Joe Haden
- Height: 5-11
- Weight: 190
- CB
- Florida
- NFL.com
| Attribute | Rating |
| Speed/Acceleration |  |
| Ball Skills | |
| Pass Coverage | |
| Run Defense | |
| Agility | |
| Football I.Q | |
| Tackling | |
| Durability | |
Scouting Report
Joe Haden is the top cornerback prospect of the 2010 NFL Draft. What you get with Haden is an outstanding athlete, and a spunky tackling machine who is unafraid to tangle with much larger opponents. He may not tally 8 INT’s in a season, but his pure coverage skills will help shut down one side of the field.
Expected value: 1st round, Top 15
Speed/Acceleration: Speedy enough to blanket receivers deep. Drives very hard on the ball and can close in a heartbeat. Shows the excellent recovery speed expected of a #1 corner.
Ball Skills: Haden shows exceptional leaping ability and has keen kinesthetic/body awareness. Has been very productive using his hands to deflect passes, but hasn’t shown the ability to make the interception away from his body.
Pass Coverage: Because of his athleticism and physical style of play, Haden should be in a scheme that utilizes man coverage, as opposed to the zone. He lacks the instincts and route recognition skills to jump routes and make plays within the zone. He can be a bit slow to read and react. Consequently, he loses the step often necessary to intercept the ball. Also, he needs to improve against inside moves, especially in press coverage. Additionally, he must work on rerouting receivers. Can’t afford to come out of his backpedal so quickly.
Run Defense: Contrary to the norm for his position, Haden relishes the chance to throw his weight around in the run game. He plays with a nasty attitude, although he sometimes gets in over his head and can be bullied by larger receivers.
Agility: Fluid hips, and can change directions with great precision, even among a defensive back’s standards.
Football I.Q: Lacks elite ball-hawking instincts. Relatively inexperienced as a cornerback since he was a quarterback and receiver in high school. Still learning the finer points of the position. Has upside in this respect.
Tackling: A willing and able tackler, throws his body around in run support, and will try to lay a big hit on the ball carrier. Sometimes gets in over his head and tries to blow up tight ends and will get end up on the ground.
Durability: Missed only one game due to injury during his career. Very durable prospect.
Videos for you to watch:
Joe Haden career highlights (made by jadekaipitt1)
Rolando McClain
- Height: 6-4
- Weight: 258
- LB
- Alabama
- NFL.com
| Attribute | Rating |
| Speed/Acceleration | |
| Pass Coverage | |
| Run Defense | |
| Strength | |
| Agility | |
| Football I.Q | |
| Tackling | |
| Durability | |
Scouting Report
As the reigning Butkus Award winner, Rolando McClain is this year’s primo linebacker prospect. He has prototypical size and length for a middle linebacker (and for 3-4 OLB), and his outstanding football intelligence will endear him to any NFL team looking for a leader for their defense. He is a battle-tested prospect, having played for a championship team in the SEC, and offers a low bust factor.
Expected value: mid 1st-round, somewhere between 10 and 20.
Speed/Acceleration: Decent top end speed, but doesn’t have the extra gear to be a true sideline-to-sideline player. Good initial burst off the edge.
Pass Coverage: As a read and react type, he naturally relies on his ability to read the QB’s eyes. Displays clean footwork, and doesn’t have many wasted steps. Athletic enough to cover most tight ends, but should be best in zone coverage, where his instincts are most valued. In terms of pass rushing, McClain has several things going for him. He times his blitzes well, offers pretty good versatility (can line up inside and out), and he institutes a solid bull rush. His great length allows him to bat down passes at the line of scrimmage. However, he has limited potential as a 3-4 OLB because he lacks pass rush moves, and doesn’t seem to have that hunter’s mentality desired in pass rushers.
Run Defense: Strong against the run, doesn’t get moved off the ball very easily. Can stand up against big linemen when he attacks the line. Elite diagnosis skills in run game, and reacts quickly to all but misdirection plays. Doesn’t take on and shed blockers consistently enough. Lacks the nasty football demeanor of a true middle linebacker in the NFL, and seldom violently charges with the intention of blowing up a play. Since he shows a tendency to watch the backfield, he can get surprised by oncoming blockers. Needs to do a better job protecting feet, and can be easily taken out with cut blocks. Lackluster in pursuit and won’t give full effort when chasing from behind.
Strength: Plays with good leverage, and seems to be strong in both lower and upper body.
Agility: Usually pretty smooth changing directions, but not an elite athlete in space.
Football I.Q: Well-versed in a complex college defense run by Nick Saban. Diagnoses plays before the snap, and is more than capable of making pre-snap adjustments. A cerebral player/ film-room junkie. Sniffs out screens and reverses. McClain’s ability to read and react gives him a jump on most plays, which makes up for his average speed. Naturally, should be a defensive captain at the next level.
Tackling: Adept tackler in space and in closed-quarters. Flashes the ability to deliver a pop and will drive through his hits when he gets a full head of steam. Because of his long arms, once he wraps up, it is difficult to get away from him. Can be caught lunging with a lazy arm tackle. Not a consistently explosive hitter.
Durability: Excellent stamina, plays every down on defense. Managed to stay healthy throughout his college career.
Videos for you to watch:
(Video thanks to CkParrotHead at Universaldraft.com)
Universal Draft Presents LB Rolando McClain of Alabama – Part 2 of 2
The week of the Senior Bowl has to be one of my favorite times of the football year. Approximately 100 of the finest senior prospects gather in Mobile, Alabama for a chance to showcase their abilities to NFL talent evaluators. Not only do we discover accurate heights and weights of players, but we get a glimpse of how they will react in a professional environment.
Day 1 was a time for players to weigh in, to talk a bit with the media, and to get a little time on the practice field. Here are the major happenings from Monday:
-Overall, Idaho OL Mike Iupati’s measurables were the most impressive of all the big men (6-5, 325 lbs, 35 inch arm length, and just under 10.5 inch hands). His arm length stood out as longest of any player in attendance.
-Alabama DT Terrence Cody hurt himself by confirming suspicions regarding his weight issues. Although he has the biggest mits of anyone there (11.25 inch), his weight of 370 lbs. will linger in the minds of scouts as cause for serious concern.
-Florida State S Myron Rolle, after returning from his adventure as a Rhodes Scholar looked in the best shape of virtually any player at the Senior Bowl.
-In the first practice, Wisconsin’s O’Brien Schofield tore his ACL. This is a terrible shame.
- QB Tim Tebow unsurprisingly had difficulty handling snaps under center, and he looked uncomfortable in his drop backs. To consider this week a success, he will have to demonstrate great coachability.
-For unknown reasons, Jerry Hughes, Trent Williams, Brandon LaFell, and Charles Brown did not arrive in Mobile.
For more up-to-date information, I recommend reading NFL.com (they have some videos up) DraftCountdown, Draft Daddy, and Walterfootball.
On Thursday, April 22nd, we will gather together to witness the NFL Draft, appearing for the first time on prime time television. But assuredly, this will be a special occasion for yet another reason, an event which has been seen only once before, back in 1970. Barring catastrophe, two defensive tackles should join the elite, counting themselves among the rare few to be chosen in the top 5 of the NFL Draft.
These two fine players have waged a proverbial war in the trenches all season to be considered not only the best at their position, but the finest prospect of 2010. We all are familiar with the aptly-named Ndamukong Suh, who left an indelible impression on all who watched him almost single handedly throttle Texas in the Big 12 Championship game. But his peer, Gerald Mccoy, has quietly garnered attention from NFL evaluators for his talent for disruption.
What most people may not realize is just how little separates these two, a race that may not be concluded until negotiation time, just days before the Draft begins.
So, let’s take a closer look, shall we?
Ndamukong Suh’s rise to the top has been meteoric, to say the least. In August, all but the most astute were aware of the lineman from Nebraska. Seven months later, he is a household name, and the people’s choice for number 1 overall to the St. Louis Rams. His well-deserved reputation in most circles is such that it is quite uncommon to hear someone try to find holes in his game. I mean think about it, the guy finished the season with 12.5 sacks, and led his team in tackles…as a defensive tackle, for crying out loud! All this led to him earning consensus 1st team All-American honors as well as being invited to the Heisman Trophy award ceremony, which hasn’t honored a defensive lineman this way since Warren Sapp. In addition to this high honor, Suh came away with virtually every other award imaginable: the Lombardi Trophy, Outland Trophy, Bednarik Award, and the distinguished Nagurski Trophy for defensive player of the year.
All the buzz and awards seem to point to the obvious fact that Ndamukong Suh will be the number #1 pick of the draft. The majority of draft sites, including high profile sites like ESPN, NFLdraftscout, and Scout.com consider Suh to be the best defensive lineman available in this draft. But in NFL circles, another name is thought to be more deserving of that spot.
Pro Football Weekly’s draft writer Nolan Nawrocki recently published his evaluation of the top underclassmen in the draft. And although I don’t endorse the order of some of his picks, his reasoning regarding one player in particular is quite intriguing:
1. Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy — A strong, disruptive, explosive inside rusher who has been dominating the college football scene since he stepped onto the field, McCoy has warranted higher grades from NFL evaluators than Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh and stands a legitimate chance to be the first overall pick in the NFL draft.
Gerald McCoy earned the respect of scouts early on in his career, to a point where he could have declared for the draft as a redshirt sophomore and still would have been considered a top 15 pick. However, he came back to school to earn his degree, and to improve his abilities for one more year. His production was more modest than Suh’s, recording 6 sacks and 32 tackles this season. He was a finalist for the Lombardi Award and earned 1st or 2nd team All-American depending on which source you look at.
This begs the question, how can Gerald McCoy still be considered a better pro prospect by NFL scouts than Ndamukong Suh? The answer is concealed within the game tape.
First of all, McCoy is viewed as a very polished, true 3-technique penetrator. He is very violent and extremely disruptive, slipping off blocks like water on rock. He has solid character, works extremely hard, and is surprisingly durable. And at 6′4, 295 (with a frame to hold more weight) he possesses the wide girth necessary to hold up in the interior. Most importantly, even though he doesn’t always make the big play himself, McCoy affects plays with frightening regularity, which is perhaps the number one reason why scouts love him.
In comparison, Suh is an extremely powerful player with great quickness and superior balance. He has been unblockable at times, even against double teams. Nevertheless, he is viewed as a somewhat raw prospect compared to McCoy because his form of dominance in the college game may not work nearly as well in the pros. His natural abilities are so great that he has been dominant at the college level without having to develop much of a pass rush repertoire. He relies too heavily on his strength, which could cause some problems when trying to acclimate to the pro game. In the NFL, strength alone is almost never enough to make a player great unless you’re a revolutionary player (which Suh could be). The offensive linemen are simply too powerful for a one-trick pony to beat consistently, especially one who weighs less than 300 pounds (and could very well weigh in around 285-290 at the Scouting Combine). At best, he is going to need some coaching at the next level to learn how to beat linemen in other ways. In the worst case, he might be asked to make a position change to end, where he probably could be a dominant force just like Richard Seymour. If teams believe he can successfully make that position switch, thus playing at a level not unlike Richard Seymour, then his awesome value remains in tact.
I just can’t get that Big 12 Championship game out of my head. Gerald McCoy never was able to single handedly control a game like that.
Suh absolutely took over that game in a way that I have never seen before from an interior lineman. That is the tantalizing upside to which I previously referred. My only question about that game is whether he can do such a thing consistently at the next level, because those Texas interior linemen had been a weakness for the Longhorns all season.
Ultimately, we have to factor circumstances into why McCoy may be selected over Suh. The first four teams in this draft (St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Washington) all run 4-3 defenses, which seems to favor McCoy. And now that we know the powers that be believe that Gerald McCoy has better realized ability than Ndamukong Suh as a defensive tackle prospect, it seems all is working in his favor right now. Suh’s potential may be greater, but his NFL readiness isn’t near that of McCoy. And like it or not, that matters in this league. But can a team justifiably pass on potentially the can’t miss player of the decade? Because that carries some weight, too.
Based on your experience, who is the better pro prospect and why?
