Joey Porter Jr. and Nolan Smith

[HerbertGOAT]

I see Porter as more of a Safety kinda guy. He seems like a dude who you can move around but would stick best at safety.

Nolan Smith is a DAWG. I've followed his career since high school. He's had bad injury luck, but the talent is there. Plays very, very strong and holds the edge great for a smaller guy. With his athleticism, he just needs better coaching and maybe a veteran mentor to develop his pass-rushing acumen (or maybe 2... like Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack). I think his lack of production is overblown. When you look at Georgia, everybody's production is underwhelming because everybody on that team makes plays. Nolan Smith is one of the reasons why a lot of guys get to make plays.

[Ozzy]

12 hours ago, jebrick said:

I would like to see your take on Traveon Walker and why he would be the 1st player taken.  Or any other player who blows up the combine.  For about 99% of these players, it is all about potential.  Very few of them know how to play their position well enough for the pros.  College coaches give them just enough coaching to run their system.  Teams are projecting what the players can be.

Nolan Smith has the athletic ability to do well in the NFL if he can learn his position.  I am sure that position is not EDGE rusher but I am not an NFL scout.  He also has the ability to bust just like all of the draft picks.

Travon Walker is far more physically rare than Nolan Smith being the size he is, but yes he was not super productive but he played far less than Nolan Smith did and really just came on late and did great as a junior, dominated really.  Not sure Nolan Smith ever dominated a game honestly, but a switch to 3/4 ILB or 4/3 OLB could be a good idea for him because not sure he is a great pass rusher unless one is fine with that.  

 

To me Travon Walker wowed as a junior at times, not sure Nolan Smith has wowed as a prospect on the field in terms of his play.  And I say again his size makes him a little bit more interesting to be honest especially that crazy arm length combined with that athletic ability.  

 

 

 

[Trojan]

On 4/19/2023 at 5:03 PM, MSURacerDT55 said:

Where was all of this Nolan Smith talk pre-combine?

I posted I thought he was the only edge that could compete with Will Anderson on the first page on the EDGE thread.

[Trojan]

For guys I'd bet on having great careers (especially relative to draft position because I'm not trying to make basically a BB post), it's going to be dependent on situations they land in, but I'd pick from this group (used Goldfish's 7 round mock for tiers minus the specialists):

~1st Round Tier
Nolan Smith, EDGE Georgia
Michael Mayer, TE Notre Dame

~2nd Round Tier
Josh Downs, WR North Carolina
Jack Campbell, LB Iowa

~3rd Round Tier
Ji'Ayir Brown, S Penn State
Nathaniel 'Tank' Dell, WR Houston

~4/5th Round Tier
Kobie Turner, DL Wake Forest
Michael Wilson, WR Stanford

~6/7th Round Tier
Michael Turk, P Oklahoma
Jake Moody, K Michigan

~7th/UDFA Tier
Dillion Gibbons, G Florida State
Christopher Dunn, K North Carolina State

[Danger]

On 4/19/2023 at 1:27 PM, BetterCallSaul said:

What?

Joey Porter Jr. is a pretty average cornerback prospect in my opinion. Very grabby and DPI-happy. He is also an average athlete for the position. He's not a bad tackler, but for a bigger kid, you'd think he would have more spectacular blow-you-up plays than he did.

Nolan Smith is a defensive end. I love Nolan Smith though...he is good.

Nolan Smith is a Linebacker. No way is he big enough to make it as a 4-3 EDGE

as for Joey Porter Jr. Yes he's grabby. I'll give you that. I think he's properly rated right now, but to call him an average athlete is just incorrect.

 

 

He has his strengths and weaknesses, and I'd still have him behind Gonzalez and Witherspoon, but I think you're selling him short in many ways.

[MWil23]

6 minutes ago, Danger said:

Nolan Smith is a Linebacker. No way is he big enough to make it as a 4-3 EDGE

as for Joey Porter Jr. Yes he's grabby. I'll give you that. I think he's properly rated right now, but to call him an average athlete is just incorrect.

 

 

He has his strengths and weaknesses, and I'd still have him behind Gonzalez and Witherspoon, but I think you're selling him short in many ways.

He's great from a length/height standpoint for sure. He's also IMO average at best in your explosive measurements, which I typically value more from CBs than many. He's "fine" from a speed standpoint, but not great, and his jumping is "meh". 

I haven't seen any of his agility testing from a shuttle/3 cone standpoint, but he looks a bit stiff to me on tape as a pure corner. Perhaps not, but that's what I'd like to see more of.

[BetterCallSaul]

8 hours ago, Danger said:

Nolan Smith is a Linebacker. No way is he big enough to make it as a 4-3 EDGE

He was absolutely fine playing with his hand in the dirt at UGA, against NFL-sized OT's. He might be, at worst, a DPR in a 4-3, but he can play in any scheme IMO. I think he'd be fine playing SLB in a 4-3 too, but he will be just fine in any scheme. 4-3 wide 9 and occasional SAM. 3-4 EDGE or WILL. 

Edited April 21, 2023 by BetterCallSaul

[MSURacerDT55]

3 hours ago, BetterCallSaul said:

He was absolutely fine playing with his hand in the dirt at UGA, against NFL-sized OT's. He might be a DPR in a 4-3, but he can play in any scheme IMO. I think he'd be fine playing SLB in a 4-3 too, but he will be just fine in any scheme.

In your opinion, what trait makes him a sure fire top 10-15 pick? 

[BetterCallSaul]

2 hours ago, MSURacerDT55 said:

In your opinion, what trait makes him a sure fire top 10-15 pick? 

Technique work as an edge defender. He is masterful from that standpoint. I don’t think he’s overly bendy, he’s not overly powerful or explosive (on tape), but the guy knows how to play the game and put himself jn position to make plays. I haven’t graded out any of his films, but I would venture to say he would grade out as a top 3 player if you evaluated every snap. Combine that with his motor, leadership, and physical upside as a rusher and you have yourself a hell of a prospect.

My biggest area of concern is health and a lack of versatility. You can’t really expect him to play anything aside from a 7 or a 9 tech, but that’s ok IMO. He is an excellent run defender from a technical standpoint, but if you get him in position to be down blocked/washed, he’s gonna get crushed. He can play with his hand down and can engage OTs and pulling kick blocks…just not heavy enough to anchor a gap with an inside shade on TEs or OTs.

I’ll admit that I love his intangibles more than his physical profile, but that is probably the coach in me. He’s weird, because it’s bizarre to see such a technically refined player time out that freakishly, especially when he looks like a good, but not great athlete out there. For my money, I think BJ Ojulari is a better speed rusher than him, but it’s his well-rounded game & leadership that give him the nod.
 

TL;DR:

He requires little to no coaching and is a very good athlete.

[flgatorsandjags]

On 4/19/2023 at 7:11 PM, Ozzy said:

In 38 games Nolan Smith has 12.5 sacks and in four years has never had a season with 5 sacks in one year.  Also has missed major games two out of those four years because of injury.

 

People rip on Will Anderson Jr for only having 10 sacks and 17.5 TFLs last year.  

 

Nolan Smith showed great athletic ability at the combine, but on the field he has yet to be a really dominating player.  Possibly this past season he was going to do it but got hurt, however Georgia was just fine without him because he does not produce all that much anyway.  That combine performance was great, and however the strength and conditioning guy is for Georgia, he needs to get a raise because all of the Georgia guys seem to time really well.  Nolan Smith on the field plays like a 2nd rounder or 3rd rounder, but those times athletically will make him a 1st round pick.  

Super high character guy helps as well and is a great teammate and leader on and off the field, that helps as well.  

 

[Ozzy]

47 minutes ago, flgatorsandjags said:

 

Surprising but then one has to think what is a "win" and what categorizes a win.   Nolan Smith played in 8 out of 15 games for Georgia last year so just that alone is crazy deceptive.  He got 3 sacks in those 8 games, obviously that stat would not be the same unless he continued on that path of progression all 15 games.  He probably has the lowest pass rush snap count of anyone on that list  And once more what is a win, obviously not getting a sack always or is it pressures or TFL penetration etc....  Also does it include double team blocks as if being blocked single is the same as being doubled or chipped back a RB or a TE.  Pretty sure Will Anderson Jr faced way the hell more attention and doubles than Nolan Smith did.  

 

 

This was last years list, that was players with at least 100 pass rush snaps.  As if Travon Walker sucks with that low win rate?  Hutchinson was a beast as a rookie no question but some other top guys on that list did very little to nothing and some are not even in the NFL currently.

 

"Anthony Ekpe - Ball St - 30.7 % win rate, 27 pressures
Nik Bonitto - Oklahoma - 29% win rate, 52 pressures
Kingsley Enagbare - S. Carolina - 25.9% win rate, 45 pressures
Taylor Riggins - Buffalo - 25.7% win rate, 20 pressures
Aidan Hutchinson - Michigan - 25% win rate, 74 pressures
Alex Wright - UAB - 23.8% win rate, 51 pressures
George Karlaftis - Purdue - 23.6% win rate, 54 pressures
Troy Hairston II - C. Michigan - 22.9% win rate, 61 pressures
Arnold Ebiketie - Penn State - 22.9% win rate, 52 pressures
Kayvon Thibodeaux - Oregon - 22.8% win rate, 47 pressures

And then a little bit further down the list we get to Travon Walker...

148. Travon Walker: 10.1% win rate, 34 pressures"

[DM316]

23 hours ago, BetterCallSaul said:

He was absolutely fine playing with his hand in the dirt at UGA, against NFL-sized OT's. He might be, at worst, a DPR in a 4-3, but he can play in any scheme IMO. I think he'd be fine playing SLB in a 4-3 too, but he will be just fine in any scheme. 4-3 wide 9 and occasional SAM. 3-4 EDGE or WILL. 

People see his weight and think he get's folded against the run vs watching him play is what this is.

[DM316]

On 4/20/2023 at 8:20 AM, THE DUKE said:

Yeah, I was dead wrong on Parsons, his lack of production scared me off, and he's been a beast since day one in the NFL.  I like Smith's college profile a little better than Parsons, and while I don't think he'll be quite the pass rusher Parsons is, I think he can be a valuable chess piece for a defense, and that his run D will be good from day one as well.  I have him in the back end of rd 1 in my mock, but I wouldn't knock a team for taking him mid rd 1.

Not setting the world on fire and on a smaller scale while showing flashes, didn't Oweh not have a single sack at Penn State? Sack production in college is skewed with so many quick passes.

[RedandPewterReturns]

On 4/22/2023 at 9:39 AM, DM316 said:

Not setting the world on fire and on a smaller scale while showing flashes, didn't Oweh not have a single sack at Penn State? Sack production in college is skewed with so many quick passes.

yes and no. Parson's - if folks actually watched him at PSU played off ball LB, blitzed, edge and lined up at DT. He was the focal point of opposing offenses and he lined up wherever Brent Pry asked him too which can limit production. 

I don;t think Nolan smith was the focal point of the opposing offenses with Jalen Carter, Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, etc. Nolan is also very undersized and injury prone - which is not good. Parsons wasn't constantly hurt so the question of how Nolan Smith will hold up in the NFL is valid. Also Parsons is a freak who can flip his hips and drop into coverage as an off ball inside LB. The comparison is a joke IMO just bc they have similar 40 times. While I'm not saying Nolan Smith is a sure fire bust - I also wouldn't take him in the top 20 of the draft either. Oweh was picked towards the bottom of the first round and has been solid/goo. Not elite. 

 

Joey Porter Jr - if I hear he was a bit too "handsy"  - thats something many if not all Corners coming into the league need to adjust. QB's stopped throwing his way after his freshman year. Good athlete, good corner. Similar to Xavier Rhodes - not a flashy ball hawk, wont create a ton of TO's , but won't be getting beat nor allow his man to get open much. 

[Techbert]

On 4/19/2023 at 8:11 PM, Ozzy said:

In 38 games Nolan Smith has 12.5 sacks and in four years has never had a season with 5 sacks in one year.  Also has missed major games two out of those four years because of injury.

 

People rip on Will Anderson Jr for only having 10 sacks and 17.5 TFLs last year.  

 

Nolan Smith showed great athletic ability at the combine, but on the field he has yet to be a really dominating player.  Possibly this past season he was going to do it but got hurt, however Georgia was just fine without him because he does not produce all that much anyway.  That combine performance was great, and however the strength and conditioning guy is for Georgia, he needs to get a raise because all of the Georgia guys seem to time really well.  Nolan Smith on the field plays like a 2nd rounder or 3rd rounder, but those times athletically will make him a 1st round pick.  

Super high character guy helps as well and is a great teammate and leader on and off the field, that helps as well.  

I do not rip on Anderson for his production. I rip on him for not having bend. I see him as a stack LB.

Georgia players all have low snap counts, so boxscore scouts always underrate them. Smith has bend and is strong for his size. He needs to be in the right system to overcome his size limitations but I think he can do well vs run and pass with decent coaching.