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jrry32 wrote:
The draft isn’t about whether they took a guy exactly where you foresaw him going. The draft is about whether they took an effective player who fits their system. Everett reminds people of Jordan Reed. If Everett ends up being Jordan Reed, how is this a bad pick?
They valued character and football ability over SPARQ scores.
I wanted Lamp but I heard that he has some chronic issues with his wrists. But I doubt it was that big of a deal. Regardless, I’m happy with what we did. We drafted a lot of football players.
Kupp
Reynolds
Smart
Rogers
PriceAll stand out as highly productive and accomplished football players. Everett is more of an athlete, but he has produced and shown football ability. He plays just like Reed. I can see why McVay values him and believes he can bring that out of him. Everett catches the ball well, is an absolute pain in the ass to tackle, and is a great athlete for his size.
It doesn’t seem like the Rams like this OL class. JMO. My guess is that Kromer is going to move one of these three: Wichmann, Donnal, or Brown. Keep in mind that Groy was a guard before Kromer converted him. Kromer runs an inside-zone scheme. It’s basically a hybrid scheme, but it’ll resemble power more than zone. He wants a center who fits that. The outside-zone scheme is what the Shanahans are known for running and what we mainly ran last year. It’ll simplify things for both Gurley and our OLs, but it still will give Gurley some options if he wants to be creative.
Kupp was my #1 WR on Day 2. Reynolds was my #1 WR on Day 3. The Rams got both.
Josh Reynolds? That’s an A+ pick. We have a WR corp filled with unknowns. Reynolds adds the deep threat element that we arguably lacked. But more than anything, Reynolds gives us a skill-set that we simply don’t have right now. He’s a value pick where we got him. I would have taken him a round earlier without thinking twice. That kid produced in the SEC against big time competition. Aside from being skinny, he offers the entire package as a WR. He’s a kid who worked his ass off to earn what he has. He walked onto the team at A&M and became one of the SEC’s most productive WRs.
I’m still shocked that Kupp is a Ram. Kupp is intelligent (37 on the Wonderlic). He’ll be ready to play Day 1. The big thing with Kupp is that he uses his hands extremely well and his footwork is very advanced for his age (both are very polished skills). He also does a nice job of varying his releases to keep DBs off guard. We all know the kid is quick, but he’s also very technically sound.
Go to 0:58 in this video: http://draftbreakdown.com/video/marcus-peters-vs-eastern-washington-2014/
It’s 4th and 2 with Budda Baker pressing him. Kupp is lined up outside as the Z WR. Baker, who was just drafted by the Cardinals with Pick #36, ran a 4.45 40. Kupp comes off the LOS with a little stutter, throws an inside shoulder fake, and then releases hard outside. He smacks Baker’s hands down when Baker tries to deliver a punch and runs right by him for the 27 yard TD. A top 40 pick with 4.45 speed tries to press Kupp on 4th and 2, and Kupp makes him look the fool.
The only guy I’d have taken over Kupp is Corey Davis. But Kupp was right there with him. I really think he’s a special player. The traits that make Antonio Brown a special WR exist in Cooper Kupp’s game. That’s what always stood out to me. Brown was a 5’10” WR with a 4.57 40 and poor jump numbers. Yet, the guy is arguably the best WR in football. How? It is obvious when you watch him. He cuts on a dime, accelerates incredibly well, and has an understanding of his position that few guys do. He has the sort of understanding of how to play WR that made guys like Ike Bruce and Marvin Harrison elite. Brown doesn’t just know what he has to do. He knows what every other players on the field has to do. That includes the defender. He is able to accurately anticipate how the defender is going to react to what he does from down to down. It allows him to always keep the defender guessing. When the defender is guessing, he takes a split second longer to react. He begins to doubt what he’s seeing and plays it safe. That gives Brown enough separation to almost always be “open.”
I see that same skill in Kupp’s game. He knows every trick in the book. He can execute every trick in the book. And he knows exactly how to conceal what he’s doing until the last possible second to keep the defender guessing. He constantly throws different techniques out to keep the defender from being able to anticipate what he’ll do next. He’s just on a different level in terms of skill and intelligence.
I’ve seen some people say Kupp is essentially Spruce. Not, they’re very different players. It’s like claiming that Odell Beckham Jr. is essentially Doug Baldwin 2.0. Spruce might make this roster. He’s reliable. It’ll depend on his special teams value. But he’s not Kupp. He’s just not that talented (Kupp-level talented). He’s savvy, he’s tough, he’s physical, he’s reliable, and he plays hard. That might earn him a job.
Basically, while Kupp’s top-end speed isn’t great, but he has great acceleration, quickness, and change of direction ability. In comparison, Spruce’s top-end speed is also lacking, but his acceleration, quickness, and change of direction ability range from average to bad. That all shows up on his game tape. Spruce lacks physical talent. He creates separation through savvy and physicality. It works for him. He will finish in traffic. He makes tough catches. But he tends to body the ball more and doesn’t attack it that well in the air. Spruce plays every down like it could be his last. That’s something to be commended. Spruce is a slot WR who will have to win working the middle. He won’t separate outside and won’t win in the air well enough for teams to accept that.
Kupp is a different type of player. He lacks top-end speed, but as I stated, he has acceleration, quickness, and change of direction ability. He has the athleticism to separate consistently. He combines that athleticism with skill and savvy that is simply beyond what Spruce offers. In addition to that, he attacks the ball better than Spruce does, catches the ball in traffic better than Spruce does, and he runs after the catch better than Spruce does. Spruce is essentially Kupp if you strip away the things that make him special.
I was surprised that New England didn’t grab him, but they couldn’t (barring a trade up). They traded their first for Brandin Cooks. They didn’t pick until 14 spots after we took Kupp. I think there’s a real chance that they would have taken him had they not traded their second round pick.
I’ve been wrong many times before, and I’ll be wrong many times in the future, but I see Cooper Kupp as a guy who just won’t stay covered in the NFL. Whether he plays a Wes Welker slot role or outside, he’s going to be constantly open. He’s the type of kid that you feel comfortable throwing as many options as possible into the routes he runs because you know he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be. The more flexibility you give a guy like him, the better he’ll be able to create for you.
Smart is a Wade Phillips player. Short, stout, and very disruptive. Plays with a high motor. Relentlessly attacks the ball. Good at getting into the backfield and disrupting. Great scheme fit and depth we sorely needed. I’m very happy with the pick.
Price can really get after the passer. He’s one of the NCAA’s best pass rushers and most disruptive players. He has some limitations as a run defender because of his lack of length. He’ll hold his ground and stack his blocker (very strong with natural leverage), but he struggles getting off blocks. As a pass rusher, though, he’s very difficult to stop. He’s so low to the ground when he rushes that most OTs struggle to get a hand on him. He has tremendous burst off the LOS, is a very strong player who can play through contact, and is always looking to finish. Most OTs are tall. Price uses that against them like James Harrison and Elvis Dumervil does. He gets underneath them and powers through to get around the corner. I like him a lot. It’s possible that Ejuan could also slide inside and play as our SILB.
Having said that it’s interesting. When VT played Pitt they could not block Price What did they do? They told Sam Rogers, “He’s all yours.” Rogers was able to neutralize him. Their OTs couldn’t block Price but Rogers could. And the man also delivered them play after play like this one:
That game got me interested in Rogers. He’s versatile and a special teams demon. Tells us that McVay wants to run the ball out of power sets with Gurley. Rogers really impressed me against Pitt.
Justin Davis is my top UDFA. He’s a solid backup that has size and speed and experience.
Penton is a great nickel … plays angry.
Dravorious Wright I think will surprise people, overshadowed by Josh Jones at NC state …
Johnny Mundt had to deal with weird QB and scheme stuff at Oregon or he would have been valued higher.
Eldrenkamp I had graded in the mid to late rounds …
Good to hear that about the udfas. I didn’t see much to excite me, but I will trust what alyoshamucci says.
Agamemnons
uper smart workaholic.tested as one of fastest players at the senior bowl on the field during practice..doesn’t play that fast a McVay type..will kill zones..instant productionbad part never makes a db miss, easily tackled,not overly physical but you have to start somewhereI will have to disagree with that part.
link: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/2017-draftees-highlights-reel/
He has a 50+ TD run where he makes one guy miss and breaks a tackle. There are more highlights like that. How about his punt return? How about his stiff arm?
Agamemnonjrry32 wrote:
SOME FOLLOW-UP
We drafted a bunch of small school guys and had no first round pick. The grades aren’t a surprise. We’ll be vindicated in the end imo.
Robinson and Kupp will have very different roles in the NFL. Kupp was drafted first because he’s more pro ready, an easier projection, and better at this point in time.
Reynolds is a deep threat as it stands now. He’s a long-strider who can win in the air. He has the change of direction skills to be a legitimate threat in the intermediate range as well. He’ll need to continue to develop as a route runner. He has a thin frame, and that won’t change. His big issues early on will be adapting to a much more complicated scheme, getting off the LOS against press coverage, and winning in the short passing game. As it stands now, Reynolds’s releases are a bit predictable. He has the quick-twitch athleticism to really develop there. But with his thin frame and play strength issues, it’ll be tough for him early on. He’s competitive, though. He’s a long-strider who doesn’t have a lot of suddenness in the first 10 yards. It’ll make it more difficult for him to separate underneath. That means he’ll have to produce using his frame and ability to win at the catch-point.
Reynolds has a lot of the same limitations that Alshon Jeffery had coming out. I want to make clear that Reynolds isn’t Alshon, but his game is somewhat similar. If he’s going to win underneath, he’ll have to do it by using his body and catching it with a defender on him. However, he has the build-up speed to climb over the top of defenders and win 1-on-1 down the field. Alshon had better hands, a bigger body, and more strength/physicality. Reynolds changes directions better and has more upside as a route runner. Reynolds is probably more of a #2 WR if he develops the way I expect.
In regards to Kupp, he lacks that extra gear to separate vertically, but he has everything else. And he might still find a way to be a deep threat. There are a lot of guys who win vertically in the NFL without using pure speed. Film shows me that Kupp can get over the top of defenses using his skill and savvy, but he doesn’t really do it with pure speed against comparable competition. I trust the film.
This is one route that I saw Kupp run that especially impressed me:
If you look at the opposite side of the field, the route combinations are mirroring each other. Accordingly, you can see how the defense is trying to defend Kupp’s route by looking at the other side of the field. It’s 4th and 3. EWU’s offense is pretty predictable. They love the quick outs and slants. The defense is attempting to take away both. They have two ILBs sitting inside to take away the quick slant or spot route. They have the two DBs squatting at about five yards to jam the WRs and then slide underneath them in their hip pocket to prevent the QB from throwing the quick out. The defensive play-call here is actually perfect to stop what EWU’s trying to do. They should have had to throw over the top, but Cooper Kupp is Cooper Kupp.
What Kupp does here is beautiful. He recognizes pre-snap that they’re squatting on the route and are going to try and jam him. Kupp also knows that they want to keep him from running the quick inside route on 4th and 3. The DB has inside help, so he shouldn’t care about the fake, but Kupp knows that a reaction is a reaction (you don’t think about it). Kupp comes off the ball and throws a quick stutter at about 3 yards. This is the route depth for a speed cut for a quick slant. The DB reacts to the stutter by stepping in the wrong direction (widening his base) and deadening his feet. This serves both to get him moving the wrong way and freeze him right before he’s supposed to jam Kupp. Kupp leverages his vertical stem just a little to the outside to gain him more room to prevent any chance of the DB getting his hands on him. From there, Kupp executes a textbook speed cut on the 9 yard out. After he comes out of his break, he snaps his head and hips around to prepare to aggressively work back to his QB. The ball is a tad inaccurate, but Kupp is still able to make the catch look easy.
Sean McVay said that Kupp always has a pre-snap plan. This is an example of Kupp recognizing pre-snap that the defense is perfectly aligned to win against the play the offense is running. Kupp adjusted how he ran his route to still manage to his offense an easy win on 4th and 3 on a play that the defense won on the white board (if you were to draw the offensive and defensive schemes on the white board, the defense should have won this down). This is a great example of the sort of football IQ, savvy, and techical skill that Kupp offers our offense. He can flip a lost down into an easy win. This is what the Patriots’ offense is built around. They have smart WRs who recognize how to attack the defense, which is why they always seem to be open.
Kupp may be a #1 WR, a #2 WR, or a #3 WR, but I feel confident that he’ll consistently produce. You don’t become more skilled than a significant chunk of the WRs in the NFL while at a school like Eastern Washington unless you have otherworldly work and film habits. I know people haven’t forgotten Wes Welker. That man didn’t succeed because of his athleticism. That man succeeded for the same reasons that Kupp will succeed. He was more skilled, prepared, and intelligent than just about every player he matched up against. Welker was a guy who made prime Darrelle Revis look bad.It’s all about how you scheme and use your WRs. I trust that McVay knows what he wants to do with this WRs. I think they could put Kupp in the slot, Tavon at flanker, and Woods at split end. However, I think it’ll be more fluid. I think we’ll see Kupp, Tavon, and Woods all working at all three WR positions. As for Reynolds, if he’s ready to play, he’ll compete for a job. If he doesn’t earn the starting job, I’m sure he can give those guys breathers.
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Everett is coming from South Alabama, hasn’t played that much football, and is pretty raw. It’s not about playing the traditional TE role. It’s about understanding the nuances of our passing attack and the route tree well enough to see the field. None of us know if Everett will. Say what you will about Jordan Reed, but he played QB at Florida in a pro style offense before moving to TE. IMO, he was more mentally prepared for the pro game. I hope Everett is ready to contribute this year, but I’m not going to convince myself that it’s definitively going to happen.
Everett, once he develops, will be one of the most important players in this offense.(I guess “if he develops”). McVay used Reed in a very innovative way in Washington. Having a guy like that here would do guys like Gurley and Tavon wonders. All those safeties that Fisher kept bringing in all seemed to develop. Safety was Fisher’s position. TE is McVay’s. I trust him to get the job done there. But Everett may not be ready to play right away. TE is a tough position to transition to as a rookie.
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Kromer talked about cross-training our guards at Center. It’s possible that we see Wichmann or Brown as the #2 Center this year. I’d feel good about either there. I feel good about Kromer. He’s turned a lot of nobodies into solid or better starters.
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