I know a lot of people are high on Addae but if Landon Collins was sitting there at 17 I would be ore than happy to grab him. Addae plays so recklessly with his body that I just can't see him lasting a full season. Collins is probably the only safety worth a first round pick this year and we would finally have a compliment to Weddle on the back end that would enable us to use Weddle more effectively.
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My value OLB for this draft is Owamagbe Odighizuwa . I think hes a perfect JJ replacement. Only a much better pass rusher. Guy who probably grades higher than the mid 2nd round but who could be there.Comment
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There is another raw kid in this draft a juco two year transfer with eligibility who is raw but has tremendous athletic ability and a stop behind the LOS or sack for ever two plays on the field the last two seasons.Go Rivers!Comment
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Define value OLB. I think he goes in the 1st now. So yeah, I'd trade up in he 2nd to get him. In the 1st, I don't know.Originally posted by Fleet View PostNow, if you excuse me, I have some Charger memories to suppress.
Let’s win one for Mack.Comment
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What i mean by value is getting 1st round talent in the middle of the 2nd round. Not really a beast pass rusher but a solid all around defender from the edge. A guy i think will go higher like you said but could be in that no mans land of need/talent that teams pass over. There will be guys that drop because teams are drafting needs. The edge class is huge this year. And theres a few base edge guys i like. I think without trading up into the 2nd we will get a 1st round quality player in the 2nd.Originally posted by Formula Two One View Post
Another raw guy i like as a JJ replacement is ZaDarius Smith. Maybe in the 3rd.Comment
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I don't see Collins making Weddle more effective. Both are the types of players who need to be up near the ball. That is probably true of anyone not named Ed Reed. Players back in the middle of the field don't make that many plays because unless the QB is getting hit, or rushing their throws they make a point of not putting the ball up for grabs in the middle. Addae and Stuckey can play that middle spot fine. If we can get a late round S or UDFA, then we can try and upgrade the spot some, but it is really not a good place to fill in the roster with a top pick. Top picks need to be in a place that they can make a lot of plays, and a S playing deep coverage needs a good pass rush and better play from his CB before he can really do that.Originally posted by Bearded14YourPleasure View Post
Addae is not the guy Collins would replace anyway. We would use Collins as a replacement for Gilchrist, who I would suspect is headed to Washington (if they don't draft Collins as well). Gilchrist is a barely average deep S, but he is one of the better nickle DB in football. He does the run support necessary, and can mix it up with bigger TE and RB in the slot, so that we can keep in our nickle on more running downs. We love to stay in our nickle, so just plugging some undersized CB in doesn't help that much. We need a bigger, physical guy who can tackle, as well as cover short, and maybe even run with players. Collins does that well. He is like an extra LB type of player. He makes a lot of plays in run support and up in the box. He fills that role that Gilchrist did pretty well. He needs to work on being too aggressive, but many young players are when they come out of college.
The nickle DB is the 11th starter on our D. We play 2 DL, 2OLB, 2 ILB, 2 CB, Weddle, Addae and then another DB most of the time. This year we did use a true CB more then in the past, but unless our true CB can stay healthy it doesn't seem like a good thing to do too much of. Collins would be an excellent nickle DB/extra LB type of S. He could play regular S in the base D, but that is just a book keeping thing. /bragging rights. The D will make or break far more on who will line up at NCB, then who we play at NT.Comment
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All I know is that with JJ leaving, we have to find someone. Tourek Williams is penciled in as JJ's "replacement" currently, and that would suck.Originally posted by Fleet View PostComment
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I thought Ingram was JJ's replacementForget it Donny you're out of your element
Shut the fuck up DonnyComment
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This is where I read the crappy news.Originally posted by bonehead View Post
Jarret Johnson was a terrific player for the Ravens.
When he moved on, the Ravens were calm.
They plugged in a trusted prospect.
The year after Johnson left to the Chargers, the Ravens won the Super Bowl with a large assist from the edge defender they'd groomed to replace him.
Paul Kruger emerged as Baltimore's sack leader in the 2012 season, followed with 2.5 sacks in the playoff opener and, three games games later, posted two more sacks in a Super Bowl 47 victory over the 49ers.
When valuable players move on, the Ravens plug in a player who then shines. It's a hallmark of their success.
Johnson, who spent nine years with Baltimore, praised the Ravens model when asked during his three-year Chargers tenure that ended last week with his retirement.
"The Ravens are very good at developing players," he said. "You may have to wait your turn, but they always seem to have guys coming."
Johnson said he and other Ravens defenders were lucky to learn firsthand from two all-time greats in linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed. He deemed it impossible to outwork Lewis, who devoted many hours to film study.
Ravens coaches, meantime, impressed Johnson as visionaries who could teach and motivate.
He cited his own success as proof. A defensive lineman for Alabama, he carved out an NFL career as a linebacker after coordinator Rex Ryan persuaded General Manager Ozzie ******* to take him in the fourth round of the 2003 draft.
Under the guidance of several coaches, Johnson become an above-average strongside linebacker.
Chargers must do the same
Johnson praised the developmental prowess of Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco and coach Mike McCoy, now entering their third year together.
Talking once about the success of safety Jahleel Addae, whom Telesco signed as a college free agent and McCoy touted as a potential core player, Johnson said "that's how you build a championship team."
Super Bowl winners employ many players who were former college free agents or late-round draftees.
Finding players at the 99 Cent Store and developing them into helpers is a must for any team with Super Bowl designs.
The process can test the patience of insiders and outsiders, however.
Kruger, for example, started only one game in his first three seasons. The former second-round draftee was on the final year of his rookie deal when Johnson left.
Now the Chargers will find out if Tourek Williams, a sixth-round choice of Telesco's in 2013, is ready to replace Johnson.
Melvin Ingram figures to play both outside linebackers spots. Can he put it together like Kruger did in 2012?
Along with Johnson, seven-time Pro Bowler Dwight Freeney advised young Chargers linebackers.
Are second-year player Jerry Attaochu and teammates ready to turn their mentors' lessons into production?
The Ravens model is worth emulating for one other reason. Because their free agents command large contracts from other NFL teams, the Ravens tend to rank among the NFL's leaders in compensatory draft picks.
A year after the Chargers signed Johnson to a four-year, $19 million pact, for instance, the Browns committed a $40 million deal to Kruger.
The Chargers will get no draft picks from the departures of Johnson and likely Freeney. Still, the team would welcome solid seasons from the likes of Ingram, Attaochu and Williams.
It's time for them to do Johnson and Freeney proud.Comment
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Hmm...that's wierd...I guess Ingram and Tourek start while Attouchu sits on the bench and comes in on passing downsForget it Donny you're out of your element
Shut the fuck up DonnyComment
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Too soon to tell. Let them sort out the line up after free agency, after the draft, after OTA's and Training camp...Go Rivers!Comment
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Pitt's Ray Vinopal participates in the three-cone drill during Pitt's Pro Day on Tuesday, March 3, 2015, on the South Side.
Safety Vinopal, other former Panthers perform for NFL scouts at Pitt's Pro Day
By Jerry DiPaola Pitt Football Reporter
Tuesday, March 3, 2015, 9:24 p.m.
Updated 2 minutes ago
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Former Pitt safety Ray Vinopal's arms were like two well-oiled pistons, repeatedly lifting the 225-pound weighted bar over his head.
His teammates shouted in support of his NFL dreams.
Meanwhile, a total of 41 scouts and personnel people from 27 teams watched stoically Tuesday during Pitt's Pro Day, playing poker with each other, scribbling on their clipboards.
At 5-foot-10, 198 pounds, Vinopal recorded 26 bench-press reps. To understand the significance of his efforts, some perspective is necessary:
• Matt Rotheram, a 323-pound guard, lifted the bar 22 times.
• Vinopal's total was more than all but one safety was able to do last month at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Southern Cal's Josh Shaw also did 26.
• Vinopal was not invited to the combine.
Perhaps he believed he had something to prove, but he was not surprised by his efforts.
“I was actually shooting for 30,” he said.
He went through the entire regimen of drills: vertical jump, broad jump, a series of short directional bursts and two 40-yard sprints.
He said scouts told him he was timed in between 4.49-4.56 seconds in the 40. Only three safeties at the combine finished in faster than 4.5 seconds. Alabama All-American Landon Collins, considered a consensus first-round draft choice, ran a 4.53.
Later, confronted by reporters, Vinopal sounded more self-assured than smug.
“I definitely think people didn't expect me to put the numbers up I did,” he said. “I think they're comparable, if not better, than anyone else who was in Indy. I knew I would bench well. I've always been strong.”
Vinopal said he has had limited contact with NFL teams, but after his workout, he spent several minutes chatting with San Diego Chargers scout James MacPherson.
“I hope to get some interviews to show (NFL teams) how football savvy I am,” said Vinopal, who scored 37 out of 50 last year on the Wonderlic intelligence test.
Vinopal said he worked with a personal trainer in Miami the past two months, waking at 5:30 a.m. and training until 4:30 p.m., six days a week.
“Hoping it will pay off and I will hear my name called during the draft and get an opportunity somewhere,” he said.
Vinopal was one of eight Pitt seniors who worked out Tuesday, including Rotheram, projected first-round offensive tackle T.J. Clemmings, tight end/wide receiver Manasseh Garner, wide receiver Kevin Weatherspoon, defensive end David Durham and linebackers Todd Thomas and Anthony Gonzalez.
Clemmings finished the third leg of a busy winter after going to the Senior Bowl and Combine. He didn't run or lift Tuesday after doing both in Indianapolis (22 lifts and 5.14 in the 40).
“I spoke to just about all 32 teams between the Senior Bowl and Combine,” said Clemmings, who has been an offensive lineman for only two years. “My ability is there. I've put it on tape.
“I believe I have a lot of room left to grow to become an even better player, possibly one of the greats.”
Rotheram, who is nursing a sore hamstring and did all but the 40, likened the draft process to a “meat market.”
“But I understand why they do it,” he said.
After joining Clemmings for workouts with Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak, Rotheram said he is considered a late-round pick or a high-priority free agent.
“I know I'm coachable,” he said, noting he played guard and tackle at Pitt. “I'm a consistent player. I can be coached to do whatever.”
Jerry DiPaola is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
Safety speed
Former Pitt safety Ray Vinopal said scouts told him he ran between 4.49-4.56 seconds in the 40-yard dash Tuesday at the Panthers' Pro Day. Here are the three fastest times among safeties last month at the NFL Scouting Combine:
Player School Ht., Wt. 40 time
Justin Cox Mississippi St. 6-1, 191 4.36
Eric Rowe Utah 6-1, 205 4.45
Damarious Randall Arizona St. 5-11, 196 4.46Go Rivers!Comment
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