2021 Draft Discussion - Bolts Pick 13th

[Boltnut]

Wait does Thorn have AVT as his #3 OT? He said he liked him as guard more though. So he may be the #3 OL.
This was his original ranking tweet for OT

You're right, I went back and listened to his podcast. #3 OL. But he said he "wouldn't bat an eye if a team were to play him at tackle".

[Steve]

If you want to see a LB that I think is going to go very high is JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) from ND. He is the kind of SS/nickel LB type of player that teams love. If you watch him, he covers like a DB, using DB and LB techniques in coverage. I don't think he is tremendously instinctive, but he clearly does his homework, because he is always reading plays and breaking on the routes. He is also very good at playing the wide side S/LB role in the ND D, and blows up bubble screens and just playing in space. The only thing I don't like about him is that he loves to hit and try and blow up ball carriers, so that he has the potential to miss tackles, although in college it didn't happen much in the games I saw him play.

We could use a player like him to either play the nickel LB spot that Phillips used to play, or to team up as a S in space. He and Derwin James would make a excellent pair of S, running around, reading the offensive plays as they develop and running plays down.

I don't think we have a chance to pick him although if the OL and CB we prize are gone. Because he is a much better coverage player than Micah Parsons, some teams may value him much more. I think he will have more impact than Parson's, unless Parsons develops as a pass rushing OLB, at least initally. Parson's is much better as a traditional run down player, running plays down in pursuit, but with the additional ability to line up wide and see plays develop, JOK will be around the ball a lot more. Derwin James type, although you probably don't want him play bump and run vs some of the super quick slot guys.

[TexanBeerlover]

Ya if we go Parsons, I have to believe Staley has some serious plans for him ala Mack in Chicago

Good call, was pull out the Mack card but went with Devon White which is still fresh in our minds, but yeah Staley coached Mack and Floyd so besides Bosa another weapon like Micah very tempting if he falls in his lap.

[Steve]

The big difference is that Mack played a traditional OLB spot at the University of Buffalo, and had coaching from some former Bills LB who help coach the Bison's. Paron's may run better, and be a better athlete, but he is no where near as develop (at least as an OLB) as Mack was coming out of college.

The other knock on drafting Parson's at ILB is that we just spent a high pick on Murray to play that spot. We already used multiple picks on him, so they will still want to keep trying to feature him to the degree they can. To a lesser degree, that is true of Drew Tranquill as well.

If we want to turn an ILB loose as a blitzer, we don't need to draft one, we already have Murray. And neither Murray or Parson's is anything special in pass coverage. THey will both get better, but it is hard to see them complimenting each other early on.

[Boltnut]

The big difference is that Mack played a traditional OLB spot at the University of Buffalo, and had coaching from some former Bills LB who help coach the Bison's. Paron's may run better, and be a better athlete, but he is no where near as develop (at least as an OLB) as Mack was coming out of college.

The other knock on drafting Parson's at ILB is that we just spent a high pick on Murray to play that spot. We already used multiple picks on him, so they will still want to keep trying to feature him to the degree they can. To a lesser degree, that is true of Drew Tranquill as well.

If we want to turn an ILB loose as a blitzer, we don't need to draft one, we already have Murray. And neither Murray or Parson's is anything special in pass coverage. THey will both get better, but it is hard to see them complimenting each other early on.

Exactly. It looks like we're set at ILB. What we probably need is a rotational LB that is good in coverage.
Parsons could be developed into a pass-rushing OLB. But does that send Nwosu to the bench...?
I'd prefer to find depth at OLB and ILB a little later in the draft (3rd/4th/5th...?)

[jamrock]

If you want to see a LB that I think is going to go very high is JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) from ND. He is the kind of SS/nickel LB type of player that teams love. If you watch him, he covers like a DB, using DB and LB techniques in coverage. I don't think he is tremendously instinctive, but he clearly does his homework, because he is always reading plays and breaking on the routes. He is also very good at playing the wide side S/LB role in the ND D, and blows up bubble screens and just playing in space. The only thing I don't like about him is that he loves to hit and try and blow up ball carriers, so that he has the potential to miss tackles, although in college it didn't happen much in the games I saw him play.

We could use a player like him to either play the nickel LB spot that Phillips used to play, or to team up as a S in space. He and Derwin James would make a excellent pair of S, running around, reading the offensive plays as they develop and running plays down.

I don't think we have a chance to pick him although if the OL and CB we prize are gone. Because he is a much better coverage player than Micah Parsons, some teams may value him much more. I think he will have more impact than Parson's, unless Parsons develops as a pass rushing OLB, at least initally. Parson's is much better as a traditional run down player, running plays down in pursuit, but with the additional ability to line up wide and see plays develop, JOK will be around the ball a lot more. Derwin James type, although you probably don't want him play bump and run vs some of the super quick slot guys.

he’s from ND? No chance we miss him

[Steve]

Exactly. It looks like we're set at ILB. What we probably need is a rotational LB that is good in coverage.
Parsons could be developed into a pass-rushing OLB. But does that send Nwosu to the bench...?
I'd prefer to find depth at OLB and ILB a little later in the draft (3rd/4th/5th...?)

Nwosu has yet to prove he can be a starting caliber OLB in the NFL. He has done his bet work as a run down SAM/OTTO and a situational pass rusher. So I am fine with drafting someone better to replace Nwosu, or even bringing back Ingram at the right price (read much cheaper than last year). We can also start him as the SAM LB, outside of Bosa and use him as a drop LB on obvious run downs. But in the end, Nwosu is not good enough to be a starter, unless he is shows a lot more than he has so far. I still think he is a useful player, but not someone who I would avoid drafting a replacement for.

We might want to line JOK as a S in base D, but then move him up to be an ILB in the nickel/dime packages the way we used to play Phillips. Even before Phillips really hit his stride, we were a much, much better D in the dime than in our base. A player like JOK is much better than Phillips, and would be a perfect fit.

He also plays like a S so much, and reads things so well, he can probably play left or right S. Derwin is also a good deep S. Read the play, and rotate into position (the Staley/
Fangio split coverage system is all about rotating the S and Nickel DB into positions to avoid them having to take on blocks. He does that well, so it would be a fine fit. Or they could play him in the role that Roquain Smith plays in the Bears D, because he is much better in coverage than Smith is.

Or we can use him like Derwin, like an extra LB in the box, because Staley uses his nickel LB in that role. Or, even alternate Staley and James in that role and use it to hide the coverage even more, which is the whole point of using the split S (2 deep) alignment in the 1st place.

To me the biggest problem is that we need to be better on O and D. We have some biggish holes on both. We can't fill them all, at least not as well as we might like. So, it is probably better to try and get better at one and hope that coaching and some luck helps the other. Herbert is the kind of QB that can either score a lot of points or just come up big late in games. So, we can really go either way. I am inclined to think we are better off trying to make a really good offense, and then our D just has to protect a lead. If we are going to draft a LT early and then use middle and later draft picks to fill in on D, that will probably work. Not perfectly, but it's like we have the choice of fixing every single hole. That probably won't happen even if we had a lot more cap space and a lot more draft picks. Every team that wins championships has holes, we just need synergy that can put together a squad that compliments the O and D, and the rest will take care of itself. Not ideal, but the best we can do in Staley year 1.


Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is the BEST linebacker in the draft - YouTube

[Steve]

he’s from ND? No chance we miss him

Also, it would be stupid to not scout one of the top LB in college FB.

[21&500]

Nwosu has yet to prove he can be a starting caliber OLB in the NFL. He has done his bet work as a run down SAM/OTTO and a situational pass rusher. So I am fine with drafting someone better to replace Nwosu, or even bringing back Ingram at the right price (read much cheaper than last year). We can also start him as the SAM LB, outside of Bosa and use him as a drop LB on obvious run downs. But in the end, Nwosu is not good enough to be a starter, unless he is shows a lot more than he has so far. I still think he is a useful player, but not someone who I would avoid drafting a replacement for.

We might want to line JOK as a S in base D, but then move him up to be an ILB in the nickel/dime packages the way we used to play Phillips. Even before Phillips really hit his stride, we were a much, much better D in the dime than in our base. A player like JOK is much better than Phillips, and would be a perfect fit.

He also plays like a S so much, and reads things so well, he can probably play left or right S. Derwin is also a good deep S. Read the play, and rotate into position (the Staley/
Fangio split coverage system is all about rotating the S and Nickel DB into positions to avoid them having to take on blocks. He does that well, so it would be a fine fit. Or they could play him in the role that Roquain Smith plays in the Bears D, because he is much better in coverage than Smith is.

Or we can use him like Derwin, like an extra LB in the box, because Staley uses his nickel LB in that role. Or, even alternate Staley and James in that role and use it to hide the coverage even more, which is the whole point of using the split S (2 deep) alignment in the 1st place.

To me the biggest problem is that we need to be better on O and D. We have some biggish holes on both. We can't fill them all, at least not as well as we might like. So, it is probably better to try and get better at one and hope that coaching and some luck helps the other. Herbert is the kind of QB that can either score a lot of points or just come up big late in games. So, we can really go either way. I am inclined to think we are better off trying to make a really good offense, and then our D just has to protect a lead. If we are going to draft a LT early and then use middle and later draft picks to fill in on D, that will probably work. Not perfectly, but it's like we have the choice of fixing every single hole. That probably won't happen even if we had a lot more cap space and a lot more draft picks. Every team that wins championships has holes, we just need synergy that can put together a squad that compliments the O and D, and the rest will take care of itself. Not ideal, but the best we can do in Staley year 1.


Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is the BEST linebacker in the draft - YouTube

I’m not the biggest Xs and Os guy but I’m going to say we should keep Staley completely off the field.


seriously though, I’m sold. Yes I want my stud LT but if he simply isn’t there at 13, I think JOK might be the best match for us on defense. He does a lot of things well and is a true athlete out there with a high ceiling.
versatility comes in handy when Staley is disguising looks. But what I’m most excited about with JOK is that he can defend those mismatch TEs so prevalent in the division
I know you’re down on Parsons but I have them on par with each other, but considering pass-defense more valuable, JOK is my choice if we go D at 13.
The cbs are more limited or have glaring weaknesses whereas JOK has very little.
Frankly, I’m expecting a legitimate starter at LT signed in FA, Villanueva or trade for Brown, a which time I will fully be on the JOK train.

[Parcells]

The big difference is that Mack played a traditional OLB spot at the University of Buffalo, and had coaching from some former Bills LB who help coach the Bison's. Paron's may run better, and be a better athlete, but he is no where near as develop (at least as an OLB) as Mack was coming out of college.

The other knock on drafting Parson's at ILB is that we just spent a high pick on Murray to play that spot. We already used multiple picks on him, so they will still want to keep trying to feature him to the degree they can. To a lesser degree, that is true of Drew Tranquill as well.

If we want to turn an ILB loose as a blitzer, we don't need to draft one, we already have Murray. And neither Murray or Parson's is anything special in pass coverage. THey will both get better, but it is hard to see them complimenting each other early on.

I am concerned that Murray is not a great fit for what Staley wants to do, but then I read that Staley is about utilizing the talent he has on defense. So hopefully he can use Murray as a valuable piece.

There is talk of drafting Parsons and converting him to a pass rushing OLB. If we drafted Parsons, why not consider mpving Murray to OLB? (Not really advocating this, just think it makes as much sense as Parsons to OLB).

[Parcells]

To me the biggest problem is that we need to be better on O and D. We have some biggish holes on both. We can't fill them all, at least not as well as we might like. So, it is probably better to try and get better at one and hope that coaching and some luck helps the other. Herbert is the kind of QB that can either score a lot of points or just come up big late in games. So, we can really go either way. I am inclined to think we are better off trying to make a really good offense, and then our D just has to protect a lead. If we are going to draft a LT early and then use middle and later draft picks to fill in on D, that will probably work. Not perfectly, but it's like we have the choice of fixing every single hole. That probably won't happen even if we had a lot more cap space and a lot more draft picks. Every team that wins championships has holes, we just need synergy that can put together a squad that compliments the O and D, and the rest will take care of itself. Not ideal, but the best we can do in Staley year 1.

I think it's even simpler. We hit the jackpot in a franchise QB with Herbert. It's not even a question of how do we want to play? Keep him safe an upright. Look what happened to Burrow last year. Look at the career of Andrew Luck. I'm always a proponent of building the O-line. But when you have a young franchise QB, it's a no-brainer IMO.

[Boltjolt]

I am concerned that Murray is not a great fit for what Staley wants to do, but then I read that Staley is about utilizing the talent he has on defense. So hopefully he can use Murray as a valuable piece.

There is talk of drafting Parsons and converting him to a pass rushing OLB. If we drafted Parsons, why not consider mpving Murray to OLB? (Not really advocating this, just think it makes as much sense as Parsons to OLB).

Parsons is the one that says he is a natural DE. He was converted to LB and though Steve said he hasn't played DE since High school, that isn't that long ago.

He opted out of 2020 and the year before he was a true Sophomore so he has played LB for only two years. He played Will LB for Penn st.

I don't think it would be a that big a deal to go back to being a pass rusher and is athletic enough to do more as a LB if needed.

Murray is the more natural ILB and not a DE/OLB.