You guys just might make a believer in me on this guy. He showed up to the combine at a much lighter 252lbs --- he was listed as high as 270. Did better than Laurinaitis & Maualuga on the bench. Not that this would catapault him into the 1st round, it just shows that he came prepared & is eager. Would be a great 5th rounder, but he might not get out of the 4th round. If it has to come between McKillop & Brinkley,......its a no brainer for JB.
I've been talking about him for a long time now - glad some different posters are talking about him too. If Brinkley didn't tear up his knee last season, he'd be the best inside linebacker prospect if it wasn't for Aaron Curry. I think he lost some speed with the injury, but by losing all of that weight, he should be back to form. 4.65 40 at the combine today...
Looks good running, if he plays in the pros, like he did in 2006.....he will be a huge steal. Imagine if Jasper didn't get hurt and was productive all 3 years at SC......Rd 1 lock. The guy looks like a ILB. 4.65.....4.69 I'm projecting Rd 3 for Brinkley.
Its seems to me that we are going to have to strongly consider trading down to pick up extra picks. 17 might be too early for the WRs that we've been looking at (Hakeem Nicks, Kenny Britt, etc). I'm a Vontae Davis fan, but we might need to drop down & pick up extra 2nd + 3rd round draft picks so that we have the flexibility to draft a Jarron Gilbert, Jaspar Brinkley, Andre Brown, Emanuel Cook & Trevor Canfield.
Couple of questions. Does the knee injury make him a risk? I mean, has it been problematic or is there a high percentage chance that he'll re-injure it? Also, does losing speed affect his play at ILB? Is he more of a run stuffer and block-shedder like Harris or does he have coverage ability that has suffered from his loss of speed?
I don't mind this... get as much depth as possible.. there aren't many places for rookies to start, only at the CB,S, and WR positions if the Jets get an ILB in FA. depth is where this team is crying. and mangini really never took care of that. Herm ignored the lines, Mangini ignored the depth at positions.
Not to make this a pile on Mangini/Edwards argument, but I agree completely. We didnt have a single legitimate starter injury in 2008 and we still finished behind the PATS who lost a lot of key players --- Brady, R. Harrison, Bruschi, A. Thomas, Maroney who hardly played, Ty Warren missed a bunch of games + so did Wilfork, etc etc etc.
I have fallen firmly into this camp this weekend. For our needs, their just wont be that top guy we want sitting there at 17. I would rather drop back in round one, or out of it completely while snagging multiple picks, and picking up a first next year. this is just the route I think we should go.
the Pats nearly had that formula perfected until they had their 2nd first rounder taken last draft. They always had the extra 1st and got more picks because they traded back.. but there are too many sweet defensive players in the middle of this draft for Ryan to say no to them, if Scott doesn't come here. I think he is in love with Rey Mauluaga, but won't tell anybody yet.
Brinkley looks like a man wanting to get back to where he was... dropping that much weight and looking great at the combine will have teams looking at him in the early 2nd day... i don't know if he'll break the 1st day since they only do 2 rounds.
1. Any past injury is a concern. His ACL was successfully repaired, but there's always chance of knee injuries. On any play, any player's career can end. That's a danger of this game. 2. After the combine, it really looks like Brinkley has regained most of his speed - the lost weight helped out a lot. He plays a lot like David Harris - he's more of a thumper. Brinkley plays with great power and reckless abandon. He was never much a coverage linebacker, but a lot of that has to do with his technique. If we draft Brinkley, he'll be a two-down player...he's so good against the run, but a liability in coverage. He makes most blockers look like rag dolls. He's going to be a very valuable pick as a 3-4 ILB. In my opinion, he's a rotational linebacker. In the 3-4, you can never have too many of those...
Yeah, I wasn't sure what the injury was. There are some injuries that have a higher chance of recurring; ACL is definitely a risk. Having said that, if the value is right in a middle-round (R3 or R4), and if we sign Scott, I'd be all for taking Brinkley as depth and so he can learn behind Harris and Scott. Even if we don't get an LB this draft, I'm excited to see if Ryan can make anything out of Cummings and Murrell.
ILBs with his size, speed and strength are sought after in the draft. He had a great showing at the combine coming in lighter and faster, but still with a good bench press performance. I would guess he'll be chosen by a 3-4 team as early as the 2nd round... It's been said, but his injury history is one of his bigger weaknesses..
I say we save our money in free agency and draft a LB in either of the first two rounds. I saw every South Carolina game in the past 3 years, Brinkley is legit. His Junior year performance honestly reminded me of Ray Lewis.
No doubt Brinkley had a very good showing this week and answered a number of questions He wasn't in my pre-combines TOP 10 positional rankings, but he'll definitely be in my post combines rankings
i agree. I feel if we are able to draft Brinkley in the 3rd or 4th he will complement our ILB position with incredible depth and strength.
I agree. I'd resign Barton for a one or two year deal and take Brinkley in the 3rd. EDIT: That 3rd round grade is somewhat oblivious to his injury history and apparently he still had the effects this year.. So he could be around in the 4th, 5th or beyond. He's a wildcard to go between the 2nd and 7th IMO because teams will likely have mixed views on his injury history... I'd take him in the 3rd though..
Great post...I've seen a couple of interviews with him as well after games and what not, and he seems like a really intelligent high character guy. Would love to have him wreck havoc in the middle with David Harris. His style of play reminds me a lot of Jon Goff (the LB from Vanderbilt last year)...just a hardworking tackler that is a little bit of a liability in coverage, but a monster when it came to stopping the run in college. I really wanted Goff last year, but I think we passed and took Ainge instead. Jasper will probably go in the 3rd-4th round, so hopefully we can add some depth and see if the kid could potentially be a starter for us. Id love to see him in green and white
