McNair: "In the draft, we’ll be looking at linebackers"

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by mussop

Maybe we want a LB that can put his hand down on third down.

Clay Matthews maybe?

Just got a chance to ask Rob Rang who was on 1560 this morning if he had any concerns about Matthews being unable to crack the starting USC line-up until his last year of eligibility ?
His reply was yes. Rang said he definitely likes Matthews and appreciates his versitility and hustel but feels he may basically an overachiever who we've already seen the best from. He said Matthews late in the first round (25 or later) maybe, but no way at 15. FWIW.
There was an upper echelon of Trojan LBs including Keith Rivers, Cushing, & Rey-Rey that Matthews just couldn't break into as a starter for several years and only did so because of default and I want a player drafted in the top of the first round to be an "upper echelon" player.

[mussop]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Just got a chance to ask Rob Rang who was on 1560 this morning if he had any concerns about Matthews being unable to crack the starting USC line-up until his last year of eligibility ?
His reply was yes. Rang said he definitely likes Matthews and appreciates his versitility and hustel but feels he may basically an overachiever who we've already seen the best from. He said Matthews late in the first round (25 or later) maybe, but no way at 15. FWIW.
There was an upper echelon of Trojan LBs including Keith Rivers, Cushing, & Rey-Rey that Matthews just couldn't break into as a starter for several years and only did so because of default and I want a player drafted in the top of the first round to be an "upper echelon" player.

Im just dont understand how he was suposed to start. He was an undersized walk on when he first got there and the starters were considered one of the best group of college LB's ever. He did everything asked of him, worked his ass off, excelled at every level they put him and worked his way into the starting lineup on that group.

Even if he just maxed out athletically which is obsurd considering hes only what 22 or 23 years old, he has shown to be more athletically gifted than both Cushing and Mauluga. Anyone who watched USC the last few years will tell you when he is in the game he makes a diffference.

He is athletic enough, smart enough and has the desire and work ethic you wold want in a early first round pick. Im not saying we should draft him I'm just saying from what I have seen of him IMO he will be just as good or better than any of the other USC LB's. How many games he started doesnt matter to me. IF he is availabe at 15 and the Texans think he fits a need they better take him or their is a good chance they will be missing out on a very good prospect.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by mussop

Im just dont understand how he was suposed to start. He was an undersized walk on when he first got there and the starters were considered one of the best group of college LB's ever. He did everything asked of him, worked his ass off, excelled at every level they put him and worked his way into the starting lineup on that group.

Even if he just maxed out athletically which is obsurd considering hes only what 22 or 23 years old, he has shown to be more athletically gifted than both Cushing and Mauluga. Anyone who watched USC the last few years will tell you when he is in the game he makes a diffference.

He is athletic enough, smart enough and has the desire and work ethic you wold want in a early first round pick. Im not saying we should draft him I'm just saying from what I have seen of him IMO he will be just as good or better than any of the other USC LB's. How many games he started doesnt matter to me. IF he is availabe at 15 and the Texans think he fits a need they better take him or their is a good chance they will be missing out on a very good prospect.

Plus anyone who is closely connected to any big time college program will tell you the politics of playing time is a real animal. For a walk on to get any significant playing time at any division 1 school is hard enough, to walk on and beat out the super gold chips that attend USC is a monster most player never break through.

And I do not care what the official stance is but these players have alumni "advocates" for a lack of a better name and there is a prestige things fore their players to be playing. Do not kid yourself that this is not happening at UCS, it is.

When a team has guys like Dallas Sartz, Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga, and Cushing on it, any playing time is hard earned. This kid pushed a HS blue chip to the bench, it may have taken him some time but he still did it.

[mussop]

Originally Posted by painekiller

Plus anyone who is closely connected to any big time college program will tell you the politics of playing time is a real animal. For a walk on to get any significant playing time at any division 1 school is hard enough, to walk on and beat out the super gold chips that attend USC is a monster most player never break through.

And I do not care what the official stance is but these players have alumni "advocates" for a lack of a better name and there is a prestige things fore their players to be playing. Do not kid yourself that this is not happening at UCS, it is.

When a team has guys like Dallas Sartz, Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga, and Cushing on it, any playing time is hard earned. This kid pushed a HS blue chip to the bench, it may have taken him some time but he still did it.

And performed well when he did do it.

By the way nice points.

[Keith]

It wouldn't make it easier on Matthews to break through as a walk-on either if a teammate (allegedly) used steriods to gain an advantage.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/story?id=...s&confirm=true

http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nat...cushing_i.html

No positive tests though, which is really unfair to Cushing, but man, speculation on this has been rampant.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Keith

It wouldn't make it easier on Matthews to break through as a walk-on either if a teammate (allegedly) used steriods to gain an advantage.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/story?id=...s&confirm=true

http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nat...cushing_i.html

No positive tests though, which is really unfair to Cushing, but man, speculation on this has been rampant.

I heard a rumor that there were positive test at the combine involving two first round candidates. I saw it in a couple of places, but this is the first source I could find this morning:

http://gridironfans.com/forums/latest-nfl-headlines/92949-possible-positive-drug-test-results-nfl-combine.html

[edo783]

Originally Posted by papabear

I heard a rumor that there were positive test at the combine involving two first round candidates. I saw it in a couple of places, but this is the first source I could find this morning:

http://gridironfans.com/forums/latest-nfl-headlines/92949-possible-positive-drug-test-results-nfl-combine.html

Yup, I saw that few days ago on I think ESPN.com. No one has been outed yet though.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Just got a chance to ask Rob Rang if he had any concerns about Matthews being unable to crack the starting USC line-up until his last year of eligibility ?
His reply was yes. Rang said he definitely likes Matthews and appreciates his versitility and hustel. He said Matthews late in the first round (25 or later) maybe, but no way at 15. FWIW.

Rob Rang is known for his draft projections. By that, I mean predicting when a player will be drafted. Now, how good those players will be once they are in the NFL is anybody's guess. Just because he may have correctly forcasted that Vince Young would be a top 3 pick didn't translate into having a great Pro career.

Every player has something that concerns me. We can point at Crabtree's lack of a 40 time, Curry's hip fluidity, Raji's motivation, etc. However, they will probably be drafted in the top ten and are expected to have an impact for the team that drafts them. It would be nice to have 15 players who were National top 15 players coming out of Pop Warner all the way through their senior year of college. Real upper echelon players who broke records at their FBS schools and led their teams to national championships. However, in the real world there are late bloomers and players with flaws that have the potential to be Pro-Bowlers that never realized that promise in college. I wonder if Rob Rang felt that Antonio Cromartie was worth the 19th pick in the draft since his senior year was not perfect. He guessed he was a 24 or later kind of guy.

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/mockdra...nd=1&year=2006

Oh he also had Winston Justice #14, Chad Jackson #15, and Jimmy Williams #16. I think San Diego is probably pleased that they took Cromartie instead of Williams.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Rob Rang is known for his draft projections. By that, I mean predicting when a player will be drafted. Now, how good those players will be once they are in the NFL is anybody's guess. Just because he may have correctly forcasted that Vince Young would be a top 3 pick didn't translate into having a great Pro career.

That would mean he's basically on the same page the teams who are doing the drafting are on. That's quite a compliment.