Originally Posted by kccrow:
Personally, I never really understood the attempt to make Kpass an OLB. Get the guy up to 320 and let him go at DE. Use that length to his advantage rather than asking him to be agiler than he is.
I like the pick. Comments from scouts like "lack of technique" are basically worthless when he was very effective at creating pressure on the edge in the SEC (as already mentioned, PFF graded him 5th). Imagine how much pressure he would get if he had 'technique' :-)
I'm not sure about the move up, Veach said they felt there was a big drop off after this guy but I think there were still some very solid edge guys available at 54 even if Speaks went before, even if they were for some reason locked in on an edge guy.
The comments also don't make the Tanoh situation sound great, they had already mentioned Tanoh kicking inside on pass rush downs so maybe he's got that as a specialist role plus special teams plus depth for the inevitable Houston or Ford injury. It's not great but it does make me think he shouldn't have been taken in the 2nd. [Reply]
"There were some issues early in my football career in college," Speaks said. "I had a DUI in my past, and I just tried to clear my name, be open with them and make sure everybody knows I'm a guy who has made mistakes, but learned from it and is moving forward, not backwards."
Veach wasn't shy about letting Reid know that he believed in this player —as he has with past players like Desean Jackson, Fletcher Cox, LeSean McCoy, Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones.
Lot of Mississippi St fans giving Chris Jones shit on twitter for being happy about the pick. Saying Speaks is dirty, looks like he broke a MSU guy’s ankle pretty bad. Pics and the commentary in link
Originally Posted by NIUhuskies:
Lot of Mississippi St fans giving Chris Jones shit on twitter for being happy about the pick. Saying Speaks is dirty, looks like he broke a MSU guy’s ankle pretty bad. Pics and the commentary in link
The goal for this draft was to get tougher and meaner in the front 7. A poor run defense prevented us from an AFCCG appearance on 2016. Then Veach and Reid saw KC get pushed around by Tennessee, in Arrowhead, in the playoffs, and said "Never Again."
Speaks is a backup OLB. He will play, and be an important defensive piece. He is already better than old man Hali, and is a much tougher and more physical player than Zombo. Speaks is a big tough guy who isn't gonna get knocked on his ***. Same thing can't be said for Hali or Zombo last year [Reply]
I wish there were more game films available. The game vs. MSU in the OP leaves me pretty curious as to what Veach saw in Speaks... seems like he did next to nothing as a pass rusher. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
I wish there were more game films available. The game vs. MSU in the OP leaves me pretty curious as to what Veach saw in Speaks... seems like he did next to nothing as a pass rusher.
Watch him against lsu above. A couple of sacks and completely disruptive [Reply]
