Archive

Brandon Graham

• Height: 6-2
  
• Weight: 263
  
• DE
• Michigan

Courtesy of Mgoblue.com

Attribute	Rating
Explosiveness
Pass Rush
Run Defense
Strength
Agility
Football I.Q
Tackling
Durability

Scouting Report

An undeniably gifted athlete, Brandon Graham is the #2 career sack leader at Michigan. Despite being surrounded by inexperienced teammates, Graham has been able to carry the Wolverines with his intensity and passion for the game.

His productivity is second to none: finished his junior year with 20 TFL (2nd in nation) and 10 sacks.  His senior campaign has been equally impressive: 26 TFL, 10.5 sacks, 2 blocked punts, and 1 defensive TD. Aside from his relatively small stature, the Detroit native would be a serious contender for a top 5 pick in the draft were he 2-3 inches taller. And make no mistake about it, he will test off the charts at the scouting combine. All in all, he figures to be a late first round, early second round pick at this point.

Explosiveness: Possesses potentially the quickest first step in football. Two years of training under esteemed strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis has turned Graham’s already quick burst into his strongest trait. In obvious passing situations, he is consistently able to shoot off the line like a cannon. Excellent endurance allows him to play with the same explosiveness throughout the entire game.

Pass Rush: Elite burst to beat the tackle around the edge. Demonstrates violent hands and long arms to prevent bigger tackles from locking on and pushing him wide. Displays a superb ability to get low and dip around the edge, which he effectively couples with a strong rip move similar to that of Indiannapolis Colt  Dwight Freeney. Always plays low and displays good leverage when deploying his bull rush. Occasionally will allow tackles to out-muscle him if they get into his pads.  Will need to display better use of inside pass rush moves, such as the spin, in order to keep pass protectors guessing.

Run Defense: Most improved area of Graham’s game.  Very patient,  and seldom lets the play get outside of him. Due to his explosiveness, he flashes big play potential by slicing through the line to tackle the running back behind the line of scrimmage.  Sniffs out cut blocks before they happen. Extremely high motor and will pursue the ball carrier laterally down the line. Uses his free hand to keep linemen at bay while the running play develops.  Due to his smaller stature, he can be dominated by massive tackles for short stretches. But his high football I.Q.  helps him to find ways to compensate.

Strength: Very underrated in this category. Has developed a chiseled physique, but probably won’t get much bigger. Although he won’t wow teams with this brute strength, he is extremely powerful for his size.

Agility: Comfortable moving laterally, but his ability to drop into space and play coverage has yet to be seen. This is something that will be scrutinized at the Senior Bowl.  He obviously is very agile for a defensive lineman, but for him to raise his stock as a potential pass rushing OLB, he needs to demonstrate  fluidity in space, like his former teammate Lamarr Woodley (now with the Pittsburgh Steelers).

Football I.Q: Smart, very intense, and relentless at all times. Plays with great awareness, and is consistently around the ball.  Seldom out of position and is disciplined. Team leader, steps up in big games.  Sometimes he is so dominant that he could have a picnic in the opposing backfield.

Tackling: Packs a powerful punch at times, but often will settle for wrapping up opponents. Almost never misses a tackle.

Durability: No major issues thus far.

Listed below are a few Youtube video links of Brandon Graham for you to study:

Michigan Vs. Western Michigan 2009 (created by ZeckBlue)

Graham 2009 Season Highlights (created by Prodraftparty)

Eric Berry

• Height: 5-11
  
• Weight: 203
  
• S
• Tennessee

NFL.com

Attribute	Rating
Speed/Acceleration
Ball Skills
Pass Coverage
Run Defense
Agility
Football I.Q
Tackling
Durability

Scouting Report

Now that he has declared for the draft, Eric Berry will battle Ndamukong Suh for title of top prospect of the 2010 NFL Draft.  A gifted athlete and leader, Berry is exactly the kind of impact player that all NFL franchises covet. The Thorpe award winner is # 2 in the NCAA for career interception yards after only playing 3 years of college ball. Although safeties don’t traditionally get picked in the top 5, there is now a premium placed on game-changing safeties, which could drive Berry’s stock up enough to become only the 5th safety to be chosen in the top 5 since 1967.

Speed/Acceleration: Elite speed  for a safety, and can run with virtually any receiver. Excellent closing burst to make a play on the football. Should run in the 4.4 range at the combine.

Ball Skills: Easily one of Berry’s strongest skills. Excellent hands for the interception, and can catch the ball like a receiver. Had 12 interceptions through 2008. Gets hands under the ball when thrown low, but will want to demonstrate a consistent ability to high point the ball. Very good jumping ability, and isn’t afraid to leap horizontally to make play on the ball. Knack for being around the football.  Superior run-after-catch ability. Very dangerous with the ball in his hands. Runs like a tailback after the catch, switching hands with the football to keep it secure.

Pass Coverage: Initially started out playing cornerback. Often asked to play man coverage at the line of scrimmage, where he is able to use his aggressiveness to dominate receivers. Very fluid in his backpedal and mirrors his man well.   Has very good recovery speed to make a play on the ball.  Shows an aptitude for sticking his foot in the ground and driving hard on the ball.  Always keeps one eye on the quarterback, looking for the interception.

Run Defense: Disciplined and is reliable in filling his gap.  Often uses his violent hitting ability to intimidate ball carriers, but this causes him to sometimes take somewhat poor angles to the football in attempting to deliver the knock out. Generally quick to diagnose run plays. Good at sealing the edge in close yardage situations. Very rangy defender who utilizes his great closing speed to reach the edge on outside runs. When ball carrier is running in the box, Berry often waits for the action to come to him. Seldom is asked to engage and shed blockers when playing close to the line. But this is not highly unusual for safety, especially one who frequently is asked to play center field.

Agility: Moves well laterally, and can change direction comfortably. Good but not elite ability to flip hips in coverage.

Football I.Q: Team leader capable of being the quarterback of the defense for any NFL team. Able to diagnose plays quickly. Excellent character and smart kid who works very hard.

Tackling: Big hitter who drives through ball carrier and can deliver jarring hits.  Sideline to sideline kind of tackler who flies all over the field to make plays. Displays proper tackling technique and keeps eyes on his target. Usually displays proper pad level when tackling.  Unintimidated by much larger foes.  Needs to work on open field tackling, sometimes getting overeager for the big hit.

Durability: Both  mentally and physically tough.  Plays through injury.  Only reported injury to date is to his shoulder last season, which didn’t force him tomiss any playing time.

(Video thanks to psheezybaby)

Ndamukong Suh

• Height: 6-4
• Weight: 300
• DT
• Nebraska
  

Courtesy of Huskers.com

Attribute	Rating
Explosiveness
Pass Rush
Run Defense
Strength
Agility
Football I.Q
Tackling
Durability

Scouting Report

Coming out of high school, Ndamukong Suh (pronounced En-dom-ah-ken Soo) was regarded as the top recruit in the state of Oregon. Over the last four years, his knack for making plays has turned him into perhaps the best pro prospect in the entire country.

Explosiveness: Shoots into the gap quickly to make a play in the backfield. Generally, very effective at anticipating the snap count, but he occasionally jumps offsides as a result.

Pass Rush: Together with his long arms, Suh consistently demonstrates excellent use of hands to keep opponent at bay or to get the strong punch into the chest of blocker. Shows the ability to toss linemen aside with a club move. Very productive pass rusher (7.5 sacks last year/12 sacks this year). Possesses excellent balance due to his superior footwork and agility, thus making him extremely tough to take to the ground. Suh is aware enough to bat down passes at the line of scrimmage if he knows he won’t make it to the quarterback, and has shown a knack for plucking the ball out of the air with his good hands. Can get a good push and will slip between the double team. Because of his immense strength, Suh mainly gets by with only power moves. But he flashes an effective swim move to keep blockers guessing.

Run Defense: Moves down the line and sifts through blockers effectively. In goalline situations, plays low and can plug the center of the line. With his excellent quickness, he regularly penetrates into the backfield to make the tackle or force the ball carrier to bounce outside. Occasionally won’t get pads low enough, presumably when he is anticipating the cut block. When this happens, Suh will lose his anchor against the run. Lacks the natural girth of a true nose tackle and I struggle to see him putting on much more weight. Although he should be a good 3-technique undertackle, Suh could be a great penetrating end in a 3-4 front, similar to a Richard Seymour.

Strength: Superior functional strength, especially in his lower body and core. As noted before, Suh can throw blockers to the side once he locks onto them. Can push the double team back enough to affect opposing quarterbacks.

Agility: In his youth, Suh was an accomplished soccer player, which undoubtedly helped him maintain strong balance and footwork. Of all of his traits, the Nebraska defensive tackle is said to have incredible agility for a man his side.  His athleticism is reminiscent of Minnesota Viking DT Kevin Williams.

Football I.Q: Very good play regonition skills. Quick to sniff out screens. Awareness in passing situations is one of his strongest suits, where he shows the instincts to drop back slightly into zone coverage to make a play on the ball.

Tackling: Due to his agility, Suh is an accomplished tackler in space.  Led the team in tackles last season with a total of 76. Will drive through ball carrier and has the explosiveness to put some pop into his tackles. Often is able to make one-armed tackles while fighting off blocker with other hand.

Durability: Has struggled with knee issues especially in his first two seasons. But has had no major issues in 2009.

Possibly interested NFL teams:

• Tampa Bay
• Detroit
• Cleveland
• Carolina
• Kansas City

But I’m hoping for an early Spring

(NFL.com) Stafford: Lions’ #1 pick

Mitch Albom wrote a masterful piece in Sports Illustrated several months ago that captured the essence of what Detroit has gone through after the 0-16 season, as well as the tough economic hardships the city has suffered over the years. Most fans would have long lost hope, but the Detroit faithful are loyal to a fault. After half a century of mediocrity, all this town asks for is a team that embodies the spirit of its people: a tough, blue-collar football team that is dedicated to running the ball and puts out a ferocious defense. In essence, we just want something similar to the situation in Baltimore and in Pittsburgh. The reason a person can’t walk a mile without hearing buzz about their team is because the Steelers and Ravens understand how to build a team the way their fans would build one.

We aren’t asking for flash or glitz, or even annual playoff berths, all we want is a team with whom we can identify.

Now, William Clay Ford, the man who apparently doesn’t understand that we are in a recession, ended up running Ford Motors into the ground, and has not ever been able to relate to the fans because of his upbringing, has put together a front office that absolutely doesn’t understand us.  If they did, I have little doubt that they would have ever flirted with picking Matt Stafford, the boy who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He grew up in Highland Park, Texas for heaven’s sake. That is the creme de la creme of Dallas’ high society. It’s not his fault for having that life. But it most certainly is the Lions’ fault for choosing him as the face of this franchise.

Is it any accident that Lions fans were head over heels in favor of selecting Aaron Curry as the number 1 overall pick of the 2009 Draft? Absolutely not!

(NFL.com) Aaron Curry-the People’s choice for #1

Was it a good business decision? Well, maybe not the best, but Curry was the kind of man that perfectly symbolized Detroit in every manner. The Lions could have rallied the fans around this young man, and they had the opportunity to demonstrate what should be most valued by this organization. Picking Curry would have stuck it to all the pundits and said “we value our fans, and we will build this team starting with a foundation of defense.” The number one pick symbolizes the direction that this team is headed in, and what the organization values most.

In an era where a sound understanding of the salary cap is king, the Lions threw more guaranteed money than the Falcons gave Matt Ryan last year. In a state where there is 12% unemployment, the Lions are spending money like there is no tomorrow. To put things in perspective, Tom Brady’s contract entitles him to somewhere around $25 million guaranteed. Stafford will be receiving $41 million over 6 years.

The Lions could have scored extra brownie points with fans by selecting Curry for somewhere around $15 million less than Stafford.

Instead, the Lions took the shortcut again and made strides to alienate the fans even more than 0-16.

It cannot be stressed enough, the fans of Detroit need signs that this time will be different than the Millen era (and all the eras before that). And the draft picks over the weekend gave little indication that we should expect much better out of Martin Mayhew than we did from Matt Millen.

The new regime said they ‘would build this team from the inside out,’ that they wanted to build through the trenches. How can you do that when you select only 2 linemen (4th round and 7th round). And what about that defense? Just one defender has been chosen in the first round since 2000, and this year did nothing to change that statistic. The selections were not bad by any means: Brandon Pettigrew, Matt Stafford, and Louis Delmas were the best at their positions in the draft. But the picks were not what was promised. The front office isn’t creating a team that represents us. And they haven’t reached the point where they are beyond reproach. Guys like Belichick and Parcells, you just don’t question because they have the rings to back up their decisions. The Lions have yet to earn such confidence. Until then, we will be skeptical, for better or for worse….

A friend created a site around the idea that the Lions are in a state of winter since they cannot escape the dire situation that has faced them for so long.

It might be a long winter…but I’m hoping for an early spring.

Pete Prisco of NFLDraftscout.com raved about the Lions’ draft, ultimately giving them an “A,” the second best grade of all the teams (then again, last year we got a grade of A, too). Sure it’s early to give out grades because we all know that it takes about 3 years to know what you have. But, besides me, there are those who are very positive about the Lions’ future. I sure hope that optimism can rub off on me sooner rather than later. Someone please give me a ray of sunshine because I want to believe that better days are on the horizon.