Ourlads

Three-year starter from Baton Rouge, LA. Played in 48 career games. Finished his career with 40.5 tackles for loss. Two-time first -team All-AAC selection. Bowling ball frame with upper tier explosion off the snap. Combine that with natural low centre of gravity and he can be a terror off the ball. Powerful calves and feet. Gets from point A to point B in a blink. Very quick twitched, can make a difference in a phone booth. At his size, his potential is simply limited. Struggles to push blockers back and can be locked onto by a bigger longer blocker. Upper body strength is average and his hand game doesn’t make much of a difference. Overmatched against double teams. Can use his low to the ground frame and initial quickness to his advantage consistently against blockers who have a hard time bending well. He may not be the most physically imposing player on the field, but he can make a difference as a rotational tackle. A hard guy to lock up at times and knows what to do when he is free within the tackle box. 2016 stats: 67 T, 18.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks, 2 QBH, 1 FF. seventh round/PFA

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by canadaram.

Dane Brugler

Grade: 4th/5th round

BACKGROUND: Under-recruited out of high school, Joshua “Josh” Reynolds didn’t receive any FBS-level offers out of Jay High School and considered taking a partial scholarship to Texas A&M as a hurdler and high jumper, but decided to play football at Tyler Junior College for one season to boost his recruitment. Aggies track and field coach Pat Henry tipped off football head coach Kevin Sumlin about Reynolds, who became a three-star JUCO recruit and received over a dozen offers. He narrowed his college choice to Oregon and Texas A&M, choosing the Aggies. With Mike Evans leaving for the NFL, Reynolds earned a starting job as a sophomore in 2014 and set a school-record with 13 receiving touchdowns. He started 12 games as a junior in 2015 and recorded 51 receptions for 907 yards and five scores. Reynolds had his most productive season as a senior with a team-best 1,039 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. He accepted his invitation to the 2017 Senior Bowl.

STRENGTHS: Tall, long frame and looks like a track athlete…long-strider with gliding speed to close cushions in a flash…improved releases to evade at the line of scrimmage and gain a step vertically…uses his length to extend and stab catches away from his body…excellent locating skills with reliable focus on deep balls to highpoint and secure the football…home run threat downfield that defensive backs must respect – only player in SEC history with two 90+ touchdown catches in the same season (2016)…standout on punt coverage, getting downfield quickly to make plays…athletic bloodlines – mother (Michele) played college basketball at Old Dominion…productive career and senior season, becoming the fifth receiver in school history to reach 1,000-yards in a season – caught a touchdown in a school- record eight straight games in 2016.

WEAKNESSES: Skinny limbs and narrowly built…underpowered and too easily knocked off his routes, lacking the functional strength to match up with corners, even if he towers over them in height…needs to give himself better spacing along the sideline, allowing corners to pin him against the white…too finesse at the catch point on non-jump balls and needs to better work back to the quarterback…lets the football get into his body, leading to drops…unpolished route runner on non-vertical patterns and needs to improve his rhythm…inconsistent blocking effort and will make “business decisions” to avoid physical collisions…doesn’t have return experience on special teams…lacks ideal body armor, playing through a subluxation in his left shoulder in 2014 that required off-season surgery (Jan. 2015); bruised left hip (Sept. 2016).

SUMMARY: A three-year starter at Texas A&M, Reynolds had few options out of high school, but the past three seasons, no SEC pass-catcher had more receiving yards or touchdown catches than him – finished top-three all-time in career receiving yards (2,788) and receiving scores (30) in Aggies’ history. He has excellent long- speed and tracks the ball naturally, extending his long arms to snag the ball and be a big play threat downfield. However, he requires refinement on non-vertical routes and won’t be able to work the sideline in the NFL unless he gets more physical with corners – his struggles vs. aggressive defenders could be a fatal flaw. Projecting him in the NFL, Reynolds has the vertical skills and special teams ability to stick as a No. 4 wide receiver, but that might be his ceiling as a pro unless he improves his aggressiveness and overall consistency that the NFL requires at the position.

Dane Brugler

15. JOHN JOHNSON | Boston College
6004|208 lbs|4SR West Hyattsville, Md. (Northwestern) 12/19/1994 (age 22) #9 GRADE 4th Round
YEAR (GP/GS) 2013: (12/0) 2014: (8/2) 2015: (12/12) 2016: (13/13) Total: (45/27)
TKLS TFL 4 1.0 25 1.0 63 1.5 77 2.5 169 6.0
SACK FF PD INT 0.0 0 0 0
1.0 0 2 0 0.5 2 6 3 1.0 1 12 3
(2 CB)
(9 SS, 3 CB) (13 FS)
2.5 3
20 6

BACKGROUND: A two-star safety recruit out of high school, John Johnson III committed to Boston College over offers from Duke, Pittsburgh and several others. After spending his true freshman season as a back-up cornerback, he worked his way into the starting mix as a sophomore with 25 tackles and two passes defended, making two starts before an arm injury sidelined him for the second half of the season. Johnson moved to strong safety as a junior in 2015 where he started the first nine games, moving back to left cornerback for the final three games. He finished the 2015 season with 63 tackles, six passes defended and three interceptions. Johnson moved to free safety as a senior in 2016 and led Boston College with 12 passes defended and three interceptions, adding 77 tackles. He accepted his invitation to the 2017 Senior Bowl.

STRENGTHS: Tall, long athlete…velvet feet and hip fluidity to smoothly redirect…long-strider to accelerate quickly and cover a lot of green…controls his gears well on the move to throttle down and stay controlled in space…strings out plays, holding outside leverage and closing gaps on the perimeter…run-and-hit style run defender, showing fast angles working downhill…determined chaser and looks to tune up his target…uses his arm length to take away passing lanes from various body positions…competes with an edge at the catch point, aggressively trying to knock the ball down…soft hands to finish interceptions – averaged 15.7 yards per return in 2016 (3/47/0)…team-oriented player and voted a senior captain – attractive intelligence and intangibles…versatile starting experience with 27 career starts, including multiple starts at each spot in the secondary (13 FS, 9 SS, 3 LCB, 2 RCB).

WEAKNESSES: Lean-muscled body type with questionable core strength and limited bulk potential…inconsistent route anticipation and can be caught guessing…tick late out of his breaks in man coverage, hesitating and allowing excess spacing on underneath patterns (slants, curls, digs, etc.)…over-thinks concepts and falls for eye candy…arrives too hot and creates poor angles…needs to improve his tackling skills in space…bad habit of throwing his shoulder downhill instead of coming to balance, squaring up and driving backwards…late to recognize blockers and can be bullied near the line of scrimmage, struggling to detach himself once engaged…undeveloped blitzing skills.

SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Boston College, Johnson lined up all over the secondary in his career, spending his senior season primarily as a single-high free safety and slot cornerback – never won All-ACC honors, but showed steady progress each season. He is a talented, long-striding athlete with excellent range and body control to cover ground. However, he needs to clean up some issues in run support and his lack of route anticipation stands out on film, allowing receivers to gain a step and give the quarterback a clear throwing lane. Although he is too reactive in coverage, Johnson has a high football aptitude and limits the mistakes with his versatile athleticism – core special teamer with starting potential at free safety or as a nickel defender.

nittany ram wrote:

My great fear is the American public eventually becomes so desensitized to the constant deluge of egregious acts coming from the Trump administration and the GOP that it eventually becomes conditioned to a new ‘normality’ where the people just shrug their shoulders in response to the ongoing fascism

Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel. Although, I would not have expressed myself as well as you did.

I knew that Trump’s values would conflict with my own, but I lacked the vision to know exactly how his administration would look. I knew that he would continue to say things that one is accustom to hearing from a brash teenager, but his cabinet appointments have floored me.

Yeah, below .500, that’s my expectation. It might just be learned helplessness at this point though.

wv wrote:

————-
Well, fwiw, McVay was influenced by the Shannahans. He worked with/for them, i believe.

w
v

Fine, but how many pillars is he? If it’s four pillars or less then I won’t be happy.

The defense wasn’t great, but considering that half the time it must have felt like Hekker was on his way out to punt before they reached the sideline after a 3rd down stop they played ok in my book. Also, with the losses in the secondary and the lack of production from the DEs it could have been much worse. It’s possible that they improve under a new DC, but it’s also a strong possibility that the D regresses. Imagine another bottom 3 offence and a bottom ten defense next season? 😳

I agree with zn’s thoughts about replacing Schottenheimer. There were some draft errors too, but every team has those.

David Shaw and Kyle Shanahan intrigue me the most. Admittedly I know very little about Shanahan and I know only a little bit more about Shaw. I have a lousy record at predicting HC success so ultimately I don’t really care who it is at this point. I just don’t want it to be Jeremy Shockey or Terrell Owens.