Anselmheifer
The Starter
Been casually watching some players for this upcoming draft.
James Pierce, Jr - Tennessee - EDGE - Is a good pass rusher but he is a little bit on the light side. Pulling guards light him up and as a pass rusher he prefers to be in a wide 9. Good athlete, but not tremendously explosive. I don't think he's a guy you'd want in the first round as he is more of a specialist. Of course, he has talent and can develop some size and power so I'm not down on him. I just don't think he's a round 1 guy.
Abdul Carter - Penn State - EDGE/LB - I think he is a guy more suited to the Frankie Luvu/Micah Parsons role. Not a pure edge. And I'm not sure using round 1 capital on that is a good move for us as I don't know if he is game changing right away.
I'm not enamored with the edges so far, but just starting to really watch guys.
I agree that James Pearce looks like he might get swallowed up some because of his size. But, i absolutely DO think he looks explosive. He's quick twitch and his get-off looks incredible to me. At 6'5" and about 240 pounds, he is supposed to run a 4.49. That's pretty incredibly explosive. He had 10 sacks last year and 7.5 this year, so it's not just traits with him, there has been some production. He's 6'5" and has good length.
I think out of all the edges we have a shot at if we choose at 21, Pearce would be a great fit for a Dan Quinn defense. Quinn has shown he knows how to get production out of these speed rushers that don't fit a classical 4-3 DE mold, and I think Quinn would be able to squeeze some immediate pass rush impact out of Pearce.
Some receiver thoughts:
Isaiah Bond, Texas: Smaller receiver body. Good speed and hands. Was productive at Alabama for a sophomore target last year. Only had 26 receptions for 435 yards for Texas this year. Draft sites love this guy. I think he has a ton of potential but he's not a guy I look at and think "first round prospect" (so far this is a reoccuring theme with this class).
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State: I hate that I am saying this because I hate Ohio State. But I think this guy is almost a run to the podium guy for us if we are in position to take him in the first. He has good size, great hands, good route variety and explosive. He reminds me of a guy who wears #17 for the Commanders right now.
Luther Burden, Mizzou: Makes a lot of spectacular plays. Tracks the ball well, plays with a good base. I don't think he's on the board for us... He's probably WR3 behind Hunter and Teta.
Tre Harris, Ole Miss: Big body receiver. He runs kind of... robotic. But he has a big frame and a large catch radius. He plays with a relentless motor. This is probably a round 2 guy if we don't get Egbuka.
I think Egbuka would be good for us also, although he doesn't remind me too much of Terry. Part of what makes Terry so special is his deep speed and deep ball tracking, and I just don't think Egbuka has that kind of Juice.
I really like Luther Burden. I also think he is likely off the board at 21, but he hasn't been as good this year and if he runs a little slow, or anything comes up in the medicals... Also, I can't help but recall a particular Redskins WR from the past when watching Burden.
Burden honestly looks almost like a clone of Laveranues Coles to me. I can't help but fantasize about signing Tee Higgins and having Tee and Terry on the outside and Burden in the slot. That would be a perfect complementary trio to me. Terry as the deep ball and route running specialist. Higgins as the big bodied guy. Burden as the swiss army knife, explosive, physical, YAC guy. WR screens. Crossers. Etc. Nobody is going to have a set of corners to take all of that away. And we could trot out 11 personnel almost all of the time and run the ball against light boxes. Nobody could stack the box against us the way they have been able to do sometimes this year.
