NFL Combine

[blueman]

[Boltjolt]

Exactly, that's what the combine does. Makes you go back and look. But now they know how fast he is.

[Steve]

The thing with Griffin is that in the past everyone would be hung up on him being a tweener. He is the size of a big safety or a very small LB. His best work is up near the line. He also lacks ideal height for a S.

Personally, I didn't learn anything about him at the combine. Unless you are blind, the guy can play. He flies around the field. His speed was obvious, and even more impressive is his quickness. He is somewhat explosive. I was actually a little disappointed in his strength, based on something I read, but his bench was fine. He can play, and I don't know what running around in tights is more impressive than what he had already done on the field.

All that being said, in the last couple of years, everyone is falling in love with guys like Giffin. Teams spend so much time in their nickel and dime, a player like Griffin gives you a S type guy who has played LB, and their assignments will be a LB. Up until 2 years ago, in the box S types were just not valued much. Now, all of a sudden, they are popular again. I think he is going to get a lot of looks. Some teams will devalue him some because he went to UCF. Some will get hung up on the hand thing. The rest will just see he makes plays everywhere he goes.

Look at how he plays, and you start to warm up again. The guy has been used as an edge rusher and got 11.5 sacks one season. They also used him as a true LB and he made big plays all over the place. He had a game-winning int with only one hand. The guy has skills and is athletic. Not as athletic as his twin brother (starting CB for the Seahawks), but still a really good player. This is the kinda guy I like in place of a classic OLB.

We only play 1 true LB most of the time. Drafting the classic LB means guys will be sitting on the bench. Malik Jefferson and Edmunds are really good LB, but if they don't replace Perryman, they will be on the field 30% of the snaps MAXIMUM. We just don't need real LB anymore. An edge rusher to play OTTO makes sense, but not because they are a LB, it is because they add pass rushers to the depth chart. If we want to add a LB, it needs to be a guy like Griffin. He can push Brown and Phillips for playing time. If he wins the job, he is on the field between 50-75% of the snaps (or more if we use him in place of a LB in the base D).

Other teams are the ones forcing us to play nickel and dime. Offenses play 3 WR so much of the time, we cannot afford to play 3 LB on the field in those downs. Griffin adds CB speed, S size and knows how to slip blocks and get in tight spots. We need players like Griffin or the Clemson guy O'Daniel, who is really more of a S than true LB too.

Adding a classic LB is not going to beat KC. Can Jefferson or Edmunds matchup against Hunt in space? Can any 250lb LB? We need one to play MIke in the dime, but after that, LB is just not that important a position. nickel DB and dime LB are much more important even if they are not considered starting positions. They are the positions that PLAY.

[blueman]

Would you draft with our pick in the 2nd round?

[WindsorUK]

What Steve said!
Which makes it more perplexing why Jatavis Brown didn't see a lot of action later in the year. Was Philips that much better?