[Jeremy408]

29 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

This is a lazy analysis. Because White has struggled in coverage, Parsons will?

Parsons has a unique skillset. He's explosive, creates turnovers and has elite closing speed to the ball. He relies on that too much at times and needs to work on diagnosing plays with better instincts.  His ball skills in coverage just okay, but he's shown he can run with any TE or RB you throw at him in coverage.

He explodes off the screen when you watch him in all aspects. Speed, change of direction, power, tackling, closing to the ball. He is a transcendent talent at LB who is going to dominate as a pro. 

If Gus Bradley couldn't find a way to use a player who can blow up plays and create turnovers in his defense, you have the wrong defensive coordinator. 

That said, I see him going to Denver so won't be Vegas's problem to have.

 

On the one hand it's one of those things where it's like we have three linebackers already and can use help at other areas obviously.

On the other hand Parsons is one of those type of players that if you pass on him we could be looking at it for the next 10 years saying "I can't believe we passed on Micah Parsons. Why did we pass on him? Because we thought we had linebackers at the time" And we got to think how stupid we were. 

Even think you could say that with Jalen Phillips because you could at least say that he had concussion issues and we didn't know if any down could be his last. 

The only pure linebacker I've ever seen run 4.3 was Patrick Willis. Patrick Willis.....

All this being said I also heard that he may have like character issues so that could be a problem

[NCOUGHMAN]

1 hour ago, NYRaider said:

He's like a more athletic Kolton Miller that played exclusively at RT in college. 

I’d say more athletic Orlando brown 

[RaidersAreOne]

If Parsons is somehow there at 17 he better damn well be the pick.

[big_palooka]

29 minutes ago, Jeremy408 said:

I completely agree with everything you just said about Parsons. It is definitely Something to think about that he hasn't played football in a whole year.

Why is that something to think about? He was pro ready after his 2019 season. He had a year to train for the NFL. I'd argue his body is better prepared for it. He has the experience needed and will have camp to acclimate into football shape

Several top prospects opted out. Don't see that as an issue at all. Less wear and tear on the body if anything.

[big_palooka]

1 minute ago, RaidersAreOne said:

If Parsons is somehow there at 17 he better damn well be the pick.

You've see this movie enough to know the ending right? lol 

He's going to Denver. Reports are they love him and he's just the type playmaker Fangio likes leading his defense. He will be a problem for the Vegas for years unfortunately if he does.

[NYRaider]

13 minutes ago, NCOUGHMAN said:

I’d say more athletic Orlando brown 

Kolton Miller: 6'8.5" 309, 34" arms, 4.95s forty, 31.5" vertical, 121" broad, 7.34s 3-cone, 4.49s shuttle, 24 bench reps

Spencer Brown: 6'8.5" 311, 35" arms, 4.88s forty, 31.5" vertical, 117" broad, 6.96s 3-cone, 4.34s shuttle, 29 bench reps

[NYRaider]

3 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

You've see this movie enough to know the ending right? lol 

He's going to Denver. Reports are they love him and he's just the type playmaker Fangio likes leading his defense. He will be a problem for the Vegas for years unfortunately if he does.

At least we can hope for Jaelan Phillips.

[NYRaider]

5 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

Why is that something to think about? He was pro ready after his 2019 season. He had a year to train for the NFL. I'd argue his body is better prepared for it. He has the experience needed and will have camp to acclimate into football shape

Because we saw how many rookies struggled with the covid off-season last year. And we don't know how the off-season/pre-season will shape up this year. So if there's limited practice time before the season you'd be relying on someone that hasn't really played or practice in a while. 

[NYRaider]

41 minutes ago, Jeremy408 said:

When it comes to Brandon Staley a big reason why is the front was good it's simply because he has all pro players that were brought onto the team before he was the defensive coordinator(Meaning he did not play a part in their development).

You can also make that case for Bradley though. It's much easier to be successful when you have guys like Thomas and Sherman taking away 2/3 the field every play. 

And if Bradley's such a great developer of talent why hasn't he developed very many players anywhere he has been since he left Seattle? The Seahawks defense actually got better once he left. 

[NYRaider]

 

 

[Jeremy408]

9 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

Why is that something to think about? He was pro ready after his 2019 season. He had a year to train for the NFL. I'd argue his body is better prepared for it. He has the experience needed and will have camp to acclimate into football shape

Several top prospects opted out. Don't see that as an issue at all. Less wear and tear on the body if anything.

I think for me(And this is just playing devils advocate), is when someone takes a year off they lose certain football skills. and then theres the fact that he is relatively inexperienced at the position(Started out as a defensive end in college). 

But again I'm more concerned about the supposed character problems thing.

[RaidersAreOne]

13 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

You've see this movie enough to know the ending right? lol 

He's going to Denver. Reports are they love him and he's just the type playmaker Fangio likes leading his defense. He will be a problem for the Vegas for years unfortunately if he does.

Yup, I am ready to be hurt again.

[NYRaider]

18 minutes ago, RaidersAreOne said:

Yup, I am ready to be hurt again.

Phillips and Parsons on the board and we'll go with Tevin Jenkins.