2022 Official Bolts Draft Superthread

[wu-dai clan]

#shittakesRus

[Topcat]

Oh boy. You’ve named given your shit a name

Wood's mocks and clustas are usually very insightful...

[Fleet 1]

Defensive line takes the cake … Over the past few days we have been tracking the varous reports and commentaries from this week’s Senior Bowl practices in Mobile. And while the QB class, not surprisingly, got the majority of the buzz, the position group that got the most props were the defensive line. As our colleague, Pigskin Paul Guillemette noted in his report earlier today, UConn NT Travis Jones mas have been the most impressive player in Mobile this week. Jones never got a whole lot of attention this fall playing on a lousy 1-11 UConn team, whose only win was over Yale from the Ivy League, but the 6-4.5, 333 pounder was impossible this week as he was simply unblockable in the individual and team drills. The Huskies’ Jones, though, was not the only DL to have a really good week in Mobile. DTs Perrion Winfrey and Georgia’s Devonte Wyatt also had outstanding weeks, as did DEs Jermaine Johnson of Florida State, South Carolina’s JJ Enagbare, and Houston’s Logan Hall.

The ‘Noles’ Johnson, who is arguably the highest ranked player at the Senior Bowl this week, is particularly interesting. Right now there is something of a gap between DEs Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan and Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, the two top-rated players at the position in this year’s draft and the next level of DEs which includes guys like George Karlaftis of Purdue’s and Hutchinson’s Michigan teammate David Ojabo. However, while Karlaftis is strong and technically superior, he isn’t all that fast or explosive, while Ojabo is a blur coming off the edge, but not much else. And that could give an opportunity to someone like Johnson to get some looks as early as the top 10 given the importance of the position.

The other position that drew an inordinate amount of praise during the week were the WRs. Indeed, among those who showed up on a regular basis in dispatches from Mobile this week included 6-4 Christian Watson of perennial FCS champion North Dakota State and Boise State’s Khalil Shaker (another of Pigskin’s faves). Meanwhile, other players that had notable weeks include Colorado State TE Tre McBride, OT Trevor Penning of Northern Iowa, Boston College OG Zion Johnson, Auburn CB Roger McCreary and Baylor S Jalen Pitre.

[Fleet 1]

SENIOR BOWL Moving On Up!

February 4, 2022
0 Comment
The Senior Bowl Game is tomorrow and today is a day of rest for most of us covering the game, whether we like it or not. So as I was searching for Shrine Game stats, unsuccessfully I might add, I was looking at my composite practice notes for the week. As I did so it came to me that I had seen enough from some players here to already be moving some guys into my current Top 100 list.

So let me present them to you now:

GREG DULCICH TE UCLA 6’036/248 9 7/8″H-33 7/8″A-81 2/8″ WS #85/American Squad

Dulcich was a late add to Draft Lists, at least officially, after deciding he would exit college football to head to the NFL. It’s a pretty deep and talented TE list this year for the Draft. But what Dulcich showed this week moved him right into my Top 5 in the position group, and solidly into my Top 100. He is a good sized player in all aspects, as you can see from the numbers above. And he put all those assets to work to stand out at every practice this week to my eyes. He is a smooth striding runner who gets out of the blocks quickly and accelerates steadily. He shows nice balance and runs solid patterns. Few LBs are able to stay with him upfield or on crossing patterns. He tracks the ball well in the air and adjusts his patterns to throws as needed. He shows soft hands and creates a large target area for his QB. He catches everything thrown his way and is a threat to pull away from many DB after the catch. I’d would project late Round 2, early to mid Round 3. Quick comparison, has me seeing him in the Travis Kelce class as a pro.

BRAXTON JONES OT SOUTHERN UTAH 6’051/306 10 1/8″H-36″A-84 1/4″WS #77/American

Small school player who seems to have unlimited potential. He looks quite lean, but showed good strength this week. He has natural knee bend and understands the basics of pass pro, especially hand/arm usage to keep defenders off his body. Certainly not a bulldozer in run blocking, but again he uses his arms/hands well to scream off defenders from the ballcarrier. His base could stand a bit more beef, but I doubt his frame will allow much added weight. I was aware of him prior to Senior Bowl but was pleasantly surprised after watching him all week. Round 3 with not much pretense that he starts right away as a pro. A solid, teaching OL Coach can help hm attain a starting job after a couple of years.

JEREMY RUCKERT TE Ohio State 6’5/250 10 1/8″H/32 3/4″A/79 1/4″WS #88/National

Unfortunately RUCKERT suffered a lower leg injury in the Thursday practice, so he won’t play in the game, but fortunately its not considered a serious injury. RUCKERT made himself some major money in Mobile this week. The WR room at Ohio State is always loaded, therefore the TE is not a primary target in their Offense. So don’t evaluate RUCKERT on his college receiving stats. What he did down here was outstanding and again pushed him into a Top 10 slot in my loaded TE class for the draft. Yes, he can block, and we knew that. But he is also a good route runner, and has shown firm hands and an ability to keep the ball out of his body. Steady, describes his work in Mobile this week. And I now see him as a Round 3, all-around inline TE as a pro.

*Just as an aside, with adding both DULCICH & RUCKERT to my Top 100, I now have 5 TE in that Top 100. However, it looks like there is a good chance that there may not be any of them in Round 1.

JOSHUA WILLIAMS CB Fayetteville St 6’024/193 9 1/4″H-32 1/4″A-78 1/8″WS #30/National

WILLIAMS was in my Top 200, and just on the cusp of breaking into the Top 100. I kept him out there knowing I would get a better chance to assess his talents for a week in Mobile. He showed some of the deficiencies here of a guy trying to step it up against a higher level of competition. But overall he held up well, especially in his cover skills. He also shows better ball skills than the average CB coming out of college, where soft zones still prevail. His size is highly desirable given the trend back to bigger wideouts in the NFL. His biggest deficiency is in tackling. That is a quite common case amongst cover-corners at the college level, but in today’s NFL tackling is a function that all DB are asked to add to their arsenal of talents. WILLIAMS may start a bit slowly at the beginning of his Rookie pro season, but I expect him to find more playing time as the season progresses.

My final two guys are players who had been in my Top 100, but I had bounced them out after the final list of Underclassmen eligible for the Draft was officially released. After this week’s work they are going back in.

TRAVIS JONES DT UCONN 6’043/326 10 1/4″H-34″A-82 3/4″WS #57/National

UCONN games were pretty much unwatchable to my eyes this past season… again. So underclassman declaring pushed JONES out of my Top 100. It took me less than one full practice to realize the error of my ways in rating him as a future pro. For teams who need to plug the middle of their defense with a wide body NT, this is your guy. And he is a better athlete than many NT. But let’s not kid ourselves this guy is at his best when he is a purely and simply bully pushing blockers back into the pocket to collapse it and forcing QBs off their “spot”. He was literally unblockable in on-on-one’s down here. And occasionally if the bully rush wasn’t working he used his arms and strength to push guys aside and show surprising quickness to go around them. He’s back in my Top 100 and a Day Two guy for sure in my book.

KHALIL SHAKIR WR BOISE ST 6’0/193 9 3/8″H-29″A-70 3/8″WS #14/National

Seems like this guy has been the No.1 receiver target for Boise a long time. And he was originally in my Top 100. I had second thoughts about bumping him out early last month, but when I needed to make room for 8 Underclassmen WR SHAKIR was out. He’s back in because he showed out all week. He is even adept at catching in the red zone, which is a tribute to his quickness and improved “hands” catching. He also can handle some Return chores for his new team if needed. I would project him primarily in the slot, but he could also go wide. I would say Day 2. Andy Reid and his staff could fall in luv with this guy in Round 3, if the Salary Cap forces them to walk away from some of their own VFA receivers. Quicker than flat-out fast, but he gets separation, and showed very good ball skills and ups this past week.

I think this year’s Senior Bowl will produce almost half of the players in both Rounds 2 & 3 in the next NFL Draft. I currently have 44 players who have been on Senior Bowl rosters, this week, who should be Drafted in the first 100 Picks. To my own surprise I can actually see as many as 10 Senior Bowlers in Round 1 if teams over-Draft a couple of QB prospects, as per usual. This is still, by far, the premier All-Star Football Game.

Cheers

[jamrock]

Wood's mocks and clustas are usually very insightful...

He knows I’m just razzin him

[Topcat]

I can actually see as many as 10 Senior Bowlers in Round 1 if teams over-Draft a couple of QB prospects, as per usual.

I'll bet Horseface and the Donks will overdraft one of those QB's...

[beachcomber]

wondering who our day three/round five TE target might be.... ?? anybody think Greg Dulcich is a good fit as a Charger ??

[equivocation]

wondering who our day three/round five TE target might be.... ?? anybody think Greg Dulcich is a good fit as a Charger ??

Good fit but R3 at latest.

[Boltjolt]

wondering who our day three/round five TE target might be.... ?? anybody think Greg Dulcich is a good fit as a Charger ??

Personally I'm looking to sign a vet, however if we do draft a TE I like Jeremy Ruckert and Charlie Kolar.

[Boltinloudguy]

Personally I'm looking to sign a vet, however if we do draft a TE I like Jeremy Ruckert and Charlie Kolar.

I’d be stoked with either of these TEs. I do think Ruckert has put himself into 3rd consideration. I’ve been a fan of Kolar since last year. And if he’s there in the 5th, you absolutely have to pull the trigger . I think he will be gone by the 4th though. If they didn’t have so many other needs, I’d almost pull the trigger on Kolar in the 3rd. We’ll see how the rest of the process plays out.

[21&500]

Idk if it's been speculated yet, but the Steelers might want to trade up to our spot for a qb
right in front of the saints.

[Berserker76]

Idk if it's been speculated yet, but the Steelers might want to trade up to our spot for a qb
right in front of the saints.

This draft's loaded with guys, would do it in a heartbeat.