boring is a compliment for safeties

Comment Count

11

Now It's Draftageddon: Defensive Back
Seth •

The penultimate post of our annual Draft the Big Ten/all-conference four-deep series that had no draft. This episode it has no Brian either, since he's in season preview mode.

Previously:

----------------------------------------------

CORNERBACKS

Ace:

We done?

BiSB: But... uh...Yeah, we're done here.

Seth: By the way I did the Northwestern scouting and I do not think we need to worry about a Gaz from the Nobody Watches it Division.

Ace: Here’s another featuring the now-fourth cornerback.

Seth: There are no hoodies left at Wisconsin.

BiSB: The existence of Ojemudia (NTO) on that list does not give me great comfort.

Seth: Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson is in the NFL. Manny Rugamba transferred.

Ace: Did not expect him to the the first guy named after M’s guys.

BiSB: Do we even need to discuss Long and Hill? As in, is there a debate with them as #1 and #2 in some order?

Seth: I mean, is there anything but GOOD AT CORNERBACK that is in those numbers?

Ace: Arguably the best pair of corners in the country, Hill looks marginally better at the moment at playing the ball, both almost never get cleanly beat, uh… Thomas/Watson would probably be a top-three B1G corner pairing? Is that crazy to say?

Seth: Um, top four.

Ace: Fair.

BiSB: Long has a certain Nick Lidstrom thing where he is just always in the right spot.

image​

You wanted ball. You do not get ball. [Patrick Barron]

Ace: STILL. I like how you invoked The Perfect Human.

Seth: Brian isn't here because he's in preview week mode but he would want us to mention Hill should play nickel.

Ace: I suspect we’ll see him slide inside a decent amount, especially against spread-y teams with a good slot.

Seth: GIPHY is picking for Brian.

/giphy what do we do about slot fades

​

Ace: Giphy had no idea how to handle that.

BiSB: Looks like Giphy likes Rutgers' nickel package?

slackbot: I think you mean Rutger

[After THE JUMP: slackbot thinks that a lot.]

Read More
Comment Count

20

The Top 61-70 Returning Players in the Big Ten
Seth •

is a nicer way of saying

Draftageddon 2017: Jukeboxes and Jitterbugs Edition

Four_Horsemen_by_MarkWilkinson1

This is Part VII. We are drafting Big Ten players to give you an overview of the guys and dudes around the conference. You come out of it with a four-deep preseason All-Big Ten. We come out of it with very strong opinions on Justin Jackson.

Previously: Picks 1-10 (Hurst, Gary Speight), Picks 11-20 (Peters), Picks 21-28 (Cole), and Picks 29-40 (McCray, Mone) Picks 41-50 (Winovich), Picks 51-60 (Bredeson, Kekoa, Khaleke)

THAT WHICH HAS ALREADY OCCURRED:

image

  1. Ohio State (11 players): DE Nick Bosa (3rd, Seth), QB JT Barrett (6th, Seth), DE Tyquan Lewis (8th, BiSB), CB Denzel Ward (11th, Seth), DT Dre’Mont Jones (13th, Ace), OC Billy Price (17th, BiSB), DE Sam Hubbard (20th, Ace), LB Jerome Baker (21st, Ace), OT Jamarco Jones (28th, Ace), NT Bob Landers (51st, Seth), DE Jalyn Holmes (54th, Seth)
  2. Michigan (11 players): DT Maurice Hurst (2nd, Brian), DE Rashan Gary (5th, Ace), QB Wilton Speight (7th, Brian), QB Brandon Peters (an obligatory 16th, BiSB), OT Mason Cole (26th, Brian), LB Mike McCray (36th, Ace), NT Brian Mone (40th, BiSB), DE Chase Winovich (48th, BiSB), OG Ben Bredeson (57th, BiSB), WR Kekoa Crawford (58th, Brian), VIPER!!! Khaleke Hudson (59th, Seth) 
  3. Iowa (7 players): RB Akrum Wadley (18th, Brian), G/C Sean Welsh (22nd, Seth), LB Josey Jewell 23rd, Brian), OT Ike Boettger (35th, Seth), DE Anthony Nelson (42nd, Brian), CB Manny Rugamba (43rd, Seth), OC James Daniels (47th, Brian)
  4. Penn State (7 players): RB Saquon Barkley (1st, BiSB), QB Trace McSorley (4th, Ace), “TE” Mike Gesicki (25th, BiSB), S Marcus Allen (29th, Ace), OT Ryan Bates (41st, BiSB), LB Jason Cabinda (49th, BiSB), Brendan Mahon (53rd, Ace)
  5. Wisconsin (6 players): LB Jack Cichy (14th, Seth), TE Troy Fumagalli (15th, Brian), OG Beau Benzschawel (33rd, BiSB), OC Michael Dieter (34th, Brian), LB TJ Edwards (39th, Brian), WR Jazz Peavy (44th, Ace)
  6. Indiana (5 players): LB Tegray Scales (9th, BiSB), WR Simmie Cobbs (12th, Ace), WR Nick Westbrook (30th, Seth), CB Rashard Fant (32nd, BiSB), S Jonathan Crawford (52nd, Ace)
  7. Maryland (3 players): DT Kingsley Opara (19th, Seth), OT Damian Prince (45th, Ace), WR DJ Moore (56th, BiSB)
  8. Minnesota (2 players): DT Stephen Richardson (10th, Brian), WR Rashad Still (38th, Seth)
  9. Nebraska (2 players): OG Tanner Farmer (46th, Seth), S Joshua Kalu (50th, Brian)
  10. Northwestern (2 players): S Godwin Igwebuike (24th, BiSB), RB Justin Jackson (60th, Ace)
  11. Michigan State (2 players): OG Brian Allen (37th, Ace), RB LJ Scott (55th, Brian)
  12. Rutgers (1 player): OT Tariq Cole (27th, Seth)
  13. Illinois (1 player): WR Malik Turner (31st, Brian)

So we just got done having an argument about Justin Jackson. Speaking of guys wearing #21 for the Wildcats…

---------------------------

Seth: Round 16, Pick 2: Kyle Queiro, Safety, Northwestern

Off: QB JT Barrett (OSU), WR Nick Westbrook (IU), WR Rashad Still (MN), OG Sean Welsh (IA), LT Tariq Cole (RU), RT Ike Boettger (IA), OG Tanner Farmer (NE)

Def: NT Robert Landers (OSU), DT Kingsley Opara (MD), DE Nick Bosa (OSU), DE Jalyn Holmes (OSU), LB Jack Cichy (UW), VIPER!!! Khaleke Hudson (UM), S Kyle Quiero (NW), CB Denzel Ward, CB Manny Rugamba

  1. No. No he didn't. Unless you're thinking of an entirely different pick.
  2. That's pretty cool
  3. The reason he one-handed it is his other hand was in a club.

PFF's College football twitter last month started putting out graphics of their top 3 returning players for each team, with last year's grades. The Northwestern one both confirmed a sleeper pick I've been close to pulling the trigger on for a few rounds, and outs him.

PFF thought Kyle Queiro was almost as good as Iggy while playing mostly deep centerfield to Igwebuike's boxier role. On film the distance is wider. Igwebuike is a Player who eats jet sweeps and screens for lunch. Queiro, who's 6'3, is more of a Jarrod Wilsonian binkie, keeping the hashes clean and long runs to field goal drives. He's athletic enough that they use him to cover slots out of the nickel in their sub packages. Injuries kept him off the field for the early part of his career and much of September so his 53 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 6 PBUs, and 2 INTs (you remember the club) are in 10 games.

---------------------------

Seth: And let's make this clear: Lewis was alone in man-to-man and in better "I'm not touching you" personal space invasion technique than my brothers could master in a childhood of up north road trips. Queiro is drifting back in zone coverage with help over the top and Lagow significantly underthrew it.

[Hit THE JUMP for what Tom Haverford calls a scatback]

Read More
Comment Count

89

This Week’s Obsession: The Class of 2016 Roundtable
Seth •

24706946191_d978f60768_k

Kinda like Signing of the Stars but none of us hung on as a bad middle infielder for way too long [photo: Bryan Fuller]

In our annual rite we pose the standard boring questions about the lately received class to our panel of writers, who by nature of being asked questions may appear like experts. One of us might even be one. The lineup:

  • Brian: Not a real journalist.
  • Ace: Chief enunciator, lead reporter, recruiting/basketball guy.
  • Seth: Associate editor/site business guy
  • BiSB, esquire. A lawyer who occasionally does lawyer work at his attorney job.
  • Adam Schnepp: Press correspondent (Heiko's old job) and hockey guy.
  • Dave Nasternak: J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Lead Backend Logistics Strategist and Associate Vice President of Signs Holding Up Of.

-----------------------------

Best recruit other than Gary?

Brian: Give me ​David Long​. Long's a legit six-foot corner ranked in the top 100 everywhere. Originally he was thought of as a wide receiver recruit but everyone flipped him to defense after he tore up camps with a combination of acceleration, size, agility, and smarts. He's handsy, he's going to excel at the press coverage Michigan will continue to use, and he is A+ off the field. If you're asking me who other than Gary is the most likely to go in the first round of the draft I'll ride with Long.

 image
Harbaugh can pick ‘em. [Bryan Fuller]

Ace: I’ll take ​Brandon Peters​. I had the chance to watch him in two full games this past season—one in person, one on TV—and in both he excelled against high-level competition. Peters has a live, accurate arm, enough athleticism to break the pocket and make plays on the run, and an advanced understanding of how to put touch on the ball to get his receiver in the best possible position to make a big play. Given he enrolled early, I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a push for the starting job, and even if John O’Korn wins it this year (which I expect), Peters should give him a serious run in 2017 before he’s the odds-on favorite to win the job in 2018.

Seth: I'm with Ace on Peters. As long as the physical tools are good enough rating a QB is about how well he sees the game, and he sees it very very well.

Adam: I'm going with ​Ben Bredeson​. I wholeheartedly endorse his billing as Mason Cole 2.0, but versatility doesn't make you the best recruit in the class outside of one of nature's anomalies. Bredeson looks like he's zone blocking on every play because of how quickly he hits the second level; when I realized there was actually a sniveling defensive lineman across from Bredeson that he had just taken for a ride I was sold.

BiSB: Peters​. His tape is just throw after throw that isn’t just a good ball, but is also the right kind of ball. I described it at one point as the “lollipop, lollipop, MURDERDEATHLASER” approach; he is extremely adept at putting touch on the ball (which is the right play when playing with high school receivers), but can fire bullets when need be. He’s mobile, and he can move around the pocket. The only real question is how he will adapt to life under center, and as an early enrollee he can probably figure that out. I’m really, really excited to see what Harbaugh can do with him.

[After the JUMP: things we will unwrap sooner and later, and Ace and Seth turn Name of the Year into an argument because that’s how we ‘geddon around here.]

Read More