Canty played at about 10-15 pounds heavier than Long at UVA. What made him such a likable prospect at 3-4 DE is that he was 6'7 wth a long frame. He had a ton of room to fill out, and he holds 300 pounds on his frame better than Long probably ever will.
Who do you like at 3-4 DE in this draft? Unless Long answers the weight questions, I think Moore and Balmer are the best bets to be good DEs.
I think Long would just be a really nice player to get. Whether it's OLB or RE there is a pretty good chance he becomes a really solid player.
Again, totally irrelevant to what he'll do in the pros. Derrick Strait won the Thorpe award. That didn't mean much. Canty actually wasn't much bigger than long in college, and the only reason he wasn't a first round pick was because he missed most of his senior year and then got into a drunken bar fight. Long is having an unbelievable year but he might be more of a full sized left end in a 4-3. The ACC is not the NFL. If the Jets are concerned with getting a playmaker, it should be at linebacker, where Hobson is merely a good starter and Thomas is a disaster. The only guys worth a high draft pick in a 3-4 defense are Richard Seymour types and giant nose tackles. If the Jets end up in the top 5 and don't trade down to take a 3-4 end, they're kidding themselves. -X-
He's running 4.87 to 4.74 now and that's marginal for a 4-3 LE and out of the question for a 4-3 RE. If he bulks up 15 pounds and can maintain that then he has some real possibilities as a 4-3 LE. He just doesn't look like a 3-4 fit.
See Derrick Strait for why performance in NCAA football does not carry through to the NFL unless it's backed by the physical skills required. Some guys are amazing physical specimens who can't put it all together, like Dewayne Robertson. Other guys are heady, with a knack for being in the right place at the right time, like Strait. If you want an NFL star you need both. Taking guys high based on one or the other is an accident waiting to happen. The combine sorts out the guys whose skills are subpar and drops them like it did to Strait, unfortunately it also promotes the guys like D-Rob who will never be stars except in the occasional contract year.
See Adrian Peterson and a lot of other college All-Americans that were drafted high "for why" performance in NCAA does carry through to the NFL. Chris Long does have the physical skills required, you guys are knocking him because he weighs 10 pounds less than what you want.
Probably more like 15-20. Seymour...Spears...Castillo....Warren...Ngata... All at least 295 pounds...and all besides Spears were all at least 300.
Adrian Peterson is a bad example because he had the performance at the NCAA level and he also had the physical skills that go with the performance. Chris Long does not. He's had a great college career based on pushing around a bunch of offensive linemen who are going to be working in suits in a year or two. 275 isn't going to get anything done in the NFL when it's attached to the speed and quickness that he exhibits. That's not to say he can't buck up 15-20 pounds and play LE in a 4-3 and turn into a good player, because he can. He isn't naturally suited for any of the positions in a 4-3 or 3-4 defense at the moment. The things he can change are in his bulk and strength, although he has to be really careful he doesn't lose a step doing that because he isn't going to be able to shift inside to DT, which is where he'd have to go if he was a 4.95-5.05 guy in the 40. To give you an idea: Shaun Ellis came out of Tennessee 8 years ago at 6'4" 276 and with a 4.69-4.82 spread in his 40 times. He was projected as a 3-4 left end or possibly a 4-3 right (3-technique) tackle. In the intervening 7 years players have gotten larger. Long would have to be 285 or so and running the same 4.69-4.82 that Ellis ran in 2000 to be as good a prospect. And Ellis went 12th in the draft. I make Long out to be a reasonable gamble in the mid-1st round somewhere, assuming he fits the defensive system in use by his team.
I think Mangini is going to fall in love with Chris Long...he can use him just like the raiders used Howie Long. MOVE HIM ALL OVER THE PLACE... Long could play both DE positions in the 3-4, he can play DE in the 4-3 when we in fact play it...he can play OLB and either drop back in coverage or he can bring some pressure off the edge. I think Long would be a good fit for the Jets based simply on his outstanding intangibles and versatility.
I feel the same way, sort of. WARNING: You're about to get bashed by everyone...because Long isn't "fast enough" or "big enough".
Ha, it is a touchy subject for Jets fans. The only POSSIBLE negative is the guys size "problem"... None of us really know what his playing weight is now and we don't know how much weight he can add to fit our defense. But my guess is if we draft him, Mangini won't want him to gain any weight... Mangini will draft him to play a couple of positions on defense...not just one. So for him to gain 15 pounds so that he would be around 290 might not even be what the Jets would want from him. I don't think we should be worried because if the Jets don't think he will fit in our defense, they won't draft him.
lets draft long and hamper our team with another bryan thomas like player.....no thanks. long will get bounced around in the big boy league of the nfl. overhyped is a good word in the same sentance as his name.
Why are you acting like 10 pounds isn't significant? Is size the only thing that matters? Of course not, but when your defense is struggling because the line is very undersized you don't fix it by adding another undersized linemen. Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork are 2 of the best 3-4 linemen in the NFL, they have 1 sack and 35 tackles between them this year. The point of a 3-4 linemen isn't to make plays, it's occupy blockers so your linebackers can make plays. I think Chris Long would make a great 4-3 end, but the jets don't run a 4-3, Chris Long is going to get knocked on his ass every play with the Jets, especially without a true NT.
