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________ Is who everyone wants ________ to be


Duffman57

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I thought this would be an interesting thread to start up.  Name a player who's similar to another in terms of play style, with one being overhyped and one being underrated.

My initial Reasoning for this was this one...

Jerome Baker is who everyone wants Roquan Smith to be.

I seriously must be missing SOMETHING with Smith, because other than his range, man coverage skills, and the fact that he hits hard, I see almost nothing likeable about the player.  It took me 6 games into watching him (vs Auburn), to finally get a game where I thought his instincts even flashed decently.  He's super soft into blocks, and willingly takes himself out of plays on nearly every play. I'm fully out on Smith.

Who else is being falsely advertised?

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Man I could not disagree more on Smith.  His instincts are one of his best attributes.   Basically the only downside I see is that he can get bullied out of the play when OLmen get their hands on him, but that is kinda the price you pay for his kind of speed/range.  He is elite in nearly every other area (range, tackling, mental processing, coverage, intangibles, etc), is ALWAYS around the ball, and is actually pretty good at avoiding blocks.  He's also a very effective blitzer.   I have almost no doubt that he will be a pro bowler in the right situation and would actually be happy with the Colts taking him at 6.  Jerome Baker on the other hand is athletic and... well that's about it.

 

Interesting thread though, I'll try to come up with some later.

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Can you give me some good games to watch, because I've watched all of the big games (Auburn, Bama, Oklahoma as well as Kentucky and a few others) and I barely even saw flashes of what I'd consider 1st round play.  Honestly, he's a guy I really want to like, but I just can't see it from him. I don't see the instincts you talk about, I think he sits flat footed and waits for OL to attack him and tries to run around him, doesn't make any plays preemptively.

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10 hours ago, Duffman57 said:

I thought this would be an interesting thread to start up.  Name a player who's similar to another in terms of play style, with one being overhyped and one being underrated.

My initial Reasoning for this was this one...

Jerome Baker is who everyone wants Roquan Smith to be.

I seriously must be missing SOMETHING with Smith, because other than his range, man coverage skills, and the fact that he hits hard, I see almost nothing likeable about the player.  It took me 6 games into watching him (vs Auburn), to finally get a game where I thought his instincts even flashed decently.  He's super soft into blocks, and willingly takes himself out of plays on nearly every play. I'm fully out on Smith.

Who else is being falsely advertised?

@BleedTheClock Duffman served up a softball for you on your boy Roquan

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9 hours ago, bananabucket said:

Jerome Baker on the other hand is athletic and... well that's about it.

I disagree,If your assessment is based off this year's film, it's a reason. Also if any other person liked his 2016 film but was disappointed with his 2017 film, there is a reason, the player hasn't changed, the skills are the same, no injuries, you have to ask the reason. I know it, and I know Baker is going to do very well in the NFL in his skillet and people are going to revisit this and say what did I miss on him. 

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1 hour ago, MSURacerDT55 said:

@BleedTheClock Duffman served up a softball for you on your boy Roquan

I like Roquan. I just think he's extremely limited in what he's going to be able to do in the NFL. He's strictly a WLB prospect and I can't imagine him playing MLB like some have suggested. He's not Deion Jones. Jones was a heat-seeking missile on inside runs. Roquan slow plays to avoid blockers, which is great for an outside the box WLB, terrible for an inside the box MLB or SLB.

Baker is a much different player. He can play all 3 LB spots, but is nowhere near as solid technically as Roquan. Still think Baker and Roquan have close to similar value. I like Baker as a SLB prospect. I've come around on Roquan since his stock has settled into the 20's. He was getting top 10 hype a while back and I found that to be obnoxiously rich for a pure WLB that can't take on blockers.

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13 minutes ago, BleedTheClock said:

I like Roquan. I just think he's extremely limited in what he's going to be able to do in the NFL. He's strictly a WLB prospect and I can't imagine him playing MLB like some have suggested. He's not Deion Jones. Jones was a heat-seeking missile on inside runs. Roquan slow plays to avoid blockers, which is great for an outside the box WLB, terrible for an inside the box MLB or SLB.

I just mentioned you because you had some of the same arguments about him.

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This is just going to be another Roquan Smith thread, isn't it.

I don't love the hot take-y wording, but Isaac Yiadom is what everyone wants Isaiah Oliver to be. It seems like Oliver is billed as an ideal-sized press man corner in a draft filled with undersized man corners, but I don't think Oliver has great man coverage traits aside from his length. He seems to get lost a lot in press man and overly relies on his length to make up lost ground. 

Yiadom, although not quite as long, is more polished in press man and is markedly superior to Oliver against the run. 

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8 minutes ago, Broncofan said:

The Bears are who everyone thought them to be!

(I will feel very old if ppl don't get this ref)

 

What are you talking about? 

 

(I can get away with saying that because I don't have "Joined 27 Nov 2004" in my profile anymore.)

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27 minutes ago, BleedTheClock said:

I like Roquan. I just think he's extremely limited in what he's going to be able to do in the NFL. He's strictly a WLB prospect and I can't imagine him playing MLB like some have suggested. He's not Deion Jones. Jones was a heat-seeking missile on inside runs. Roquan slow plays to avoid blockers, which is great for an outside the box WLB, terrible for an inside the box MLB or SLB.

Baker is a much different player. He can play all 3 LB spots, but is nowhere near as solid technically as Roquan. Still think Baker and Roquan have close to similar value. I like Baker as a SLB prospect. I've come around on Roquan since his stock has settled into the 20's. He was getting top 10 hype a while back and I found that to be obnoxiously rich for a pure WLB that can't take on blockers.

Yeah, I think Baker profiles much more as a Deion Jones type.  He's much more of a guy that will diagnose and fly into the backfield, and can stick in the inside.  Honestly Smith would be great, if he was a box SS, but he's not.  I think if you're spending a 1st round pick on a LB, he needs to be able to make SOME plays vs the run, or at the very least not be a liability there, and he is IMO.

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59 minutes ago, Duffman57 said:

he needs to be able to make SOME plays vs the run, or at the very least not be a liability there, and he is IMO.

He's not a liability against the run at all. He makes every play against the run, but he doesn't do it by being aggressive. He's patient and scrapes over the top of the garbage. He's the LBer equivalent of Le'Veon Bell with his patience. I think he's great for bend and don't break run defenses, but will never be a TFL monster. He's just a really good flow/scrape linebacker that has no value doing anything else. He'll end up with a massive amount of tackles, but I don't think he's going to be nearly as impactful as those tackle #'s might suggest.

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