In addition to my opinion, here is a report I found post Senior Bowl week on Sports Illustrated about Hurts as somebody that slid at Mobile.
Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.72)]: Hurts had an up and down week followed by a similar performance in-game. He needs a lot of work to be more of a quarterback for the NFL. Based on his current ability, there are few teams that will want to draft him. The potential is there, but he is a long-term project.[/COLOR][COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.72)]
https://www.si.com/nfl/broncos/draft/denver-broncos-at-the-senior-bowl-5-risers-5-fallers-offense
[/COLOR]
And you realize ALL of these are opinions of many various people. None of it becomes fact until it becomes fact. Senior Bowl week does not make a career. I actually watched Hurts play for Bama and for OK several games for several seasons. MY OPINION is what I have seen him do makes him a better QB than what I have watched Tyrod Taylor do.(YOUR comparison) Better than what I watched Lamar Jackson do as well. Hurts completed right at 70% of his passes his JR and SR seasons(73&70). Not a good passer? He rushed for 43 TDs and over 3200 yards in 3.5 seasons. Not a good runner?(YOU said he is slow). We will just have to disagree because apparently we judge by different variables.
1. we know that college stats don't tell the entire story, otherwise Danny Weurffel, Jason White and Tim Couch would all have been great NFL QB's.
2. where did I say that Hurts is slow? I believe that he is slower than Tyrod Taylor, but still his athletic skills are better than his throwing skills at this point. I think he is probably faster than Prescott.
3. I don't think Lamarr Jackson is a great QB that is some benchmark. I think the Titans showed in the playoffs that if you take away his running ability and make him throw the football to beat you, his current accuracy issues will show as a weakness. I think he needs to work on his passing game and like other athletic guys before him like Mike Vick, Randall Cunningham, Vince Young, his legs are better than his arm skills.
4. Jalen Hurts is a competitor, a winner, leader and by all accounts a solid young man with great character. I also think he is a long term project at QB and one that may never end up being a NFL starter. Kind of a Tim Tebow for this generation. For that I don't see him being worth a 2nd round pick.
OK. Overall we're mostly in agreement.
1. I did post college stats but I also mentioned that I watched him play at Bama and OK, and from what I see(my opinion) he's much better than the way you describe/compare him.
2/3/4. I took from you comparing Hurts to Dak and then saying Dak is a slow Taylor that you were saying Hurts is slow. That may just be me reading into that more than what you meant by it. However, I don't think Hurts passing skill is that far behind his running skill.(from a football IQ POV) I think he's further along than Cam Newton was at this point. Hurts is a much better passer than Vick, and VY already, IMO. I haven't watched Cunningham in so long I won't even comment. Tebow is just a silly comparison when talking overall talent at the QB position. I see Hurts as more like a Russell Wilson comparison. No he is not a finished product and that is sort of my point as well. Hurts has shown improvement, marked improvement each season as a QB. That tells me he has not reach his ceiling and his floor is already high.
Even with all of his injuries Tua is considered a better prospect than Hurts and predicted to be drafted before Hurts, by 2 rounds on some expert boards. I don't agree with this assessment either so it's not just you. Then again, I'm just a guy with a keyboard talking shit risk free. What do I know?
A strong safety prospect to take a longer look at is Geno Stone of Iowa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiWMV6zpPCE
Correct. Maybe a nickel/SS player depending on the future of Hilton and Sutton too. In 3 years he has 6INTs and 7PDs with 4Forced Fumbles. Current backup safeties are Dangerfield and Kelley? Stone has more position flexibility and is a tackling machine. I'd consider him a 6th round steal. Probably late 4th or in the 5th.
Bryce Hall, CB Virginia, 6'-200lbs.
Outside CB depth currently is Haden/Layne and Nelson/Burns. We must move Burns off this roster and Hall makes that move an easy no-brainer. Would probably have to grab him at 49 though. I doubt he would be there at 98. This would not be an immediate need pick but an acceptable pick IMO due to a huge hole at CB depth behind Nelson. I'm not going to post links here but you guys can easily find highlights and game footage.
Yeah, that's right along with my assessment of him too. I am a Hawkeye fan and have seen him play a lot. To me his a touch better than Big Red and with a higher ceiling. He's not really fast, certainly not faster than Edmunds or Fitz. But I can see where he would be an upgrade or Dangerfield in a year or two. Round 6 or 7 prospect in my opinion.
Thanks for the input. I see him as pretty much the same as you. A guy that isn't fast enough to cover slot receivers, nor tall enough to matchup with TE's, but will come and make tackles after the catch or in the run game. So he is basically a reserve safety and special teamer. Those guys are available all over the place and unless somebody sees him as something more, he should have stayed in school for his senior year at Iowa maybe.
A couple of Vols WRs that could be intriguing mid to late round picks.
Jauan Jennings - 6'3" 206lbs, 5th yr senior, 14.7 yards per reception.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb...ennings-1.html
Marquez Callaway - 6'2" 190lbs, senior, 17.9 yards per reception.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb...allaway-1.html
Bryan Edwards, WR South Carolina, 6'3" - 215lbs. Plays from the slot, outside, and as a punt returner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdBe857dR38
Bryan Edwards highlights vs Bama 2019:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNkkH6SJEjY
This is a player I would be willing to spend that 3rd round comp pick on. Clean bill of health at the combine is a must obviously.
Colby Parkinson, TE Stanford, 6'7" - 251lbs. Plays as a receiving TE from the slot or outside. Not going to give much in-line run blocking(6'7") but decent in pass pro. Enormous catch radius, seam runner, and redzone weapon. Probably looking at 4th/5th round prospect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTmeTO2_SI8
Dale Lolley has us picking him in the 4th round:
Round 4A: Colby Parkinson, TE, Stanford: Parkinson (6-foot-7, 251 pounds) has excellent size for the position. And he's also played all over in the Stanford offense, lining up inside and outside. Parkinson has great hands and is a nice red zone target, as his 12 touchdowns on 89 career catches would suggest.
https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2...ning-back-fdl/
Over the past decade, Stanford seems to have produced quite a few TE prospects. None have been world beaters, but there are plenty of decent-to-good TEs coming out of that school.
Zach Ertz
Austin Hooper
Dalton Schultz
Kaden Smith
Levine Toilolo
Coby Fleener
IDL Ross Blacklock, TCU 6'4" - 300lbs
https://www.draftblaster.com/2020-nf...ock-highlights
A lot of mock drafts have 2-3 IDL taken in the 1st round depending. They ALL seem to go Brown, Kinlaw, and then Gallimore. In that order. Blacklock is a junior(Steelers like underclassmen)
https://thedraftnetwork.com/prospect-rankings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0gCkzqJ9O0
IDL Neville Gallimore, Oklahoma Sooners 6'5" 315lbs
vs Texas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fSDlTTQX0s
vs Iowa State https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LbyfqNxG9s
Maybe my favorite IDL in this draft. I do not see this guy dropping to 49. Fun to watch though, take a look.
The offense needs to be addressed early and often in this draft, with TE and RB being priorities, IMO. After those positions OC/G and DT and MAYBE QB. I think we might take a flyer in the seventh round on a WR, if at all. The problem I see with RBs is that most starting RBs will be likely gone by pick 49. But, if Dobbins falls to 49 and we don't pick him I might smash my TV.
I think we use our option with Dupree. If not, my reasoning is all wet and an edge rusher becomes our priority at pick #49
Players who COULD be there at 49 that fit the needs as I see them are (non edge rusher list):
Bryce Hopkins, TE, Purdue
John Simpson, OG, Clemson
Neville Gallimore, NT, Oklahoma
Shane Lemieux, OG, Oregon
Jordan Love, QB, Utah State
Jake Fromm, QB, Georgia
The 'we lost Dupree' list is:
Terrell Lewis, Edge, Alabama
If it looks like Edge is the priority then we better sell the farm to get Lewis. After him there's a pretty big drop off and you may as well go back to the first list and grab a lower rated prospect in the 4th.
Gallimore and Lemieux would both be hard to pass up whether or not Dupree stays. I see those 2 talents as BPA in this draft in the 2nd round.
I see the exact opposite on how you describe WR and RB. I could see getting a WR in the 2nd or 3rd with the high level talent in this class. If the Steelers do draft a RB I would be surprised if it were before the 6th round. My reason for that is if you look at this RB stable Conner is the 'old man' entering his 4th season. Samuels and Edmunds will be in their 3rd and Snell and Whyte just starting their 2nd seasons. I honestly don't see throwing another rookie RB into the RB room. However in the WR room you have JuJu, Wash, and Johnson. Behind them there is the group of Holton, Cain, Henderson, Switzer and a couple guys that I don't recognize as having played a down. Plus the steelers have been successful in finding WRs in the draft. It would not surprise me at all to see a WR drafted in any round.
Just curious, what is the reason you put Hopkins over the rest of the TE class in this draft?
Edge player, Terrell Lewis, Alabama 6'5" - 258lbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCn20thOAc0
vs South Carolina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP67DilLriM
vs Auburn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smaEas-HG-c
"Just curious, what is the reason you put Hopkins over the rest of the TE class in this draft?"
I don't think that he's the top TE in this draft. I actually think that Kmet is the best TE in 2020, but will be gone by pick #49. I would not be surprised if the Pats took him at #23, even though that is a reach. They need a high quality TE for their offense and Kmet is #1. Will he be there at #87? No!
After Kmet is everyone else, all with a different mix of size, speed, make up and so forth. Of the other nine of the top 10 TEs I think that Hopkins has the best mix of size, route running, speed and hands. Some like Okwuegbunam, but he's a bit of a head case. Parkinson looks like Tarzan but is slow and a bad route runner. Moss and Pinkney are both 6'3" with the same 40 time as Hopkins. AND, Hopkins is a leader. I like him. Can he be had in the 4th? Maybe.
We can agree to disagree on WR vs. RB. I am not impressed by any of our RBs currently. This is perhaps my bias, but I wouldn't mind if you cut them all and started over. Conner is a good kid, but he's hurt 50% of the time. Samuals? OK, keep him for your third back. Edwards? Cut him! Slow! Snell? Slow! Off with his head! Whyte? Has some speed, but goes down when touched by a finger. There is nobody in the RB room currently who strikes fear in any defensive coordinator.
WR, on the other hand, (when healthy) has JUJU, Washington and Johnson. How many four WR sets are you planning on running? Bring in a quality TE to that mix and you've got something going. What's Heath Miller doing these days? Come back, Heath!
I don't think RB, WR, or QB will be much of a priority in this draft. But if ranking the value of these positions heading into 2020 season I would go WR, QB, RB. TE will be a priority barring a FA signing, I just don't know at what value this class of TE falls in the overall draft pool. I think because Steelers fans want the next Heath, we see other teams putting that same value on the players that fit us. As you mention all of these TEs have their own set of warts so which one can come into a team and produce right away? Maybe it is Brycen Hopkins, maybe Kmet, maybe it's Deguara from Cincy, I have no idea. But I do think the Steelers will draft one of these guys.
My opinion of this draft's priority mainly stays on the OL and defensive front 7. I think even if Dupree comes back for the hometown discount there is a very real need for quality backup at OLB. If Dupree leaves the OLB situation is currently screwed. Another thumper ILB would not be the worst addition. Another 2 gap penetrator on the DL would be a good fit. This draft is rich in offensive linemen talent. It wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit to get a Tackle and a Guard.
I'm not sold that with the needs/talent available this draft is where I would spend my high pick capital on a 'maybe' TE. Not when there is sure WR talent that can do what these TEs do only with better route running and faster. As always though, just my opinion.
We can scratch Damon Arnette (CB, The Ohio State University) off of the list. Apparently, he skipped some of the practices for The Combine. People are ripping him left & right. Deservedly so. He’s not serious about his career. He’s a “me” guy.
What an a$$hole!!!
Oh... Arnette was at the hospital for the birth of his child. But, forget all of that!!! Angst, ANGST, ANGST!!!
Tyler Huntley QB Utah 6'1" - 205lbs
67.2% career completion percentage with 46 passing TDs to 20 INTs. 16 rushing TDs, 1 receiving TD.
vs USC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIpiiSmwy1w
vs Oregon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j86X2pT5Fs
Chase Claypool WR, Notre Dame
6' 4" 229 lbs
He's one of those guys that won't go early, but has the potential to do damage at the NFL level as a big WR that can play slot or outside, that can really block and can make some plays down the field.
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/chase-...1-bfb9899e5d84
I think he goes in the 2nd round. Shows some basketball type use of body and footwork to make contested catches. I see some similarities to Devin Funchess, but Claypool looks like a better route runner and blocker IMO. Although, a slow 40 always moves WR's up or down in the process.