If either Hutchinson or Thibodeaux is there at #4, JD should grab him, and I think he will, but in all likelihood, we won't get a chance to draft either. Thus we're looking at 2nd tier Edges. The rankings have been all over the place, but I have tried to come up with a composite of how they seen are below. My memory may be a little off on some of them. George Karlaftis, Purdue David Ojabo, Michigan Kingsley Enigbare, South Carolina Travon Walker, UGA Myjai Sanders, Cincinnati Arnold Ebikitie, Penn St. Drake Jackson, Univ. Southern Cal. Jermaine Johnson, FSU Cameron Thomas, San Diego St. Nick Bonitto, Oklahoma Zack Harrison, Ohio St. Logan Hall, Houston Isaiah Foskey, Notre Dame
Will you George Karlaftis fans please explain what it is that you like about him to me other than his speed? Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I watched a lot of video of him today, and I just don't see it.
No love for my guy Josh Paschal from UK??? SMH lol jk For Karlaftis, I truly think he's on that 2nd tier by himself. He's not on the level of Hutchinson or Thibodeaux but he's right below them. Dude's got a non-stop motor and has borderline elite "get off" when the ball is snapped. He's more of a power rusher at his point but you can see glimpses of the hand counters and bend that would make him a truly elite EDGE at the next level. Here's a thread from Dane Brugler showcasing Karlaftis' game against Iowa's OL. When you turn on Karlaftis' tape, you either see this or him getting double-teamed constantly. I'd love to see him on a DL with Quinnen, Lawson, and JFM.
Karlaftis has the size, speed, power and moves to be a good DE. So the measurables check out. However, he needs to work on his hands on initial contact. OT at the pro level are to good to not have good hand technique. The thing that impresses me the most though is his motor. The kid doesn’t stop or quit on any play. He is also a good fit as a 4-3 DE in our scheme. At 10 I can definitely live with the pick. There should be 2 other prospects I highly covet at that spot too in Garrett Wilson and Devin Lloyd that I’d prefer but I can understand the pick and be excited for it if it’s Karlaftis at 10. At 4 if they took him I’d feel it’s a bit of a reach and wish JD slid down a few spots. If they took him at 4 it wouldn’t be pitch forks and torches but questions will be asked why they wouldn’t take Stingley or try to slide down. At the end of the day if they love him they might have to take him at 4 and once again I can understand it because edge rushers is a premium position on the field.
Sorry, but I have to totally disagree with you, especially about the non-stop motor. I watched two different highlight videos, and I watched videos of the Oregon St.and Ohio St. games, and I don't think I've ever seen a DL dog it the way he did. Often he was content to just run into his assigned blocker and stand there. At other times, he would run into a double or triple team and make no effort to get away and the blockers didn't really try to drive him anywhere either. It was like they were having a little tea party or coffee clutch. There were times when he could have made a tackle and he made no effort would just kind of lazily jog behind the play. There were a few times when he disengaged from his blocker and would tackle the runner, but there more times when it was obvious that he had no clue where the ball was, and the ball carrier ran right beside or behind him, and he failed to realize it, disengage, and make the play. I see ZERO bend and flexibility in him. I saw no hint of bend or flexibility on any of his rushes, and I was looking for it. Most of his rushes that I saw were speed, and the rest were power/bull rushes, and often he either ran himself out of the play having to line up so wide because he has no bend or the OT just easily pushed him upfield. I only recall his beating his man maybe 2-3 times. The rest of the time when got a sack or tackled a runner for a loss, it was because he was never blocked on the play. I also saw zero sign of hand usage in spite of one of the announcers raving over his hand usage on two plays and how he had been working with MMA to improve his hand usage. I watched both plays 3 times, and in one of them he used his hands to push off of the OL and propel himself towards the QB, but he did not club the OL hands down or swipe them to the side, no swim move, anything of the sort on either play. At this point, personally, I think he has bust written all over him, and I hope the Jets aren't even considering him. The fact that Dane Brugler likes him, confirms my opinion, as I have little respect for Brugler, as I've rarely seen him be right about any prospect. Because I respect you and your opinion, I will watch more video of him when I finish watching the other prospects that I'm interested in, and will try to keep an open mind, but rarely have I ever watched a prospect wanting to like him, did like him initially, but then was completely turned off. EDIT: I did click on the link to the Brugler Twitter thread, and the clips he posted there of Karlaftis showed a totally different player than what I saw in the other 4 videos. I also watched the video of the Iowa game, and he looked much better than he did in the other videos. Even so, imo he had a couple of glaringly bad plays in this game. On the 6th play at the 1:11 mark he rushes against the left side of the OL, he gets tied up with his blocker and the RB runs by him on the left, and he never even saw him. At around the 4:05 mark, he took an extra step outside, and that allowed the Iowa RB (Goodson) to cut inside of him and pickup a long gain. That is the 2nd time in the videos I watched where he didn’t maintain gap discipline and the runner ran through the hole he vacated. The other time was a TD for Ohio St. Still, with his looking much better in this video I will definitely watch more video of him as I can find it.
No one ever said that we had to agree on everything, and I think we usually do. Also, as I said, I will look at more video of him and could change my mind by the time of the draft. One thing is for sure...if JD does take him, I will root like crazy for him to succeed, you be right, and me be wrong.
I like Sam Williams from Ole Miss a lot. Highly productive player over three years. He played in more of a 3-3-5 and is still raw as to how to play the position and setup his moves. With good coaching I think he can be a pretty good edge. He’s got pretty good length for a guy that’s only 6’3”. Good speed and power off the edge. I’d also keep an eye on Zach Harrison and see how far he drops. He has the talent of a first round player but it just never materialized. Would be a good investment in the mid rounds if he interviews well. Not sure if it’s a motivational issue or something though.
There are sooo many 2nd/3rd round options at EDGE I’m not afraid of missing the top 2 and definitely don’t want the 3rd best with the #4 pick. Bc of how deep LB and EDGE are, I’m opening to picking DBs with our early picks if the talent level drop off is significant. Top FA signings - TE, RG, WR Top draft picks - Hamilton-Gardner-Williams-Harris
I like all 4 of these prospects at Edge. It's hard to say if they will all rise into the 1st round, or if only one or two will, or they will all stay in the 2nd round. Regardless, I think they are all very good prospects. They each have things they need to work on, but have great strengths. Failing getting Thibodeaux, I think we could be quite happy to wind up with one of these four Edge Rushers. They are listed in alphabetical order. Arnold Ebiketie, Penn St. 6'3", 256 lbs. https://www.profootballnetwork.com/arnold-ebiketie-penn-state-de-nfl-draft-scouting-report-2022/ I like Ebiketie's speed and ankle flexibility. One negative is that he is a little older than the others. He started out at Temple, then transferred to Penn St. I like that he played basketball and track in high school. He is explosive in his rush. David Ojabo, Michigan 6'5", 250 lbs. https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/david-ojabo/ZMWFJCN2HK I like Ojabo's speed, and I really like the fact that he frequently looks to knock the ball out of the QBs hands, and he created a number of turnovers doing that at Michigan. One negative, is that he didn't start playing football until his Jr. year of high school, so is behind in his development. Starting to play football late hurt both Sam Darnold and Gholston, so that is a concern. That said, he is said to have good instincts in spite of his late start. I like his height more than Ebiketie's and Williams' but he needs to fill out more. Cam Thomas, San Diego St. 6'5', 270 lbs. https://www.profootballnetwork.com/cameron-thomas-san-diego-state-de-nfl-draft-scouting-report-2022/ He's heavier and stouter than both Ebiketie and Ojabo, and played at both DE and DT at San Diego St. He may be the best vs the run and getting TFLs, but also may be the lesser of these as a pass rusher. He is a little stiff according to the scouting report and what I have seen in the videos so far. Also it may bother some that he played against a lower level of competition than the others. He is pretty quick, but doesn't appear to be as fast as either Ebiketie or Ojabo. Sam Williams, Ole Miss 6'3", 268 lbs. https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/sam-williams I like that Williams played in the SEC and still had success. He is said to be a little stiff in the hips, and that affects him moving laterally and/or adjusting his rush. He may not be as fast or as athletic as the other 3 above.
Logan Hall, Univ. of Houston 6'6", 275 lbs. https://www.profootballnetwork.com/logan-hall-houston-de-nfl-draft-scouting-report-2022/ Has a great burst, is explosive, and great lateral movement, perhaps one of the best in lateral movement among the 2nd and 3rd tier Edge prospects. He also supposedly has a developed repertoire of moves.
PSU’s LB Jesse Luketa having a helluva senior bowl so far. Last year out of basic necessity to the roster moved to the EDGE and displayed some surprising moves being able to rush the passer pretty well and has been putting on a show there. He played MLB in his last game. I’m not too sure his ultimate fit is…I feel he’s a guy you can move all over the field since he does have solid ability to play in coverage and be a good run defender. I do feel it’s interesting he’s bulked up to 260 currently, and he’s been lined up off the EDGE exclusively throughout.
Jermaine Johnson has been killing it at the Senior Bowl apparently. 6'5 260, could be a nice target early in the 2nd round.
It's going to be really interesting to see how many of these guys go in the 1st round. I'm hearing that as many as 8 Edges could go in the 1st round. It wouldn't surprise me. There's no Bosa at the top, but this is the strongest and deepest Edge that I can remember. The last one that I remember that at the time of the draft I thought there were a lot of good prospects was 2011, but a numberof those never developed into top quality pass rushers. I'm glad that Johnson is looking great. I'll have to go watch more video of him. Unless all the top Edges go in the 1st round and we take an OT and Burks or Linderbaum, we should definitely come away from this draft with a good Edge prospect between Karlaftis, J. Johnson, Ebiketie, Cam Thomas, Ojabo, Sanders, Enagbare, Walker, Hall, and Jackson, plus maybe a few others.
Man.. I've been watching a lot of David Ojabo lately, the kid Is fun to watch. He's got a nasty spin move, reminds me of a dwight freeney with that move. Very good at It. Strong, fast... Nasty. Love the energy. Good get off, decent bend, attacks the football a lot. If we could snag him, I'd be thrilled.
I think Arnold Ebikitie is a guy id love to draft here...the NC state kid is pretty good too....Watch Arnold film...youll like it.
