2016 DB Prospect Thread

[cushrinada1986]

I would prefer to find dbacks in free agency about to breakout as elite or above average but yet to do so. Trumaine Johnson has priced himself out of range recently. I like Jeremy lane so far. He is better than Maxwell ever was. Great in the slot and very sudden at 6'1 with very underrated speed and playmaking skills outside. Could very well be a pro bowler in a different system that displays his complete skillset. And with byrons bust contract Lanes play will be overlooked!! He is not completely healed from his Superbowl injury and will only get better next year. And will not cost much.

I always thought if Lane had not gotten injured in the SB, the Pats would not have won. As a slot that can switch outside, I would love to have that vet leadership on the other side to really manage the game plan. Now to just sure up a pass rush and this DB core could really show shutdown potential.

[rmw10]

I'm not a big Tony Lombardi fan, but he did have a reasonable article recently.

 

Every year during the State of the Ravens press conference, the same positions seemingly come up: WR, EDGE, CB, and S.  In that time (looking only in rounds 1-3), we've addressed S twice with Elam and Brooks, neither of which have panned out yet.  We've addressed WR once in Perriman, and that obviously remains to be seen.  Guess what we haven't touched though... CB and EDGE.  CB is the big one.  Top CBs on the market are going to get big bucks.  Not addressing the position has put us in the position we're in now.  We've regularly been trying to rely on later round rookies and cut FAs to solve the problem.  It hasn't worked.  BPA is nice and all, but sometimes you really do have to address true needs.

[ravensnick]

I'm not a big Tony Lombardi fan, but he did have a reasonable article recently.

 

Every year during the State of the Ravens press conference, the same positions seemingly come up: WR, EDGE, CB, and S.  In that time (looking only in rounds 1-3), we've addressed S twice with Elam and Brooks, neither of which have panned out yet.  We've addressed WR once in Perriman, and that obviously remains to be seen.  Guess what we haven't touched though... CB and EDGE.  CB is the big one.  Top CBs on the market are going to get big bucks.  Not addressing the position has put us in the position we're in now.  We've regularly been trying to rely on later round rookies and cut FAs to solve the problem.  It hasn't worked.  BPA is nice and all, but sometimes you really do have to address true needs.

EDGE could really screw us over because we have 33 year old Suggs coming off another Achilles injury, soon to be 32 year old Dumervil coming off a down year, and Courtney Upshaw heading to free agency. Luckily, Zardarius Smith flashed some potential, but EDGE may be a greater need than secondary in this draft. 

[rmw10]

EDGE could really screw us over because we have 33 year old Suggs coming off another Achilles injury, soon to be 32 year old Dumervil coming off a down year, and Courtney Upshaw heading to free agency. Luckily, Zardarius Smith flashed some potential, but EDGE may be a greater need than secondary in this draft. 

 

Yeah they way I looked at it is that at least we have some guys to rush the passer.  Even our starting options at CB are very questionable.  There's no doubt that pass rush is a huge need, although it might not be as immediate as CB.

[ravefan52]

I'm not a big Tony Lombardi fan, but he did have a reasonable article recently.

Every year during the State of the Ravens press conference, the same positions seemingly come up: WR, EDGE, CB, and S. In that time (looking only in rounds 1-3), we've addressed S twice with Elam and Brooks, neither of which have panned out yet. We've addressed WR once in Perriman, and that obviously remains to be seen. Guess what we haven't touched though... CB and EDGE. CB is the big one. Top CBs on the market are going to get big bucks. Not addressing the position has put us in the position we're in now. We've regularly been trying to rely on later round rookies and cut FAs to solve the problem. It hasn't worked. BPA is nice and all, but sometimes you really do have to address true needs.

Yup, for the most part we've basically had the same needs for the past two or three years. We've been looking for WR's for forever it seems, a Reed replacement at FS since before he left, CB since Graham left and someone to groom behind Suggs and Doom for years (unless you count McPhee who we let go). So... we'll probably go DL and ILB early.

[rmw10]

Yup, for the most part we've basically had the same needs for the past two or three years. We've been looking for WR's for forever it seems, a Reed replacement at FS since before he left, CB since Graham left and someone to groom behind Suggs and Doom for years (unless you count McPhee who we let go). So... we'll probably go DL and ILB early.

 

Yep.  BPA isn't a bad thing of course, but there are times where you have to suck it up and take a position of need.  We may be deep in some areas but we're bare bones in others.

[Wildabeast88]

I see on CBS sports player rankings the now have Alexander ahead of Hargreaves now dropping VH3 to the 14th overall prospect he certainly struggled over his last 3 games personally I'm not a VH3 guy but what do you guys think about passing on him or possibly trading down to get him

[Wildabeast88]

Yeah they way I looked at it is that at least we have some guys to rush the passer. Even our starting options at CB are very questionable. There's no doubt that pass rush is a huge need, although it might not be as immediate as CB.

A CBs best friend is a good pass rush if the QB has no time our guys could cover (when Pees doesnt have them 20 yards off) but QBs who have no time obviously make the CBs better because they don't need to cover for as long Edited January 10, 2016 by Wildabeast88

[GrimCoconut]

A CBs best friend is a good pass rush if the QB has no time our guys could cover (when Pees doesnt have them 20 yards off) but QBs who have no time obviously make the CBs better because they don't need to cover for as long

This is true but CB has a glaring deficiency of potential. Same goes for OLB but we have at least some optimism in Za'Darius Smith. CB has Jimmy Smith and Davis and both have an injury history, although Jimmy only recently suffered a serious one. Davis has been through multiple ACL tears. There's not much future at CB. We really need a future outside guy to threaten WR.

[OLD SCHOOL SMASH BALL]

Draft SPEED!

[BmoreBird22]

Interesting note about Alexander- While Alexander has yet to record a pick, he's allowed two touchdowns only in his career and none in the past 23 games.

[GrimCoconut]

Interesting note about Alexander- While Alexander has yet to record a pick, he's allowed two touchdowns only in his career and none in the past 23 games.

That's pretty impressive, I must admit.

[ravensnation5220]

That's pretty impressive, I must admit.

yup and a 31% completion when hes in coverage. He hasent even played 30 games in his career and has only allowed 2tds for his career and like he said. None in the past 23.

Fyi hes reportedly deeling with a hamstring injury for the national championship game today. It might hurt him going up against calvin Ridley. He might end up getting burned

[ravensnation5220]

Interesting note about Alexander- While Alexander has yet to record a pick, he's allowed two touchdowns only in his career and none in the past 23 games.

love it. Something else to note is that as a freshman he decided to stay home and study film for a bowl game while his teammates went to dysney. Ended up holding sterling sheppard to one catch that game. He even has notes on Clemsons receivers to better prepare himself for his professional career

[January J]

yup and a 31% completion when hes in coverage. He hasent even played 30 games in his career and has only allowed 2tds for his career and like he said. None in the past 23.

Fyi hes reportedly deeling with a hamstring injury for the national championship game today. It might hurt him going up against calvin Ridley. He might end up getting burned

yeah I saw him pull it against oklahoma in the 4th quarter

[allblackraven]

yup and a 31% completion when hes in coverage. He hasent even played 30 games in his career and has only allowed 2tds for his career and like he said. None in the past 23.

Fyi hes reportedly deeling with a hamstring injury for the national championship game today. It might hurt him going up against calvin Ridley. He might end up getting burned

There's no shame in being burned couple times by Ridley. Alexander wouldn't be the first and definitely not the last CB it happened to.

[GrimCoconut]

There's no shame in being burned couple times by Ridley. Alexander wouldn't be the first and definitely not the last CB it happened to.

I think Ridley will be better than Cooper and Jones. He's been a phenom. He may be the #1 pick when he declares if he continues this.

That said, I'll say that the system he's in is very very very friendly to WR. I don't think I can fault him for that, though.

On the subject of DBs, Eli Apple did really well against Cooper last year when they played. He didn't play great this year and it was Jekyll and Hyde but I still think highly of him.

[allblackraven]

I think Ridley will be better than Cooper and Jones. He's been a phenom. He may be the #1 pick when he declares if he continues this.

That said, I'll say that the system he's in is very very very friendly to WR. I don't think I can fault him for that, though.

On the subject of DBs, Eli Apple did really well against Cooper last year when they played. He didn't play great this year and it was Jekyll and Hyde but I still think highly of him.

What was the reason for Ridley going over the eligibility age in HS? Purely academic or something else?

 

On the subject of WR friendly system - you could probably argue that the good WR can make any system look friendly.

 

Apple is pretty young, he's still figuring it all out but he is phenomenal talent. I wouldn't be too worried - he ended the season on a pretty high note in that Bowl game.

[GrimCoconut]

What was the reason for Ridley going over the eligibility age in HS? Purely academic or something else?

On the subject of WR friendly system - you could probably argue that the good WR can make any system look friendly.

Apple is pretty young, he's still figuring it all out but he is phenomenal talent. I wouldn't be too worried - he ended the season on a pretty high note in that Bowl game.

You think? I thought he did well but a lot of my Ohio State friends think he played inconsistent and lost awareness.

[allblackraven]

You think? I thought he did well but a lot of my Ohio State friends think he played inconsistent and lost awareness.

I didn't watch the game - just going off what I read in game reports and the fact that he was defensive player of the game. Your Buckeye friends just got spoiled over last 2-3 years.

[Willbacker]

Anybody got anything on William Jackson out of Houston. I seen a couple games and really like his play.

[GrimCoconut]

I didn't watch the game - just going off what I read in game reports and the fact that he was defensive player of the game. Your Buckeye friends just got spoiled over last 2-3 years.

Yeah, I think so, too. I watched the game and I thought he looked good overall. He had some lapses, though. I did see those. 

[GrimCoconut]

Anybody got anything on William Jackson out of Houston. I seen a couple games and really like his play.

Couldn't watch any this year so it's hard for me to judge. I'll probably look at him and others after the combine or the All Star games that will soon approach. I don't have time to watch every prospect, especially these small school guys, so I typically look for certain things to jump out at me and I then watch them closely from a list. 

[Cillmatic]

Well, there are some key players playing tonight, including Alexander and Lawson.

[Willbacker]

Couldn't watch any this year so it's hard for me to judge. I'll probably look at him and others after the combine or the All Star games that will soon approach. I don't have time to watch every prospect, especially these small school guys, so I typically look for certain things to jump out at me and I then watch them closely from a list. 

Keep him in mind. I forget what team they played in their bowl game but it was a major upset and he was extremely solid.

 

Well, there are some key players playing tonight, including Alexander and Lawson.

Too many players to list for Alabama? lol

[Cillmatic]

First play of the game ends with an open field tackle by Alexander.

Dumb foul by Shaq Lawson.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Cillmatic

[Cillmatic]

Bad missed tackle by Alexander on 3rd down. Gotta make that one.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Cillmatic

[baltimorefan328]

Overall Alexander is looking pretty solid, I didn't see the missed tackle but sure seems like a willing tackler to me

[GrimCoconut]

Alexander has really good instincts. Like, I mean really really good. He's able to quickly diagnose plays and understand where the ball will go. That's one of the more important qualities of a CB outside of the backpedal & some other traits. His closing speed is also really, really good. I can see why he's so well liked. I think he could be prone to missing tackles at the next level, but those instincts are so good & play diagnosis are top-notch.

Edited January 12, 2016 by GrimCoconut

[Cillmatic]

Alexander down with injury. Was a question mark before the game, might've just played his last college snap.