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Phillip Rivers, QB, NC State

 

 

Jordan: A bust. The guy’s mechanics are much better than they were his first couple of years in college, but this guy won’t do shit in the NFL. Then again, in the right scheme, he might be another Brees…hmmm. It’s all going to depend on whether or not he has the intangibles, which I don’t know.

 

 

LaDanian Tomlinson, RB, TCU, 6’0” 215 LBS, 40 time: 4.37

 

 

Jordan: He has a fast 40 time on record but he plays even faster than that. He's got that rare ability to out-run defenders with angles. Once he gets a lane, it's over...nobody finishes their runs as well as he does. He does an excellent job of setting up his blocks and using them to cancel out defenders at the second level...setting up his big runs. As far as power is concerned, he picks his spots. With all the carries they're giving him, it's almost unfathomable that he can avoid a significant injury much longer...but he's being smart as far as avoiding taking unnecessary punishment. The biggest knock on him, for me, is that he has a tendency to disappear quickly when he doesn't get into the game. In years past, he was a very inconsistent runner...and tended to abandon holes more than he needed to. That said, now that he has a dominant offensive line, he sticks around longer. His pass receiving skills are flawless (he can split out and run by you...he has excellent hands and his open-field speed is even more of a threat when he's in space) and he's an aware pass protector. He's not really a guy who can break you down in space--he doesn't really have a lot of moves...he has a lot of quickness and speed, but he isn't really a stop-and-go kind of runner (despite what people want you to think). The Barry Sanders comparisons are absurd. But he's a great back, and I'd far prefer him to Sanders (who often relied on breaking the huge run to cover up his ineffectiveness during the rest of the game).

 

Instincts-7

Inside Running-7-

Outside Running-8

Hands/Receiving Skills-8

Block-6

 

Overall Rating: 7.5

 

 

 

Lorenzo Neal, FB

 

 

Jordan: A powerful lead blocker, but he doesn’t have the quickness or agility to adjust in his blocks. He will attack the linebacker and put a solid hit on him, but he’s not as devastating as people like to believe. His feet tend to stop when they shouldn't. He does have exceptional power, though. He takes enough linebackers out of the play to warrant praise. He can lead on sweeps to the outside and find someone and clear a path as well as do a good job of leading the way inside. He’s just not a dominating isolation blocker.

 

Instincts-5

Inside Running-4

Outside Running-3

Hands/Receiving Skills-5

Block-6+

 

Overall Rating: 5.9

 

 

 

Reche Caldwell, WR, Florida

 

 

Jordan: A natural receiver with the potential to be a very solid #2. Has nice hands and will make some smooth ball adjustements. Has a knack for creating separation. Because of his ball skills he actually plays like a pretty big target. Can be a big-play receiver, has pretty good speed, but he doesn’t have the kind of difference-making game breaking abilities you’re looking for in a #1.

 

Hands-6

Patterns-6

Receive Short-6

Receive Deep-5

Catch In Traffic-6

Run After Catch-6-

Block-5

 

Overall Rating: 5.8^

 

 

 

ROOKIE

 

Rashaun Woods, WR, Oklahoma St, 6’2” 202 LBS, 40 time: 4.51


Jordan: He's not a practice player and he's been unable to stay healthy. In addition to that, he doesn't appear to give a fuck, but when he's in an actual game, it's a different matter. He's running crisp patterns, he's making nice catches, he's doing the little things to help his team win. He can certainly be a quality #3 receiver if he can get on the football fiend for them.

 

 

 

Antonio Gates, TE, Kent St.

 

 

Jordan: He's not really that explosive. That's what's really surprising about his success. And although he played basketball, he's not really a "leaper" like Tony Gonzalez. He's more of a power forward type. He uses his enormous frame to get his body in between defenders and the football, and he has huge, soft hands. He just has a tremendous physical presence in the passing game. In addition, he has terrific footwork and runs very fluid routes despite lacking that explosion, as previously stated. They will split him out wide and he'll run solid enough patterns to create separation or gain position, and once the ball's thrown his way, 9 times out of 10 he's coming down with it, as there's a huge size and concentration mismatch. As far as blocking is concerned, I don't know. I've never really watched him carefully in that area.

 

Hands-7

Patterns-7

Receive Short-7+

Receive Deep-6

Catch In Traffic-8-

Run After Catch-6

Block-?

 

Overall Rating: 7.1

 

 

 

Igor Olshansky, DT, Oregon

 

 

Jordan: Has all of the measurables. Size, 4.9 speed, incredible strength (41 reps with long arms…before Isaac Sopoaga broke it, but Sopoaga’s arms aren’t nearly as long so it might be negligible). Anyway, they plan on using him at either DE or NT in this scheme, and he no doubt has the ability to play either. He showed flashes of quality play at Oregon but is still working on getting his ability to translate to performance on the field. He will start right away, and as he learns the game and gets better, opposing linemen are going to be having a harder and harder time trying to create room to run the football.

 

 

 

Jamal Williams, DT

 

 

Jordan: Since putting on an additional 20, 25 LBS, maybe more, he has become one of the most dominating run defenders in the league. I really shouldn't have to describe him that much for you to get a picture--think about Grady Jackson, Gilbert Brown, Casey Hampton, and the other monstrous nose tackles, and you basically have Jamal Williams. He is strong, has a powerful base, has strong hands and uses them well, and shows natural insticts at playing the position. He can stack and shed blocks and really is a nightmare to try to run against inside. He doesn't provide the explosiveness as a pass rusher that might be a bonus, but then, of course, you don't really expect him to...thus it would be a bonus. He DOES have enough tenacity to push the pocket and occasionally walk himself into a coverage sack.

 

Recognition-6+

Pursuit-5+

Run Defense (POA)-8-

Pass Rush-4+

 

Overall Rating: 6.9

 

 

 

Randall Godfrey, MLB

 

 

Jordan: Compact ILB. Very good recognition time and is good in inside pursuit. Not really a true speed and space linebacker. Never was much of an athlete. May have lost a step within the past two years that he didn’t have to lose, and it doesn’t seem he’ll ever get it back…having not seen enough of him in detail to really tell you why he’s been getting cut puts me in a precarious position. He seems to run well and is a solid, disciplined football player. He’s tough inside taking on lead blocks and often will beat the blocker to the hole. The Titans thought he had lost a step as did the Seahawks, but this guy can still be a positive veteran presence on the field and fits the 3-4 defense the Chargers want to run very nicely.

 

Read and React-7

Pursuit-6+

Blitz/Rush-5

Run Defense (POA)-6

Pass Coverage-6-

Tackle-6+

 

Overall Rating: 6.0

 

 

 

Ben Leber, OLB

 

 

Jordan: Doesn’t seem like he’s very athletic, yet he makes an awful lot of plays as though he is. He’s aggressive to the football and a high-energy and high-effort player who can deliver the big hit. What he lacks in speed, quickness, and agility, he makes up for with intensity. He runs hard, he refuses to play a read-and-react style of game and he seems to back up his intensity with intelligence. He sees things and feels things that allow him to jump them before they happen. He has a chance to be a very good player in this defense for quite a while (well, quite a while in today’s NFL is 3 or 4 years). And the other thing is he is a very physical take-on guy. He is very strong and has the power to not get rooted out of their by fullbacks quite so easily. You think you can do some damage to their linebackers—I mean, they’re a lousy team, their linebackers must be total shit, right? Especially guys not named Donnie Edwards. And yet then you face this guy and it’s not so easy.

 

Read and React-6+

Pursuit-6-

Blitz/Rush-6

Run Defense (POA)-6

Pass Coverage-5+

Tackle-6

 

Overall Rating: 6.0^

 

 

 

Donnie Edwards, ILB

 

 

Jordan: Hard not to love the way he plays the game, and he’s still going. Energy, speed, quicknes, and a non-stop motor. You can never question his effort. Even when this team isn’t showing much, he is. And when they were a playoff contender just a few years ago and Drew Brees and LaDanian Tomlinson had these guys contending, sort of, he was the heart and soul of the defense as Junior Seau started to slow; for real this time. Seau has since experienced somewhat of a rebirth in Miami’s defense (and it’s easy to see why) but Edwards just provides this team with the kind of play they want at the ILB position. With his experience in a variation of the 3-4 under Gunther Cunningham in Kansas City, he should fit right in with Wade Phillips’ system. In the 3-4, he’s got slightly less complex responbilities and is even more effective than he would be in a 4-3. He’s been around for about a decade but I think he still has a couple of pretty high quality years ahead of him.

 

Read and React-7

Pursuit-6

Blitz/Rush-5+

Run Defense (POA)-4+

Pass Coverage-6

Tackle-6

 

Overall Rating: 6.4

 

 

 

Quentin Jammer, CB, Texas

 

 

Jordan: Great talent. Has excellent size, 4.4 speed, quickness, and can knock the shit out of you. There was talk of moving him to strong safety before last year but I think his natural talent makes that very painful for them to even think about. He has shown flashes of being a shutdown corner and has the potential to be one of the very best in the NFL. People talk about how he can be a physical corner, blah blah blah blah blah…but um, he’s much more than that. He has that rare, rare blazing recovery speed to run with just about any receiver in the game and make up for any lost ground in transition, he is extremely fluid in every direction, he changes direction quickly, and he just has a feel for man coverage and knows exactly how close he can get without being called for pass interference. Of course, that hasn't prevented him from BEING CALLED on quite a few pass interference penalties. He has outstanding timing in breaking on the ball. The main thing about him getting burned some in the past was them playing him 10 yards off of receivers. I mean, every corner is gonna give up passes that way. I’d say he’s nearing top 10 corner status myself, although it’s difficult to tell with the differences in coverage schemes and the like.

 

Key and Diagnose-6

Man Coverage-7

Zone Coverage-5+

Hands-6

Run Support-7-

Tackle-7

 

Overall Rating: 6.7^

 

 

 

Drayton Florence, CB, Tuskegee

 

 

Jordan: Drafted pretty much on potential alone. Great workout numbers. And yet he’s become one of the better cover corners in the NFL. He can match up with just about anyone—he's pure in coverage. He has both speed and agility, and he actually UNDERSTANDS HOW TO COVER. That’s much easier said. He won’t get called for a lot of pass interference penalties and he’s all over receivers. It’s as if he’s still in college and dominating. The only thing is you’d maybe like to see him tally more interceptions…on second thought, fuck it. And who cares if he doesn’t really support the run? That’s what you have linebackers and Jammer for. They started to figure out just how good he is last year as he finally broke into the starting lineup and what you're going to see is a guy who will garner Pro Bowl consideration.

 

Key and Diagnose-7-

Man Coverage-7+

Zone Coverage-7

Hands-5

Run Support-4

Tackle-4

 

Overall Rating: 7.1

Antonio Cromartie, CB, Florida State, 40 yard dash: 4.43

Jordan: He is a Michael Booker clone. He's got all of these measurables yet it doesn't translate on the field. He is stiff and struggles to turn and run in man-off coverage. He only has one gear and struggles to accelerate. He is just very raw in general. Plus, he's coming off major knee surgery and is going to have to refine his technique along with getting into football shape. The odds are really stacked against him.

PREDICTION: BUST

 

NOT RATED

 

 

 

Terrence Kiel, S, Texas A&M

 

 

Jordan: Athletic, hard-hitter. A two-way safety—can come up into the box and fill like a 4th linebacker, plus is a devastating blitzer, and has the speed and athleticism to get down the field and play the deep third. He really is a solid young football player. He is very aggressive and takes full advantage of his athletic talents. His development has kind of gone unnoticed.

 

Key and Diagnose-6

Man Coverage-6-

Zone Coverage-6

Hands-6

Run Support-7-

Tackle-7-

 

Overall Rating: 6.4^