2011 Rookie Videos

He's number "85"

what do you guys think?

Dude should be a tight end.

Too small for a DE and to tall for a OLB.

I cringe whenever I see A. Smith on the back of a jersey.

Uh oh breaking rules by looking at YouTube videos to scout.

Very long legs makes changing direction very hard. Not likely olb candidate.

Originally posted by LBSI9ers:
Very long legs makes changing direction very hard. Not likely olb candidate.

The defensive player that stood out to me in the Insight Bowl was Missouri's CB Kevin Rutland. Very good balls skills, extremely fast and played solid coverage all night. He's still learning the position, but could be a nice find later in the draft.

Btw, the closer the draft gets, the more Aldon Smith will rise up the boards. They'll see a guy with freakish athleticism, crazy wing-span, solid height/size (6'5", 255) and production (11 sacks his freshman year, 5.5 sacks this year after being injured early and missing 3 games).

He definitely should have stayed for his redshirt junior year, and is a few years away from really doing anything, but he could eventually be a monster pass rusher.

Originally posted by LBSI9ers:
Very long legs makes changing direction very hard. Not likely olb candidate.

Originally posted by LBSI9ers:
Very long legs makes changing direction very hard. Not likely olb candidate.

He strangely has a small stride. It works for quickness but if he learned to long stride he would be faster. I don't think he'd have any problems at OLB except staying with TE's. He seems much quicker than fast.

But he is raw late round grab for sure.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
Btw, the closer the draft gets, the more Aldon Smith will rise up the boards. They'll see a guy with freakish athleticism, crazy wing-span, solid height/size (6'5", 255) and production (11 sacks his freshman year, 5.5 sacks this year after being injured early and missing 3 games).

He definitely should have stayed for his redshirt junior year, and is a few years away from really doing anything, but he could eventually be a monster pass rusher.

This year's version of Jason Pierre-Paul as far as stock rising.

Originally posted by Nalo9er:

Originally posted by LBSI9ers:
Very long legs makes changing direction very hard. Not likely olb candidate.

Depends on the style of 3-4 you play. Ideally, you'd have the size/bulk to hold up against the run, drop into coverage (and not look silly) as well as rush the passer. However, if you're more of an attacking-style 3-4 (like Belichick and Rex ), you're less concerned about Lbs playing in space and more interested in their ability to wreak havoc in the backfield. It's an issue, but not a big one, depending on what want your OLBs to do primarily.

If we trade down I'd definitely look at him.

He's got room to grow not only as a player but body wise. He can easily put on another 10-15 lbs on that frame. Good pass rusher, decent against the run, has a good motor.

Coach the guy up and he can be a very good 3-4 OLB.

Originally posted by SF69ers:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
Btw, the closer the draft gets, the more Aldon Smith will rise up the boards. They'll see a guy with freakish athleticism, crazy wing-span, solid height/size (6'5", 255) and production (11 sacks his freshman year, 5.5 sacks this year after being injured early and missing 3 games).

He definitely should have stayed for his redshirt junior year, and is a few years away from really doing anything, but he could eventually be a monster pass rusher.

This year's version of Jason Pierre-Paul as far as stock rising.

Excellent comparison.

Was really impressed with what Baalke said today on the Fitz and Brooks show about what he's looking for in 3-4 OLBs (top 2 criteria).

1.) Pass rush ability
2.) Ability to set the edge in the run game

Unlike the Nolan/Singletary/Manusky philosophy, Baalke minimizes the importance of coverage ability and emphasizes getting to the QB and holding up against the run (e.g., bigger OLBs).

That said, guys like Robert Quinn, Aldon Smith, Jaabal Sheard, Justin Houston, Akeem Ayers, Jeremy Beal, Steven Friday, Sam Acho, Ricky Elmore, Antoine Carter, Markus White, etc., could be more attractive to us than in the past.

I don't think Baalke was saying he wouldn't consider smaller/more agile OLBs like Von Miller or Dontay Moch, but he was clear that the two traits above were the most important in his mind...and that generally (but not always) means someone with a bigger/stronger frame to go with the pass rush skills.