2022 CFB Talk/Draft Prospects

[diamondbull424]

Bernhard Raimann OL

CENTRAL MICHIGAN • JR • 6'7" / 305 LBS

Didn’t watch the entire tape, just a few minutes because he was mocked in the 1st by cbssports. Initial though is he’s got nice enough power, but has recognition issues that I wouldn’t want to plug within our offense and have protect Lamar. We’ve got enough of those issues as it is.

Based on the few minutes I watched, I’d say he’s a 2nd/3rd round talent. Not a 1st. He’s athletic and could probably develop into a good LT. Especially along an OL unit with great veteran leadership and standards. I feel our OL needs a culture/attitude shifter though and I don’t believe Raimann would be that option for us.

Charles Cross
MISSST, Soph

Looks like the real deal. Would love it if he were available. Nice athleticism that almost has some TE level nimbleness. Love his ability to hand fight. Stays balanced and under control. He’s likely a top 10-15 pick so probably no point watching him, but if he falls I’d love to ****** him up.

Edited December 10, 2021 by diamondbull424

[DreamKid]

On 9/5/2021 at 9:33 PM, DreamKid said:

One way to make up for our Michigan woes to this point? Find a way to draft Aidan Hutchinson. This kid popped for me when watching Kwity Paye tape, and I've been hooked since. Freak athlete with Inside/Outside rush ability and enormous upside. Think of more athletic ZDS with the ability to play 5T, that's Aidan Hutchinson. He'll most likely play himself into Top 10-15 territory but hey, you never know? 🤷‍♂️

 

On 9/17/2021 at 9:27 PM, DreamKid said:

Plugging Ekwonu into this system would be horrifying for opposing defenses. Our ground game has put up 3K multiple times now and essentially none of our IOL guys have actually been what I consider plus run blockers. This kid would make all those 3rd/4th and change runs we go for that much easier. A healthy Gus Bus running behind him would almost be unfair. 

Doesn't look bad in pass pro either. Certainly someone to keep tabs on this CFB season. Early Round G/T prospect for sure. 

 

3 months ago......, to now-

......

 

[DreamKid]

@RavensTillIDie  - https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-playoff-25-best-players

'Jordan Davis -playing just 36% of Georgia's snaps. He generated only nine pressures on 178 pass-rush snaps en route to a 67.6 grade in that facet'

 

I don't see any way this team can justify drafting Jordan Davis. Interior run defense isn't a priority issue for us, and you certainly don't need to spend an early round pick to address it. With major needs at OL & DB, plus plenty of room for more pass rush juice- I think picking a 2 Down Run Stuffer would be a horrifying mistake. 

[RavensTillIDie]

36 minutes ago, DreamKid said:

@RavensTillIDie  - https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-playoff-25-best-players

'Jordan Davis -playing just 36% of Georgia's snaps. He generated only nine pressures on 178 pass-rush snaps en route to a 67.6 grade in that facet'

 

I don't see any way this team can justify drafting Jordan Davis. Interior run defense isn't a priority issue for us, and you certainly don't need to spend an early round pick to address it. With major needs at OL & DB, plus plenty of room for more pass rush juice- I think picking a 2 Down Run Stuffer would be a horrifying mistake. 

Eh, I don't really care about the pass rushing prowess given what we'd be asking him to do in our scheme. He's clearly the best DT in a relatively weak class for DTs. And with Williams, Campbell and (likely) Wolfe all gone after this season, that side of the ball becomes a major area of concern. Where as there is plenty of offensive line depth in this draft to address that area in later rounds.

[Ray Reed]

Have to agree here.

The “we can find OL in the midrounds just fine” take has been vastly overblown by the fanbase in recent years IMO due to that 2-3 year stretch of hitting on Wagner, Jensen, and Urschel.

But for every OBJ there’s been 2-3 Gino Gradkowskis, Robert Myers’, and Tyre Phillips’.

With an OL that’s already full of “meh” and “passable” starters and depth pieces, I don’t see what a 3rd-5th round lineman does for this team in all honesty. 

[RavensTillIDie]

13 hours ago, Ray Reed said:

Have to agree here.

The “we can find OL in the midrounds just fine” take has been vastly overblown by the fanbase in recent years IMO due to that 2-3 year stretch of hitting on Wagner, Jensen, and Urschel.

But for every OBJ there’s been 2-3 Gino Gradkowskis, Robert Myers’, and Tyre Phillips’.

With an OL that’s already full of “meh” and “passable” starters and depth pieces, I don’t see what a 3rd-5th round lineman does for this team in all honesty. 

When I said later rounds before, I meant the 2nd and 3rd. Still think there are some truly quality lineman that should be available in those rounds. My favorite RT prospect being Daniel Faalele.

 

And when looking at that list from the tweet, I'm not willing to give up on Cleveland just yet. Think his best years are still ahead of him given a full training camp and offseason, along with getting to play next to a vastly superior talent like Stanley compared to the turnstile that is AV.

 

Outside of Phillips, who was a questionable pick even at the time, I would argue we've done a fairly good job selecting lineman in the 3rounds and earlier.

[Ray Reed]

5 hours ago, RavensTillIDie said:

When I said later rounds before, I meant the 2nd and 3rd. Still think there are some truly quality lineman that should be available in those rounds. My favorite RT prospect being Daniel Faalele.

 

And when looking at that list from the tweet, I'm not willing to give up on Cleveland just yet. Think his best years are still ahead of him given a full training camp and offseason, along with getting to play next to a vastly superior talent like Stanley compared to the turnstile that is AV.

 

Outside of Phillips, who was a questionable pick even at the time, I would argue we've done a fairly good job selecting lineman in the 3rounds and earlier.

2nd and 3rd i’m down for.

4th + is when it starts to get dicey for me 

[diamondbull424]

On 1/5/2022 at 3:04 PM, RavensTillIDie said:

Eh, I don't really care about the pass rushing prowess given what we'd be asking him to do in our scheme. He's clearly the best DT in a relatively weak class for DTs. And with Williams, Campbell and (likely) Wolfe all gone after this season, that side of the ball becomes a major area of concern. Where as there is plenty of offensive line depth in this draft to address that area in later rounds.

I agree with your premise that we could presumably pass on OL in the first round of a superior player is there at another position.

However we’ve done well at developing IDL options and we seem to have a veteran pipeline that we could explore in the event that all those guys leave.

The value of selecting an IDL without pass rush skills in the 1st round is simply not there IMO.

If we move away from an OL prospect, which I would prefer we go OL in rounds 1&3 most routes considered, but if we move in another direction I personally feel one of our biggest holes is with a game changing safety, someone that can inspire some fear in QBs over the middle, has the hands to deliver plays, and can provide quality tackling.

We’ve got JAG options like Stephens, Elliot, etc. I like our safety depth, but as we may now see ourselves moving closer towards that top 10 pick range. I think the smartest move would be to do whatever we can, within reason, to secure Kyle Hamilton.

 

Hamilton’s impact would take pressure off of our corners, backup our LBs, and create plenty of matchup opportunities that could transform our defense and allow it to get back to its pressure centric style (and be successful at it).

IIRC we’ve got like two or three 3rd round picks this year. I’d rather not hoard them then be forced to trade draft picks for future draft picks because we’ve got nice depth already. If we finish around 14ish, I’d trade two of those 3rds to move up and secure Kyle Hamilton. Then use the rest of the draft picks to attack the OL and DL.

[DreamKid]

It's tripping me out that CB Kaiir Elam could be a target for us. 

20 Y/O(6'0+ w/Length), SEC, Premium Position + Potential Major Need(Peters, Smith, Averret, and Young are all up in the air), NFL Bloodlines(We're obviously familiar with his uncle and his dad was Abram Elam), and he'll probably be in our draft range. 

He checks the boxes of what EDC looks for, but man I haven't been able to bring myself to watch him just yet. Matt Elam was one of my most hated all time draft prospects, and I still get that pit in my stomach when I think back on us drafting him and his time with the club. Just awful all around. 

Has anyone taken the dive on him yet?

[diamondbull424]

7 hours ago, DreamKid said:

It's tripping me out that CB Kaiir Elam could be a target for us. 

20 Y/O(6'0+ w/Length), SEC, Premium Position + Potential Major Need(Peters, Smith, Averret, and Young are all up in the air), NFL Bloodlines(We're obviously familiar with his uncle and his dad was Abram Elam), and he'll probably be in our draft range. 

He checks the boxes of what EDC looks for, but man I haven't been able to bring myself to watch him just yet. Matt Elam was one of my most hated all time draft prospects, and I still get that pit in my stomach when I think back on us drafting him and his time with the club. Just awful all around. 

Has anyone taken the dive on him yet?

I saw the last name and the college and hit the “abort” mission button. 😂

[diamondbull424]

Kyle Hamilton, 6’4” 220 lbs

With Jamar Chase likely to be a perennial AP level WR, we’re going to need a legitimate deterrent.

Chase is a push off master like Nuk, only with more explosiveness, and so no corner is truly safe when covering him.

Hamilton looks to me to be the next Derwin James level safety prospect that can jump to the NFL level and instantly be a difference maker; 1st/2nd team AP meteoric type impact.

Outside of giving Lamar an elite pass protector, filling this piece of the puzzle needs to be a priority for the 2022 squad.

[diamondbull424]

Jaquan Brisker

PFF’s #2 safety in this draft class certainly looks like he will be an impact player and eventual PB level talent.

However, he’s a playmaker in the (outside of this year) Marlon Humphrey type of way were he’s going to be a very reliable and explosive tackler that can be in on plays behind the line of scrimmage and also be dependable in coverage to knock balls away.

I don’t see a legitimate playmaker who is able to force QBs to think twice about being aggressive, else find themselves being destroyed by a DL as said safety strolls into the endzone for a pick 6. What’s more I don’t see natural hands and comfortability in Brisker to potentially develop into someone that has that lethality.

So all that being said, while I want a safety and while Brisker has 1st round level ability, I’d EASILY go OL over Brisker, who I don’t think would push the needle much farther than what Elliot provided us (when healthy).

[diamondbull424]

Daxton Hill- All 22

Hill presents similar strengths to Brisker above as a player who has shown to be stronger as an around the LOS type playmaker than a ball hawking figure.

Though Michigan seemed to move Hill around a lot and have him playing more of a nickel backer type hybrid than legit safety. While not as sure a tackler as Brisker, Hill appears to be a little better than Jordan Battle in that regard IMO.

I also have a little more faith that Hill could potentially develop into something closer to a ballhawk option as he appears to be more of a natural hands catcher on his picks and due to his deployment at Michigan, it’s possible a switch to a more safety centric role could reveal hidden value as a ballhawk.

I would select Hill as my #2 safety off the board, but as it stands, I would still confidently go OL first as there’s just too much unknown to place Hill above some of the OL options threatening to also be available around our pick.

Edited January 9, 2022 by diamondbull424

[diamondbull424]

Kenyon Green, OL, #55

Green is playing LT in this game and displays the versatility to do it. However it’s clear that he’s got the strength and power to be a guard. He’s got strong hands to create separation. He is able to drive well. His balance while not elite nor a legit strength also isn’t a notable weakness. 

Green excels in both run and pass protection. I see good-great mirror skills, nice agility/recovery speed for his size, great read and recognition skills, etc.

Ikem Ekwonu, OL, #79

I think it’s safe to say that Ekwonu gets more movement upfront as a run blocker over Green, but I think Green is certainly the more fluid mover and the more sound pass protector.

It’s impressive just how much movement Ekwonu is able to create on occasion. That said, I don’t have him as a legitimate OT prospect. I feel his foot quickness and natural feel/recognition skills aren’t there to be able to be a legit starting OT- he could probably like DJ Fluker, play at RT competently. However it would be a waste of his strengths and threaten his weakness. OG is clearly his most natural position at the pro level IMO.

 

As a guard I might have Ekwonu, slightly ahead- maybe (I’ll need to watch more tape), but as an OT, I think Green is clearly superior and could be a legit starting RT in the league. Would be a tough choice on draft day between these two big men.

Edited January 9, 2022 by diamondbull424

[diamondbull424]

 

Kyle Hamilton, S
All-22 Film vs Alabama

Hamilton has the ballhawk skills, however two weaknesses I see is in his suddenness, which is to be expected for a player of his size. He doesn’t have the ability to really explode into his cuts. Which leads into his second biggest weakness is in his angles. He seems to overrate his speed and gets caught out of position with the angle he takes.

On that first DeVonta Smith TD, a better angle by Hamilton saves that TD in all likelihood IMO.

Sauce Gardner, CB
I’m loving the highlight reel and ready to take a deep dive. Gardner looks like a Raven if I ever saw one. With the Browns likely adding someone like Olave/Wilson and considering what the Bengals have and that Marcus Peters only has another year on his deal and Anthony Averett is a FA, Gardner would make a ton of sense.

He’s tall, long, has fluid feet, appears to heave great speed, burst, agility, and the mentality to attack the football. If we’re selecting top 15 value has to be strongly considered.

Tyler Linderbaum, C

Ive felt for some time that the 2nd most important position on the OL is center. Linderbaum has the athleticism, physicality, explosiveness, and balance to play center within ever scheme. I don’t think he’s a guard within our current scheme, but could potentially play the position in a ZBS type scenario.

TL is an easy mover, gives a good consistent snap, is excellent in combo block situations, handles his own 1on1 vs space eaters, etc. He’s the real deal. He’s not the most dominating IOL prospect I’ve seen, but he just does everything at a really high level.