If Branch dropped to 25, which I see as a very good possibility, I still don't think we would take the guy. Everything I see on him is how he was lazy- It kind of bothers me that they would pass on that kind of talent, because of something so easy to fix, as work ethic. I tend to believe that that talent is what matters, and work ethic can be taught by good coaches. When I was in college, I would work very hard for some teachers, and not so much for others-- all depends on how well they motivate you. I see it as a reality that this staff would pass on Branch, and would reach for say Eric Weddle, who is a hard worker. We had a nice draft last year, but we had lots of high picks--this year will tell the story on how well we really draft. We passed on guys like Ko Simpson, Max Jean, and Gabe Watson, and reached for E Smith, and AS. Smith was better than I expected, but not near the level of Simpson. Imagine if we picked Mark Anderson, and Ko Simpson in rd 3? ( I wanted both guys) I'm hoping they may value talent a little more than smarts this year- seems like we missed out on some obvious players because we reached for guys less talent, and high smarts, or work ethic. I think it's up to the coaches to get the most out of players-- if a guy has minor character issues- or has shown to be somewhat lazy at times, but is a great talent- take a shot on him, and do your job to coach him up right. These guys are so young, they can be molded into whatever you want. Don't take the easy way out-- put some work into a guy, and develop him into a star. Bobby Engram stole a TV when at PSU-- Joe Paterno had the option of kicking him off the team, or keeping him around to possibly influence him, and make him a better man. He did keep him around, and now he's a good guy because of that. I like that school of thought-- be tough, but don't give up on guys, help them if they have problems, and develop their talent.
You'll see- the guy is dropping big time- out of shape in workouts, looked soft at the combine. Out of Kipers top 25, scouts saying he looked like a mid round prospect. Michigan guys have been over hyped- Shazor, and Watson are recent examples.
I do agree that I want the Jets to focus more on talent than on character this year, but at the same time I think you're underrating the talent we took last year. I used to feel the exact same way about Smith and Schlegel, but then I saw that Smith was actually one of the drafts most explosive athletes at the draft last year. So was D'Brick. I'm pretty sure Mangold was there, and Leon was definitely there. Fact is, the Jets had alot more than character in mind last year. Theres a post on jetsinsider.com where a fan showed that the Jets drafted some of last years most explosive athletes from the combine. Based off a formula that took in the 40 times, bench press, long jump, and their veritcal...D'Brick, Smith, Smith, and Leon were some of the best athletes in the draft last year. I'm going to have to find that post though. http://www.jetsinsider.net/forums/showthread.php?t=140404 I think this formula is better to find sleeper guys than evaluate the whole draft on. What seperates most elite prospects from other guys is their production, where they played, their combine numbers, and so on.
Do you have that link? I didn't think Brick worked out much at the combine? I'd like to see that anyway, about the only trend I saw was Academic All Americans. Maybe It will give me a better idea for who they're targeting.
I'd like to see the link as well, but if true, this is really interesting and something that I really didn't see.
D'Brick graded out at a 65 on the Triangle Number. Mangold graded out as a 60, but he dominated the 3 cone and 20 yard shuttle (which I would think is way more important for a lineman). Smith and Washington both surpassed the 70 mark at 71.6 and 71.7.
Now that your back everyday can You take your team back in the bfl draft ? You know exactly what hes saying. Stop.
At the moment, Branch looks like a lock top tener, if he falls out of the top ten no conceivable way he makes it past a few of those teams 11-16.
You're stuck in the same mock drafts that had Watson, and Gilles as 1st, 2nd rounders. You may end up be right, but I trust what scouts, and Kiper say over most mocks.
I'm going on the word of a scout from one of those teams in the 11-16 range, or else I wouldn't be that sure. Branch does have a lot of the same concerns as the guys you mentioned, but he also draws comparisons to the countless DTackles taken at the latter end of the top 14 or so picks that many considered higher picks before draft day. There were guys that proved to be steals, like John Henderson, and busts, like Jimmy Kennedy, but either way that's where I'd slot him.
Runningbacks securing the ball poorly or lineman not using their legs as much as they should is something that is easy to fix. A poor work ethic is not. Branch's offseason is mirroring Jimmy Kennedy of PSU a couple years ago and and now St. Louis is possibly in the market for Branch because Kennedy has not progressed. Every year the draft is riddled with guy with tons of talent but no drive or passion for football and 98 out of 100 don't pan out. Every time I'd take the guy who wants to work over the guy with more talent.
