Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Seriously - WTF was Veach thinking with Breeland Speaks?
I really don't understand it. Didn't have the athleticism to play on an edge (certainly not as an OLB), especially when combined with the lack of length. And he didn't have the strength to play inside. He brought NOTHING to the table even as a prospect. There's no a single standout tool and wasn't from the moment he was drafted.
They completely fucking fucked coaching that kid. I was really high on Speaks as a DT prospect. He absolutely had outstanding athleticism if they would have used him inside where he was best in college. Instead, brilliant fucking Bob tries to make him a damned OLB. Then he spends all year injured when Spags arrived and never developed. I don't think it was the pick as much as it was the absolute dipshits that were Sutton and Co.
I'm less nervous with Spags but if they pick Moro Ojomo, Tyler Lacy, or Dante Stills those butterflies might come back. [Reply]
Originally Posted by kccrow:
They completely fucking fucked coaching that kid. I was really high on Speaks as a DT prospect. He absolutely had outstanding athleticism if they would have used him inside where he was best in college. Instead, brilliant fucking Bob tries to make him a damned OLB. Then he spends all year injured when Spags arrived and never developed. I don't think it was the pick as much as it was the absolute dipshits that were Sutton and Co.
I'm less nervous with Spags but if they pick Moro Ojomo, Tyler Lacy, or Dante Stills those butterflies might come back.
Dude never so much as got extended run on a practice squad anywhere else. If it were mere coaching, SOMEONE would've given him a look at least on a practice squad.
It wasn't coaching. It was sub-average talent combined with a complete lack of drive.
The fact that he got a fresh start and showed up out of shape says it all. [Reply]
Keion White looks very promising in person but he effectively had one good year. You’d think an ass kicker like him would be owning people before last year no? Reminds me a bit of Kpassagnon when he was with us.
Originally Posted by RunKC:
Keion White looks very promising in person but he effectively had one good year. You’d think an ass kicker like him would be owning people before last year no? Reminds me a bit of Kpassagnon when he was with us.
Thought that guy was gonna rape…but…yeah.
Yeah, the NFL has a lot of 'looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane' players out there and really I'm not 100% certain how to separate the wheat from the chaff there.
But if there were a science to it, being a GM would be a hell of a lot easier. At points maybe you have to just spin the wheel and take your chances. Because man, find me many guys who's tools look more like Myles Garrett in a draft in any given year.
There aren't a ton of guys who are even reasonably likely to be available to us that I'd take ahead of him. Maybe Harrison? Maybe Smith-Njiba or Wright?
Among potential DEs, I know there are going to be safer picks, but give if anyone can tap this guy, it would seem Cullen (and having Jones on the line with him) can do it.
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Dude never so much as got extended run on a practice squad anywhere else. If it were mere coaching, SOMEONE would've given him a look at least on a practice squad.
It wasn't coaching. It was sub-average talent combined with a complete lack of drive.
The fact that he got a fresh start and showed up out of shape says it all.
You're acting like he wasn't regarded as a day 2 prospect by everyone. It might look smart in retrospect but that wasn't anywhere near what people thought then. The dude came off an outstanding Junior season and had really good measurables. The fact he failed is somewhere between his work ethic and coaching and probably does lean heavily towards work ethic. To say he had no talent is simply not true. He had talent. You don't do what he did as a Junior in the SEC and just completely suck nuts. [Reply]
Originally Posted by kccrow:
You're acting like he wasn't regarded as a day 2 prospect by everyone. It might look smart in retrospect but that wasn't anywhere near what people thought then. The dude came off an outstanding Junior season and had really good measurables. The fact he failed is somewhere between his work ethic and coaching and probably does lean heavily towards work ethic. To say he had no talent is simply not true. He had talent. You don't do what he did as a Junior in the SEC and just completely suck nuts.
I mean, I'm acting like I didn't think he was a day 2 prospect, yeah.
I didn't see it when we made the pick and never saw it at any point. I don't know where 'really good measurables' came from because what his measurables point to where a bunch of parts that don't make a whole.
He wasn't agile enough to play edge, though admittedly few pegged him there. He wasn't long enough to be a 3-4 DE. So what you're really looking at is someone would seemingly be an under-tackle in a 4-3.
The problem is he wasn't nearly powerful enough to play IDL. And while a 4.87 40 is good for a DT it's also largely irrelevant. He didn't have any measurables that qualified as 'really good' that actually fit with the rest of his tools to make an actual football player.
He was a tweener and that's exactly what I said at the time. He simply didn't have a home.
And yeah, there have been plenty of SEC players who played better than Speaks but who ultimately just didn't have a complete set of tools. Michael Sam would be an immediate and obvious example. [Reply]
Gotta be honest, a few earlier mocks had White going to us at 31 and I laughed at the prospect of him being anything near a 1st round guy. But then we got the testing numbers and...yeah, that's a little different I guess.
The issue now is he's 24 and still raw. It's not all his fault, but I probably want a higher floor at that pick, I dunno. I could see how he'd be a dream for Spags, but man can be just get some bend please? [Reply]
Actually, you know what, I don't even rightly give a shit. I'd much rather hear right now who you think are the studs and duds of this year's class. [Reply]