Originally Posted by : Overview
Speaks finished strong in his final year in Oxford, sacking the quarterback six times in the team's final six games from the defensive end position. He started all 12 games for the Rebels in 2017, posting 67 tackles, eight for loss which included seven sacks to garner second-team All-SEC by league media. The Jackson, Mississippi native and four-star recruit was a defensive tackle initially, redshirting in 2014 and then starting two of 13 games played the following year (32 tackles, 5.5 for loss, one sack, two pass breakups). Speaks played in every game again as a sophomore, starting seven, making 28 tackles, 1.5 for loss, and a sack.
Originally Posted by : Strengths
Big man with good speed and plus athletic ability
Has experience at a variety of spots along defensive line
Has size and length to play in odd or even front
Punches with good hand placement, arm extension and rolled hips when allowed to two-gap
Has attitude and edge
Flashes potential to become more proficient with hands as a weapon
Able to play ahead of move blocks and disrupt into backside gaps
Plays with plus awareness
Responds well to flow of the play
Offers a little more pass rush than expected as power end
Pairs hands and feet to help free him as interior rusher along the edge
Arm-over move has some potential
Weaknesses
Had just one season of big production
Inconsistent at leveraging gap
Plays top-heavy with high pad level
Allows blockers under his pads when attacking gaps
Hip-tightness leads to narrowing of his base
Struggles to hold ground against down blocks and can be rolled out of the gap
Has straight line speed, but lateral agility and foot quickness are average in tight quarters
Goes over the edge with emotions
Chippy hitter willing to lead with helmet when play is ending
Ejected for targeting against Kentucky and ejected against Mississippi State for two unsportsmanlike penalties
Reid says Brett Veach "wore him out" watching tape on Speaks. Watched all of his snaps from last season, says he never saw him on the ground. Compares him to Tamba Hali with size and metrics.
Originally Posted by KChiefs1:
KPassa needs to be KeiVarae Russell’d.
It's certainly not a ringing endorsement when your GM says that the new 2nd round pick will be in the rotation and that last year's 2nd round pick will continue to develop. You shouldn't be developing 2nd round players to just see the field 2 years in. [Reply]
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. [Reply]
If anything, this solidifies the type of GM Veach will be. As you can tell from the Reid video, Veach let it be known he really likes the dude and wanted to make sure he got him. Maybe his vex going forward will be he’s willing to go above market price to get his guy, that seems consistent with the trades he’s made as well.
He has an extensive list of “hits” so I’m more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt with this class. Hell, it sounds like K Pass probably was a Dorsey guy and Veach didn’t feel good about him being the “project”. I’m fine with investing in pass rush, especially with Ford being a complete wildcard at this point, I just don’t think we were in any danger of missing out on him at 54. [Reply]
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.
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.
Personally I don't think they know what they want to do with him at this point.
In round 2 I was hoping we'd stand pat and take Ronnie Harrison. When he fell to the 3rd I thought "well, perhaps I don't know shit about this guy."
Then the Jags took him (who know a thing or two about drafting a good secondary, making me feel both better and worse) and likely became the new Ravens... [Reply]
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
