Offense
QB Mitchell Trubisky
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 225 lbs
Age: 22
College: N. Carolina
Draft Spot: 1.1
Team: New Orleans Saints
Key Attributes:
Speed: 64
Awareness: 74
Throw Power: 95
Throw Accuracy: 87
Secondary Attributes:
Strength:55
Agility: 40
Acceleration: 46
Injury: 63
Toughness: 93
Commentary
Mitchell Trubisky was anonymous 1.1 pick on this draft, quarterback is the most important position of football, and having one is what difference between contenders and teams that will be on the race for 1.1 pick, is sad but is the truth. We saw it last season with Redskins after many seasons of missing playoffs, as soon as brought in Bradford they made playoffs. QB is a very peculiar position when drafting, it only has 3 attributes that matters, awr – thp – tha, and partially speed (Scramble tendency) but nothing can’t be fixed with 125k AP. The logic states that in a position with so few variations it’s easy to find any QB on mid rounds and still be successful, and it can happens if you decided to go to hell and test your luck, having and develop a young QB is one of the most painful experiences here, it requires a long contract, patience and the mental strength for watch your team losing in incredible ways, if happens with 99-99 QB, it’s way worse with a raw QB. This pick originally belong to Giants, and was traded to Saints that paid 2.2 for move up 1 slot, crazy right? Considering the class had Mahomes and Watson, 2 very capable QB, that in theory should be on their way to 99-99 in some seasons, so why Trubisky was so special? It’s easy, time. A QB as Trubisky that starts with an impressive 74 awr, will reach his prime sooner than another QB. His learning curve can be compared to Harnish and Carr, on the mentor era, and possibly to Quinn era on the non mentor era, which might be the pathway Saints follow. Let’s not forget that Quinn have been the only rookie QB to reach SB. Also another important factor is the Saints on the hot seat so Trubisky adds that extra talent that separates him from rest. The big red flag when it comes to Mitchell, will always be his low Injury, a season ending injury for a quarterback almost always equal to season over for the team, even if he’s so good, that risk will always be there. Additionally an injury could ruin his learning curve, yeah he’s extremely special now, but if miss 1 or 2 seasons he won’t be special anymore. A risk gotta take for the quality prospect but something will be there.
HB James Conner
Height: 250
Weight: 6’2”
Age: 22
College: Pittsburgh
Draft Spot: 1.11
Team: Washington Redskins
Key Attributes:
Speed: 93
Strength: 80
Awareness: 60
Agility: 86
Acceleration: 92
Carry: 74
Break Tackle: 88
Secondary Attributes:
Catch: 68
Stamina: 84
Injury: 66
Toughness: 70
Pass Block: 34
Run Block: 23
Kick return: 18
Commentary
James Conner is close to last season 1.1 pick Derrick Henry, he’s 3 pounds heavy and has almost identical strength, not as fast, agile or same acceleration, but without being so strict with those attributes, that sometimes by the common opinion could end up affecting an HB if is too fast, Conner is undoubtedly the best running back of this class, he’s a wrecking ball, the kind of running back can get those difficult yards on short yardage and also can break free after the first broken tackle, that talking about his ability of breaking tackles that’s his main skill, not only he’s big but he’s well developed for his age. Needs progression on his carry specially as big-strong running backs tend to be hit with more power (Ask madden). James Conner has the potential to be OROY and could become one of the best running backs of the league, his size and strength can’t be taught so the rest goes to a second term, and with time he’ll keep improving. As Trubisky he has the injury problem, something that seemed to be so close on this year class, the difference between the 2 players, is that an HB injury doesn’t ruin team season, would be unfortunate but not as lethal as losing a QB. As a bonus Conner has good hands, so he can be a dual threat kind of player, his height also helps him on that role
WR Mike Williams
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 210
Age: 22
College: Clemson
Draft Spot: 1.4
Team: Oakland Raiders
Key Attributes:
Speed: 95
Catch: 78
Awareness: 69
Agility: 95
Acceleration: 99
Secondary Attributes:
Strength: 29
Jump: 75
Carry: 56
Break Tackle: 65
Stamina: 88
Injury: 99
Toughness: 99
Pass Block: 33
Run Block: 57
Kick return: 5
Commentary
Mike Williams is an elite prospect, he has an elite body frame of 6’4”, but he’s not only a big target, he’s a player that has potential to be 99 spd – 99 acc with the right love of Raiders, we’ve seen players like him going 1.1 overall, and never fall off top 10, immediately Williams jumps into the list of best wide receivers of the league. With his size and speed is very difficult to any CB to compete physically, and that’s just the first problem, at only 22 yo, he has high awareness and solid hands, his route running will include many complex routes, that often ends on 1st downs. His ability to read the game separate him from many of the other prospects on this draft and let him on his own, cause he’ll be able to bright in long routes, but also on check down short passes for 1st down and specially on red zone. Beware with Williams as he has all the potential to be a franchise player for Oakland. He’s the kind of player want to draft high on a draft, any WR will produce, even a late 7th rounder, give him a good QB and will score. But as everything here, the difference between regular production and elite production is what makes a player special. The class had many solid receivers, the first one to be draft has to be better than the rest, and in my opinion Williams is the best prospect of the position, there’s 1 player with a different potential but we’ll talk about him on next analysis. Contrary to the tendency of low injury players, Williams has 99 inj and 99 tgh ratings a positive aspect, he also has solid 57 rbk that helps on some runs
WR Kenny Golladay
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 214
Age: 22
College: N. Illinois
Draft Spot: 1.7
Team: Miami Dolphins
Key Attributes:
Speed: 96
Catch: 79
Awareness: 58
Agility:92
Acceleration: 95
Secondary Attributes:
Strength: 65
Jump: 97
Carry: 70
Break Tackle: 51
Stamina: 82
Injury: 74
Toughness: 80
Pass Block: 26
Run Block: 62
Kick return:74
Commentary
I did say there was a prospect with similar potential of Williams, and it’s Kenny Golladay, they share the same body frame of 6’4”, the main difference between the 2 is that Williams is smarter, but Golladay is stronger, for those GM that believe on strength as an important element for a WR, he should’ve been the 1st prospect on this class, and an unique kind of player, no other player I would say on the league history have had this combination of potential 99 spd with that uber strength on 6”4. The comparison comes to my mind is WR Taylor Price that had an slow start of career but on recent years have become a top receiver. Golladay needs to play since day 1 and start progressing his skills as receiver and route running, but physically is undoubtedly the most interesting prospect, he also comes with an special 62 run block, Brayn proved that in some degree it matters, and with the size and strength it could play an important factor in the rush attack of Dolphins. He do carry a low chance of become OROY as playing for a team on rebuild with a young QB, so I expect limited production during his first seasons, but in some seasons he could become a league leader, the potential and upside is very high with Golladay. On a draft class without Mike Williams he should’ve been the 1st WR taken. I’ll use this spot for set my opinion on strength, I consider it helps to break Bump and Run coverage, and helps on traffic zones catches, specially avoid being hit and drop the ball. Based on my experience I don’t think IA calls bump and run coverage, so that aspect might be on a second term, but I’m really curious about the performance he’ll have as blocker. With his 99 spd 6’4” potential, I’m 100% sure he’ll find a lot of deep TD during his carrer
WR Juju Smith-Schuster
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 215
Age: 22
College: USC
Draft Spot: 1.8
Team: Washington Redskins
Key Attributes:
Speed: 99
Catch: 84
Awareness: 54
Agility: 99
Acceleration: 99
Secondary Attributes:
Strength: 46
Jump: 86
Carry: 69
Break Tackle: 68
Stamina: 77
Injury: 71
Toughness: 75
Pass Block: 30
Run Block: 25
Kick return: 89
Commentary
Do we have a better version of Robert Meachem here? Yes we do. Destiny this pick was acquired on a trade with Shapiro Titans, former Meachem Gm, maybe. But In 1 draft Redskins managed to completely rebuild their offense and build a team for the future with Wenning – Juju – Conner, also interesting that the 2 players chosen by Redskins played together for Steelers in an alternate universe. Well, going back to the player analysis, there isn’t much to said a 6”2 99 -99 -99 wide receiver will always be a difference maker, the reason he fall to 3rd WR pick was only cause at this stage of the league we look for the minimal difference that can create a separation between players and the 2 wr taken before him were 2 inches taller, now Juju is guaranteed to be 99 spd no matter how he skew, that’s a bonus, and additionally will do it without need AP investment, or only needing the minimal quantity, so those are 2 bonus. He also comes with an incredible set of hands so he won’t be dropping many passes. He has the potential to be a franchise player and I’m sure he will. He has a high kick return rating but I doubt that he plays that role, we’ve seen many players with Juju condition so is not a mystery the performance he’ll reach
TE George Kittle
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 250
Age: 23
College: Iowa
Draft Spot: 1.10
Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Key Attributes:
Speed: 92
Strength: 74
Catch: 78
Awareness: 70
Agility: 75
Acceleration: 84
Pass Block:41
Run Block: 47
Secondary Attributes:
Carry: 66
Break Tackle: 52
Jump: 80
Stamina: 99
Injury: 86
Toughness: 85
Kick return: 7
Commentary
You don’t see Tight Ends going high on the 1st round, unless they’re extremely special, and Kittle is a kind on his own, He’s not amazingly tall but at 6”4 he’s still solid, he’s the perfect player for any GM that loves speed, 92 means he has potential of 99 with a good skew, we’ve never seen anything close to that, even on a league that has became more dynamic and faster, he also comes with a nice set of hands and route running, his awr and cth are very high for a rookie, in some seasons he’ll be on the 90 -90. Kittle will be a player that all GM should follow and track, he can be very useful for future references and draft decisions. He carry some red flags that can’t be ignored but that should be taken to 2nd term considering all the positive things, and those red flags mainly come on the block skills, we’ve seen TE on the 50’s being productive on pancakes, but 40’s is a low number, at worst he won’t be the most productive TE for rush game, but I believe he was draft thinking on have a fast vertical offense, and also his speed could help to do plays on the mid zone of the field, or breaking deep for a long TD, he’s a WR playing at the TE position. His agility is low compared to his speed, but on my personal belief I doubt this affects his performance, Kittle has the potential to become an elite TE, and be close to replicate the sensational TG season no one have been able to replicate. The position is not often selected at top 10, but as mentioned, Buccs did the right move picking him at the spot, allowed them to grab a player with generational talent, exactly what you looking high on draft.
OL Cam Robinson
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 310
Age: 21
College: Alabama
Draft Spot: 1.17
Team: Miami Dolphins
Key Attributes:
Speed: 73
Strength: 94
Agility: 77
Acceleration: 80
Awareness: 73
Pass Block: 81
Run Block: 76
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 78
Injury: 99
Toughness: 93
Commentary
Cam Robinson is a prospect without a noticeable flaw, and that’s always excellent for any player, if you add that he’s only 21 yo, he’s called to be an all pro OL. He has the size for play as offensive tackle, is fast enough for contain the blitzes and offer support on the rush game, Robinson was without doubts one of the best prospects of this draft but he fall in draft because the position of OL have devaluated a bit, at least in terms of physical studs, they’re more frequents but what I really like about robinson is his projected learning curve, with his high awr as rookie he should perform as a veteran, his block skills can be developed soon and he can end being a top 5 OL in some seasons, that kind of projection separate him from other prospects. OL is an important position it offers the time needed to QB for throw the ball, and helps on the rush game. It’s been proven than the best offenses historically have worked in get a solid OL, sometimes even they don’t need to be so athletic for perform well, but when you have the chance to have the best of 2 worlds is impossible to pass on it.
OL Sam Tevi
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 315
Age: 23
College: Utah
Draft Spot: 1.23
Team: Seattle Seahawks
Key Attributes:
Speed: 74
Strength: 99
Agility: 77
Acceleration: 81
Awareness: 63
Pass Block: 85
Run Block: 76
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 81
Injury: 86
Toughness: 81
Commentary
Sam Tevi is a perfect example of my point at past player, the OL position have became way more athletic as seasons advance, someone with the speed of Tevi would’ve been mocked and drafted on the top 10 at any past draft, and while he has 1st round talent tag at many mocks it was expected to fall some spots as happened at the end, he fell to 1.23 spot. I see his low run blocking as a potential liability contrary to Robinson he doesn’t have enough time as already 23 and also has to spend time on awaraness, the learning curve of Tevi is more complicated, but if we focus on the good news he has the potential to be the fastest OL of the league, he’s a big man that moves with the speed of a TE, he can be the final weapon for a team that wants to rush the ball, his max strength also guarantee he won’t be pushed by defensive linemen, additionally and as a personal theory I do believe that speed helps to reaction times against the blitz, so a fast OL could be more effective for contain the blitzes, no one wants to receive sacks, it’s a lose on yardage but also a risk of QB injury, whenever can protect the QB, do it.
OL Garrett Bolles
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 296
Age: 22
College: Utah
Draft Spot: 1.26
Team: Denver Broncos
Key Attributes:
Speed: 65
Strength: 91
Agility: 76
Acceleration: 87
Awareness: 62
Pass Block: 87
Run Block: 82
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 50
Injury: 90
Toughness: 93
Commentary
Personally I do love Garret Bolles as a prospect, and think he was a steal at the spot he was taken, yeah his strength is low in comparison with other OL, but I don’t think that 99 str is necessary for perform well, on the other side has an absurb ammout of acceleration and probably the best block skills from the whole draft class, Bolles is a player that should contribute to offense since day 1, and that’s always one thing to have a mind with rookies, the inmediate impact is an important factor, he won’t be a liability with low block skills as happens with other players at the position. Bolles is a bit light, but as happens with the strength I don’t think that will be a factor. He’s a bit behind Robinson the top prospect on the draft, but I do consider that Bolles has the potential and the necessary learning curve to become a very prolific player that produce constant solid numbers
OL Roderick Johnson
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 308
Age: 21
College: Florida State
Draft Spot: 2.6
Team: Chicago Bears
Key Attributes:
Speed: 68
Strength: 97
Agility: 77
Acceleration: 84
Awareness: 78
Pass Block: 80
Run Block: 70
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 69
Injury: 97
Toughness: 85
Commentary
Roderick Johnson is a crazy and complete unique prospect he comes with an awareness of 78, a number that is higher than many veterans near regression. And he’s only 21 yo, if we only see that, it’s an excellent argument for draft him, but if additionally consider he has great fast feets, with quickly reactions he’s a top 10 talent that fall to 2nd round. The big flaw on Johnson is his run block ability, that maybe kept some teams away from him, that if we think well, I think the high awareness somehow compensate or is nullify by it, as want to see it, in my personal opinion I do always try to group together the progressables I consider important for a position, on the OL situation are awr, pbk and rbk, so if a player has low awr but an extremely high rbk skill for me is ok, cause I know whenever has progression can apply it to awr, and doesn’t have to worry about the block skill as already too high, this is a similar situation with Roderick can apply progression to run blocking whenever has points and that flaw that looks now will disappear forever, but here also we have a situation of likes and strategy, is possible to apply all the points to awareness, reach 99 and then start boosting blocks, both option are there.
C Chase Roullier
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 312
Age: 23
College: Wyoming
Draft Spot: 3.23
Team: Arizona Cardinals
Key Attributes:
Speed: 63
Strength: 95
Agility: 73
Acceleration: 81
Awareness: 60
Pass Block: 70
Run Block: 80
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 59
Injury: 80
Toughness: 86
Commentary
The draft class didn’t have a top player at the center position, and evidence of this is that the 1st player drafted came at late 3rd round, Roullier is a balanced player athletically speaking and needs work on his pass block, that with only 70 could be an important liability for protect a quarterback, the pressure on the middle is the more dangerous, and that’s the importance to have a reliable center, otherwise the whole offense could suffer. The 60 awr and 80 run block provide a solid aspect on the rush game, it’s unknown if this player will become an starter, he’s solid but I think that he might not be on the range of become a long time starter on this league. 60 – 70 – 80 are numbers that require a lot of work, and being 23 yo his development curve is complicated, possible the best plan for him is focus all the attention on his liability pass block, so he can reach a point of 80’s at both blocks, which is a more comfortable position.
------- DEFENSE----
DE Myles Garrett
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 268
Age: 21
College: Texas A&M
Draft Spot: 1.2
Team: San Diego Chargers
Key Attributes:
Speed: 85
Strength: 75
Agility: 82
Acceleration: 88
Awareness: 67
Tackle: 76
Secondary Attributes:
Jump: 69
Catch: 37
Stamina: 70
Injury: 68
Toughness: 67
Commentary
Miles Garret was one of the top prospects on the draft, mocked top 5 in almost any mock article, and the reason is clear, Garrett doesn’t have a single flaw, he has elite speed with 85 and excellent acceleration with 88, his strength is not bad but is nothing out of this world, his awreness of 67 and tackle of 76 put him in a category of smart player and that added with the aspect he’s only 21 yo, makes you think that he can be one of the few smart DE’s on the league, so that’s was in my opinion the reason he was ranked so high, because if we think about players on past classes, think about the class with Frank Clark and Preston Smith, physically both are better than Garrett but they struggle with football skills, while Garrett doesn’t. It’s a common thought that awr doesn’t matter for DL, and while I understand the logic of that thought (Even dumb DE’s can produce sacks) I do consider the awr on the position is extremely underrated, yeah 2 players with different awr can produce similar results, but on the hidden invisible stats or production we don’t measure is where I think there’s a difference, specially vs smart QB that can do PA easily, when Frank Clark was done, I was scare of he potentially breaking league balance, let’s face it we all want an absurb player on our roster but wouldn’t be fun to see a player with 40-50 sacks and know our QB by default will receive 4 sacks per game, I saw that kind of potential at clark, and even if he has been productive, the 99 str haven’t change much, at his sophomore season he saw a decrease on his production, so that probably motivated the increased thought of looking for all around kind of players, and Garrett is the perfect prospect for this mindset, the danger of draft a DE high is that the speed can go up or down by 5 and by 3 after PW, so could quickly go to a bust pick or a huge home run. Myles Garrett reminds me to Dwight Freeney a player I’ve seen been extremely productive on Madden 08 engine.
DE Jonathan Allen
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 291
Age: 22
College: Alabama
Draft Spot: 1.16
Team: Baltimore Ravens
Key Attributes:
Speed: 79
Strength: 73
Agility: 81
Acceleration: 87
Awareness: 70
Tackle: 79
Secondary Attributes:
Jump: 66
Catch: 25
Stamina: 86
Injury: 84
Toughness: 83
Commentary
I do love Jonathan Allen as a prospect, you can read most of my reasons on the analysis made for Garrett above, as somehow they’re similar prospects, the difference comes in size and speed, Allen is bigger and slower, also as said with Garrett the risk or reward of drafting a DE is a lottery with the speed skew, but if he was few points faster he would’ve been drafted before Garrett without doubts, and even with the pre-draft numbers I don’t see a considerable difference, understanding that Garrett premium value are his progressables, well Allen have them even better, and he’s a bigger DE, both lack strength to be considered an strong point and could even been seen as a weakness, cause on a 3-4 formation they could lack the power to beat OL, specially on a league where OL is faster and stronger than ever, but that’s why I love Allen, he’s smart and as said the league is becoming more physical so instead fight fire with fire is a good moment for try new approaches, and if OL is so powerful, try to outsmart it, Allen acceleration compensate his speed, that let’s clarify is not bad, but isn’t on the crazy high levels we’ve seen on another classes, 80 speed used to be the number that separated between slower and fast DE’s and Allen has the potential to be there.
DT Davon Godchaux
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 293
Age: 21
College: LSU
Draft Spot: 1.22
Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Key Attributes:
Speed: 80
Strength: 87
Agility: 84
Acceleration: 78
Awareness: 55
Tackle: 74
Secondary Attributes:
Jump: 39
Catch: 12
Stamina:69
Injury: 99
Toughness: 85
Commentary
The top prospects at DT position is like find a unicorn, they’re very weird, probably the last elite DT prospect joined the league was Terrance Knighton many moons back, then we can find pure DT prospects as Kenny Clark from last draft, and let’s be honest, the DT position is seen as one where can fill it easily with a mid late round pick, of someone that has strength and that can produce, not many DT’s have been productive on the league so the impact on the position is considered as small, I think part of this is cause we don’t have awareness at the position, we just simply don’t have it. But that’s not the topic we disussing here, why am I talking about DT prospects and not about Godchaux, well it’s simple I think that all the people that mocked him high on mocks, and people that considered to draft him were looking more at his potential to play as a 3-4 DE or even 4-3 DE he has the speed to do it. I said the weakness on prospects as Garrett and Allen was the strength, and well, Godchaux has it, with 87 str and 80 spd, with a big body frame I can see why he was potentially a better DE than the 2 natural players at the position. The idea of draft Godchaux probably was never to use him as DT, I would adventure here and say I’m one of the few GM’s would keep him as DT, I’m crazy at the position and do weird things, but the most logical spot for Godchaux is to play as a 3-4 DE. He lacks some acceleration to be considered high as defensive end, but at 78 is not that bad, and his awareness of 55 is low but as said above, I think many GM doesn’t care about it at the position, he being 21 yo made him an excellent prospect, and that’s why he was mocked top 10 at some articles.
OLB TJ Watt
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 243
Age: 21
College: Wisconsin
Draft Spot: 1.12
Team: Indianapolis Colts
Key Attributes:
Speed: 85
Strength: 85
Agility: 87
Acceleration: 92
Awareness: 63
Tackle: 74
Catch: 56
Secondary Attributes:
Jump: 63
Stamina: 80
Injury: 77
Toughness: 79
Commentary
Let me break a bit the league article neutral aspect and say: f u c k ! (Insert walter white) Colts got an stud at 1.12 pick, TJ Watt was without doubts one of the best prospects of the class, he’s only 21 yo, he’s tall at 6’4” , fast, strong and with top acceleration, he doesn’t come with absurb high awr and tackle, but that can be worked with some progression and he’s young, so time is not a problem. TJ Watt has the potential to become one of the best players at the position, will be interesting to know if he plays as LOLB or as ROLB, as LOLB he can use his size in a better way to stop the TE routes, while at ROLB he can shutdown the run game easily and produce double digit TFL. As with DE, draft an OLB on the draft is always a risk or a reward, top prospects can fall drastically on speed and players that didn’t grab much attention can become mid round steals if skew up, that’s one of the aspects I think people has on mind with the position, no one wants to risk a top pick for a player to skew down and then see someone took a player on the 3rd round that ended being better, that’s why I think draft prospects as Watt high is important, somehow the odds are in your favor, historically the position seems to have few impact when draft high, but let’s see what happens with TJ a player can become a difference maker since day one.
OLB Matt Milano
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 221
Age: 22
College: Boston College
Draft Spot: 1.32
Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Key Attributes:
Speed: 85
Strength: 81
Agility: 90
Acceleration: 96
Awareness: 67
Tackle: 67
Catch: 40
Secondary Attributes:
Jump: 67
Stamina: 83
Injury: 83
Toughness: 96
Commentary
I recap my previous statement here, with Matt Milano, I do consider the risk of a negative skew scare GM’s to draft the position so high, eventually would be cool if we could fix that aspect of the site but seems unlikely and probably something we already learned to live with. Milano is fast with 85 speed, and strong with 81. The attribute that takes him off-charts and place him on a unique spot is his acceleration, if somehow acceleration impacts the position in a big degree, Milano could become the best player at the position, the big flaw on Milano is his size, he’s not very tall and it’s a bit under-weight, still I believe that won’t play a critical aspect, and again let me skip the neutral writer part and say: f u c k ! Both Jaguars and Colts grabbed an incredible player, moving a bit from player topic, at 1.32 spot he seems as one of the candidates for steal of 1st round, or even candidate at draft steals if he becomes what that acceleration could indicate, but the price paid for Jaguars could’ve been so high. On recent seasons the league started a change of valuations, and a typical standard of late 1st for future 1st, have been tagged as a lose of value, this season no one even tried to do it, till on draft day Jaguars traded future 1st to a divisional rival for the worst 1st possible. Playing with young Winston, on a division with SB champion fully invested on win now, Colts that always are a competitive team, and Texans that also on win now mode, seems to be an unnecessary risk. Matt Milano as result of this will receive starter snaps since day 1 and will have the pressure to produce or otherwise could go from steal to lose of value.
MLB Trey Hendrickson
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 270
Age: 23
College: Florida A&M
Draft Spot: 1.20
Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Key Attributes:
Speed: 84
Strength: 83
Agility: 92
Acceleration: 96
Awareness: 64
Tackle: 81
Catch: 50
Secondary Attributes:
Jump: 59
Stamina: 78
Injury: 81
Toughness: 75
Commentary
Hendrickson been a hard to judge prospect all the off-season, the variation on mock drafts was massive some had him at top 10, and other falling to late 1st. And the player is very hard to jusge, first we have the position aspect, the MLB by league opinion is a devaluated position, and we’ve seen studs on past drafts to fall, but Hendrickson has this unique aspect, of the idea: what if he’s a difference maker, if you tell anybody you’re drafting an 84 spd MLB on 1st round, the reaction would be: what? That’s crazy, no 84 spd MLB worth a 1st, but Hendrickson brights on the secondaries, he has an elite and unique acceleration that just as happens with Milano, if the attribute offers an advantadge, that could be a game changer, he also comes with amazing agility, and he’s strong. But he’s also 270 pounds so he’s a big monster that even if doesn’t fly on the field he reacts very quickly and he could become a machine of tackle for lose. He falling to 1.20 is the confirmation that GM’s just don’t value MLB high enough to take some risk, but remember that things on life tend to go down and then up, and if Buccs are successful with Henrickson I can see many GM trying to replicate the formula on future drafts. The asterisk I place on Hendrickson is his age of 23, he needs to play and progress fast if he wants to produce, the high tackle for start career helps a lot and allow to focus on awareness.
CB
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 196
Age: 21
College: Alabama
Draft Spot: 1.3
Team: Oakland Raiders
Key Attributes:
Speed: 97
Strength: 44
Agility: 94
Acceleration: 97
Awareness: 66
Tackle: 57
Catch: 64
Jump: 85
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 83
Injury: 82
Toughness: 86
Commentary
Marlon Humphrey was arguably the best prospect of this draft, yeah Trubisky was the 1.1 pick and went that way on all mock drafts, but a 6”1 CB with 99 – 99 -99 potential that is only 21 yo and starts with high awareness is not common, I don’t think we’ve ever seen this, on a mentor era this means that when he’s 24 or 25 yo he’ll be so close to max awareness, we’ve seen similar players being drafted at top 5 in past drafts, but somehow are older or with less awareness, Humphrey could have better hands and tackle but in a personal opinion I think CB is about awr, I would take a CB with low catch and tackle all day if have high awareness, the key to have a solid defense is to have top CB, that’s why is a premium position and everybody want to have them. The position is very painful to grow, because low awr means to allow long TD and that lead to lose games, the 180 change have been on the league is incredible, I think seasons ago a fast CB with good size was very valuable, but now if doesn’t have high awareness they’re seen as 2nd hand products, teams just don’t want to run that risk. If someone learns a good method for develop CB could end with a super team, but in the meanwhile prospects as Humphrey are extremely elite cause offers the best of 2 worlds, is smart with an excellent learning curve while at same time is extremely athletic.
CB Tre’Davious White
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 192
Age: 22
College: LSU
Draft Spot: 1.13
Team: San Diego Chargers
Key Attributes:
Speed: 97
Strength: 44
Agility: 98
Acceleration: 98
Awareness: 61
Tackle: 61
Catch: 62
Jump: 90
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 82
Injury: 86
Toughness: 72
Commentary
Lets link a bit the analysis of Humphrey with White one, cause somehow they have a relationship, Chargers decided to pass on Humphrey at 1.2 and instead took White at 1.13, I just said how high I think of Humphrey but lets face another perspective… The draft class at CB was very deep, and seems to me that recently the fall between top CB’s and those are draft later is not so significant, even if lucky with skew can end being better, so let’s see the 2 players, white has extraordinary physical abilities, and starts with 61 awr, is less than Humphrey but is not a massive difference, now lets talk about the size, I do preffer to have a 6”1 CB every day but we’ve seen so many short CB being successful, that 5’11” is not a reason for not draft a player, White is a very well rounded kind of player, and the reasons I just listed are probably the reason why Humphrey wasn’t draft at 1.2, without doubts is a better prospect but I think the bet here is that the difference is not that significant
CB Justin Hardee
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 200
Age: 22
College: Illinois
Draft Spot: 1.14
Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Key Attributes:
Speed: 98
Strength: 46
Agility: 97
Acceleration: 98
Awareness: 57
Tackle: 66
Catch: 64
Jump: 99
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 75
Injury: 82
Toughness: 77
Commentary
And here we’re again with the same theme, Hardee fall to 1.14 pick, yeah a CB that is 6”1 and extremely fast with potential to be 99 spd – 99 agi – 99 acc and 99 jmp, have fall into a mid 1st, if you ask me it’s hilarious how the position valuation have changed, is it clear that 1) draft class has a lot of talent at position and 2) high 90’s are not that weird anymore, we’re past behind the days when speed was weird at position and a difference maker, now you need a CB to be very tall or very smart to be considered truly special, and yeah I’m aware that not all teams are able to draft a Hardee every draft and that the position requires at least 3 – 4 players, so is a deep position, but players like Hardee are now just seen as not worthy cause awareness and let’s clarify it, his awareness is not even bad, he’s a tremendous prospects. Anyone on the league myself included would love to have a CB like justin in our teams, but the current mindset seems to be: If not smart, I won’t take the project, and yeah I completely agree on the aspect that awareness is a critical aspect on the position, but can be growth, specially on an era with a mentor, I’ve tracked learning curves of previous drafts players, CB that now we see and are considered top of the top, many started with awr on the 50’s and reached a high 90’s point without even need a mentor, I think if willing to give snaps and run the risk of allow big TD as result of it, CB position have somehow devaluated, a very top CB is extremely expensive and they’re almost never avail for sale, and with good reason, they’re the soul and heart of a defense, but this kind of drops in draft day gotta take an impact in our valuations. Jaguars got an excellent prospect here
FS Malik Hooker
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 205
Age: 21
College: Ohio State
Draft Spot: 1.25
Team: Indianapolis Colts
Key Attributes:
Speed: 88
Strength: 63
Agility: 89
Acceleration: 89
Awareness: 69
Tackle: 64
Catch: 64
Jump: 87
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 78
Injury: 96
Toughness: 64
Commentary
Breck did say multiple times he was targeting Hooker and he ended with him, truth is I really liked him, he’s a tremendous prospect specially as how has been mentioning during all this article, it’s undeniable that awr is growing as an aspect GM taking very seriously for evaluate players, and as everything on life I think it’ll come with a double edge sword, it’s important to understand when awr worth it and when studness worth it. Physically speaking Hooker I not a super uber elite player, like Hall from Chiefs or Yancy from Jets. But he’s 6”2 with decent 88 speed, only 21 yo and has high awr, those are undeniable factors, and I consider Hooker will be an extremely productive player, hate seen him go to a direct rival, and as can see Colts and Jaguars had excellent drafts but is part of fun at the league. Hooker is the kind of player that will use his brain for do the plays, and in a position is hard to progress as Safety I seen him being one of the most productive players at position in some seasons, without doubts he’ll reach 99 awr, and that’s always good.
SS Eddie Jackson
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 194
Age: 22
College: Alabama
Draft Spot: 1.5
Team: Atlanta Falcons
Key Attributes:
Speed: 95
Strength: 67
Agility: 99
Acceleration: 99
Awareness: 63
Tackle: 74
Catch: 49
Jump: 89
Secondary Attributes:
Stamina: 97
Injury: 88
Toughness: 95
Commentary
I don’t remember a single safety prospect receiving the attention Jackson has received on Mock Drafts, he looks like a generational talent, a Safety that with a solid skew and investment could be 99 – 99 – 99, that’s extremely special. At first glance he was one of the most special players on this class, his awareness is solid, and his tackle as well, his only flaw is his catch rating, but let’s face it, no one will pass a top safety for his catch rating, they seem to intercept based on position and not necessary on hands. He’s 6”0 so he isn’t as tall as other prospects we’ve seen on previous drafts, that’s possible the only aspect that prevent him being called the definitive Safety prospect. Those levels of agility and acceleration have never been seen at the position, mostly are seen only at CB and WR. So the way I would define Jackson is : A CB playing as Safety without the horrendous -50% awr the out of position imply, on the past I’ve tried it, playing a CB there and let me tell you, the experience is awful, that awr drop is clearly there, and doesn’t matter how fast the player is, will bite the PA or miss the tackle that ends on a TD. But with Jackson the situation is different, can have the best of both worlds, and with this speed he can become a lock for deep passes, also if he blitz the QB will be on problems, or can use those fast legs for close the routes for running backs, overall a player with the skills Jackson has, makes a difference on any defense
